SS In-Game Tips and Tricks [GP 2/2] {QC 3/3}

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Title: SS In-Game Tips and Tricks

Introduction

In this article, I will discuss tips and tricks that will be helpful for your Pokemon Sword or Pokemon Shield playthrough. Please note that some of the tips and tricks you are about to find below can only be done once you have become the Champion of the Galar region. By the end of this article, you should be able to make a lot of things considerably faster and easier for yourself, allowing you to fully focus on your objectives without having to waste too much time. Everything I will mention over the course of this article can be done in both versions of the games, and no Nintendo Switch Online membership is required. I would also like to give a shoutout to Light Sanctity for providing the screenshots.

1. Helpful NPCs

Since you will find many helpful NPCs in Galar, it can sometimes be hard to remember which one offers which service, as well as their locations. For that reason, I decided to dedicate the first section to a compilation of the NPCs that you will likely find yourself visiting the most.

1. a The Name Rater, Memory Checker, Move Reminder & Move Deleter


Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. While you had to travel around quite a bit in previous regions to access all of the mentioned services, Game Freak finally decided to make things considerably more convenient; in the Galar region, the Name Rater, the Memory Checker, the Move Reminder and the Move Deleter are now one and the same person. What's more, this NPC can be found behind the left counter in every single Pokémon Center across the Galar region. You can easily spot the man in question, since he is always accompanied by his partner Indeedee.

The first service he offers allows you to change the nickname of a Pokémon you have caught or hatched. You can also remove the nickname by typing the Pokémon's standard species name as long as you are the Pokémon's Original Trainer (OT). In addition, starting with Generation 8, it is now possible to nickname another Trainer's Pokémon only once if it does not already have one, provided that the Pokémon's language/region matches the language/region of your game. This mechanic is very interesting, as you are now able to give Pokémon from older games longer nicknames thanks to the increased character limit and can also pick from a variety of characters that were never available before. This also allows you to nickname Pokémon obtained from Generation 8 events; events from past generations cannot be renamed in this manner, however, as they are labeled as "Fateful Encounters".

The second service he offers involves checking the memories of your own Pokémon, as well as the ones of Pokémon you received in trades with other Trainers from all around the world. In addition to this, the man will also be able to tell you the emotions that the Pokémon felt in specific moments during your adventures.

The third service he offers involves helping your Pokémon remember deleted or "forgotten" moves. This works for moves that your Pokémon learns normally via leveling up, as well as moves that it inherited from its parents via breeding. However, this does not work for moves that you taught your Pokémon via specific tutors, moves that have been acquired via the new Egg Moves (EMs) mechanic that I am going explain further below, or moves that are tied to specific events. You should hence not act hastily and carefully think things through if you decide to replace these kinds of moves. Another significant improvement in Generation 8 consists in the fact that the Move Reminder no longer takes Heart Scales as a currency in exchange for his services; all of his services are completely free.

The fourth and final service he offers involves helping your Pokémon forget moves. However, while this service is pretty much self-explanatory, I still want to welcome the opportunity to remind you that you need to be particularly careful when deleting moves. As I have already mentioned in the paragraph above, moves that were acquired via specific tutor moves in previous generations cannot be remembered once they were forgotten. The same also applies to moves that are exclusive to certain events.

1. b Happiness Checker


The Happiness Checker can be found in the house to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center. You can check the Happiness level of your Pokémon by showing them to the little boy. However, since you cannot check the exact value of the Happiness level, and since the responses of the boy are rather vague, I decided to include a table that shows you which response corresponds to which Happiness level range, ranging from lowest (0) to highest (255):

ResponseHappiness Level Range
"Maybe you're a bit too strict? It doesn't seem like you're friends at all..."​
0​
"I guess you two just met? It's still getting used to things."​
1-49​
"Seems like it likes you an average amount! Don't worry—you two will get closer as time passes!"​
50-89​
"Wow, I think you're on your way to becoming real good friends!"​
100-149​
"Seems like you're pretty good friends! Still, I bet you could become even closer!"​
150-199​
"You two get along great! Together is always better—am I right?"​
200-229​
"You two are almost best friends! I can see you really care about each other!"​
230-254​
"Oh wow, you're best buddies! I can tell you're so happy to be together!"​
255​

Once your Pokémon has reached the maximum Happiness level of 255, the boy will reward your Pokémon with the Best Friends Ribbon.

Below you can find a list of easy ways to raise your Pokémon's Happiness efficiently. I would like to give a shout out to Lego for helping research some of the data.

Throughout the following list, I will refer to "the use of consumable items that increase the Happiness level by a non-zero amount", walking, and battling as "actions":
  1. Catch the Pokémon in a Friend Ball. Doing so will immediately raise a Pokémon's Happiness level to 150, regardless of its initial base level. For example, a Mudbray with a base Happiness level of 50 will immediately have its level raised to 150, and a Duskull with a base Happiness level of 35 will also have its level raised to 150.
  2. Walking around with the Pokémon in front of your party will also increase its Happiness level by +1 for every few steps taken. However, this method will stop working once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  3. Feed the Pokémon EV-increasing Vitamins, such as HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc, and Carbos. They can be purchased in exchange for 2 Battle Points (BP) each from the League Staff lady in Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center or for 10,000 Poké Dollars each at the right counter of Wyndon's southern Pokémon Center. In addition to this, they can also be randomly obtained after winning ranked battles in Battle Stadium. The Vitamins will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +4 if its level is 0-99, by +2 if its level is 100-159, and by +0 once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  4. Feed the Pokémon Rare Candies. The Candies will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +3 if its level is 0-99 and by +2 if its level is 100-159, and, much like the Vitamins, they will stop raising the level once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  5. Feed the Pokémon EV-reducing Berries, such as Pomeg Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), Kelpsy Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and Rolling Fields), Qualot Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, Giant's Seat, and Motostoke Riverbank), Hondew Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and North Lake Miloch), Grepa Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), and Tamato Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, and Motostoke Riverbank). These Berries will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +10 if its level is 0-99, by +5 if its level is 100-159, and by +1 even after the threshold of 160 has been reached.
In the next list, I will focus on methods that, in conjunction with the "actions" from the previous list, will raise your Pokémon's Happiness level even more efficiently:
  1. Catch the Pokémon in a Luxury Ball. There is no immediate increase when catching a Pokémon in a Luxury Ball, instead, it will raise the Happiness level of the Pokémon by an additional +1 for every action after it is caught.
  2. Let the Pokémon hold the Soothe Bell, which increases your Pokémon's Happiness level when you walk around or battle with it. Similar to the Luxury Ball, this item will also increase the Pokémon's Happiness level by an additional +1 for every action as long as it is equipped to the Pokémon. You can obtain this item by talking to the Happiness Checker in Hammerlocke.
Fortunately, the Happiness level that is necessary to evolve certain Pokémon has been lowered from 220 points to 160 points in Generation 8. This is the case for Eevee (Espeon during the day and Umbreon during the night), Pichu, Cleffa, Togepi, Budew (Roselia during the day), Munchlax, Riolu (Lucario during the day), Woobat, Alolan Meowth, Snom (Frosmoth during the night), and Type: Null.
Now, if you want to fully max out the remaining 95 Happiness points, you will have to do so by playing with your Pokémon in Pokémon Camp and by cooking delicious Curry for it. A single Copperajah class Curry is enough to raise the Pokémon's Happiness level from 160 straight to 255.

1. c Effort Value (EV) Judge


While you could check to see if a Pokémon has earned all of the available 510 EVs by checking its summary and by pressing "X" while on the stats tab, you can also check this by visiting a very specific NPC in the game. The Effort Value (EV) Judge can be found to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center in the same house as the Happiness Checker. If your Pokémon has earned the maximum amount of 510 EVs, the lady on the couch will reward your Pokémon with the Effort Ribbon.

1. d Battle-Ready Mark NPC


With the release of the Isle of Armor DLC expansion, Game Freak now allows Pokémon that were transfered via HOME from past generation games to participate in the official ranked battle formats (Battle Stadium Singles and Battle Stadium Doubles/VGC). In order to make a Pokémon from a past generation game eligible, you need to visit the new NPC that is waiting for you next to the right counter in Wyndon's Battle Tower. However, while this does sound promising in theory at first, I do want to place great emphasis on informing you that, once the NPC marks your Pokémon, all of the moves that it would normally not be able to legally learn in Generation 8 games will be completely removed from its movepool and replaced by some of its standard Level Up moves. I hence recommend thinking twice before removing an old event-exclusive move or an old tutor move, since your Pokémon might never be able to learn it again in future games.

1. e Steel Beam Tutor


The Steel Beam tutor can be found in Motostoke. In order to find him easily, I recommend going to the Pokémon Center in the western part of Motostoke and then heading to the right until you reach the warehouse facility with the children playing with their Minccino. Next, you want to follow the path to the south that leads through the turning industrial infrastructures tunnel until you reach a staircase. Follow the stairs, and you will find the tutor waiting for you down at the docks with the containers, ready to teach this powerful move to any of your Steel-type Pokémon — including Steel-type Silvally! However, please keep in mind that, while Motostoke can be accessed early on in the playthrough, the tutor will only start offering his service once you have become the Champion of the Galar region.

1. f Fire Pledge, Grass Pledge, and Water Pledge Tutor


The tutor for the moves Fire Pledge, Grass Pledge, and Water Pledge can be found in Hammerlocke. In order to find him easily, I recommend going to the Pokémon Center in the western part of Motostoke and then heading to the left past the park until you reach the drawbridge that leads to Route 6. However, instead of crossing the drawbridge, you need to head to the South and follow down a staircase until you find the tutor waiting for you. Each Starter Pokémon can learn the move that corresponds to its typing: the Bulbasaur line and the Grookey line can learn Grass Pledge, the Charmander line and the Scorbunny line can learn Fire Pledge, and the Squirtle line and the Sobble line can learn Water Pledge.

1. g Draco Meteor Tutor


The Draco Meteor tutor can be found in Circhester. In order to find him easily, I recommend starting at the Pokémon Center and the moving to the north until you reach the Circhester Bath to the right of the restaurant. You will find the tutor waiting for you on the left poolside, ready to teach this powerful move to some of your Dragon-type Pokémon — including Dragon-type Silvally!

1. h Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, and Hydro Cannon Tutor


The tutor for the moves Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, and Hydro Cannon can be found in Wyndon. You can easily find the tutor waiting for you at the benches in the park in the East of Wyndon. However, while this tutor is also specialized in tutoring Starter Pokémon, just like the tutor for the moves Fire Pledge, Grass Pledge, and Water Pledge, this tutor here only teaches moves that match the corresponding typing of Starter Pokémon that have reached their final evolution stage: Venusaur and Rillaboom can learn Frenzy Plant, Charizard and Cinderace can learn Blast Burn, and Blastoise and Inteleon can learn Hydro Cannon.

1. i Master Dojo Tutor (Isle of Armor)


The Master Dojo tutor can be found in the Master Dojo of Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield's Isle of Armor DLC expansion. You will unlock this useful NPC once you have completed Mustard's first trial and brought back Avery's/Klara's uniform from the thievish Galarian Slowpoke. The NPC will stand to the right of the doors that lead to the Battle Court outside and tutors the following moves in exchange for 5 Armorite Ores each:

Terrain Pulse​
Burning Jealousy​
Flip Turn​
Rising Voltage​
Grassy Glide​
Triple Axel​
Coaching​
Corrosive Gas​
Scorching Sands​
Dual Wingbeat​
Expanding Force​
Skitter Smack​
Meteor Beam​
Poltergeist​
Scale Shot​
Lash Out​
Steel Roller​
Misty Explosion​

2. Exploits

I dedicate the second section to two major kinds of exploits that you can perform in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. However, keep in mind that Game Freak may patch these exploits in the future, meaning that while they worked at the time I wrote this guide, they might unfortunately not work anymore by the time you are reading this. So, let us not waste any time and make good use of them for as long as we can!

2. a Purple Beam Den Exploit

To efficiently aim for Purple Beam Dens, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Press "X" and go to "Options" in order to set the Text Speed to "Slow".
  2. Scroll a bit further down in the "Options" menu and ensure that the "Autosave" feature is set to "Off".
  3. Make sure that you have one or more Wishing Pieces in your inventory.
  4. Go and find an inactive den in the Wild Area and save the game in front of it.
  5. Interact with the den and use a Wishing Piece.
  6. The game will ask you if you want to save the game; as soon as you see the beam color, press "HOME". The reason why we set the Text Speed to "Slow" earlier is that it gives us slightly more time to react to the color of the beam that will shoot out of the den.
  7. Sometimes the beam will be red. In this case, just reset your game by pressing "X" and then selecting "Close" and try again until you get the purple beam.
2. b Date Skip Exploit

The Date Skip Exploit requires a bit of a different setup. Please keep in mind that skipping the date in Pokémon will also affect time-based events of other games on your Switch!
To get it to work, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Go and find a den in the Wild Area. It can either be a den that is already active or an inactive den that you activate yourself using a Wishing Piece. Both methods work. However, if you are going to skip multiple days one at a time (in order to roll for a specific weather for example), I recommend using Wishing Pieces, as natural dens will move after the first skip.
  2. Interact with the den and click the "Invite Others" option.
  3. Press the "HOME" button to access the main menu and proceed to open the System Settings.
  4. Scroll all the way down to "System" and pick the "Date and Time" option under "Language" and "Region".
  5. For it to work, you need to ensure that the "Synchronize Time via Internet" option is set to "Off".
  6. Change the date on your console to the next day and click "OK" once you have done so.
  7. Press "B" to go back into the main menu and go back to your Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield game.
  8. Go back in-game and cancel the raid.
This exploit can significantly speed up many time-based tasks in the games, such as growing Berries and completing Poké Jobs.
The Hammerlocke University hosts daily EV training Poké Job seminars during which your Pokémon gain 4 EVs for every passing hour.
If you want to speed up this process, remember to send your Pokémon to do these Poké Jobs before doing this exploit. Once you have followed the steps above correctly, you can go and pick up your fully EV trained Pokémon again at the PC in the nearest Pokémon Center. Remember that the effects of factors such as the Pokérus and the Power Items are also taken into account when EV training with this method.

While you are already at the PC, you might as well use this exploit repeatedly to replay the Loto-ID for a chance to win items such as Moomoo Milk, PP Up, PP Max, Rare Candy, or even the highly sought-after Master Ball!

Since the den stays active every single time you skip a day, this also means that there will be 2000 Watts pouring out of it every single time you repeat this trick. Please do, however, note that you need to have finished the game in order to reap the full 2000 Watts. The notable amount of Watts that you can collect in a short amount of time allows you to buy many Wishing Pieces, Technical Records (TRs) and even Luxury Balls for only 100 Watts each. You can then proceed to sell the Luxury Balls that you got from the traders in the Wild Area at any Pokémon Center for 1500 Poké Dollars. This way, you can earn huge amounts of money in no time, allowing you to purchase the expensive Technical Machines (TMs), as well as clothes. You can also spend your Watts at the Digging Duo near the Daycare in Bridge Field (Wild Area) and collect more Wishing Pieces, fossils, evolution stones, and Bottle Caps, all while also collecting items that you can sell for Poké Dollars, such as Rare Bones, Stardust, and Star Pieces. This method of earning money is a lot faster and more efficient than the one that requires you to redo the Champion's Cup with your Gigantamax Meowth and the Amulet Coin over and over again. However, doing the Champion's Cup has the advantage of simultaneously earning you a lot of money and, with a bit of luck, rewards such as Apricorn Balls, Life Orbs, Toxic Orbs, and Flame Orbs.

This exploit can also be used to change the weather in the Wild Area. Some Pokémon in the Wild Area can only be encountered during very specific weather conditions, and it can be quite annoying to wait for the right weather because you have to wait an entire day. However, please note that you will have to have beaten the first three Gyms and made your way to Hammerlocke in order to unlock both the Sandstorm and the Snowstorm weather. In a similar manner, you need to have beaten the game in order to unlock the Fog weather!

On the first day of every month, the weather is the exact same in all the places in the Wild Area.
Below you can find a list with key dates, their respective weather conditions and the Pokémon that will show up in the Wild Area:

DateWeatherPokémon
February 1st​
Snowstorm:​
Sneasel, Swinub, Piloswine, Delibird, Mawile, Snorunt, Glalie, Mime Jr., Riolu, Snover, Abomasnow, Weavile, Glaceon, Vanillite, Vanillish, Vanilluxe, Cubchoo, Pawniard, Honedge, Avalugg, Togedemaru, Eiscue (Shield)​
March 1st​
Overcast​
Farfetch'd (Sword), Kingler, Hitmonlee (Sword), Hitmonchan (Shield), Togepi, Espeon, Corsola (Shield), Hitmontop, Larvitar (Shield), Ralts, Roserade, Croagunk (Shield), Toxicroak (Shield), Munna, Throh (Shield), Sawk (Shield), Cottonee, Scraggy, Cinccino, Karrablast, Elgyem, Shelmet, Spritzee (Shield), Swirlix (Sword), Barbaracle, Shiinotic, Jangmo-o (Sword), Rookidee, Falinks, Dreepy​
April 1st​
Sandstorm​
Umbreon, Pupitar (Shield), Nincada, Trapinch, Flygon, Bonsly, Hippopotas, Hippowdon, Croagunk (Shield), Gigalith, Drilbur, Scraggy, Stunfisk, Zweilous (Sword), Mudbray, Carkol, Stonjourner (Sword)​
May 1st​
Normal Weather​
Cloyster, Kingler, Lanturn, Togepi, Bellossom, Gardevoir, Flygon, Crawdaunt, Combee, Vespiquen, Munchlax, Lucario, Croagunk (Shield), Leafeon, Gigalith, Scraggy, Cinccino, Elgyem, Steenee, Golisopod, Blipbug, Gossilfeur, Wooloo, Applin, Toxel​
June 1st​
Fog​
Clefairy, Clefable, Cloyster, Lanturn, Togepi, Togetic, Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir, Sableye (Shield), Milotic, Roserade, Togekiss, Munna, Musharna, Cinccino, Gothita (Sword), Gothorita (Sword), Gothitelle (Sword), Solosis (Shield), Duosion (Shield), Reuniclus (Shield), Elgyem, Litwick, Meowstic, Honedge, Aegislash, Spritzee (Shield), Swirlix (Sword), Sylveon, Morelull, Mimikyu, Hatenna, Milcery, Indeedee, Dreepy​
July 1st​
Intense Sun​
Vulpix, Ninetales (Sword), Growlithe, Arcanine (Shield), Flareon, Larvitar (Shield), Nincada, Torkoal, Flygon, Hippopotas, Gigalith, Drilbur, Maractus, Litwick, Lampent, Chandelure, Stunfisk, Heatmor, Durant, Mudbray, Salandit, Turtonator (Sword), Jangmo-o (Sword), Carkol, Stonjourner (Sword)​
October 1st​
Raining​
Pikachu, Vaporeon, Electrike, Crawdaunt, Rotom, Karrablast, Shelmet, Deino (Sword), Binacle, Barbaracle, Goomy (Shield), Grubbin, Charjabug, Dewpider, Araquanid, Shiinotic, Wimpod, Golisopod, Toxel​
November 1st​
Thunderstorm​
Pikachu, Kingler, Jolteon, Chinchou, Lanturn, Gardevoir, Electrike, Manectric, Crawdaunt, Rotom, Karrablast, Joltik, Shelmet, Zweilous (Sword), Binacle, Barbaracle, Helioptile, Sliggo (Shield), Grubbin, Charjabug, Mareanie, Dewpider, Araquanid, Shiinotic, Wimpod, Golisopod, Pyukumuku, Drampa (Shield), Hakamo-o (Sword), Yamper, Applin, Toxel, Morpeko, Dreepy​
December 1st​
Snowing​
Mr. Mime, Sneasel, Swinub, Piloswine, Delibird, Snorunt, Glalie, Snover, Abomasnow, Glaceon, Vanillite, Vanillish, Vanilluxe, Cubchoo, Beartic, Bergmite, Avalugg, Wooloo, Snom, Eiscue (Shield)​

3. Charm Items

I dedicate the third section to the five Charm Items. They are very useful Key Items, meaning that their respective influence will become effective the moment you obtain them and store them away in the designated Key Items section in your inventory. You will hence not have to constantly equip them to a Pokémon in your party for them to work.

3. a Catching Charm


The first Charm Item on our list is the Catching Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of Critical Catches when trying to catch wild Pokémon. You will notice a Critical Catch when the ball makes what players describe as a "whistling sound" before it shakes only once and then either catches the Pokémon or breaks. While the catch rate is undeniably increased during a Critical Catch, this does not mean that you are guaranteed the Pokémon whenever one occurs.

You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item. To obtain this item, follow the instructions below:
  1. Visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the second room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the Game Director (depicted as a Doctor) and he will hand you the Catching Charm.
3. b Shiny Charm


The second Charm Item on our list is the Shiny Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of encountering a shiny Pokémon. Despite the fact that you need to have all 400 Pokémon of the Galar region registered in your Pokédex, the time and effort spent to earn this item is well worth it in the end. It significantly increases the standard 1/4096 odds of finding a shiny Pokémon to 1/1365. Not only does the Shiny Charm influence the odds of finding shiny Pokémon in the wild, it also influences the odds of hatching a shiny Pokémon from an egg: the 1/683 odds of hatching a shiny Pokémon via the Masuda Method, meaning with two breeding parents that have different language origins, are increased additionally to 1/512 odds thanks to the Shiny Charm. However, please note that the Shiny Charm does not influence the odds of gifted Pokémon, revived Fossil Pokémon, or Raid Pokémon.

You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item. To obtain this item, follow the instructions below:
  1. Once you have registered all 400 Pokémon in your Pokédex, visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the second room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the Game Director (depicted as a Doctor) and he will hand you the Shiny Charm, a diploma, as well as a League Card sticker.
3. c Oval Charm


The third Charm Item on our list is the Oval Charm. As the name suggests, this item will speed up Egg production at the Daycares on Route 5 and in Bridge Field (Wild Area). Unlike the Catching Charm and the Shiny Charm, the Oval Charm can only be obtained after completing the main story.

To obtain this item, follow the instructions below:
  1. Once you have become the Champion of the Galar region, visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the first room.
  3. Proceed to talk to GAME FREAK's Morimoto (depicted as a Police Officer), and he will hand you the Oval Charm after you defeat him in a battle.
I recommend coming prepared when challenging Morimoto. Not only does he face you with a team consisting of 6 Pokémon at level 65, he also challenges you to a Double Battle. He leads with Grapploct and Cursola and has Stonjourner, Dragapult, Coalossal, and even a Dynamax Snorlax in the back. Be especially careful with Cursola's Perish Body hidden ability.

3. d Exp. Charm (Isle of Armor)


The fourth Charm Item on our list is the Exp. Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the amount of Exp. Points (EXP) that your Pokémon can earn through battling. The Exp. Charm can only be obtained in the Isle of Armor DLC expansion for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. You receive the Exp. Charm early on in the campaign. Hyde hands it to you as a welcome gift once you become the Master Dojo's new trainee.

3. e Mark Charm (Isle of Armor)


The fifth Charm Item on our list is the Mark Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of finding marked Pokémon in the wild. Marks are similar to ribbons, and they can be checked on the exact same status screen tab. Just like the Exp. Charm, the Mark Charm can only be obtained in the Isle of Armor DLC expansion for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. You receive the Mark Charm from the female Doctor at the Armor Station as a reward for completing the Isle of Armor Pokédex.

4. Pickup

The fourth paragraph is dedicated to the Pickup ability. This notably useful ability allows certain Pokémon in your party to literally "pick up" random items after battles.
The following Pickup Pokémon can be found in the Galar region without a Nintendo Switch Online membership:
  1. Meowth (Galarian forme)
  2. Zigzagoon (Galarian forme)
  3. Linoone (Galarian forme)
  4. Munchlax
  5. Bunnelby
  6. Diggersby
  7. Pumpkaboo
  8. Gourgeist
If you do have a Nintendo Switch Online membership, then you also have access to the following three Pickup Pokémon:
  1. Meowth (Kantonian forme & Alolan forme)
  2. Zigzagoon (Hoennite forme)
  3. Linoone (Hoennite forme)
Ever since the Isle of Armor DLC expansion, the following two Pickup Pokémon have become available as well:
  1. Lillipup
  2. Dedenne
It is important to note that the rarity of the items that can be picked up depends on the level of the Pickup Pokémon in your party.
Below you can find a list of all of the items that can be picked up with the help of this ability, as well as the rarity for each level range:

Level RangeVery Common ItemsCommon ItemsUncommon ItemsRare ItemsVery Rare Items
1-10​
Potion​
Tiny Mushroom​
Poké Doll, Repel, Super Potion​
Big Mushroom, Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Revive, Super Repel​
Ether​
11-20​
Repel​
Big Mushroom, Poké Doll, Super Potion, Super Repel, Tiny Mushroom​
Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Max Repel, Moon Stone, Revive, Sun Stone​
Ether, Rare Candy​
21-30​
Super Potion​
Big Mushroom, Full Heal, Poké Doll, Super Repel, Tiny Mushroom​
Ether, Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel, Moon Stone, Nugget, Revive, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Ether, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
31-40​
Poké Doll​
Full Heal, Revive, Super Repel​
Balm Mushroom, Ether, Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Ether, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
41-50​
Super Repel​
Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Ether, Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Elixir, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
51-60​
Full Heal​
Hyper Potion, Max Repel, Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Max Potion, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Elixir, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
61-70​
Revive​
Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Ether, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Elixir, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
71-80​
Hyper Potion​
Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Ether, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Elixir, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
81-90​
Max Repel​
Max Potion, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Elixir, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
91-100​
Max Potion​
Big Nugget, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Elixir, Max Elixir, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​

I hence recommend using a full party consisting of 6 Pickup Pokémon with a level of 91 or higher in order to get as many rare items as quickly as possible.

Before I conclude this paragraph, I would also like to highlight a useful trick that DaWoblefet documented in this YouTube video. As it turns out, Pickup Pokémon in Generation 8 will keep picking up items in your party even while you battle Trainers in the Battle Tower with a team in your Battle Box. Using this trick, you can find items and earn Battle Points (BP) simultaneously. Ever since the release of the Isle of Armor DLC expansion, this trick is also confirmed to work when battling in the Restricted Sparring mode at the Master Dojo.

5. Egg Move Mechanics

The fifth paragraph is dedicated to a notable improvement that Game Freak implemented with regards to Egg Moves (EMs). EMs are special moves that are passed down by the parent Pokémon to their offspring while breeding at the Daycare. Veteran Breeders among our readers will remember how annoying and time consuming it can be to get parents with the right EMs. However, while you can still pass down EMs the old-fashioned way, there is also a new EM mechanic in Generation 8 that allows you to breed EMs onto Pokémon even after they have already hatched. In order to do so, you need both the Pokémon that you want to breed an EM onto, as well as a Pokémon of the same species that knows the EM in question. You can also teach multiple EMs at once via this method; however, do ensure that the Pokémon that will inherit them has enough free slots in its moveset. If you need to make room for more than one move, you can easily do so at the Move Deleter that you can find in any of the Galar region's Pokémon Centers. The gender of the Pokémon does not matter; our main goal is not to collect an Egg, but to pass down the move.

I will use an example from personal experience to demonstrate this:

Let us for example take my Raboot that already knew the EMs High Jump Kick and Sand Attack through regular inheritance.
Because I also wanted to get the EMs Sucker Punch and Super Fang for completionist's sake, I borrowed a second Raboot with the two missing EMs from a fellow community member. I then ensured that my own Raboot had two free moveslots available, went to the nearest Pokémon Center, and got the Move Deleter that I introduced a few paragraphs earlier to delete two unwanted moves. I then took both Raboot to the Daycare and left them there for a minute or two while I cycled back and forth. After a few minutes, I went and picked both Pokémon up again from the Daycare, and upon inspecting the summary screens of my own Raboot, noted that the two missing moves had indeed been passed down.

This useful mechanic also works for Pokémon that you either caught in the wild or during a raid, meaning that you can get Sparkling Aria for your Gigantamax Lapras or Fake Out for your Gigantamax Pikachu, just to name a few notable examples.

6. Berry Tree Shaking

Finally, last but not least, I am going to dedicate the sixth section to the Berry Trees and how to shake them properly in order to get as many Berries as possible. In contrast to how you would approach Berry Trees in previous games, you have to be careful and pay attention when shaking Berry Trees in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. If you are not careful enough, you will have wild Pokémon such as Cherubi, Skwovet, and Greedent attack you when they fall down from the tree. As if this was not annoying enough, they will also proceed to steal all of the Berries of a random type from right under your nose after the battle, escaping with the literal fruits of your labor. In order to prevent this from happening to the best of your abilities, take a quick break after each shake to pay attention to the rhythm to which the leaves at the treetop shake. A slower rhythm means that you can still continue to shake; however, once the leaves start to shake wildly, that's when you want to stop shaking the tree. Defeating the Pokémon that fall down from trees does not, unfortunately, help you recover any of the stolen Berries. I would also like to mention that, in addition to Berries, you can also occasionally find the very useful Leftovers while shaking the Berry Trees.

Final Thoughts

This about sums up all of the helpful tips and tricks you need to know about in Generation 8. Ironically, the various unintentional Den-related exploits are the most useful ones, and here's to hoping that they will not be patched anytime soon. Feel free to use them to your advantage for as long as possible to significantly speed up certain in-game tasks and get the most out of your game. Other than that, I can also only highly recommend the Shiny Charm and the Oval Charm to the shiny hunters among our readers—especially the ones that like to breed via the Masuda Method. Time is money, after all. So, what are you waiting for? Go out there and be the best and most efficient Trainer you can be!
 
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Max. Optimizer

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Alright, shiny finder, I'm finally satisfied with my first draft of this article and I feel like I've included the most notable tips and tricks.
I'll leave pinging other people for QCs to you. As always, I'm more than glad to receive any kind of helpful feedback!

I also welcome the opportunity to thank the lovely Sephirona for having helped me improve the flow in some sentences to make the guide more reader-friendly! 谢谢你!
 

shiny finder

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Chatot Wrangler
ty ty MO. I'll start with my own thoughts and open up the floor.

1.a P2
In addition to this, you can also change the nicknames of Pokémon that already have one, or you can simply remove the nickname by typing the Pokémon's standard species name.
I'd specify as long as it has your OT. You kinda do later, but it might work a bit better if stated earlier in the paragraph.

Another new feature is the ability to nickname Pokémon obtained from Generation 8 events. While you are for example able to nickname the preorder bonus event Gigantamax Meowth on the one hand, you are for example not able to nickname event Pokémon from past generations that count as "Fateful Encounters" on the other. This mechanic is very interesting, as you are for example able to now to give Pokémon from older games longer nicknames, thanks to the increased character limit and you can pick from a variety of characters that were never available before.
I'm not sure I follow your example. Are you trying to say you can't nickname old events, or you can as long as it doesn't have the fateful encounter flag? If the former, the last sentence seems to contradict that since in the example you gave can't give them NN's and the first sentence sets the topic as Gen 8 events.

1.a P4
However, this does not work for moves that you taught your Pokémon via specific tutors and moves that are tied to specific events can also not be remembered.
I'd maybe also specify that it doesn't work with moves via the new EM mechanic. Might wanna fact check that but I'm pretty sure that's what happened when I tested it.

2.a
The game will ask you if you want to save the game and, as soon as press "A" to confirm, you immediately press the "HOME" button as well. The reason as to why we set the Text Speed to "Slow" earlier is because it gives us slightly more time to react to the color of the beam that will shoot out of the den.
The timing here may be better specified as "as soon as you see the beam color, press Home"

2.b weather mons
Think pupitar is only sandstorm, not overcast
don't think vulpix/growlithe is exclusive intense sun
check pupitar intense sun
deino (rain) is sword exclusive
zweilous (thunder) " " "


3.c
Unlike the Catching Charm and the Shiny Charm, he Oval Charm can only be obtained after completing the main story.
since the shiny charm requires all 400 mons, would that not require you to complete the story as well?

4
Meowth-G gets it as regular ability
check tiny mushroom on lvl 21-30
51-60: is max ether rare?
71-80 is max ether rare?
91-100 is big nugget uncommon or rare?

5 P1
In order to do so, you need both the Pokémon that you want to breed an EM onto, as well as a Pokémon of the same species that knows the EM in question.
you do in your example, but I'd also say here that you need free slots

6
A slower rhythm signals you that you can still continue to shake, however, once the leaves start to shake wildly, that's when you want to continue shaking the tree.
Do you mean stop shaking?

General
Only thing I could think of potentially adding is the (notable) rewards from the Champion's Cup as that's the only way to get some extra apriballs or orbs.


Any feedback on MO's guide Eisenherz Lego Christian Kanon90 Milak ?

Obligatory there is not set QC team so if you have thoughts (tagged or not) and want to share them speak up!
 

Milak

Stoïque fierté
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The Effort Values (EVs) Judge can be found in the same house as the Happiness Checker, the one to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center. If your Pokémon has earned the maximum amount of 510 EVs, the lady on the couch will reward your Pokémon with the Effort Ribbon.
- I feel like it could also be worth mentioning that you can check if a Pokemon has earned max EVs just by looking at the summary stats and then press X

Some Pokémon in the Wild Area can only be encountered during very specific weather conditions and it can be quite annoying to wait for the right weather when having to waiting an entire day.
- True but I'd also add how many of these are not Wild Area exclusives and can be encountered in different routes of the Galar region, though maybe with different odds.

- You could also add how Berry Trees have a chance of dropping Leftovers

- As for the Happiness Checker, I'd probably briefly add an example of how to increase friendship faster (i.e catching the Pokemon in a Friend / Luxury Ball -> let the Pokemon hold a Soothe Bell -> use Friendship Berries (might be worth adding the location of the Berry Trees that can drop such berries)

Everything else looks solid! :blobthumbsup:
 
Just wondering but would a section on how to raid be an idea at all? I didn't realise until my second save that raids were scalable according to badges so I could have used them to farm EXP candy to level up faster as well as get TM's not available in any other way before hitting the harder/higher level gyms.

You've also got the save before entering trick to enable rehosting or catching in a limited availability ball like Master, Dream etc. Plus maybe some mention of the best mons to bring and the ones not to bring are an idea.
 

Max. Optimizer

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Changelog:
I'd specify as long as it has your OT. You kinda do later, but it might work a bit better if stated earlier in the paragraph.
You're absolutely right. This was fixed!

I'm not sure I follow your example. Are you trying to say you can't nickname old events, or you can as long as it doesn't have the fateful encounter flag? If the former, the last sentence seems to contradict that since in the example you gave can't give them NN's and the first sentence sets the topic as Gen 8 events.
Yes, in hindsight I should've phrased it better and I decided to change it to the following:

"While you are for example able to nickname the preorder bonus event Gigantamax Meowth on the one hand, you are for example not able to nickname event Pokémon from past generations, since they are treated as "Fateful Encounters" on the other."

I wanted to express that the fact that they're "Fateful Encounters" from past generations is the reason as to why they're not able to be nicknamed.

I'd maybe also specify that it doesn't work with moves via the new EM mechanic. Might wanna fact check that but I'm pretty sure that's what happened when I tested it.
Yes, this was added. I just checked it myself with a Clefable from Let's GO that I taught the EM Wish through the new mechanic.
When trying to remember it, it didn't appear in the list of available moves. Thanks for suggesting this.

The timing here may be better specified as "as soon as you see the beam color, press Home"
I agree, yes. This was fixed!

Think pupitar is only sandstorm, not overcast
don't think vulpix/growlithe is exclusive intense sun
check pupitar intense sun
deino (rain) is sword exclusive
zweilous (thunder) " " "
I checked both Serebii and rankedboost, and both sources state that Larvitar appears during Intense Sun and Overcast. No mention of Sandstorm.

Both of these sources also only ever mention Intense Sun for both Vulpix and Growlithe. I did however remove the "Sword" and "Shield"for Vulpix and Growlithe, since only their evolutions are version-exclusive.

Deino is Shield-exclusive to my knowledge, Zweilous is Sword-exclusive.

since the shiny charm requires all 400 mons, would that not require you to complete the story as well?
I was thinking that too, but wouldn't it also be possible to get it early if you manage to complete it via touch trades through the help of a sibling, friend, community member?

Meowth-G gets it as regular ability
check tiny mushroom on lvl 21-30
51-60: is max ether rare?
71-80 is max ether rare?
91-100 is big nugget uncommon or rare?
You're right, I added Meowth-G to the list.

Serebii lists Tiny Mushroom as "Uncommon" for 21-30, but Bulbapedia does not. Samurai Gamers lists it again...
Serebii doesn't list Max Ether for 51-60, whereas Bulbapedia does. Samurai Gamers lists it again...
It's the opposite again for the 71-80 range, Serebii lists it and Bulbapedia does not. Samurai Gamers doesn't list it at all...
Serebii says that the Big Nugget is uncommon, whereas Bulbapedia says that it's rare. Samurai Gamers says that it's uncommon...

I currently don't really know who to trust, albeit Samurai Gamers agrees with Serebii for the most part, bar the 71-80 Max Ether...
Unless they meant to, but it was an oversight? I kept things as they are now until I hear/read your personal opinion on this.

you do in your example, but I'd also say here that you need free slots
Good point, this something that I need to keep in mind for future guides. I need to give this sort of information as early as possible, not just in the later examples. This was noted and fixed!

"You can also teach multiple EMs at once via this method, do however ensure that the Pokémon that will inherit them has enough free slots in its moveset. If you need to make room for a move or more, you can easily do so at the Move Deleter that you can find in any of the Galar region's Pokémon Centers."

Do you mean stop shaking?
Yes, derp. This was fixed!

General
Only thing I could think of potentially adding is the (notable) rewards from the Champion's Cup as that's the only way to get some extra apriballs or orbs.
Good point, I agree.

I added it to the Day Skipping Exploit part:

"This method of earning money is for example a lot faster and way more efficient than the one that requires you to redo the Champion's Cup with your Gigantamax Meowth and the Amulet Coin over and over again. However, doing the Champion's Cup has the advantage that you can simultaneously earn a lot of money and, with a bit of luck, earn rewards, such as Apricorn Balls, Life Orbs, Toxic Orbs, and Flame Orbs."

- I feel like it could also be worth mentioning that you can check if a Pokemon has earned max EVs just by looking at the summary stats and then press X
Good point, this was added.

"While one could check to see if a Pokémon has earned all of the available 510 EVs, by checking its summary and by pressing "X" while on the stats tab, one can also check this by visiting a very specific NPC in the game. The Effort Values (EVs) Judge can be found in the same house as the Happiness Checker, the one to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center. If your Pokémon has earned the maximum amount of 510 EVs, the lady on the couch will reward your Pokémon with the Effort Ribbon."

- True but I'd also add how many of these are not Wild Area exclusives and can be encountered in different routes of the Galar region, though maybe with different odds.
I feel like that would deviate a bit too much from the benefits of using the weather exploit in the Wild Area.

- You could also add how Berry Trees have a chance of dropping Leftovers
True that, I added this.

"I would also like to mention that, in addition to Berries, you can also occasionally find the useful Leftovers while shaking the berry trees."

- As for the Happiness Checker, I'd probably briefly add an example of how to increase friendship faster (i.e catching the Pokemon in a Friend / Luxury Ball -> let the Pokemon hold a Soothe Bell -> use Friendship Berries (might be worth adding the location of the Berry Trees that can drop such berries)
This was added. Good thinking!

Down below you can find a list with easy ways that can help you raise your Pokémon's Happiness efficiently:
  1. Catch the Pokémon in either a Luxury Ball or a Friend Ball.
  2. Let the Pokémon hold the Soothe Bell, a helpful item that increases your Pokémon's Happiness level the more you walk around battle with it. You can obtain this item by talking to the Happiness Checker in Hammerlocke.
  3. Feed the Pokémon EV-increasing Vitamins, such as HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc, and Carbos. They can be purchased in exchange for 2 Battle Points (BP) each from the League Staff lady in Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center or for 10,000 Poké Dollars each at the right counter of Wyndon's southern Pokémon Center. In addition to this, they can also be randomly obtained after winning ranked battles in Battle Stadium.
  4. Feed the Pokémon EV-reducing Berries, such as Pomeg Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), Kelpsy Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and Rolling Fields), Qualot Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, Giant's Seat, and Motostoke Riverbank), Hondew Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and North Lake Miloch), Grepa Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), and Tamato Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, and Motostoke Riverbank).
  5. Play with your Pokémon in Pokémon Camp and make sure to cook Curry for it.

Just wondering but would a section on how to raid be an idea at all? I didn't realise until my second save that raids were scalable according to badges so I could have used them to farm EXP candy to level up faster as well as get TM's not available in any other way before hitting the harder/higher level gyms.

You've also got the save before entering trick to enable rehosting or catching in a limited availability ball like Master, Dream etc. Plus maybe some mention of the best mons to bring and the ones not to bring are an idea.
The way I understand it, raid battles are supposed to be a separate topic, but, if shiny finder agrees, then I'll gladly add a summary with a few tips and tricks. Thanks for the input.

I hope that I implemented everything satisfactorily to the best of my abilities. I'm open for further suggestions and I'll only count the QCs if the respective users feel like they were implemented adequately. Thanks for the invaluable help as always, friends!

Edit: I changed the title to [0/?] to signal that more than 2 QCs are welcome!
 
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shiny finder

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Chatot Wrangler
I checked both Serebii and rankedboost, and both sources state that Larvitar appears during Intense Sun and Overcast. No mention of Sandstorm.

Deino is Shield-exclusive to my knowledge, Zweilous is Sword-exclusive.
Agreed, tho the mon in question was Pupitar.
The Deino line is Sword exlusive, counterparted with Goomy for Shield.


I was thinking that too, but wouldn't it also be possible to get it early if you manage to complete it via touch trades through the help of a sibling, friend, community member?
True, I hadn't considered that. Unless there's some requirement that you must also be the champ, you're right you could get it earlier. I don't think that was a req in previous games.

Serebii lists Tiny Mushroom as "Uncommon" for 21-30, but Bulbapedia does not. Samurai Gamers lists it again...
Serebii doesn't list Max Ether for 51-60, whereas Bulbapedia does. Samurai Gamers lists it again...
It's the opposite again for the 71-80 range, Serebii lists it and Bulbapedia does not. Samurai Gamers doesn't list it at all...
Serebii says that the Big Nugget is uncommon, whereas Bulbapedia says that it's rare. Samurai Gamers says that it's uncommon...

I currently don't really know who to trust, albeit Samurai Gamers agrees with Serebii for the most part, bar the 71-80 Max Ether...
Unless they meant to, but it was an oversight? I kept things as they are now until I hear/read your personal opinion on this.
Hmm well someone is wrong lol. Regarding the Max Ether, it seems a bit weird that it'd disappear at 51-60 and then reappear again, as that's not how the tables have worked in the previous games. But short of a datamine I don't think anyone will be able to tell you for certain. If you feel like leaving it at this is best, I have no objections. I can't think of a great way around it anyway.


The way I understand it, raid battles are supposed to be a separate topic, but, if shiny finder agrees, then I'll gladly add a summary with a few tips and tricks. Thanks for the input.
That's actually a great idea Hare_vs_Tortoise! I'm a little concerned about opening that pandora's box given the length of the article already, but a separate topic on raids can definitely be built from that.
 

Lego

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1. Helpful NPCs:
While you've described the location of these NPCs really well, I've always found guides about npcs that lack a picture of their location to be underwhelming, and it's a lot of text to read just to try and extract what they look like.
Once your Pokémon has reached the maximum Happiness level of 255, the boy will reward your Pokémon with the Best Friends Ribbon.

Down below you can find a list with easy ways that can help you raise your Pokémon's Happiness efficiently:
I'm not 100% sure on this, but from memory you can only use berries (and possibly vitamins?) to increase happiness up to 160 or 170, the rest has to be done through camping. If you decide to research this and discover that it's true, it'd definitely be worth mentioning here. You could also say that mons that evolve via happiness only need to be raised to this threshold too. I would also probably state how much each of the listed methods increases happiness by (and it looks like you forgot to mention Rare Candies!)

While one could check to see if a Pokémon has earned all of the available 510 EVs, by checking its summary and by pressing "X" while on the stats tab, one can also check this by visiting a very specific NPC in the game.
Not really a QC thing but I felt like the first comma in this sentence really broke the flow and I had to go back and read it a few times to work out what you were saying.

Go and find a den in the Wild Area. It can either be a den that is already active, or you can just simply use a Wishing Piece to activate a currently inactive den. Both methods works.
I'd note that if you plan on skipping multiple days (i.e. rolling for a specific weather), it's best to use a wishing piece as natural dens will move after the first skip. Also note that changing the date may impact other games! (Cough, Animal Crossing, cough)
3. Charm Items:
Screenshots of the people who give you these would be cool
It significantly increases the standard 1/4096 odds of finding a shiny Pokémon that exist since the Generation 6 games to 1/1365.
Again not really a QC thing but the "that exist since the Generation 6 games" feels kinda superfluous.

I might give this another read later as I'm bound to have missed something in this enormous essay, but nice work!
 

Max. Optimizer

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Changelog:
Agreed, tho the mon in question was Pupitar.
The Deino line is Sword exlusive, counterparted with Goomy for Shield.
This was fixed.

True, I hadn't considered that. Unless there's some requirement that you must also be the champ, you're right you could get it earlier. I don't think that was a req in previous games.
Yes, the only Charm Item that is explicitly mentioned as post-game is the Oval Charm one.

Hmm well someone is wrong lol. Regarding the Max Ether, it seems a bit weird that it'd disappear at 51-60 and then reappear again, as that's not how the tables have worked in the previous games. But short of a datamine I don't think anyone will be able to tell you for certain. If you feel like leaving it at this is best, I have no objections. I can't think of a great way around it anyway.
True. Ah well, I'll go with this for now. If anybody ever dumps the datamine for this, we can still make slight adjustments later on.

While you've described the location of these NPCs really well, I've always found guides about npcs that lack a picture of their location to be underwhelming, and it's a lot of text to read just to try and extract what they look like.
Sounds like a good idea. Do you have any of the pictures at hand per chance?
You helped me with pictures already with my Festival Plaza TFP article.

I'm not 100% sure on this, but from memory you can only use berries (and possibly vitamins?) to increase happiness up to 160 or 170, the rest has to be done through camping. If you decide to research this and discover that it's true, it'd definitely be worth mentioning here. You could also say that mons that evolve via happiness only need to be raised to this threshold too. I would also probably state how much each of the listed methods increases happiness by (and it looks like you forgot to mention Rare Candies!)
Excellent point. It does indeed cap at 160 and the rest has to be done via Camp. Happiness Evolutions no longer require a level of 200, but 160.
This was added, good catch!

[*]Please do however note that raising your Pokémon's Happiness level via Vitamins and Berries caps at 160 points. Fortunately however, the Happiness level that is necessary to evolve some Pokémon has been lowered from 220 points to 160 points in Generation 8.
[*]Now, if you want to fully max out the remaining 95 Happiness points, you will have to do so by playing with your Pokémon in Pokémon Camp and by cooking delicious Curry for it.

Not really a QC thing but I felt like the first comma in this sentence really broke the flow and I had to go back and read it a few times to work out what you were saying.
Fair criticism, I appreciate it. This was fixed.

I'd note that if you plan on skipping multiple days (i.e. rolling for a specific weather), it's best to use a wishing piece as natural dens will move after the first skip. Also note that changing the date may impact other games! (Cough, Animal Crossing, cough)
Good point, thank you for pointing it out.

Go and find a den in the Wild Area. It can either be a den that is already active, or you can just simply use a Wishing Piece to activate a currently inactive den. Both methods works. However, if you are going to skip multiple days one at a time (in order to roll for a specific weather for example), I recommend using Wishing Pieces, as natural dens will move after the first skip.

2. b Date Skip Exploit:

The Date Skip Exploit requires a bit of a different setup. Also please keep in mind that skipping the date in Pokémon will also affect time-based events of other games on your Switch!

Screenshots of the people who give you these would be cool
Same as above, good point.

Again not really a QC thing but the "that exist since the Generation 6 games" feels kinda superfluous.
I got rid of it, thank you!

I hope that this was implemented satisfactorily so far. Pictures will follow soon!
 
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Light Sanctity

The Usurper
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2E324BC2-9326-4FB4-94EA-9711E9D1CA7D.jpeg

here is the Pokémon center NPC

5463E4E3-46ED-4E98-9F26-646B4D5FC404.jpeg

this is in Hammerlocke (in front) for the NPCs for Happiness Checker and Effort Value checker.
5A101FC1-2851-44CA-B521-0D3013495D61.jpeg
E444E1E3-2003-46A2-B890-CF1BD3719C8A.jpeg

Max. Optimizer I was originally thinking of not taking an image of the first one as what you mentioned about him is fairly (for location) obvious but I decided to anyways. Hope that helps out! :blobthumbsup:

EDIT: image retaken without the stamp :)

The building in which you obtain the charms:
593F946B-3960-4992-BDC9-4FE2515ADE14.jpeg


Below is for oval charm (post game only) this NPC is in the first door on the left after the player leaves the elevator. As the officer wants you to become the Galar Champion to obtain it.
6C93B68F-7D03-472C-B882-79DC47778481.jpeg


here is the individual who gives the catching/shiny charm. He is in the final door after the player leaves the elevator.
936FAC2B-79F1-46D8-A7D5-CA1C8C4D4E2D.jpeg

F8D3184A-97E7-450D-9BA8-C56FD8BE5A88.jpeg

(Wasn’t sure if the images of the doors were needed or not) If they are let me know and I can screen shot them, too! Adding these illustrations is a good idea as Lego had mentioned. It helps greatly and makes things a bit easier for users.
 
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Max. Optimizer

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Alright, I just finished implementing Light Sanctity's illustrations.

I also implemented Lego's research findings regarding Happiness levels and how to raise them. In addition to this, I also implemented a list of all of the Pokémon in the Galar region that evolve through the Happiness method:

Down below you can find a list with easy ways that can help you raise your Pokémon's Happiness efficiently: I would like to welcome the opportunity to give a shout out to Lego for helping research some of the data:

Throughout the following list, I will refer to "the use of items that increase the Happiness level by a non-zero amount" as "actions":
  1. Catch the Pokémon in either a Luxury Ball or a Friend Ball. There is no immediate increase when catching a Pokémon in a Luxury Ball, instead, it will raise the Happiness level of the Pokémon by +1 for every action after it got caught. The Friend Ball, however, will immediately raise a Pokémon's Happiness level to 150, regardless of its initial base level. For example, a Mudbray with a base Happiness level of 50 will immediately have its level raised to 150 and a Duskull with a base Happiness level of 35 will also have its level raised to 150.
  2. Let the Pokémon hold the Soothe Bell, a helpful item that increases your Pokémon's Happiness level the more you walk around battle with it. Similar to the Luxury Ball, this item will also increase the Pokémon's Happiness level by +1 for every action as long as it is equipped to the Pokémon. You can obtain this item by talking to the Happiness Checker in Hammerlocke.
  3. Walking around with the Pokémon in front of your party will also increase its Happiness level by +1 for every few steps taken. However, this method will stop working once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  4. Feed the Pokémon EV-increasing Vitamins, such as HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc, and Carbos. They can be purchased in exchange for 2 Battle Points (BP) each from the League Staff lady in Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center or for 10,000 Poké Dollars each at the right counter of Wyndon's southern Pokémon Center. In addition to this, they can also be randomly obtained after winning ranked battles in Battle Stadium. The Vitamins will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +4 if its level is 0-99, by +2 if its level is 100-159, and they will stop raising the level once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  5. Feed the Pokémon Rare Candies. The Candies will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +3 if its level is 0-99, by +2 if its level is 100-159, and, much like the Vitamins, they will stop raising the level once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  6. Feed the Pokémon EV-reducing Berries, such as Pomeg Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), Kelpsy Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and Rolling Fields), Qualot Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, Giant's Seat, and Motostoke Riverbank), Hondew Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and North Lake Miloch), Grepa Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), and Tamato Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, and Motostoke Riverbank). These Berries will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +10 if its level is 0-99, by +5 if its level is 100-159, and they will actually keep raising the level by +1 even after the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  7. Fortunately, the Happiness level that is necessary to evolve certain Pokémon has been lowered from 220 points to 160 points in Generation 8. This for example the case for Eevee (Espeon during the day and Umbreon during the night), Pichu, Cleffa, Togepi, Budew (Roselia during the day), Munchlax, Riolu (Lucario during the day), Woobat, Meowth (Alola forme), Snom (Frosmoth during the night), and Type: Null.
  8. Now, if you want to fully max out the remaining 95 Happiness points, you will have to do so by playing with your Pokémon in Pokémon Camp and by cooking delicious Curry for it. A single Copperajah class Curry is for example enough to raise the Pokémon's Happiness level from 160 straight to 255.
Milak got back to me on Discord and he said that he was satisfied with the way in which I implemented his suggestions.

Once, Lego confirms that his suggestions were implemented satisfactorily, I will proceed to change the title to [QC 3/3].

Finally, I welcome the opportunity once more to state that my gratitude is graciously extended to everyone that has contributed to this by making suggestions for improvements. I appreciate every single one of you!
 
Last edited:

Light Sanctity

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Please know that the amchecks are up to you on whether or not you’d like to implement them. :)


Title: SS In-Game Tips and Tricks

Introduction

In this article, I will discuss useful tips and tricks that will for your journey across the Galar region in the Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield games.
I would like to start by saying that, while some of the tips and tricks you are about to find below can only be done once you have become the Champion of the Galar region, (RC)(AP) I have (tried) also decided to include as many useful tips and tricks as possible for you to use to your advantage while playing through the story on your copy of the game. By the end of this article, you should be able to make a lot of things considerably faster and easier for yourself, allowing you to fully focus on your objectives without having to waste too much time. Everything I will mention over the course of this article can be done in both versions of the games and no Nintendo Switch Online Membership is required. I would like to welcome the opportunity to give a shout out to Light Sanctity for providing the screenshots.

1. Helpful NPCs

Since You will find many helpful NPCs in Galar, it can sometimes be hard to remember which one offers which service, as well as their locations.
For that reason, I decided to dedicate the first paragraph to a compilation of the NPCs that you will most likely find yourself visiting the most.

1. a Name Rater, Memory Checker, Move Reminder & Move Deleter


Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. While you had to travel around quite a bit in previous regions to access all of the mentioned services, Game Freak finally decided to make things considerably more convenient, and, in the Galar region, the Name Rater, the Memory Checker, the Move Reminder and the Move Deleter are finally one and the same person now. To make matters even more convenient, this NPC can be found behind the left counter in every single Pokémon Center across the Galar region. You can easily spot the man in question, since he is always accompanied by his partner Indeedee.

The first service he offers involves rating the nickname of your Pokémon. This means that, if you forgot to give your Pokémon a nickname when you you originally caught or hatched, you can always go to this NPC as many times as you want, in order to give it a nickname later on. In addition to this, as long as you are the Original Trainer (OT), you can also change the nicknames of Pokémon that already have one, or you can simply remove the nickname by typing the Pokémon's standard species name. However, starting with Generation 8, it is now also possible to nickname other trainer's Pokémon if they do not already have one. However, it is important to note that this only works if a Pokémon does not already have a nickname, as mentioned before, and the Pokémon's language/region matches the language/region of your game(could add that the player has only one chance to change a non OT mon given it has its based name). Another new feature is the ability to nickname Pokémon obtained from Generation 8 events. While you are for example able to nickname the preorder bonus event Gigantamax Meowth on the one hand, you are for example not able to nickname event Pokémon from past generations, since they are treated as "Fateful Encounters" on the other. This mechanic is very interesting, as you are for example able to now to (does not make sense) give Pokémon from older games longer nicknames, thanks to the increased character limit and you can pick from a variety of characters that were never available before.

The second service he offers involves checking the memories of your own Pokémon, as well as the ones of Pokémon you received in trades with other trainers from all around the world. In addition to this, the man will also be able to tell you the emotions that the Pokémon felt in specific moments during your adventures.

The third service he offers involves helping your Pokémon remember deleted or "forgotten" moves. This works for moves that your Pokémon learns normally via leveling up, as well as moves that it inherited from its parents via breeding. However, this does not work for moves that you taught your Pokémon via specific tutors, moves that have been acquired via the new Egg Moves (EMs) mechanic that I am going explain further below, as well as moves that are tied to specific events can also not be remembered. You should hence not act hastily and carefully think things through if you decide to replace these kinds of moves. Another significant improvement in Generation 8 consists in the fact that the Move Reminder does no longer take Heart Scales as a currency in exchange for his services, all of his services are completely free.

The fourth and final service he offers involves helping your Pokémon forget moves. However, while this is service is pretty much self-explanatory on the one hand, I still wanted to welcome the opportunity to remind you that you need to be particularly careful when deleting moves on the other (were you meaning to add something else?). As I have already mentioned in the paragraph above, moves that were acquired via specific tutor moves in previous generations cannot be remembered once they were forgotten. The same also applies to moves that are exclusive to certain events.

1. b Happiness Checker


The Happiness Checker can be found in the house to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center. You can check the Happiness level of your Pokémon by showing them to the little boy. However, since you can not check the exact numbers regarding the Happiness level of your Pokémon, and since the response of the boy are rather vague, I decided to include a table that shows you which response corresponds to which Happiness level range, ranging from lowest (0) to highest (255):

ResponseHappines Level Range
"Maybe you're a bit too strict? It doesn't seem like you're friends at all..."​
0​
"I guess you two just met? It's still getting used to things."​
1-49​
"Seems like it likes you an average amount! Don't worry—you two will get closer as time passes!"​
50-89​
"Wow, I think you're on your way to becoming real good friends!"​
100-149​
"Seems like you're pretty good friends! Still, I bet you could become even closer!"​
150-199​
"You two get along great! Together is always better—am I right?"​
200-229​
"You two are almost best friends! I can see you really care about each other!"​
230-254​
"Oh wow, you're best buddies! I can tell you're so happy to be together!"​
255​

Once your Pokémon has reached the maximum Happiness level of 255, the boy will reward your Pokémon with the Best Friends Ribbon.

Below you can find a list with easy ways that can help you raise your Pokémon's Happiness efficiently: I would like to welcome the opportunity to give a shout out to Lego for helping research some of the data:

Throughout the following list, I will refer to "the use of items that increase the Happiness level by a non-zero amount" as "actions":
  1. Catch the Pokémon in either a Luxury Ball or a Friend Ball. There is no immediate increase when catching a Pokémon in a Luxury Ball, instead, it will raise the Happiness level of the Pokémon by +1 for every action after it got caught. The Friend Ball, however, will immediately raise a Pokémon's Happiness level to 150, regardless of its initial base level. For example, a Mudbray with a base Happiness level of 50 will immediately have its level raised to 150 and a Duskull with a base Happiness level of 35 will also have its level raised to 150.
  2. Let the Pokémon hold the Soothe Bell, a helpful item that increases your Pokémon's Happiness level the more you walk around battle (maybe add and preceding battle or remove it) with it. Similar to the Luxury Ball, this item will also increase the Pokémon's Happiness level by +1 for every action as long as it is equipped to the Pokémon. You can obtain this item by talking to the Happiness Checker in Hammerlocke.
  3. Walking around with the Pokémon in front of your party will also increase its Happiness level by +1 for every few steps taken. However, this method will stop working once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  4. Feed the Pokémon EV-increasing Vitamins, such as HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc, and Carbos. They can be purchased in exchange for 2 Battle Points (BP) each from the League Staff lady in Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center or for 10,000 Poké Dollars each at the right counter of Wyndon's southern Pokémon Center. In addition to this, they can also be randomly obtained after winning ranked battles in Battle Stadium. The Vitamins will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +4 if its level is 0-99, by +2 if its level is 100-159, and they will stop raising the level once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  5. Feed the Pokémon Rare Candies. The Candies will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +3 if its level is 0-99, by +2 if its level is 100-159, and, much like the Vitamins, they will stop raising the level once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  6. Feed the Pokémon EV-reducing Berries, such as Pomeg Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), Kelpsy Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and Rolling Fields), Qualot Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, Giant's Seat, and Motostoke Riverbank), Hondew Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and North Lake Miloch), Grepa Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), and Tamato Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, and Motostoke Riverbank). These Berries will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +10 if its level is 0-99, by +5 if its level is 100-159, and they will actually keep raising the level by +1 even after the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  7. Fortunately, the Happiness level that is necessary to evolve certain Pokémon has been lowered from 220 points to 160 points in Generation 8. This for example,(AC) the case for Eevee (Espeon during the day and Umbreon during the night), Pichu, Cleffa, Togepi, Budew (Roselia during the day), Munchlax, Riolu (Lucario during the day), Woobat, Meowth (Alola forme), Snom (Frosmoth during the night), and Type: Null.
  8. Now, if you want to fully max out the remaining 95 Happiness points, you will have to do so by playing with your Pokémon in Pokémon Camp and by cooking delicious Curry for it. A single Copperajah class Curry is for example enough able to raise the Pokémon's Happiness level from 160 straight to 255.
1. c Effort Values (EVs) Judge


While one could check to see if a Pokémon has earned all of the available 510 EVs by checking its summary and by pressing "X" while on the stats tab, one can also check this by visiting a very specific NPC in the game. The Effort Values (EVs) Judge can be found in the same house as the Happiness Checker, the one to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center. If your Pokémon has earned the maximum amount of 510 EVs, the lady on the couch will reward your Pokémon with the Effort Ribbon.

2. Exploits

I dedicate the second paragraph to two major kinds of exploits that you can perform in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. However, keep in mind that Game Freak can patch this exploit in the future, meaning that while it worked at the time I wrote this guide, it might unfortunately not work anymore in the future by the time you are reading this. So, let us not waste any time and make good use of them as long as we can!

2. a Purple Beam Dens Exploit

To efficiently aim for Purple Beam Dens, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Press "X" and go to "Options" in order to set the Text Speed to "Slow".
  2. Scroll a bit further down in the "Options" menu and ensure that the "Autosave" feature is set to "Off".
  3. Make sure that you have one or more Wishing Pieces in your inventory.
  4. Go and find an inactive den in the Wild Area and save the game in front of it.
  5. Interact with the den and use a Wishing Piece.
  6. The game will ask you if you want to save the game and, as soon as you see the beam color, press "HOME". The reason as to why we set the Text Speed to "Slow" earlier is because it gives us slightly more time to react to the color of the beam that will shoot out of the den.
  7. Sometimes the beam will be red. In this case, just reset your game by pressing "X" and then selecting "Close" and try again until you get the purple beam.
2. b Date Skip Exploit

The Date Skip Exploit requires a bit of a different setup. Also please keep in mind that skipping the date in Pokémon will also affect time-based events of other games on your Switch!
To get it to work, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Go and find a den in the Wild Area. It can either be a den that is already active, or you can just simply use a Wishing Piece to activate a currently inactive den. Both methods works. However, if you are going to skip multiple days one at a time (in order to roll for a specific weather for example), I recommend using Wishing Pieces, as natural dens will move after the first skip.
  2. Interact with the den and click the "Invite Others" option.
  3. Press the "HOME" button to access the main menu and proceed to open the System Settings.
  4. Scroll all the way down to "System" and then pick the "Date and Time" option under "Language" and "Region".
  5. For it to work, you need to ensure that the "Synchronize Time via Internet" option is set to "Off".
  6. Change the date on your console to the next day and click "OK" once you have done so.
  7. Press "B" to go back into the main menu and go back to your Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield game.
  8. Back in-game, you cancel the raid.
This exploit can significantly speed up many time-based tasks in the games, such as berry growing or completing Poké Jobs for example.
The Hammerlocke University hosts daily EV training Poké Job seminars during which your Pokémon gain 4 EVs for every passing hour.
If you want to speed up this process, remember to send your Pokémon to do these Poké Jobs before doing this exploit. Once you have followed the steps above correctly, you can go and pick up your fully EV trained Pokémon again at the PC in the nearest Pokémon Center. Remember that the effects of factors such as the Pokérus and the Power Items are also taken into account when EV training with this method.

While you are already at the PC, you might as well use this exploit repeatedly to replay the Loto-ID for a chance to win items such as Moomoo Milk, PP Up, PP Max, Rare Candy, or even the highly sought-after Master Ball!

Since the den stays active every single time you skip a day, this means also means that there will be 2000 Watts pouring out of it every single time you repeat this trick. Please do however note that you need to have finished the game in order to reap the full 2000 Watts. The notable amount of Watts that you can collect in a short amount of time allows you to buy many Wishing Pieces, Technical Records (TRs) and even Luxury Balls for only 100 Watts each. You can then proceed to sell the Luxury Balls that you got from the traders in the Wild Area at any Pokémon Center for 1500 Poké Dollars. This way, you can earn huge amounts of money in no time, allowing you to purchase the expensive Technical Machines (TMs), as well as the clothes. You can also spend your Watts at the Digging Duo near the Daycare in Bridge Field (Wild Area) and collect more Wishing Pieces, fossils, evolution stones, and Bottle Caps, all while also collecting items that you can sell for Poké Dollars, such as Rare Bones, Stardust and Star Pieces. This method of earning money is for example a lot faster and way more efficient than the one that requires you to redo the Champion's Cup with your Gigantamax Meowth and the Amulet Coin over and over again. However, doing the Champion's Cup has the advantage that you can simultaneously earn a lot of money and, with a bit of luck, earn rewards, such as Apricorn Balls, Life Orbs, Toxic Orbs, and Flame Orbs.

This exploit can also be used to change the weather in the Wild Area. Some Pokémon in the Wild Area can only be encountered during very specific weather conditions and it can be quite annoying to wait for the right weather when having to waiting an entire day. However, please note that you will have to have beaten the first 3 Gyms and have made your way to Hammerlocke, in order to unlock both the Sandstorm and the Snowstorm weather. In a similar manner, you need to have beaten the game in order to unlock the Fog weather!

On the first day of every month, the weather is the exact same in all the places in the Wild Area.
Below you can find a list with key dates, their respective weather conditions and the Pokémon that will show up in the Wild Area:

DateWeatherPokémon
February 1st​
Snowstorm:​
Sneasel, Swinub, Piloswine, Delibird, Mawile, Snorunt, Glalie, Mime Jr., Riolu, Snover, Abomasnow, Weavile, Glaceon, Vanillite, Vanillish, Vanilluxe, Cubchoo, Pawniard, Honedge, Avalugg, Togedemaru, Eiscue (Shield)​
March 1st​
Overcast​
Farfetch'd (Sword), Kingler, Hitmonlee (Sword), Hitmonchan (Shield), Togepi, Espeon, Corsola (Shield), Hitmontop, Larvitar (Shield), Ralts, Roserade, Croagunk (Shield), Toxicroak (Shield), Munna, Throh (Shield), Sawk (Shield), Cottonee, Scraggy, Cinccino, Karrablast, Elgyem, Shelmet, Spritzee (Shield), Swirlix (Sword), Barbaracle, Shiinotic, Jangmo-o (Sword), Rookidee, Falinks, Dreepy​
April 1st​
Sandstorm​
Umbreon, Pupitar (Shield), Nincada, Trapinch, Flygon, Bonsly, Hippopotas, Hippowdon, Croagunk (Shield), Gigalith, Drilbur, Scraggy, Stunfisk, Zweilous (Sword), Mudbray, Carkol, Stonjourner (Sword)​
May 1st​
Normal Weather​
Cloyster, Kingler, Lanturn, Togepi, Bellossom, Gardevoir, Flygon, Crawdaunt, Combee, Vespiquen, Munchlax, Lucario, Croagunk (Shield), Leafeon, Gigalith, Scraggy, Cinccino, Elgyem, Steenee, Golisopod, Blipbug, Gossilfeur, Wooloo, Applin, Toxel​
June 1st​
Fog​
Clefairy, Clefable, Cloyster, Lanturn, Togepi, Togetic, Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir, Sableye (Shield), Milotic, Roserade, Togekiss, Munna, Musharna, Cinccino, Gothita (Sword), Gothorita (Sword), Gothitelle (Sword), Solosis (Shield), Duosion (Shield), Reuniclus (Shield), Elgyem, Litwick, Meowstic, Honedge, Aegislash, Spritzee (Shield), Swirlix (Sword), Sylveon, Morelull, Mimikyu, Hatenna, Milcery, Indeedee, Dreepy​
July 1st​
Intense Sun​
Vulpix, Ninetales (Sword), Growlithe, Arcanine (Shield), Flareon, Larvitar (Shield), Nincada, Torkoal, Flygon, Hippopotas, Gigalith, Drilbur, Maractus, Litwick, Lampent, Chandelure, Stunfisk, Heatmor, Durant, Mudbray, Salandit, Turtonator (Sword), Jangmo-o (Sword), Carkol, Stonjourner (Sword)​
October 1st​
Raining​
Pikachu, Vaporeon, Electrike, Crawdaunt, Rotom, Karrablast, Shelmet, Deino (Sword), Binacle, Barbaracle, Goomy (Shield), Grubbin, Charjabug, Dewpider, Araquanid, Shiinotic, Wimpod, Golisopod, Toxel​
November 1st​
Thunderstorm​
Pikachu, Kingler, Jolteon, Chinchou, Lanturn, Gardevoir, Electrike, Manectric, Crawdaunt, Rotom, Karrablast, Joltik, Shelmet, Zweilous (Sword), Binacle, Barbaracle, Helioptile, Sliggo (Shield), Grubbin, Charjabug, Mareanie, Dewpider, Araquanid, Shiinotic, Wimpod, Golisopod, Pyukumuku, Drampa (Shield), Hakamo-o (Sword), Yamper, Applin, Toxel, Morpeko, Dreepy​
December 1st​
Snowing​
Mr. Mime, Sneasel, Swinub, Piloswine, Delibird, Snorunt, Glalie, Snover, Abomasnow, Glaceon, Vanillite, Vanillish, Vanilluxe, Cubchoo, Beartic, Bergmite, Avalugg, Wooloo, Snom, Eiscue (Shield)​

3. Charm Items

I dedicate the third paragraph to the 3 Charm Items. They are very useful Key Items, meaning that their respective influence will become effective the moment you obtain them and store them away in the designated Key Items section in your inventory. You will hence not have to constantly equip them to a Pokémon in your party for them to work.

3. a Catching Charm


The first Charm Item on our list is the Catching Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds for Critical Catches when trying to catch wild Pokémon. You will notice a Critical Catch when the ball makes a, what players describe as a, "whistling sound", before it shakes only once and then either catches the Pokémon or breaks. While the catch rate is undeniably increased during a Critical Catch, this does not mean that you are guaranteed the Pokémon whenever one occurs.

To obtain this item, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left). You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item.
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the second room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the Game Director (depicted as a Doctor) and he will hand you the Catching Charm.
3. b Shiny Charm


The second Charm Item on our list is the Shiny Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of encountering a shiny Pokémon. Despite the fact that you need to have all 400 Pokémon of the Galar region registered in your Pokédex, the time and effort spent to earn this item is well worth it in the end. It significantly increases the standard 1/4096 odds of finding a shiny Pokémon to 1/1365. Not only does the Shiny Charm influence the odds of finding shiny Pokémon in the wild, but it also influences the odds of hatching a shiny Pokémon from an egg: the 1/683 odds of hatching a shiny Pokémon via the Masuda Method, meaning with two breeding parents that have different language origins, are increased additionally to 1/512 odds thanks to the Shiny Charm. However, please note that the Shiny Charm does not influence the odds of gifted Pokémon, revived Fossil Pokémon or Raid Pokémon.

To obtain this item, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Once you have registered all 400 Pokémon in your Pokédex, visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the second room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the Game Director (depicted as a Doctor) and he will hand you the Shiny Charm, a diploma, as well as a League Card sticker.
3. c Oval Charm


The third and final Charm Item on our list the Oval Charm. As the name suggests, this item will speed up the egg production at the Daycares on Route 5 and in Bridge Field (Wild Area). Unlike the Catching Charm and the Shiny Charm, the Oval Charm can only be obtained after completing the main story.

To obtain this item, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Once you have become the champion of the Galar region, visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the first room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the GAME FREAK's Morimoto (depicted as a Police Officer) and he will hand you the Oval Charm after you defeat him in a battle.
I do however recommend coming prepared when challenging Morimoto. Not only does his team consist of 6 Pokémon at level 65, but you also have to battle him in a Double Battle. He leads with Grapploct and Cursola and has Stonjourner, Dragapult, Coalossal, and even a Dynamax Snorlax in the back. Be especially careful with Cursola's Perish Body Hidden Ability.

4. Pickup

The fourth paragraph is dedicated to the Pickup ability.Thus notably useful ability allows certain Pokémon in your party to literally "pick up" random items after battles.
The following Pick Up Pokémon can be found in the Galar region without a Nintendo Switch Online Membership:
  1. Meowth (Galar forme)
  2. Zigzagoon (Galar forme)
  3. Linoone (Galar forme)
  4. Munchlax
  5. Bunnelby
  6. Diggersby
  7. Pumpkaboo
  8. Gourgeist
However, if you do have a Nintendo Switch Online Membership, then you can additionally have access to the following 3 Pickup Pokémon:
  1. Meowth (Kanto forme & Alola forme)
  2. Zigzagoon (Hoenn forme)
  3. Linoone (Hoenn forme)
It is however important to note that the rarity of the items that can be picked up depends on the level of the Pick Up Pokémon in your party.
Below you can find a list of all of the items that can be picked up with the help of this ability, as well as the rarity for each level range:

Level RangeVery Common ItemsCommon ItemsUncommon ItemsRare ItemsVery Rare Items
1-10​
Potion​
Tiny Mushroom​
Poké Doll, Repel, Super Potion​
Big Mushroom, Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Revive, Super Repel​
Ether​
11-20​
Repel​
Big Mushroom, Poké Doll, Super Potion, Super Repel, Tiny Mushroom​
Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Max Repel, Moon Stone, Revive, Sun Stone​
Ether, Rare Candy​
21-30​
Super Potion​
Big Mushroom, Full Heal, Poké Doll, Super Repel, Tiny Mushroom​
Ether, Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel, Moon Stone, Nugget, Revive, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Ether, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
31-40​
Poké Doll​
Full Heal, Revive, Super Repel​
Balm Mushroom, Ether, Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Ether, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
41-50​
Super Repel​
Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Ether, Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Elixir, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
51-60​
Full Heal​
Hyper Potion, Max Repel, Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Max Potion, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Elixir, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
61-70​
Revive​
Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Ether, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Elixir, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
71-80​
Hyper Potion​
Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Ether, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Elixir, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
81-90​
Max Repel​
Max Potion, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Elixir, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
91-100​
Max Potion​
Big Nugget, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Elixir, Max Elixir, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​

I hence recommend using a full party consisting of 6 Pickup Pokémon with a level of 91 or higher in order to get as many rare items as quickly as possible.

Before I conclude this paragraph, I would also like to welcome the opportunity to highlight a useful trick that DaWoblefet documented in this YouTube video. As it turns out, Pickup Pokémon in Generation 8 will even keep picking up items in your party while you battle Trainers in the Battle Tower with a team in your Battle Box. That way, both of your teams will simultaneously earn items and Battle Points (BPs) respectively.

5. Egg Move Mechanics

The fifth paragraph is dedicated to a notable improvement that Game Freak did with regards to Egg Moves (EMs), meaning special moves that are passed down by the parent Pokémon to their offspring while breeding at the Daycare. Veteran Breeders among our readers will remember how annoying and time-consuming it can be to get the parents with the right EMs. However, while you can still pass down EMs the old-fashioned way, there is also a new EM mechanic in Generation 8 that allows you to breed EMs onto Pokémon even after they have already hatched. In order to do so, you need both the Pokémon that you want to breed an EM onto, as well as a Pokémon of the same species that knows the EM in question. You can also teach multiple EMs at once via this method, do however ensure that the Pokémon that will inherit them has enough free slots in its moveset. If you need to make room for a move or more, you can easily do so at the Move Deleter that you can find in any of the Galar region's Pokémon Centers. The gender of the Pokémon does not matter, our main goal is not to collect an egg, we just want to pass down the move.

I will use an example from personal experience to demonstrate this:

Let us for example take my Raboot that already knew the EMs High Jump Kick and Sand Attack through regular inheritance.
However, since I also wanted to get the EMs Sucker Punch and Super Fang for completionist's sake, I borrowed a second Raboot with the 2 missing EMs from a fellow community member. I then ensured that my own Raboot had 2 free move slots available, I went to the nearest Pokémon Center and got the Move Deleter that I introduced a few paragraphs earlier to delete 2 unwanted moves. I then took both Raboot to the Daycare and left them there for a minute or two while I just cycled back and forth. After a while I went and picked both Pokémon up again from the Daycare and, upon inspecting the summary screens of my own Raboot, I noticed that the 2 missing moves had indeed been passed down.

Now, this useful mechanic also works for Pokémon that you either caught in the wild or during a raid, meaning that you can for example get Sparkling Aria for your Gigantamax Lapras or Fake Out for your Gigantamax Pikachu, just to name a few notable examples.

6. Berry Tree shaking

Finally, last but not least, I am going to dedicate the sixth paragraph to the Berry Trees and how to shake them properly in order to get as many berries as possible. Contrary to previous games, you have to be careful and pay attention when shaking Berry Trees in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. If you are not careful enough, you will have wild Pokémon such as Cherubi, Skwovet and Greedent attack you while they fall down from the tree. As if this was not annyoing (annoying spelled incorrectly) enough, they will also proceed to steal all of the berries of a random type in front of your nose after the battle, before eventually escaping with the literal fruit of your labor, never to be seen again. Now, in order to prevent this from happening to the best of your abilities, feel free to take a quick break after each shake to pay attention to the rhythm to which the leaves at the treetop shake. A slower rhythm signals you that you can still continue to shake, however, once the leaves start to shake wildly, that's when you want to stop shaking the tree. Defeating the Pokémon that fall down from trees does unfortunately not bring you back any of the stolen berries. I would also like to mention that, in addition to Berries, you can also occasionally find the useful Leftovers while shaking the berry trees.

Conclusion

This about sums up all of the helpful tips and tricks you need to know about in Generation 8. Ironically, the various unintentional Den-related exploits are the most useful ones and here is to hoping that they will not be patched anytime soon. Feel hence free to use them to your advantage as long as possible to significantly speed up certain in-game tasks to get the most out of your game. Other than that, I can also only highly recommend the Shiny Charm and the Oval Charm to the Shiny Hunters among our readers, especially the ones that like to breed via the Masuda Method. Time is money, after all. So, what are you waiting for? Go out there and be the best and most efficient trainer you can be!
 
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Sephirona

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Amateur checker here too! Sorry Light, I started this earlier but didn't finish until now n_n;
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Title: SS In-Game Tips and Tricks

Introduction

In this article, I will discuss useful a bit redundant tips and tricks that will be helpful for your journey across the Galar region in the Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield games playthrough. I noticed you used "journey across the Galar region" in your other article as well, and you mention the Galar region again below, so I think it's best to not add too much padding here. The Galar region also only exists in SS thus far
I would like to start by saying that, while
Please note that some of the tips and tricks you are about to find below can only be done once you have become the Champion of the Galar region, I have also decided to include as many useful tips and tricks as possible for you to use to your advantage while playing through the story on your copy of the game. A bit fluffy here as well By the end of this article, you should be able to make a lot of things considerably faster and easier for yourself, allowing you to fully focus on your objectives without having to waste too much time. Everything I will mention over the course of this article can be done in both versions of the games, (AC) and no Nintendo Switch Online Membership is required. I would like to welcome the opportunity I am all for carpe diem, but you use this a lot too :3 to give a shout out to Light Sanctity for providing the screenshots.

1. Helpful NPCs

Since you will find many helpful NPCs in Galar, it can sometimes be hard to remember which one offers which service, as well as their locations.
For that reason, I decided to dedicate the first section paragraph to a compilation of the NPCs that you will most likely find yourself visiting the most. (used most twice)

1. a The Name Rater, Memory Checker, Move Reminder & Move Deleter



Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. While you had to travel around quite a bit in previous regions to access all of the mentioned services, Game Freak finally decided to make things considerably more convenient; (ASC) , and, in the Galar region, the Name Rater, the Memory Checker, the Move Reminder and the Move Deleter are finally now one and the same person now. You can use a semicolon to join two independent but related clauses to avoid using too many commas, as you needed them for the list of NPCs. To make matters even more convenient What's more, this NPC can be found behind the left counter in every single Pokémon Center across the Galar region. You already used "convenient", so I'm just adding some variety You can easily spot the man in question, since he is always accompanied by his partner Indeedee.

The first service he offers (Rate a Nickname) involves rating the nickname of your Pokémon. This means that allows you to change the nickname of a Pokémon you have caught or hatched. , if you forgot to give your Pokémon a nickname when you you originally caught or hatched it, you can always go to this NPC as many times as you want, in order to give it a nickname later on. In addition to this, as long as you are the Original Trainer (OT), you can also change the nicknames of Pokémon that already have one, or you can The primary function is to change nicknames, and it doesn't really involve name rating as he doesn't really make any sort of real judgment about your name. Also, be careful of run-on sentences when you use those commas You can also simply remove the nickname by typing the Pokémon's standard species name as long as you are the Pokémon's Original Trainer (OT). However In addition, starting with Generation 8, it is now also possible to nickname another trainer's The apostrophe comes after the "s" in cases of plural possession, but I changed the word preceding it to "another", which signifies one trainer. It is okay to keep now Pokémon if they do not it does not already have one, (AC) provided that. However, it is important to note that this only works if a Pokémon does not already have a nickname, as mentioned before, and the Pokémon's language/region matches the language/region of your game. This mechanic is very interesting, as you are for example able to now able to give Pokémon from older games longer nicknames, (RC) thanks to the increased character limit and you can also pick from a variety of characters that were never available before. Another new feature is the ability This also allows you to nickname Pokémon obtained from Generation 8 events; events from past generations cannot be renamed in this manner, however, as they are labeled as "Fateful Encounters". While you are for example able to nickname the preorder bonus event Gigantamax Meowth on the one hand, you are for example not able to nickname event Pokémon from past generations, since they are treated as "Fateful Encounters" on the other. The usage of "on the one hand, and on the other" here is confusing, and there are too many "for examples". I think the most important point is that they cannot be named if they are Fateful Encounters, so that what you should say first. Then, if you would like to provide examples, you can do so afterwards. I also moved the last sentence you had in this paragraph higher up because by "this mechanic" you meant the new ability to nickname other trainers' mons in general and not just the Generation 8 event renaming

The second service he offers involves checking the memories of your own Pokémon, as well as the ones of Pokémon you received in trades with other trainers from all around the world. In addition to this, the man will also be able to tell you the emotions that the Pokémon felt in specific moments during your adventures.

The third service he offers involves helping your Pokémon remember deleted or "forgotten" moves. This works for moves that your Pokémon learns normally via leveling up, as well as moves that it inherited from its parents via breeding. However, this does not work for moves that you taught your Pokémon via specific tutors, moves that have been acquired via the new Egg Moves (EMs) mechanic that I am going explain further below, as well as or moves that are tied to specific events can also not be remembered. You should hence not act hastily and carefully think things through if you decide to replace these kinds of moves. Another significant improvement in Generation 8 consists in the fact that the Move Reminder does no longer takes Heart Scales as a currency in exchange for his services, (RC); (ASC) all of his services are completely free.

The fourth and final service he offers involves helping your Pokémon forget moves. However, while this is service is pretty much self-explanatory on the one hand, I still wanted tense consistency to welcome the opportunity :eyes: to remind you that you need to be particularly careful when deleting moves on the other. "On the one hand...and on the other" is better used for a comparison between two things where that comparison is the main point of the sentence. If you are trying to make another point, then try not to use this. As I have already mentioned in the paragraph above, moves that were acquired via specific tutor moves in previous generations cannot be remembered once they were forgotten. The same also applies to moves that are exclusive to certain events.

1. b Happiness Checker


The Happiness Checker can be found in the house to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center. You can check the Happiness level of your Pokémon by showing them to the little boy. However, since you can not cannot check the exact numbers regarding value of the Happiness level of your Pokémon, and since the responses of the boy are rather vague, I decided to include a table that shows you which response corresponds to which Happiness level range, ranging from lowest (0) to highest (255):

ResponseHappines Level Range
Happiness Level Range
"Maybe you're a bit too strict? It doesn't seem like you're friends at all..."​
0​
"I guess you two just met? It's still getting used to things."​
1-49​
"Seems like it likes you an average amount! Don't worry—you two will get closer as time passes!"​
50-89​
"Wow, I think you're on your way to becoming real good friends!"​
100-149​
"Seems like you're pretty good friends! Still, I bet you could become even closer!"​
150-199​
"You two get along great! Together is always better—am I right?"​
200-229​
"You two are almost best friends! I can see you really care about each other!"​
230-254​
"Oh wow, you're best buddies! I can tell you're so happy to be together!"​
255​

Once your Pokémon has reached the maximum Happiness level of 255, the boy will reward your Pokémon with the Best Friends Ribbon.

Below you can find a list with of easy ways that can help you to raise your Pokémon's Happiness efficiently: (RSC). (AP) I would like to welcome the opportunity to give a shout out to Lego for helping research some of the data: (RSC). (AP)

Throughout the following list, I will refer to "the use of items that increase the Happiness level by a non-zero amount" as "actions": Do you mean consumable items such as vitamins and wings? I suggest splitting this list up into two lists. The first would list the base levels of happiness from walking, battling, and consuming items. These would be your "actions". Then, the second would list things that add an additional value to your happiness when used in conjunction with the elements of the first list (Luxury Ball, Soothe Bell)
  1. Catch the Pokémon in either a Luxury Ball or a Friend Ball. There is no immediate increase when catching a Pokémon in a Luxury Ball, instead, it will raise the Happiness level of the Pokémon by +1 for every action remember to define "action" to mean not only items, but also battling and walking after it got is tense caught. The Friend Ball, however, will immediately raise a Pokémon's Happiness level to 150, regardless of its initial base level. For example, a Mudbray with a base Happiness level of 50 will immediately have its level raised to 150 and a Duskull with a base Happiness level of 35 will also have its level raised to 150.
  2. Let the Pokémon hold the Soothe Bell, a helpful item that increases your Pokémon's Happiness level the more when you walk around or battle with it. I removed "the more" because it makes it sound like you get increased returns the more time you spend with the bell Similar to the Luxury Ball, this item will also increase the Pokémon's Happiness level by +1 for every action as long as it is equipped to the Pokémon. You can obtain this item by talking to the Happiness Checker in Hammerlocke.
  3. Walking around with the Pokémon in front of your party will also increase its Happiness level by +1 for every few steps taken. However, this method will stop working once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  4. Feed the Pokémon EV-increasing Vitamins, such as HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc, and Carbos. They can be purchased in exchange for 2 Battle Points (BP) each from the League Staff lady in Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center or for 10,000 Poké Dollars each at the right counter of Wyndon's southern Pokémon Center. In addition to this, they can also be randomly obtained after winning ranked battles in Battle Stadium. The Vitamins will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +4 if its level is 0-99, by +2 if its level is 100-159, and they will stop raising the level by +0 parallelism once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  5. Feed the Pokémon Rare Candies. The Candies will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +3 if its level is 0-99, by +2 if its level is 100-159, and, much like the Vitamins, they will stop raising the level once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  6. Feed the Pokémon EV-reducing Berries, such as Pomeg Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), Kelpsy Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and Rolling Fields), Qualot Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, Giant's Seat, and Motostoke Riverbank), Hondew Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and North Lake Miloch), Grepa Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), and Tamato Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, and Motostoke Riverbank). These Berries will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +10 if its level is 0-99, by +5 if its level is 100-159, and they will actually keep raising the level parallelism by +1 even after the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  7. Fortunately, the Happiness level that is necessary to evolve certain Pokémon has been lowered from 220 points to 160 points in Generation 8. This for example is the case for Eevee (Espeon during the day and Umbreon during the night), Pichu, Cleffa, Togepi, Budew (Roselia during the day), Munchlax, Riolu (Lucario during the day), Woobat, Meowth (Alola forme), Snom (Frosmoth during the night), and Type: Null. Remove this bullet point from the list and add it as a separate fact beneath
  8. Now, if you want to fully max out the remaining 95 Happiness points, you will have to do so by playing with your Pokémon in Pokémon Camp and by cooking delicious Curry for it. A single Copperajah class Curry is for example enough to raise the Pokémon's Happiness level from 160 straight to 255. Consider removing this as a bullet point as well because players are forced to do it to max their happiness, so it is more of a standard
1. c Effort Values (EVs) Judge


While one you you've addressed the reader with "you" thus far, so it is better to continue doing so could check to see if a Pokémon has earned all of the available 510 EVs by checking its summary and by pressing "X" while on the stats tab, one you can also check this by visiting a very specific NPC in the game. The Effort Values (EVs) Judge can be found to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center in the same house as the Happiness Checker. (AP), (RC) the one to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center. If your Pokémon has earned the maximum amount of 510 EVs, the lady on the couch will reward your Pokémon with the Effort Ribbon.

2. Exploits

I dedicate the second paragraph section to two major kinds of exploits that you can perform in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. However, keep in mind that Game Freak can may to emphasize liklihood rather than ability patch this exploit in the future, meaning that while it worked at the time I wrote this guide, it might unfortunately not work anymore in the future by the time you are reading this. So, let us not waste any time and make good use of it for as long as we can! You wouldn't really use "them" to refer to time, you would use "it".

2. a Purple Beam Dens Exploit


To efficiently aim for Purple Beam Dens, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Press "X" and go to "Options" in order to set the Text Speed to "Slow".
  2. Scroll a bit further down in the "Options" menu and ensure that the "Autosave" feature is set to "Off".
  3. Make sure that you have one or more Wishing Pieces in your inventory.
  4. Go and find an inactive den in the Wild Area and save the game in front of it.
  5. Interact with the den and use a Wishing Piece.
  6. The game will ask you if you want to save the game; (ASC) and, as soon as you see the beam color, press "HOME". The reason as to why we set the Text Speed to "Slow" earlier is because that it gives us slightly more time to react to the color of the beam that will shoot out of the den.
  7. Sometimes the beam will be red. In this case, just reset your game by pressing "X" and then selecting "Close" and try again until you get the purple beam.
2. b Date Skip Exploit

The Date Skip Exploit requires a bit of a different setup. Also Please keep in mind that skipping the date in Pokémon will also affect time-based events of other games on your Switch!
To get it to work, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Go and find a den in the Wild Area. It can either be a den that is already active, (RC) or an inactive den that you activate yourself using a Wishing Piece. you can just simply use a Wishing Piece to activate a currently inactive den. Parallelism Both methods works. However, if you are going to skip multiple days one at a time (in order to roll for a specific weather for example), I recommend using Wishing Pieces, as natural dens will move after the first skip.
  2. Interact with the den and click the "Invite Others" option.
  3. Press the "HOME" button to access the main menu and proceed to open the System Settings.
  4. Scroll all the way down to "System" and then pick the "Date and Time" option under "Language" and "Region".
  5. For it to work, you need to ensure that the "Synchronize Time via Internet" option is set to "Off".
  6. Change the date on your console to the next day and click "OK" once you have done so.
  7. Press "B" to go back into the main menu and go back to your Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield game.
  8. Go back in-game and cancel the raid. Back in-game, you cancel the raid.
This exploit can significantly speed up many time-based tasks in the games, such as berry growing berries or completing Poké Jobs for example. parallel "ings"
The Hammerlocke University hosts daily EV training Poké Job seminars during which your Pokémon gain 4 EVs for every passing hour.
If you want to speed up this process, remember to send your Pokémon to do these Poké Jobs before doing this exploit. Once you have followed the steps above correctly, you can go and pick up your fully EV trained Pokémon again at the PC in the nearest Pokémon Center. Remember that the effects of factors such as the Pokérus and the Power Items are also taken into account when EV training with this method.

While you are already at the PC, you might as well use this exploit repeatedly to replay the Loto-ID for a chance to win items such as Moomoo Milk, PP Up, PP Max, Rare Candy, or even the highly sought-after Master Ball!

Since the den stays active every single time you skip a day, this means also means that there will be 2000 Watts pouring out of it every single time you repeat this trick. Please do however note that you need to have finished the game in order to reap the full 2000 Watts. The notable amount of Watts that you can collect in a short amount of time allows you to buy many Wishing Pieces, Technical Records (TRs) and even Luxury Balls for only 100 Watts each. You can then proceed to sell the Luxury Balls that you got from the traders in the Wild Area at any Pokémon Center for 1500 Poké Dollars. This way, you can earn huge amounts of money in no time, allowing you to purchase the expensive Technical Machines (TMs), as well as the clothes. You can also spend your Watts at the Digging Duo near the Daycare in Bridge Field (Wild Area) and collect more Wishing Pieces, fossils, evolution stones, and Bottle Caps, all while also collecting items that you can sell for Poké Dollars, such as Rare Bones, Stardust and Star Pieces. This method of earning money is for example a lot faster and way more efficient than the one that requires you to redo the Champion's Cup with your Gigantamax Meowth and the Amulet Coin over and over again. However, doing the Champion's Cup has the advantage of simultaneously earning you that you can simultaneously earn a lot of money and, with a bit of luck, earn rewards, (RC) such as Apricorn Balls, Life Orbs, Toxic Orbs, and Flame Orbs.

This exploit can also be used to change the weather in the Wild Area. Some Pokémon in the Wild Area can only be encountered during very specific weather conditions, (AC) and it can be quite annoying to wait for the right weather because you have when having to waiting an entire day. However, please note that you will have to have beaten the first 3 Gyms and have made your way to Hammerlocke, (RC) in order to unlock both the Sandstorm and the Snowstorm weather. In a similar manner, you need to have beaten the game in order to unlock the Fog weather!

On the first day of every month, the weather is the exact same in all the places in the Wild Area.
Below you can find a list with key dates, their respective weather conditions and the Pokémon that will show up in the Wild Area:

DateWeatherPokémon
February 1st​
Snowstorm:​
Sneasel, Swinub, Piloswine, Delibird, Mawile, Snorunt, Glalie, Mime Jr., Riolu, Snover, Abomasnow, Weavile, Glaceon, Vanillite, Vanillish, Vanilluxe, Cubchoo, Pawniard, Honedge, Avalugg, Togedemaru, Eiscue (Shield)​
March 1st​
Overcast​
Farfetch'd (Sword), Kingler, Hitmonlee (Sword), Hitmonchan (Shield), Togepi, Espeon, Corsola (Shield), Hitmontop, Larvitar (Shield), Ralts, Roserade, Croagunk (Shield), Toxicroak (Shield), Munna, Throh (Shield), Sawk (Shield), Cottonee, Scraggy, Cinccino, Karrablast, Elgyem, Shelmet, Spritzee (Shield), Swirlix (Sword), Barbaracle, Shiinotic, Jangmo-o (Sword), Rookidee, Falinks, Dreepy​
April 1st​
Sandstorm​
Umbreon, Pupitar (Shield), Nincada, Trapinch, Flygon, Bonsly, Hippopotas, Hippowdon, Croagunk (Shield), Gigalith, Drilbur, Scraggy, Stunfisk, Zweilous (Sword), Mudbray, Carkol, Stonjourner (Sword)​
May 1st​
Normal Weather​
Cloyster, Kingler, Lanturn, Togepi, Bellossom, Gardevoir, Flygon, Crawdaunt, Combee, Vespiquen, Munchlax, Lucario, Croagunk (Shield), Leafeon, Gigalith, Scraggy, Cinccino, Elgyem, Steenee, Golisopod, Blipbug, Gossilfeur, Wooloo, Applin, Toxel​
June 1st​
Fog​
Clefairy, Clefable, Cloyster, Lanturn, Togepi, Togetic, Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir, Sableye (Shield), Milotic, Roserade, Togekiss, Munna, Musharna, Cinccino, Gothita (Sword), Gothorita (Sword), Gothitelle (Sword), Solosis (Shield), Duosion (Shield), Reuniclus (Shield), Elgyem, Litwick, Meowstic, Honedge, Aegislash, Spritzee (Shield), Swirlix (Sword), Sylveon, Morelull, Mimikyu, Hatenna, Milcery, Indeedee, Dreepy​
July 1st​
Intense Sun​
Vulpix, Ninetales (Sword), Growlithe, Arcanine (Shield), Flareon, Larvitar (Shield), Nincada, Torkoal, Flygon, Hippopotas, Gigalith, Drilbur, Maractus, Litwick, Lampent, Chandelure, Stunfisk, Heatmor, Durant, Mudbray, Salandit, Turtonator (Sword), Jangmo-o (Sword), Carkol, Stonjourner (Sword)​
October 1st​
Raining​
Pikachu, Vaporeon, Electrike, Crawdaunt, Rotom, Karrablast, Shelmet, Deino (Sword), Binacle, Barbaracle, Goomy (Shield), Grubbin, Charjabug, Dewpider, Araquanid, Shiinotic, Wimpod, Golisopod, Toxel​
November 1st​
Thunderstorm​
Pikachu, Kingler, Jolteon, Chinchou, Lanturn, Gardevoir, Electrike, Manectric, Crawdaunt, Rotom, Karrablast, Joltik, Shelmet, Zweilous (Sword), Binacle, Barbaracle, Helioptile, Sliggo (Shield), Grubbin, Charjabug, Mareanie, Dewpider, Araquanid, Shiinotic, Wimpod, Golisopod, Pyukumuku, Drampa (Shield), Hakamo-o (Sword), Yamper, Applin, Toxel, Morpeko, Dreepy​
December 1st​
Snowing​
Mr. Mime, Sneasel, Swinub, Piloswine, Delibird, Snorunt, Glalie, Snover, Abomasnow, Glaceon, Vanillite, Vanillish, Vanilluxe, Cubchoo, Beartic, Bergmite, Avalugg, Wooloo, Snom, Eiscue (Shield)​

3. Charm Items

I dedicate the third paragraph section to the 3 Charm Items. They are very useful Key Items, meaning that their respective influence will become effective the moment you obtain them and store them away in the designated Key Items section in your inventory. You will hence not have to constantly equip them to a Pokémon in your party for them to work.

3. a Catching Charm


The first Charm Item on our list is the Catching Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of for Critical Catches when trying to catch wild Pokémon. You will notice a Critical Catch when the ball makes a, what players describe as a, (RC) "whistling sound", (RC) the quote is a syntactical part of the surrounding sentence and does not need the commas before it shakes only once and then either catches the Pokémon or breaks. While the catch rate is undeniably increased during a Critical Catch, this does not mean that you are guaranteed the Pokémon whenever one occurs.

You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item. To obtain this item, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left). You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item. moved it up
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the second room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the Game Director (depicted as a Doctor) and he will hand you the Catching Charm.
3. b Shiny Charm


The second Charm Item on our list is the Shiny Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of encountering a shiny Pokémon. Despite the fact that you need to have all 400 Pokémon of the Galar region registered in your Pokédex, the time and effort spent to earn this item is well worth it in the end. It significantly increases the standard 1/4096 odds of finding a shiny Pokémon to 1/1365. Not only does the Shiny Charm influence the odds of finding shiny Pokémon in the wild, but it also influences the odds of hatching a shiny Pokémon from an egg: the 1/683 odds of hatching a shiny Pokémon via the Masuda Method, meaning with two breeding parents that have different language origins, are increased additionally to 1/512 odds thanks to the Shiny Charm. However, please note that the Shiny Charm does not influence the odds of gifted Pokémon, revived Fossil Pokémon or Raid Pokémon.

Added this sentence since you specified this bit of info above as well, so it is more consistent to do so here
You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item. To obtain this item, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Once you have registered all 400 Pokémon in your Pokédex, visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the second room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the Game Director (depicted as a Doctor) and he will hand you the Shiny Charm, a diploma, as well as a League Card sticker.
3. c Oval Charm


The third and final Charm Item on our list is the Oval Charm. As the name suggests, this item will speed up the egg production at the Daycares on Route 5 and in Bridge Field (Wild Area). Unlike the Catching Charm and the Shiny Charm, the Oval Charm can only be obtained after completing the main story.

To obtain this item, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Once you have become the champion of the Galar region, visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the first room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the GAME FREAK's Morimoto (depicted as a Police Officer) and he will hand you the Oval Charm after you defeat him in a battle.
I do however recommend coming prepared when challenging Morimoto. Not only does he face you with a his team consisting of 6 Pokémon at level 65, but he also challenges you to you also have to battle him in a Double Battle. parallelism He leads with Grapploct and Cursola and has Stonjourner, Dragapult, Coalossal, and even a Dynamax Snorlax in the back. Be especially careful with Cursola's Perish Body Hidden Ability.

4. Pickup

The fourth paragraph is dedicated to the Pickup ability.(space)Thus This notably useful ability allows certain Pokémon in your party to literally "pick up" random items after battles.
The following Pick Up Pokémon can be found in the Galar region without a Nintendo Switch Online Membership:
  1. Meowth (Galar forme)
  2. Zigzagoon (Galar forme)
  3. Linoone (Galar forme)
  4. Munchlax
  5. Bunnelby
  6. Diggersby
  7. Pumpkaboo
  8. Gourgeist
However, If you do have a Nintendo Switch Online Membership, then you also can additionally have access to the following 3 Pickup Pokémon:
  1. Meowth (Kanto forme & Alola forme)
  2. Zigzagoon (Hoenn forme)
  3. Linoone (Hoenn forme)
It is however You use however a lot too. You are introducing a new point here and there was no contrast important to note that the rarity of the items that can be picked up depends on the level of the Pick Up Pokémon in your party.
Below you can find a list of all of the items that can be picked up with the help of this ability, as well as the rarity for each level range:

Level RangeVery Common ItemsCommon ItemsUncommon ItemsRare ItemsVery Rare Items
1-10​
Potion​
Tiny Mushroom​
Poké Doll, Repel, Super Potion​
Big Mushroom, Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Revive, Super Repel​
Ether​
11-20​
Repel​
Big Mushroom, Poké Doll, Super Potion, Super Repel, Tiny Mushroom​
Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Max Repel, Moon Stone, Revive, Sun Stone​
Ether, Rare Candy​
21-30​
Super Potion​
Big Mushroom, Full Heal, Poké Doll, Super Repel, Tiny Mushroom​
Ether, Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel, Moon Stone, Nugget, Revive, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Ether, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
31-40​
Poké Doll​
Full Heal, Revive, Super Repel​
Balm Mushroom, Ether, Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Ether, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
41-50​
Super Repel​
Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Ether, Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Elixir, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
51-60​
Full Heal​
Hyper Potion, Max Repel, Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Max Potion, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Elixir, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
61-70​
Revive​
Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Ether, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Elixir, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
71-80​
Hyper Potion​
Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Ether, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Elixir, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
81-90​
Max Repel​
Max Potion, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Elixir, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
91-100​
Max Potion​
Big Nugget, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Elixir, Max Elixir, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​

I hence recommend using a full party consisting of 6 Pickup Pokémon with a level of 91 or higher in order to get as many rare items as quickly as possible.

Before I conclude this paragraph, I would also like to welcome the opportunity :eyes: to highlight a useful trick that DaWoblefet documented in this YouTube video. As it turns out, Pickup Pokémon in Generation 8 will even keep picking up items in your party even while you battle Trainers in the Battle Tower with a team in your Battle Box. Using this trick, you can find items and earn Battle Points (BP) simultaneously. That way, both of your teams will simultaneously earn items and Battle Points (BPs) respectively.

5. Egg Move Mechanics

The fifth paragraph is dedicated to a notable improvement that Game Freak did implemented with regards to Egg Moves (EMs), (RC).(AP) EMs are meaning special moves that are passed down by the parent Pokémon to their offspring while breeding at the Daycare. Veteran Breeders among our readers will remember how annoying and time-consuming it can be to get the parents with the right EMs. However, while you can still pass down EMs the old-fashioned way, there is also a new EM mechanic in Generation 8 that allows you to breed EMs onto Pokémon even after they have already hatched. In order to do so, you need both the Pokémon that you want to breed an EM onto, as well as a Pokémon of the same species that knows the EM in question. You can also teach multiple EMs at once via this method, (RC);(ASC) do however ensure that the Pokémon that will inherit them has enough free slots in its moveset. If you need to make room for more than one move a move or more, you can easily do so at the Move Deleter that you can find in any of the Galar region's Pokémon Centers. The gender of the Pokémon does not matter, (RC);(ASC) our main goal is not to collect an egg, we just want but to pass down the move. Parallelism in the "not to, but to"

I will use an example from personal experience to demonstrate this:

Let us for example take my Raboot that already knew the EMs High Jump Kick and Sand Attack through regular inheritance.
However, since Because I also wanted to get the EMs Sucker Punch and Super Fang for completionist's sake, I borrowed a second Raboot with the 2 missing EMs from a fellow community member. Careful with "however" again. You start with the soft imperative "consider my example" but then continue with "however." It would have made sense if you had said "I had a Raboot that already knew __. However, I also wanted these other moves," but not when you first asked the reader to consider your hypothetical situation. The focus should now be on providing additional information rather than the contrast between what you have and what you want I then ensured that my own Raboot had 2 free move slots available, I went to the nearest Pokémon Center, (AC) and got the Move Deleter that I introduced a few paragraphs earlier to delete 2 unwanted moves. I then took both Raboot to the Daycare and left them there for a minute or two while I just cycled back and forth. After a few minutes, (AC) while I went and picked both Pokémon up again from the Daycare, (AC) and, (RC) upon inspecting the summary screens of my own Raboot, noted I noticed that the 2 missing moves had indeed been passed down. Noted instead of noticed because you aren't really discovering this, you knew it was going to happen because you are providing this example. You can remove the "I" as well because "I went and picked both Pokemon up" and "I noted that the moves had been passed down" are combined this way

Now, This useful mechanic also works for Pokémon that you either caught in the wild or during a raid, meaning that you can for example get Sparkling Aria for your Gigantamax Lapras or Fake Out for your Gigantamax Pikachu, just to name a few notable examples.

6. Berry Tree Shaking

Finally, last but not least, I am going to dedicate the sixth section paragraph to the Berry Trees and how to shake them properly in order to get as many berries as possible. Contrary In contrast to how you would approach Berry Trees in previous games, you have to be careful and pay attention when shaking Berry Trees in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. Use "contrary" when emphasizing a negative or opposing claim. Use "contrast" to compare without connotations of correctness If you are not careful enough, you will have wild Pokémon such as Cherubi, Skwovet and Greedent attack you when while they fall down from the tree. As if this was not annyoing annoying enough, they will also proceed to steal all of the berries of a random type in front of your nose from right under your nose after the battle, before eventually escaping with the literal fruit of your labor, never to be seen again. Fluffy Now, In order to prevent this from happening to the best of your abilities, feel free to take a quick break after each shake to pay attention to the rhythm to which the leaves at the treetop shake. A slower rhythm signals you means that you can still continue to shake, (RC);(ASC) Careful with the comma usage yo~ however, once the leaves start to shake wildly, that's when you want to stop shaking the tree. Defeating the Pokémon that fall down from trees does unfortunately not bring you back not, unfortunately, help you recover any of the stolen berries. I would also like to mention that, in addition to Berries, you can also occasionally find the very useful Leftovers while shaking the berry trees.

Conclusion

This about sums up all of the helpful tips and tricks you need to know about in Generation 8. Ironically, the various unintentional Den-related exploits are the most useful ones, (AC) and here is here's to hoping that they will not be patched anytime soon. "here's to hoping" is an idiomatic expression. I think this is considered "non-compositional," meaning you can't break it up into separate components like that and have it mean the same thing Feel hence free to use them to your advantage for as long as possible to significantly speed up certain in-game tasks and to get the most out of your game. Other than that, I can also only highly recommend the Shiny Charm and the Oval Charm to the Shiny Hunters among our readers, (RC)especially the ones that like to breed via the Masuda Method. An em dash for some flavor. No spaces between the em dash and the letters on either side Time is money, after all. So, what are you waiting for? Go out there and be the best and most efficient trainer you can be! c:
 
Last edited:

Max. Optimizer

free to be the greatest
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Alright, Light Sanctity and Sephirona,

I would like to welcome the opportunity I'd like to thank both of you for your very helpful Amchecks.
Apart from grammatical changes and improved reader friendiness, I also implemented for example the fact that you can nickname somebody else's Pokémon only once and I split the Happiness level list into two to make that section more coherent and easier to follow.

Feel free to give it a final look to see if everything was implemented satisfactorily!
 
Last edited:

Light Sanctity

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Amateur checker here too! Sorry Light, I started this earlier but didn't finish until now n_n;
add remove comment

Title: SS In-Game Tips and Tricks

Introduction

In this article, I will discuss useful a bit redundant tips and tricks that will be helpful for your journey across the Galar region in the Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield games playthrough. I noticed you used "journey across the Galar region" in your other article as well, and you mention the Galar region again below, so I think it's best to not add too much padding here. The Galar region also only exists in SS thus far
I would like to start by saying that, while
Please note that some of the tips and tricks you are about to find below can only be done once you have become the Champion of the Galar region, I have also decided to include as many useful tips and tricks as possible for you to use to your advantage while playing through the story on your copy of the game. A bit fluffy here as well By the end of this article, you should be able to make a lot of things considerably faster and easier for yourself, allowing you to fully focus on your objectives without having to waste too much time. Everything I will mention over the course of this article can be done in both versions of the games, (AC) and no Nintendo Switch Online Membership is required. I would like to welcome the opportunity I am all for carpe diem, but you use this a lot too :3 to give a shout out to Light Sanctity for providing the screenshots.

1. Helpful NPCs

Since you will find many helpful NPCs in Galar, it can sometimes be hard to remember which one offers which service, as well as their locations.
For that reason, I decided to dedicate the first section paragraph to a compilation of the NPCs that you will most likely find yourself visiting the most. (used most twice)

1. a The Name Rater, Memory Checker, Move Reminder & Move Deleter



Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. While you had to travel around quite a bit in previous regions to access all of the mentioned services, Game Freak finally decided to make things considerably more convenient; (ASC) , and, in the Galar region, the Name Rater, the Memory Checker, the Move Reminder and the Move Deleter are finally now one and the same person now. You can use a semicolon to join two independent but related clauses to avoid using too many commas, as you needed them for the list of NPCs. To make matters even more convenient What's more, this NPC can be found behind the left counter in every single Pokémon Center across the Galar region. You already used "convenient", so I'm just adding some variety You can easily spot the man in question, since he is always accompanied by his partner Indeedee.

The first service he offers (Rate a Nickname) involves rating the nickname of your Pokémon. This means that allows you to change the nickname of a Pokémon you have caught or hatched. , if you forgot to give your Pokémon a nickname when you you originally caught or hatched it, you can always go to this NPC as many times as you want, in order to give it a nickname later on. In addition to this, as long as you are the Original Trainer (OT), you can also change the nicknames of Pokémon that already have one, or you can The primary function is to change nicknames, and it doesn't really involve name rating as he doesn't really make any sort of real judgment about your name. Also, be careful of run-on sentences when you use those commas You can also simply remove the nickname by typing the Pokémon's standard species name as long as you are the Pokémon's Original Trainer (OT). However In addition, starting with Generation 8, it is now also possible to nickname another trainer's The apostrophe comes after the "s" in cases of plural possession, but I changed the word preceding it to "another", which signifies one trainer. It is okay to keep now Pokémon if they do not it does not already have one, (AC) provided that. However, it is important to note that this only works if a Pokémon does not already have a nickname, as mentioned before, and the Pokémon's language/region matches the language/region of your game. This mechanic is very interesting, as you are for example able to now able to give Pokémon from older games longer nicknames, (RC) thanks to the increased character limit and you can also pick from a variety of characters that were never available before. Another new feature is the ability This also allows you to nickname Pokémon obtained from Generation 8 events; events from past generations cannot be renamed in this manner, however, as they are labeled as "Fateful Encounters". While you are for example able to nickname the preorder bonus event Gigantamax Meowth on the one hand, you are for example not able to nickname event Pokémon from past generations, since they are treated as "Fateful Encounters" on the other. The usage of "on the one hand, and on the other" here is confusing, and there are too many "for examples". I think the most important point is that they cannot be named if they are Fateful Encounters, so that what you should say first. Then, if you would like to provide examples, you can do so afterwards. I also moved the last sentence you had in this paragraph higher up because by "this mechanic" you meant the new ability to nickname other trainers' mons in general and not just the Generation 8 event renaming

The second service he offers involves checking the memories of your own Pokémon, as well as the ones of Pokémon you received in trades with other trainers from all around the world. In addition to this, the man will also be able to tell you the emotions that the Pokémon felt in specific moments during your adventures.

The third service he offers involves helping your Pokémon remember deleted or "forgotten" moves. This works for moves that your Pokémon learns normally via leveling up, as well as moves that it inherited from its parents via breeding. However, this does not work for moves that you taught your Pokémon via specific tutors, moves that have been acquired via the new Egg Moves (EMs) mechanic that I am going explain further below, as well as or moves that are tied to specific events can also not be remembered. You should hence not act hastily and carefully think things through if you decide to replace these kinds of moves. Another significant improvement in Generation 8 consists in the fact that the Move Reminder does no longer takes Heart Scales as a currency in exchange for his services, (RC); (ASC) all of his services are completely free.

The fourth and final service he offers involves helping your Pokémon forget moves. However, while this is service is pretty much self-explanatory on the one hand, I still wanted tense consistency to welcome the opportunity :eyes: to remind you that you need to be particularly careful when deleting moves on the other. "On the one hand...and on the other" is better used for a comparison between two things where that comparison is the main point of the sentence. If you are trying to make another point, then try not to use this. As I have already mentioned in the paragraph above, moves that were acquired via specific tutor moves in previous generations cannot be remembered once they were forgotten. The same also applies to moves that are exclusive to certain events.

1. b Happiness Checker


The Happiness Checker can be found in the house to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center. You can check the Happiness level of your Pokémon by showing them to the little boy. However, since you can not cannot check the exact numbers regarding value of the Happiness level of your Pokémon, and since the responses of the boy are rather vague, I decided to include a table that shows you which response corresponds to which Happiness level range, ranging from lowest (0) to highest (255):

ResponseHappines Level Range
Happiness Level Range
"Maybe you're a bit too strict? It doesn't seem like you're friends at all..."​
0​
"I guess you two just met? It's still getting used to things."​
1-49​
"Seems like it likes you an average amount! Don't worry—you two will get closer as time passes!"​
50-89​
"Wow, I think you're on your way to becoming real good friends!"​
100-149​
"Seems like you're pretty good friends! Still, I bet you could become even closer!"​
150-199​
"You two get along great! Together is always better—am I right?"​
200-229​
"You two are almost best friends! I can see you really care about each other!"​
230-254​
"Oh wow, you're best buddies! I can tell you're so happy to be together!"​
255​

Once your Pokémon has reached the maximum Happiness level of 255, the boy will reward your Pokémon with the Best Friends Ribbon.

Below you can find a list with of easy ways that can help you to raise your Pokémon's Happiness efficiently: (RSC). (AP) I would like to welcome the opportunity to give a shout out to Lego for helping research some of the data: (RSC). (AP)

Throughout the following list, I will refer to "the use of items that increase the Happiness level by a non-zero amount" as "actions": Do you mean consumable items such as vitamins and wings? I suggest splitting this list up into two lists. The first would list the base levels of happiness from walking, battling, and consuming items. These would be your "actions". Then, the second would list things that add an additional value to your happiness when used in conjunction with the elements of the first list (Luxury Ball, Soothe Bell)
  1. Catch the Pokémon in either a Luxury Ball or a Friend Ball. There is no immediate increase when catching a Pokémon in a Luxury Ball, instead, it will raise the Happiness level of the Pokémon by +1 for every action remember to define "action" to mean not only items, but also battling and walking after it got is tense caught. The Friend Ball, however, will immediately raise a Pokémon's Happiness level to 150, regardless of its initial base level. For example, a Mudbray with a base Happiness level of 50 will immediately have its level raised to 150 and a Duskull with a base Happiness level of 35 will also have its level raised to 150.
  2. Let the Pokémon hold the Soothe Bell, a helpful item that increases your Pokémon's Happiness level the more when you walk around or battle with it. I removed "the more" because it makes it sound like you get increased returns the more time you spend with the bell Similar to the Luxury Ball, this item will also increase the Pokémon's Happiness level by +1 for every action as long as it is equipped to the Pokémon. You can obtain this item by talking to the Happiness Checker in Hammerlocke.
  3. Walking around with the Pokémon in front of your party will also increase its Happiness level by +1 for every few steps taken. However, this method will stop working once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  4. Feed the Pokémon EV-increasing Vitamins, such as HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc, and Carbos. They can be purchased in exchange for 2 Battle Points (BP) each from the League Staff lady in Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center or for 10,000 Poké Dollars each at the right counter of Wyndon's southern Pokémon Center. In addition to this, they can also be randomly obtained after winning ranked battles in Battle Stadium. The Vitamins will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +4 if its level is 0-99, by +2 if its level is 100-159, and they will stop raising the level by +0 parallelism once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  5. Feed the Pokémon Rare Candies. The Candies will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +3 if its level is 0-99, by +2 if its level is 100-159, and, much like the Vitamins, they will stop raising the level once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  6. Feed the Pokémon EV-reducing Berries, such as Pomeg Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), Kelpsy Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and Rolling Fields), Qualot Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, Giant's Seat, and Motostoke Riverbank), Hondew Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and North Lake Miloch), Grepa Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), and Tamato Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, and Motostoke Riverbank). These Berries will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +10 if its level is 0-99, by +5 if its level is 100-159, and they will actually keep raising the level parallelism by +1 even after the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  7. Fortunately, the Happiness level that is necessary to evolve certain Pokémon has been lowered from 220 points to 160 points in Generation 8. This for example is the case for Eevee (Espeon during the day and Umbreon during the night), Pichu, Cleffa, Togepi, Budew (Roselia during the day), Munchlax, Riolu (Lucario during the day), Woobat, Meowth (Alola forme), Snom (Frosmoth during the night), and Type: Null. Remove this bullet point from the list and add it as a separate fact beneath
  8. Now, if you want to fully max out the remaining 95 Happiness points, you will have to do so by playing with your Pokémon in Pokémon Camp and by cooking delicious Curry for it. A single Copperajah class Curry is for example enough to raise the Pokémon's Happiness level from 160 straight to 255. Consider removing this as a bullet point as well because players are forced to do it to max their happiness, so it is more of a standard
1. c Effort Values (EVs) Judge


While one you you've addressed the reader with "you" thus far, so it is better to continue doing so could check to see if a Pokémon has earned all of the available 510 EVs by checking its summary and by pressing "X" while on the stats tab, one you can also check this by visiting a very specific NPC in the game. The Effort Values (EVs) Judge can be found to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center in the same house as the Happiness Checker. (AP), (RC) the one to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center. If your Pokémon has earned the maximum amount of 510 EVs, the lady on the couch will reward your Pokémon with the Effort Ribbon.

2. Exploits

I dedicate the second paragraph section to two major kinds of exploits that you can perform in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. However, keep in mind that Game Freak can may to emphasize liklihood rather than ability patch this exploit in the future, meaning that while it worked at the time I wrote this guide, it might unfortunately not work anymore in the future by the time you are reading this. So, let us not waste any time and make good use of it for as long as we can! You wouldn't really use "them" to refer to time, you would use "it".

2. a Purple Beam Dens Exploit


To efficiently aim for Purple Beam Dens, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Press "X" and go to "Options" in order to set the Text Speed to "Slow".
  2. Scroll a bit further down in the "Options" menu and ensure that the "Autosave" feature is set to "Off".
  3. Make sure that you have one or more Wishing Pieces in your inventory.
  4. Go and find an inactive den in the Wild Area and save the game in front of it.
  5. Interact with the den and use a Wishing Piece.
  6. The game will ask you if you want to save the game; (ASC) and, as soon as you see the beam color, press "HOME". The reason as to why we set the Text Speed to "Slow" earlier is because that it gives us slightly more time to react to the color of the beam that will shoot out of the den.
  7. Sometimes the beam will be red. In this case, just reset your game by pressing "X" and then selecting "Close" and try again until you get the purple beam.
2. b Date Skip Exploit

The Date Skip Exploit requires a bit of a different setup. Also Please keep in mind that skipping the date in Pokémon will also affect time-based events of other games on your Switch!
To get it to work, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Go and find a den in the Wild Area. It can either be a den that is already active, (RC) or an inactive den that you activate yourself using a Wishing Piece. you can just simply use a Wishing Piece to activate a currently inactive den. Parallelism Both methods works. However, if you are going to skip multiple days one at a time (in order to roll for a specific weather for example), I recommend using Wishing Pieces, as natural dens will move after the first skip.
  2. Interact with the den and click the "Invite Others" option.
  3. Press the "HOME" button to access the main menu and proceed to open the System Settings.
  4. Scroll all the way down to "System" and then pick the "Date and Time" option under "Language" and "Region".
  5. For it to work, you need to ensure that the "Synchronize Time via Internet" option is set to "Off".
  6. Change the date on your console to the next day and click "OK" once you have done so.
  7. Press "B" to go back into the main menu and go back to your Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield game.
  8. Go back in-game and cancel the raid. Back in-game, you cancel the raid.
This exploit can significantly speed up many time-based tasks in the games, such as berry growing berries or completing Poké Jobs for example. parallel "ings"
The Hammerlocke University hosts daily EV training Poké Job seminars during which your Pokémon gain 4 EVs for every passing hour.
If you want to speed up this process, remember to send your Pokémon to do these Poké Jobs before doing this exploit. Once you have followed the steps above correctly, you can go and pick up your fully EV trained Pokémon again at the PC in the nearest Pokémon Center. Remember that the effects of factors such as the Pokérus and the Power Items are also taken into account when EV training with this method.

While you are already at the PC, you might as well use this exploit repeatedly to replay the Loto-ID for a chance to win items such as Moomoo Milk, PP Up, PP Max, Rare Candy, or even the highly sought-after Master Ball!

Since the den stays active every single time you skip a day, this means also means that there will be 2000 Watts pouring out of it every single time you repeat this trick. Please do however note that you need to have finished the game in order to reap the full 2000 Watts. The notable amount of Watts that you can collect in a short amount of time allows you to buy many Wishing Pieces, Technical Records (TRs) and even Luxury Balls for only 100 Watts each. You can then proceed to sell the Luxury Balls that you got from the traders in the Wild Area at any Pokémon Center for 1500 Poké Dollars. This way, you can earn huge amounts of money in no time, allowing you to purchase the expensive Technical Machines (TMs), as well as the clothes. You can also spend your Watts at the Digging Duo near the Daycare in Bridge Field (Wild Area) and collect more Wishing Pieces, fossils, evolution stones, and Bottle Caps, all while also collecting items that you can sell for Poké Dollars, such as Rare Bones, Stardust and Star Pieces. This method of earning money is for example a lot faster and way more efficient than the one that requires you to redo the Champion's Cup with your Gigantamax Meowth and the Amulet Coin over and over again. However, doing the Champion's Cup has the advantage of simultaneously earning you that you can simultaneously earn a lot of money and, with a bit of luck, earn rewards, (RC) such as Apricorn Balls, Life Orbs, Toxic Orbs, and Flame Orbs.

This exploit can also be used to change the weather in the Wild Area. Some Pokémon in the Wild Area can only be encountered during very specific weather conditions, (AC) and it can be quite annoying to wait for the right weather because you have when having to waiting an entire day. However, please note that you will have to have beaten the first 3 Gyms and have made your way to Hammerlocke, (RC) in order to unlock both the Sandstorm and the Snowstorm weather. In a similar manner, you need to have beaten the game in order to unlock the Fog weather!

On the first day of every month, the weather is the exact same in all the places in the Wild Area.
Below you can find a list with key dates, their respective weather conditions and the Pokémon that will show up in the Wild Area:

DateWeatherPokémon
February 1st​
Snowstorm:​
Sneasel, Swinub, Piloswine, Delibird, Mawile, Snorunt, Glalie, Mime Jr., Riolu, Snover, Abomasnow, Weavile, Glaceon, Vanillite, Vanillish, Vanilluxe, Cubchoo, Pawniard, Honedge, Avalugg, Togedemaru, Eiscue (Shield)​
March 1st​
Overcast​
Farfetch'd (Sword), Kingler, Hitmonlee (Sword), Hitmonchan (Shield), Togepi, Espeon, Corsola (Shield), Hitmontop, Larvitar (Shield), Ralts, Roserade, Croagunk (Shield), Toxicroak (Shield), Munna, Throh (Shield), Sawk (Shield), Cottonee, Scraggy, Cinccino, Karrablast, Elgyem, Shelmet, Spritzee (Shield), Swirlix (Sword), Barbaracle, Shiinotic, Jangmo-o (Sword), Rookidee, Falinks, Dreepy​
April 1st​
Sandstorm​
Umbreon, Pupitar (Shield), Nincada, Trapinch, Flygon, Bonsly, Hippopotas, Hippowdon, Croagunk (Shield), Gigalith, Drilbur, Scraggy, Stunfisk, Zweilous (Sword), Mudbray, Carkol, Stonjourner (Sword)​
May 1st​
Normal Weather​
Cloyster, Kingler, Lanturn, Togepi, Bellossom, Gardevoir, Flygon, Crawdaunt, Combee, Vespiquen, Munchlax, Lucario, Croagunk (Shield), Leafeon, Gigalith, Scraggy, Cinccino, Elgyem, Steenee, Golisopod, Blipbug, Gossilfeur, Wooloo, Applin, Toxel​
June 1st​
Fog​
Clefairy, Clefable, Cloyster, Lanturn, Togepi, Togetic, Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir, Sableye (Shield), Milotic, Roserade, Togekiss, Munna, Musharna, Cinccino, Gothita (Sword), Gothorita (Sword), Gothitelle (Sword), Solosis (Shield), Duosion (Shield), Reuniclus (Shield), Elgyem, Litwick, Meowstic, Honedge, Aegislash, Spritzee (Shield), Swirlix (Sword), Sylveon, Morelull, Mimikyu, Hatenna, Milcery, Indeedee, Dreepy​
July 1st​
Intense Sun​
Vulpix, Ninetales (Sword), Growlithe, Arcanine (Shield), Flareon, Larvitar (Shield), Nincada, Torkoal, Flygon, Hippopotas, Gigalith, Drilbur, Maractus, Litwick, Lampent, Chandelure, Stunfisk, Heatmor, Durant, Mudbray, Salandit, Turtonator (Sword), Jangmo-o (Sword), Carkol, Stonjourner (Sword)​
October 1st​
Raining​
Pikachu, Vaporeon, Electrike, Crawdaunt, Rotom, Karrablast, Shelmet, Deino (Sword), Binacle, Barbaracle, Goomy (Shield), Grubbin, Charjabug, Dewpider, Araquanid, Shiinotic, Wimpod, Golisopod, Toxel​
November 1st​
Thunderstorm​
Pikachu, Kingler, Jolteon, Chinchou, Lanturn, Gardevoir, Electrike, Manectric, Crawdaunt, Rotom, Karrablast, Joltik, Shelmet, Zweilous (Sword), Binacle, Barbaracle, Helioptile, Sliggo (Shield), Grubbin, Charjabug, Mareanie, Dewpider, Araquanid, Shiinotic, Wimpod, Golisopod, Pyukumuku, Drampa (Shield), Hakamo-o (Sword), Yamper, Applin, Toxel, Morpeko, Dreepy​
December 1st​
Snowing​
Mr. Mime, Sneasel, Swinub, Piloswine, Delibird, Snorunt, Glalie, Snover, Abomasnow, Glaceon, Vanillite, Vanillish, Vanilluxe, Cubchoo, Beartic, Bergmite, Avalugg, Wooloo, Snom, Eiscue (Shield)​

3. Charm Items

I dedicate the third paragraph section to the 3 Charm Items. They are very useful Key Items, meaning that their respective influence will become effective the moment you obtain them and store them away in the designated Key Items section in your inventory. You will hence not have to constantly equip them to a Pokémon in your party for them to work.

3. a Catching Charm


The first Charm Item on our list is the Catching Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of for Critical Catches when trying to catch wild Pokémon. You will notice a Critical Catch when the ball makes a, what players describe as a, (RC) "whistling sound", (RC) the quote is a syntactical part of the surrounding sentence and does not need the commas before it shakes only once and then either catches the Pokémon or breaks. While the catch rate is undeniably increased during a Critical Catch, this does not mean that you are guaranteed the Pokémon whenever one occurs.

You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item. To obtain this item, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left). You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item. moved it up
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the second room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the Game Director (depicted as a Doctor) and he will hand you the Catching Charm.
3. b Shiny Charm


The second Charm Item on our list is the Shiny Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of encountering a shiny Pokémon. Despite the fact that you need to have all 400 Pokémon of the Galar region registered in your Pokédex, the time and effort spent to earn this item is well worth it in the end. It significantly increases the standard 1/4096 odds of finding a shiny Pokémon to 1/1365. Not only does the Shiny Charm influence the odds of finding shiny Pokémon in the wild, but it also influences the odds of hatching a shiny Pokémon from an egg: the 1/683 odds of hatching a shiny Pokémon via the Masuda Method, meaning with two breeding parents that have different language origins, are increased additionally to 1/512 odds thanks to the Shiny Charm. However, please note that the Shiny Charm does not influence the odds of gifted Pokémon, revived Fossil Pokémon or Raid Pokémon.

Added this sentence since you specified this bit of info above as well, so it is more consistent to do so here
You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item. To obtain this item, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Once you have registered all 400 Pokémon in your Pokédex, visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the second room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the Game Director (depicted as a Doctor) and he will hand you the Shiny Charm, a diploma, as well as a League Card sticker.
3. c Oval Charm


The third and final Charm Item on our list is the Oval Charm. As the name suggests, this item will speed up the egg production at the Daycares on Route 5 and in Bridge Field (Wild Area). Unlike the Catching Charm and the Shiny Charm, the Oval Charm can only be obtained after completing the main story.

To obtain this item, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Once you have become the champion of the Galar region, visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the first room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the GAME FREAK's Morimoto (depicted as a Police Officer) and he will hand you the Oval Charm after you defeat him in a battle.
I do however recommend coming prepared when challenging Morimoto. Not only does he face you with a his team consisting of 6 Pokémon at level 65, but he also challenges you to you also have to battle him in a Double Battle. parallelism He leads with Grapploct and Cursola and has Stonjourner, Dragapult, Coalossal, and even a Dynamax Snorlax in the back. Be especially careful with Cursola's Perish Body Hidden Ability.

4. Pickup

The fourth paragraph is dedicated to the Pickup ability.(space)Thus This notably useful ability allows certain Pokémon in your party to literally "pick up" random items after battles.
The following Pick Up Pokémon can be found in the Galar region without a Nintendo Switch Online Membership:
  1. Meowth (Galar forme)
  2. Zigzagoon (Galar forme)
  3. Linoone (Galar forme)
  4. Munchlax
  5. Bunnelby
  6. Diggersby
  7. Pumpkaboo
  8. Gourgeist
However, If you do have a Nintendo Switch Online Membership, then you also can additionally have access to the following 3 Pickup Pokémon:
  1. Meowth (Kanto forme & Alola forme)
  2. Zigzagoon (Hoenn forme)
  3. Linoone (Hoenn forme)
It is however You use however a lot too. You are introducing a new point here and there was no contrast important to note that the rarity of the items that can be picked up depends on the level of the Pick Up Pokémon in your party.
Below you can find a list of all of the items that can be picked up with the help of this ability, as well as the rarity for each level range:

Level RangeVery Common ItemsCommon ItemsUncommon ItemsRare ItemsVery Rare Items
1-10​
Potion​
Tiny Mushroom​
Poké Doll, Repel, Super Potion​
Big Mushroom, Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Revive, Super Repel​
Ether​
11-20​
Repel​
Big Mushroom, Poké Doll, Super Potion, Super Repel, Tiny Mushroom​
Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Max Repel, Moon Stone, Revive, Sun Stone​
Ether, Rare Candy​
21-30​
Super Potion​
Big Mushroom, Full Heal, Poké Doll, Super Repel, Tiny Mushroom​
Ether, Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel, Moon Stone, Nugget, Revive, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Ether, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
31-40​
Poké Doll​
Full Heal, Revive, Super Repel​
Balm Mushroom, Ether, Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Ether, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
41-50​
Super Repel​
Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Ether, Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Elixir, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
51-60​
Full Heal​
Hyper Potion, Max Repel, Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Max Potion, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Elixir, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
61-70​
Revive​
Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Ether, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Elixir, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
71-80​
Hyper Potion​
Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Ether, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Elixir, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
81-90​
Max Repel​
Max Potion, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Elixir, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
91-100​
Max Potion​
Big Nugget, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Elixir, Max Elixir, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​

I hence recommend using a full party consisting of 6 Pickup Pokémon with a level of 91 or higher in order to get as many rare items as quickly as possible.

Before I conclude this paragraph, I would also like to welcome the opportunity :eyes: to highlight a useful trick that DaWoblefet documented in this YouTube video. As it turns out, Pickup Pokémon in Generation 8 will even keep picking up items in your party even while you battle Trainers in the Battle Tower with a team in your Battle Box. Using this trick, you can find items and earn Battle Points (BP) simultaneously. That way, both of your teams will simultaneously earn items and Battle Points (BPs) respectively.

5. Egg Move Mechanics

The fifth paragraph is dedicated to a notable improvement that Game Freak did implemented with regards to Egg Moves (EMs), (RC).(AP) EMs are meaning special moves that are passed down by the parent Pokémon to their offspring while breeding at the Daycare. Veteran Breeders among our readers will remember how annoying and time-consuming it can be to get the parents with the right EMs. However, while you can still pass down EMs the old-fashioned way, there is also a new EM mechanic in Generation 8 that allows you to breed EMs onto Pokémon even after they have already hatched. In order to do so, you need both the Pokémon that you want to breed an EM onto, as well as a Pokémon of the same species that knows the EM in question. You can also teach multiple EMs at once via this method, (RC);(ASC) do however ensure that the Pokémon that will inherit them has enough free slots in its moveset. If you need to make room for more than one move a move or more, you can easily do so at the Move Deleter that you can find in any of the Galar region's Pokémon Centers. The gender of the Pokémon does not matter, (RC);(ASC) our main goal is not to collect an egg, we just want but to pass down the move. Parallelism in the "not to, but to"

I will use an example from personal experience to demonstrate this:

Let us for example take my Raboot that already knew the EMs High Jump Kick and Sand Attack through regular inheritance.
However, since Because I also wanted to get the EMs Sucker Punch and Super Fang for completionist's sake, I borrowed a second Raboot with the 2 missing EMs from a fellow community member. Careful with "however" again. You start with the soft imperative "consider my example" but then continue with "however." It would have made sense if you had said "I had a Raboot that already knew __. However, I also wanted these other moves," but not when you first asked the reader to consider your hypothetical situation. The focus should now be on providing additional information rather than the contrast between what you have and what you want I then ensured that my own Raboot had 2 free move slots available, I went to the nearest Pokémon Center, (AC) and got the Move Deleter that I introduced a few paragraphs earlier to delete 2 unwanted moves. I then took both Raboot to the Daycare and left them there for a minute or two while I just cycled back and forth. After a few minutes, (AC) while I went and picked both Pokémon up again from the Daycare, (AC) and, (RC) upon inspecting the summary screens of my own Raboot, noted I noticed that the 2 missing moves had indeed been passed down. Noted instead of noticed because you aren't really discovering this, you knew it was going to happen because you are providing this example. You can remove the "I" as well because "I went and picked both Pokemon up" and "I noted that the moves had been passed down" are combined this way

Now, This useful mechanic also works for Pokémon that you either caught in the wild or during a raid, meaning that you can for example get Sparkling Aria for your Gigantamax Lapras or Fake Out for your Gigantamax Pikachu, just to name a few notable examples.

6. Berry Tree Shaking

Finally, last but not least, I am going to dedicate the sixth section paragraph to the Berry Trees and how to shake them properly in order to get as many berries as possible. Contrary In contrast to how you would approach Berry Trees in previous games, you have to be careful and pay attention when shaking Berry Trees in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. Use "contrary" when emphasizing a negative or opposing claim. Use "contrast" to compare without connotations of correctness If you are not careful enough, you will have wild Pokémon such as Cherubi, Skwovet and Greedent attack you when while they fall down from the tree. As if this was not annyoing annoying enough, they will also proceed to steal all of the berries of a random type in front of your nose from right under your nose after the battle, before eventually escaping with the literal fruit of your labor, never to be seen again. Fluffy Now, In order to prevent this from happening to the best of your abilities, feel free to take a quick break after each shake to pay attention to the rhythm to which the leaves at the treetop shake. A slower rhythm signals you means that you can still continue to shake, (RC);(ASC) Careful with the comma usage yo~ however, once the leaves start to shake wildly, that's when you want to stop shaking the tree. Defeating the Pokémon that fall down from trees does unfortunately not bring you back not, unfortunately, help you recover any of the stolen berries. I would also like to mention that, in addition to Berries, you can also occasionally find the very useful Leftovers while shaking the berry trees.

Conclusion

This about sums up all of the helpful tips and tricks you need to know about in Generation 8. Ironically, the various unintentional Den-related exploits are the most useful ones, (AC) and here is here's to hoping that they will not be patched anytime soon. "here's to hoping" is an idiomatic expression. I think this is considered "non-compositional," meaning you can't break it up into separate components like that and have it mean the same thing Feel hence free to use them to your advantage for as long as possible to significantly speed up certain in-game tasks and to get the most out of your game. Other than that, I can also only highly recommend the Shiny Charm and the Oval Charm to the Shiny Hunters among our readers, (RC)especially the ones that like to breed via the Masuda Method. An em dash for some flavor. No spaces between the em dash and the letters on either side Time is money, after all. So, what are you waiting for? Go out there and be the best and most efficient trainer you can be! c:
You did good :P
 

A Cake Wearing A Hat

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Title: SS In-Game Tips and Tricks

Introduction

In this article, I will discuss tips and tricks that will be helpful for your Pokemon Sword and or Pokemon Shield playthrough. Please note that some of the tips and tricks you are about to find below can only be done once you have become the Champion of the Galar region. By the end of this article, you should be able to make a lot of things considerably faster and easier for yourself, allowing you to fully focus on your objectives without having to waste too much time. Everything I will mention over the course of this article can be done in both versions of the games, and no Nintendo Switch Online membership is required. I would like to give a shout out to Light Sanctity for providing the screenshots.

1. Helpful NPCs

Since you will find many helpful NPCs in Galar, it can sometimes be hard to remember which one offers which service, as well as their locations. (remove linebreak)For that reason, I decided to dedicate the first section to a compilation of the NPCs that you will likely find yourself visiting the most.

1. a The Name Rater, Memory Checker, Move Reminder & Move Deleter


Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. While you had to travel around quite a bit in previous regions to access all of the mentioned services, Game Freak finally decided to make things considerably more convenient; in the Galar region, the Name Rater, the Memory Checker, the Move Reminder and the Move Deleter are now one and the same person. What's more, this NPC can be found behind the left counter in every single Pokémon Center across the Galar region. You can easily spot the man in question, since he is always accompanied by his partner Indeedee.

The first service he offers allows you to change the nickname of a Pokémon you have caught or hatched. You can also remove the nickname by typing the Pokémon's standard species name as long as you are the Pokémon's Original Trainer (OT). In addition, starting with Generation 8, it is now possible to nickname another trainer's Pokémon only once if it does not already have one, provided that the Pokémon's language/region matches the language/region of your game. This mechanic is very interesting, as you are now able to give Pokémon from older games longer nicknames thanks to the increased character limit and can also pick from a variety of characters that were never available before. This also allows you to nickname Pokémon obtained from Generation 8 events; events from past generations cannot be renamed in this manner, however, as they are labeled as "Fateful Encounters".

The second service he offers involves checking the memories of your own Pokémon, as well as the ones of Pokémon you received in trades with other trainers from all around the world. In addition to this, the man will also be able to tell you the emotions that the Pokémon felt in specific moments during your adventures.

The third service he offers involves helping your Pokémon remember deleted or "forgotten" moves. This works for moves that your Pokémon learns normally via leveling up, as well as moves that it inherited from its parents via breeding. However, this does not work for moves that you taught your Pokémon via specific tutors, moves that have been acquired via the new Egg Moves (EMs) mechanic that I am going explain further below, or moves that are tied to specific events. You should hence not act hastily and carefully think things through if you decide to replace these kinds of moves. Another significant improvement in Generation 8 consists in the fact that the Move Reminder no longer takes Heart Scales as a currency in exchange for his services; all of his services are completely free.

The fourth and final service he offers involves helping your Pokémon forget moves. However, while this service is pretty much self-explanatory, I still want to welcome the opportunity to remind you that you need to be particularly careful when deleting moves. As I have already mentioned in the paragraph above, moves that were acquired via specific tutor moves in previous generations cannot be remembered once they were forgotten. The same also applies to moves that are exclusive to certain events.

1. b Happiness Checker


The Happiness Checker can be found in the house to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center. You can check the Happiness level of your Pokémon by showing them to the little boy. However, since you cannot check the exact value of the Happiness level, and since the responses of the boy are rather vague, I decided to include a table that shows you which response corresponds to which Happiness level range, ranging from lowest (0) to highest (255):

ResponseHappiness Level Range
"Maybe you're a bit too strict? It doesn't seem like you're friends at all..."​
0​
"I guess you two just met? It's still getting used to things."​
1-49​
"Seems like it likes you an average amount! Don't worry—you two will get closer as time passes!"​
50-89​
"Wow, I think you're on your way to becoming real good friends!"​
100-149​
"Seems like you're pretty good friends! Still, I bet you could become even closer!"​
150-199​
"You two get along great! Together is always better—am I right?"​
200-229​
"You two are almost best friends! I can see you really care about each other!"​
230-254​
"Oh wow, you're best buddies! I can tell you're so happy to be together!"​
255​

Once your Pokémon has reached the maximum Happiness level of 255, the boy will reward your Pokémon with the Best Friends Ribbon.

Below you can find a list of easy ways to raise your Pokémon's Happiness efficiently. I would like to welcome the opportunity to give a shout out to Lego for helping research some of the data.

Throughout the following list, I will refer to "the use of consumable items that increase the Happiness level by a non-zero amount", walking, and battling as "actions":
  1. Catch the Pokémon in a Friend Ball. Doing so will immediately raise a Pokémon's Happiness level to 150, regardless of its initial base level. For example, a Mudbray with a base Happiness level of 50 will immediately have its level raised to 150 and a Duskull with a base Happiness level of 35 will also have its level raised to 150.
  2. Walking around with the Pokémon in front of your party will also increase its Happiness level by +1 for every few steps taken. However, this method will stop working once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  3. Feed the Pokémon EV-increasing Vitamins, such as HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc, and Carbos. They can be purchased in exchange for 2 Battle Points (BP) each from the League Staff lady in Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center or for 10,000 Poké Dollars each at the right counter of Wyndon's southern Pokémon Center. In addition to this, they can also be randomly obtained after winning ranked battles in Battle Stadium. The Vitamins will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +4 if its level is 0-99, by +2 if its level is 100-159, and by +0 once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  4. Feed the Pokémon Rare Candies. The Candies will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +3 if its level is 0-99, by +2 if its level is 100-159, and, much like the Vitamins, they will stop raising the level once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  5. Feed the Pokémon EV-reducing Berries, such as Pomeg Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), Kelpsy Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and Rolling Fields), Qualot Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, Giant's Seat, and Motostoke Riverbank), Hondew Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and North Lake Miloch), Grepa Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), and Tamato Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, and Motostoke Riverbank). These Berries will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +10 if its level is 0-99, by +5 if its level is 100-159, and by +1 even after the threshold of 160 has been reached.
In the next list, I will focus on methods that, in conjunction with the "actions" from the previous list, will raise your Pokémon's Happiness level even more efficiently:
  1. Catch the Pokémon in a Luxury Ball. There is no immediate increase when catching a Pokémon in a Luxury Ball, instead, it will raise the Happiness level of the Pokémon by an additional +1 for every action after it is caught.
  2. Let the Pokémon hold the Soothe Bell, a helpful item that which increases your Pokémon's Happiness level when you walk around or battle with it. Similar to the Luxury Ball, this item will also increase the Pokémon's Happiness level by an additional +1 for every action as long as it is equipped to the Pokémon. You can obtain this item by talking to the Happiness Checker in Hammerlocke.
Fortunately, the Happiness level that is necessary to evolve certain Pokémon has been lowered from 220 points to 160 points in Generation 8. This is the case for Eevee (Espeon during the day and Umbreon during the night), Pichu, Cleffa, Togepi, Budew (Roselia during the day), Munchlax, Riolu (Lucario during the day), Woobat, Meowth (Alola forme), Snom (Frosmoth during the night), and Type: Null.
Now, if you want to fully max out the remaining 95 Happiness points, you will have to do so by playing with your Pokémon in Pokémon Camp and by cooking delicious Curry for it. A single Copperajah class Curry is enough to raise the Pokémon's Happiness level from 160 straight to 255.

1. c Effort Value (EV) Judge


While you could check to see if a Pokémon has earned all of the available 510 EVs by checking its summary and by pressing "X" while on the stats tab, you can also check this by visiting a very specific NPC in the game. The Effort Value (EV) Judge can be found to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center in the same house as the Happiness Checker. If your Pokémon has earned the maximum amount of 510 EVs, the lady on the couch will reward your Pokémon with the Effort Ribbon.

1. d Steel Beam Tutor


The Steel Beam tutor can be found in Motostoke. In order to find him easily, I recommend going to the Pokémon Center in the western part of Motostoke and then heading to the right until you reach the warehouse facility with the children playing with their Minccino. Next, you want to follow the path to the South south that leads through the turning industrial infrastructures tunnel until you reach a staircase. Follow the stairs, and you will find the tutor waiting for you down at the docks with the containers, ready to teach this powerful move to any of your Steel-type Pokémon — including Steel-type Silvally! However, please keep in mind that, while Motostoke can be accessed early on in the playthrough, the tutor will only start offering his service once you have become the Champion of the Galar region.

1. e Fire Pledge, Grass Pledge, and Water Pledge Tutor


The tutor for the moves Fire Pledge, Grass Pledge, and Water Pledge can be found in Hammerlocke. In order to find him easily, I recommend going to the Pokémon Center in the western part of Motostoke and then heading to the left past the park until you reach the drawbridge that leads to Route 6. However, instead of crossing the drawbridge, you need to head to the South and follow down a staircase until you find the tutor waiting for you. Each Starter Pokémon can learn the move that corresponds to its typing: The Bulbasaur line and the Grookey line can learn Grass Pledge, the Charmander line and the Scorbunny line can learn Fire Pledge, and the Squirtle line and the Sobble line can learn Water Pledge.

1. f Draco Meteor Tutor


The Draco Meteor tutor can be found in Circhester. In order to find him easily, I recommend starting at the Pokémon Center and the moving to the North north until you reach the Circhester Bath to the right of the restaurant. You will find the tutor waiting for you on the left poolside, ready to teach this powerful move to some of your Dragon-type Pokémon — including Dragon-type Silvally!

1. g Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, and Hydro Cannon Tutor


The tutor for the moves Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, and Hydro Cannon can be found in Wyndon. You can easily find the tutor waiting for you at the benches in the park in the East of Wyndon. However, while this tutor is also specialized in tutoring Starter Pokémon, just like the tutor for the moves Fire Pledge, Grass Pledge, and Water Pledge, this tutor here only teaches moves that match the corresponding typing of Starter Pokémon that have reached their final evolution stage: Venusaur and Rillaboom can learn Frenzy Plant, Charizard and Cinderace can learn Blast Burn, and Blastoise and Inteleon can learn Hydro Cannon.

1. h Master Dojo Tutor (Isle of Armor)


The Master Dojo tutor can be found in the Master Dojo of Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield's Isle of Armor DLC expansion. You will unlock this useful NPC once you have completed Mustard's first trial and brought back Avery's/Klara's uniform from the thievish Galarian Slowpokes. The NPC will stand to the right of the doors that lead to the Battle Court outside and tutors the following moves in exchange for 5 Armorite Ores each:

Terrain Pulse​
Burning Jealousy​
Flip Turn​
Rising Voltage​
Grassy Glide​
Triple Axel​
Coaching​
Corrosive Gas​
Scorching Sands​
Dual Wingbeat​
Expanding Force​
Skitter Smack​
Meteor Beam​
Poltergeist​
Scale Shot​
Lash Out​
Steel Roller​
Misty Explosion​

2. Exploits

I dedicate the second section to two major kinds of exploits that you can perform in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. However, keep in mind that Game Freak may patch this exploit these exploits in the future, meaning that while it they worked at the time I wrote this guide, it they might unfortunately not work anymore by the time you are reading this. So, let us not waste any time and make good use of it them for as long as we can!

2. a Purple Beam Den Exploit

To efficiently aim for Purple Beam Dens, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Press "X" and go to "Options" in order to set the Text Speed to "Slow".
  2. Scroll a bit further down in the "Options" menu and ensure that the "Autosave" feature is set to "Off".
  3. Make sure that you have one or more Wishing Pieces in your inventory.
  4. Go and find an inactive den in the Wild Area and save the game in front of it.
  5. Interact with the den and use a Wishing Piece.
  6. The game will ask you if you want to save the game; as soon as you see the beam color, press "HOME". The reason as to why we set the Text Speed to "Slow" earlier is that it gives us slightly more time to react to the color of the beam that will shoot out of the den.
  7. Sometimes the beam will be red. In this case, just reset your game by pressing "X" and then selecting "Close" and try again until you get the purple beam.
2. b Date Skip Exploit

The Date Skip Exploit requires a bit of a different setup. Please keep in mind that skipping the date in Pokémon will also affect time-based events of other games on your Switch!
To get it to work, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Go and find a den in the Wild Area. It can either be a den that is already active or an inactive den that you activate yourself using a Wishing Piece. Both methods work. However, if you are going to skip multiple days one at a time (in order to roll for a specific weather for example), I recommend using Wishing Pieces, as natural dens will move after the first skip.
  2. Interact with the den and click the "Invite Others" option.
  3. Press the "HOME" button to access the main menu and proceed to open the System Settings.
  4. Scroll all the way down to "System" and then pick the "Date and Time" option under "Language" and "Region".
  5. For it to work, you need to ensure that the "Synchronize Time via Internet" option is set to "Off".
  6. Change the date on your console to the next day and click "OK" once you have done so.
  7. Press "B" to go back into the main menu and go back to your Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield game.
  8. Go back in-game and cancel the raid.
This exploit can significantly speed up many time-based tasks in the games, such as growing berries or completing Poké Jobs.
The Hammerlocke University hosts daily EV training Poké Job seminars during which your Pokémon gain 4 EVs for every passing hour.
If you want to speed up this process, remember to send your Pokémon to do these Poké Jobs before doing this exploit. Once you have followed the steps above correctly, you can go and pick up your fully EV trained Pokémon again at the PC in the nearest Pokémon Center. Remember that the effects of factors such as the Pokérus and the Power Items are also taken into account when EV training with this method.

While you are already at the PC, you might as well use this exploit repeatedly to replay the Loto-ID for a chance to win items such as Moomoo Milk, PP Up, PP Max, Rare Candy, or even the highly sought-after Master Ball!

Since the den stays active every single time you skip a day, this also means that there will be 2000 Watts pouring out of it every single time you repeat this trick. Please do however note that you need to have finished the game in order to reap the full 2000 Watts. The notable amount of Watts that you can collect in a short amount of time allows you to buy many Wishing Pieces, Technical Records (TRs) and even Luxury Balls for only 100 Watts each. You can then proceed to sell the Luxury Balls that you got from the traders in the Wild Area at any Pokémon Center for 1500 Poké Dollars. This way, you can earn huge amounts of money in no time, allowing you to purchase the expensive Technical Machines (TMs), as well as clothes. You can also spend your Watts at the Digging Duo near the Daycare in Bridge Field (Wild Area) and collect more Wishing Pieces, fossils, evolution stones, and Bottle Caps, all while also collecting items that you can sell for Poké Dollars, such as Rare Bones, Stardust, (AC) and Star Pieces. This method of earning money is a lot faster and more efficient than the one that requires you to redo the Champion's Cup with your Gigantamax Meowth and the Amulet Coin over and over again. However, doing the Champion's Cup has the advantage of simultaneously earning you a lot of money and, with a bit of luck, rewards such as Apricorn Balls, Life Orbs, Toxic Orbs, and Flame Orbs.

This exploit can also be used to change the weather in the Wild Area. Some Pokémon in the Wild Area can only be encountered during very specific weather conditions, and it can be quite annoying to wait for the right weather because you have to wait an entire day. However, please note that you will have to have beaten the first 3 Gyms and made your way to Hammerlocke in order to unlock both the Sandstorm and the Snowstorm weather. In a similar manner, you need to have beaten the game in order to unlock the Fog weather!

On the first day of every month, the weather is the exact same in all the places in the Wild Area.
Below you can find a list with key dates, their respective weather conditions and the Pokémon that will show up in the Wild Area:

DateWeatherPokémon
February 1st​
Snowstorm:​
Sneasel, Swinub, Piloswine, Delibird, Mawile, Snorunt, Glalie, Mime Jr., Riolu, Snover, Abomasnow, Weavile, Glaceon, Vanillite, Vanillish, Vanilluxe, Cubchoo, Pawniard, Honedge, Avalugg, Togedemaru, Eiscue (Shield)​
March 1st​
Overcast​
Farfetch'd (Sword), Kingler, Hitmonlee (Sword), Hitmonchan (Shield), Togepi, Espeon, Corsola (Shield), Hitmontop, Larvitar (Shield), Ralts, Roserade, Croagunk (Shield), Toxicroak (Shield), Munna, Throh (Shield), Sawk (Shield), Cottonee, Scraggy, Cinccino, Karrablast, Elgyem, Shelmet, Spritzee (Shield), Swirlix (Sword), Barbaracle, Shiinotic, Jangmo-o (Sword), Rookidee, Falinks, Dreepy​
April 1st​
Sandstorm​
Umbreon, Pupitar (Shield), Nincada, Trapinch, Flygon, Bonsly, Hippopotas, Hippowdon, Croagunk (Shield), Gigalith, Drilbur, Scraggy, Stunfisk, Zweilous (Sword), Mudbray, Carkol, Stonjourner (Sword)​
May 1st​
Normal Weather​
Cloyster, Kingler, Lanturn, Togepi, Bellossom, Gardevoir, Flygon, Crawdaunt, Combee, Vespiquen, Munchlax, Lucario, Croagunk (Shield), Leafeon, Gigalith, Scraggy, Cinccino, Elgyem, Steenee, Golisopod, Blipbug, Gossilfeur, Wooloo, Applin, Toxel​
June 1st​
Fog​
Clefairy, Clefable, Cloyster, Lanturn, Togepi, Togetic, Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir, Sableye (Shield), Milotic, Roserade, Togekiss, Munna, Musharna, Cinccino, Gothita (Sword), Gothorita (Sword), Gothitelle (Sword), Solosis (Shield), Duosion (Shield), Reuniclus (Shield), Elgyem, Litwick, Meowstic, Honedge, Aegislash, Spritzee (Shield), Swirlix (Sword), Sylveon, Morelull, Mimikyu, Hatenna, Milcery, Indeedee, Dreepy​
July 1st​
Intense Sun​
Vulpix, Ninetales (Sword), Growlithe, Arcanine (Shield), Flareon, Larvitar (Shield), Nincada, Torkoal, Flygon, Hippopotas, Gigalith, Drilbur, Maractus, Litwick, Lampent, Chandelure, Stunfisk, Heatmor, Durant, Mudbray, Salandit, Turtonator (Sword), Jangmo-o (Sword), Carkol, Stonjourner (Sword)​
October 1st​
Raining​
Pikachu, Vaporeon, Electrike, Crawdaunt, Rotom, Karrablast, Shelmet, Deino (Sword), Binacle, Barbaracle, Goomy (Shield), Grubbin, Charjabug, Dewpider, Araquanid, Shiinotic, Wimpod, Golisopod, Toxel​
November 1st​
Thunderstorm​
Pikachu, Kingler, Jolteon, Chinchou, Lanturn, Gardevoir, Electrike, Manectric, Crawdaunt, Rotom, Karrablast, Joltik, Shelmet, Zweilous (Sword), Binacle, Barbaracle, Helioptile, Sliggo (Shield), Grubbin, Charjabug, Mareanie, Dewpider, Araquanid, Shiinotic, Wimpod, Golisopod, Pyukumuku, Drampa (Shield), Hakamo-o (Sword), Yamper, Applin, Toxel, Morpeko, Dreepy​
December 1st​
Snowing​
Mr. Mime, Sneasel, Swinub, Piloswine, Delibird, Snorunt, Glalie, Snover, Abomasnow, Glaceon, Vanillite, Vanillish, Vanilluxe, Cubchoo, Beartic, Bergmite, Avalugg, Wooloo, Snom, Eiscue (Shield)​

3. Charm Items

I dedicate the third section to the 3 five Charm Items. They are very useful Key Items, meaning that their respective influence will become effective the moment you obtain them and store them away in the designated Key Items section in your inventory. You will hence not have to constantly equip them to a Pokémon in your party for them to work.

3. a Catching Charm


The first Charm Item on our list is the Catching Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of Critical Catches when trying to catch wild Pokémon. You will notice a Critical Catch when the ball makes what players describe as a "whistling sound" before it shakes only once and then either catches the Pokémon or breaks. While the catch rate is undeniably increased during a Critical Catch, this does not mean that you are guaranteed the Pokémon whenever one occurs.

You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item. To obtain this item, follow the instructions below:
  1. Visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the second room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the Game Director (depicted as a Doctor) and he will hand you the Catching Charm.
3. b Shiny Charm


The second Charm Item on our list is the Shiny Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of encountering a shiny Pokémon. Despite the fact that you need to have all 400 Pokémon of the Galar region registered in your Pokédex, the time and effort spent to earn this item is well worth it in the end. It significantly increases the standard 1/4096 odds of finding a shiny Pokémon to 1/1365. Not only does the Shiny Charm influence the odds of finding shiny Pokémon in the wild, but it also influences the odds of hatching a shiny Pokémon from an egg: the 1/683 odds of hatching a shiny Pokémon via the Masuda Method, meaning with two breeding parents that have different language origins, are increased additionally to 1/512 odds thanks to the Shiny Charm. However, please note that the Shiny Charm does not influence the odds of gifted Pokémon, revived Fossil Pokémon, (AC) or Raid Pokémon.

You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item. To obtain this item, follow the instructions below:
  1. Once you have registered all 400 Pokémon in your Pokédex, visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the second room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the Game Director (depicted as a Doctor) and he will hand you the Shiny Charm, a diploma, as well as a League Card sticker.
3. c Oval Charm


The third Charm Item on our list is the Oval Charm. As the name suggests, this item will speed up egg production at the Daycares on Route 5 and in Bridge Field (Wild Area). Unlike the Catching Charm and the Shiny Charm, the Oval Charm can only be obtained after completing the main story.

To obtain this item, follow the instructions below:
  1. Once you have become the champion of the Galar region, visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the first room.
  3. Proceed to talk to GAME FREAK's Morimoto (depicted as a Police Officer) and he will hand you the Oval Charm after you defeat him in a battle.
I recommend coming prepared when challenging Morimoto. Not only does he face you with a team consisting of 6 Pokémon at level 65, but he also challenges you to a Double Battle. He leads with Grapploct and Cursola and has Stonjourner, Dragapult, Coalossal, and even a Dynamax Snorlax in the back. Be especially careful with Cursola's Perish Body Hidden Ability.

3. d Exp. Charm (Isle of Armor)


The fourth Charm Item on our list is the Exp. Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the amount of Exp. Points (EXP) that your Pokémon can earn through battling. The Exp. Charm can only be obtained in the Isle of Armor DLC expansion for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. (remove linebreak) You receive the Exp. Charm early on in the campaign. Hyde hands it to you as a welcome gift once you become the Master Dojo's new trainee.

3. e Mark Charm (Isle of Armor)


The fifth Charm Item on our list is the Mark Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of finding marked Pokémon in the wild. Marks are similar to ribbons, and they can be checked on the exact same status screen tab. Just like the Exp. Charm, the Mark Charm can only be obtained in the Isle of Armor DLC expansion for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. You receive the Mark Charm from the female Doctor at the Armor Station as a reward for completing the Isle of Armor Pokédex.

4. Pickup

The fourth paragraph is dedicated to the Pickup ability. This notably useful ability allows certain Pokémon in your party to literally "pick up" random items after battles.
The following Pick Up Pickup Pokémon can be found in the Galar region without a Nintendo Switch Online membership:
  1. Meowth (Galar forme)
  2. Zigzagoon (Galar forme)
  3. Linoone (Galar forme)
  4. Munchlax
  5. Bunnelby
  6. Diggersby
  7. Pumpkaboo
  8. Gourgeist
If you do have a Nintendo Switch Online membership, then you also have access to the following 3 three Pickup Pokémon:
  1. Meowth (Kanto forme & Alola forme)
  2. Zigzagoon (Hoenn forme)
  3. Linoone (Hoenn forme)
Ever since the Isle of Armor DLC expansion, the follow 2 following two Pickup Pokémon have become available as well:
  1. Lillipup
  2. Dedenne
It is important to note that the rarity of the items that can be picked up depends on the level of the Pick Up Pickup Pokémon in your party.
Below you can find a list of all of the items that can be picked up with the help of this ability, as well as the rarity for each level range:

Level RangeVery Common ItemsCommon ItemsUncommon ItemsRare ItemsVery Rare Items
1-10​
Potion​
Tiny Mushroom​
Poké Doll, Repel, Super Potion​
Big Mushroom, Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Revive, Super Repel​
Ether​
11-20​
Repel​
Big Mushroom, Poké Doll, Super Potion, Super Repel, Tiny Mushroom​
Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Max Repel, Moon Stone, Revive, Sun Stone​
Ether, Rare Candy​
21-30​
Super Potion​
Big Mushroom, Full Heal, Poké Doll, Super Repel, Tiny Mushroom​
Ether, Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel, Moon Stone, Nugget, Revive, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Ether, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
31-40​
Poké Doll​
Full Heal, Revive, Super Repel​
Balm Mushroom, Ether, Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Ether, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
41-50​
Super Repel​
Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Ether, Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Elixir, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
51-60​
Full Heal​
Hyper Potion, Max Repel, Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Max Potion, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Elixir, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
61-70​
Revive​
Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Ether, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Elixir, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
71-80​
Hyper Potion​
Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Ether, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Elixir, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
81-90​
Max Repel​
Max Potion, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Elixir, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
91-100​
Max Potion​
Big Nugget, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Elixir, Max Elixir, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​

I hence recommend using a full party consisting of 6 Pickup Pokémon with a level of 91 or higher in order to get as many rare items as quickly as possible.

Before I conclude this paragraph, I would also like to highlight a useful trick that DaWoblefet documented in this YouTube video. As it turns out, Pickup Pokémon in Generation 8 will keep picking up items in your party even while you battle Trainers in the Battle Tower with a team in your Battle Box. Using this trick, you can find items and earn Battle Points (BP) simultaneously.

5. Egg Move Mechanics

The fifth paragraph is dedicated to a notable improvement that Game Freak implemented with regards to Egg Moves (EMs). EMs are special moves that are passed down by the parent Pokémon to their offspring while breeding at the Daycare. Veteran Breeders among our readers will remember how annoying and time-consuming it can be to get parents with the right EMs. However, while you can still pass down EMs the old-fashioned way, there is also a new EM mechanic in Generation 8 that allows you to breed EMs onto Pokémon even after they have already hatched. In order to do so, you need both the Pokémon that you want to breed an EM onto, as well as a Pokémon of the same species that knows the EM in question. You can also teach multiple EMs at once via this method; however, (AC) do however ensure that the Pokémon that will inherit them has enough free slots in its moveset. If you need to make room for more than one move, you can easily do so at the Move Deleter that you can find in any of the Galar region's Pokémon Centers. The gender of the Pokémon does not matter; our main goal is not to collect an egg, but to pass down the move.

I will use an example from personal experience to demonstrate this:

Let us for example take my Raboot that already knew the EMs High Jump Kick and Sand Attack through regular inheritance.
Because I also wanted to get the EMs Sucker Punch and Super Fang for completionist's sake, I borrowed a second Raboot with the 2 two missing EMs from a fellow community member. I then ensured that my own Raboot had 2 two free move slots available, went to the nearest Pokémon Center, and got the Move Deleter that I introduced a few paragraphs earlier to delete 2 two unwanted moves. I then took both Raboot to the Daycare and left them there for a minute or two while I cycled back and forth. After a few minutes, I went and picked both Pokémon up again from the Daycare, and upon inspecting the summary screens of my own Raboot, noted that the 2 two missing moves had indeed been passed down.

This useful mechanic also works for Pokémon that you either caught in the wild or during a raid, meaning that you can get Sparkling Aria for your Gigantamax Lapras or Fake Out for your Gigantamax Pikachu, just to name a few notable examples.

6. Berry Tree Shaking

Finally, last but not least, I am going to dedicate the sixth section to the Berry Trees and how to shake them properly in order to get as many berries as possible. In contrast to how you would approach Berry Trees in previous games, you have to be careful and pay attention when shaking Berry Trees in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. If you are not careful enough, you will have wild Pokémon such as Cherubi, Skwovet, and Greedent attack you when they fall down from the tree. As if this was not annoying enough, they will also proceed to steal all of the berries of a random type from right under your nose after the battle, escaping with the literal fruits of your labor. In order to prevent this from happening to the best of your abilities, take a quick break after each shake to pay attention to the rhythm to which the leaves at the treetop shake. A slower rhythm means that you can still continue to shake; however, once the leaves start to shake wildly, that's when you want to stop shaking the tree. Defeating the Pokémon that fall down from trees does not, unfortunately, help you recover any of the stolen berries. I would also like to mention that, in addition to Berries, you can also occasionally find the very useful Leftovers while shaking the berry trees.

Conclusion

This about sums up all of the helpful tips and tricks you need to know about in Generation 8. Ironically, the various unintentional Den-related exploits are the most useful ones, and here's to hoping that they will not be patched anytime soon. Feel free to use them to your advantage for as long as possible to significantly speed up certain in-game tasks and get the most out of your game. Other than that, I can also only highly recommend the Shiny Charm and the Oval Charm to the Shiny Hunters among our readers—especially the ones that like to breed via the Masuda Method. Time is money, after all. So, what are you waiting for? Go out there and be the best and most efficient trainer you can be!

GP stamped
 

Lumari

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Title: SS In-Game Tips and Tricks

Introduction

In this article, I will discuss tips and tricks that will be helpful for your Pokemon Sword or Pokemon Shield playthrough. Please note that some of the tips and tricks you are about to find below can only be done once you have become the Champion of the Galar region. By the end of this article, you should be able to make a lot of things considerably faster and easier for yourself, allowing you to fully focus on your objectives without having to waste too much time. Everything I will mention over the course of this article can be done in both versions of the games, and no Nintendo Switch Online membership is required. I would also like to give a shout out shoutout to Light Sanctity for providing the screenshots.

1. Helpful NPCs

Since you will find many helpful NPCs in Galar, it can sometimes be hard to remember which one offers which service, as well as their locations. For that reason, I decided to dedicate the first section to a compilation of the NPCs that you will likely find yourself visiting the most.

1. a The Name Rater, Memory Checker, Move Reminder & Move Deleter


Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. While you had to travel around quite a bit in previous regions to access all of the mentioned services, Game Freak finally decided to make things considerably more convenient; in the Galar region, the Name Rater, the Memory Checker, the Move Reminder and the Move Deleter are now one and the same person. What's more, this NPC can be found behind the left counter in every single Pokémon Center across the Galar region. You can easily spot the man in question, since he is always accompanied by his partner Indeedee.

The first service he offers allows you to change the nickname of a Pokémon you have caught or hatched. You can also remove the nickname by typing the Pokémon's standard species name as long as you are the Pokémon's Original Trainer (OT). In addition, starting with Generation 8, it is now possible to nickname another Trainer's Pokémon only once if it does not already have one, provided that the Pokémon's language/region matches the language/region of your game. This mechanic is very interesting, as you are now able to give Pokémon from older games longer nicknames thanks to the increased character limit and can also pick from a variety of characters that were never available before. This also allows you to nickname Pokémon obtained from Generation 8 events; events from past generations cannot be renamed in this manner, however, as they are labeled as "Fateful Encounters".

The second service he offers involves checking the memories of your own Pokémon, as well as the ones of Pokémon you received in trades with other Trainers from all around the world. In addition to this, the man will also be able to tell you the emotions that the Pokémon felt in specific moments during your adventures.

The third service he offers involves helping your Pokémon remember deleted or "forgotten" moves. This works for moves that your Pokémon learns normally via leveling up, as well as moves that it inherited from its parents via breeding. However, this does not work for moves that you taught your Pokémon via specific tutors, moves that have been acquired via the new Egg Moves (EMs) mechanic that I am going explain further below, or moves that are tied to specific events. You should hence not act hastily and carefully think things through if you decide to replace these kinds of moves. Another significant improvement in Generation 8 consists in the fact that the Move Reminder no longer takes Heart Scales as a currency in exchange for his services; all of his services are completely free.

The fourth and final service he offers involves helping your Pokémon forget moves. However, while this service is pretty much self-explanatory, I still want to welcome the opportunity to remind you that you need to be particularly careful when deleting moves. As I have already mentioned in the paragraph above, moves that were acquired via specific tutor moves in previous generations cannot be remembered once they were forgotten. The same also applies to moves that are exclusive to certain events.

1. b Happiness Checker


The Happiness Checker can be found in the house to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center. You can check the Happiness level of your Pokémon by showing them to the little boy. However, since you cannot check the exact value of the Happiness level, and since the responses of the boy are rather vague, I decided to include a table that shows you which response corresponds to which Happiness level range, ranging from lowest (0) to highest (255):

ResponseHappiness Level Range
"Maybe you're a bit too strict? It doesn't seem like you're friends at all..."​
0​
"I guess you two just met? It's still getting used to things."​
1-49​
"Seems like it likes you an average amount! Don't worry—you two will get closer as time passes!"​
50-89​
"Wow, I think you're on your way to becoming real good friends!"​
100-149​
"Seems like you're pretty good friends! Still, I bet you could become even closer!"​
150-199​
"You two get along great! Together is always better—am I right?"​
200-229​
"You two are almost best friends! I can see you really care about each other!"​
230-254​
"Oh wow, you're best buddies! I can tell you're so happy to be together!"​
255​

Once your Pokémon has reached the maximum Happiness level of 255, the boy will reward your Pokémon with the Best Friends Ribbon.

Below you can find a list of easy ways to raise your Pokémon's Happiness efficiently. I would like to give a shout out to Lego for helping research some of the data.

Throughout the following list, I will refer to "the use of consumable items that increase the Happiness level by a non-zero amount", walking, and battling as "actions":
  1. Catch the Pokémon in a Friend Ball. Doing so will immediately raise a Pokémon's Happiness level to 150, regardless of its initial base level. For example, a Mudbray with a base Happiness level of 50 will immediately have its level raised to 150, (AC) and a Duskull with a base Happiness level of 35 will also have its level raised to 150.
  2. Walking around with the Pokémon in front of your party will also increase its Happiness level by +1 for every few steps taken. However, this method will stop working once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  3. Feed the Pokémon EV-increasing Vitamins, such as HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc, and Carbos. They can be purchased in exchange for 2 Battle Points (BP) each from the League Staff lady in Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center or for 10,000 Poké Dollars each at the right counter of Wyndon's southern Pokémon Center. In addition to this, they can also be randomly obtained after winning ranked battles in Battle Stadium. The Vitamins will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +4 if its level is 0-99, by +2 if its level is 100-159, and by +0 once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  4. Feed the Pokémon Rare Candies. The Candies will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +3 if its level is 0-99 (RC) and by +2 if its level is 100-159, and, much like the Vitamins, they will stop raising the level once the threshold of 160 has been reached.
  5. Feed the Pokémon EV-reducing Berries, such as Pomeg Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), Kelpsy Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and Rolling Fields), Qualot Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, Giant's Seat, and Motostoke Riverbank), Hondew Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and North Lake Miloch), Grepa Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), and Tamato Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, and Motostoke Riverbank). These Berries will raise the Pokémon's Happiness level by +10 if its level is 0-99, by +5 if its level is 100-159, and by +1 even after the threshold of 160 has been reached.
In the next list, I will focus on methods that, in conjunction with the "actions" from the previous list, will raise your Pokémon's Happiness level even more efficiently:
  1. Catch the Pokémon in a Luxury Ball. There is no immediate increase when catching a Pokémon in a Luxury Ball, instead, it will raise the Happiness level of the Pokémon by an additional +1 for every action after it is caught.
  2. Let the Pokémon hold the Soothe Bell, which increases your Pokémon's Happiness level when you walk around or battle with it. Similar to the Luxury Ball, this item will also increase the Pokémon's Happiness level by an additional +1 for every action as long as it is equipped to the Pokémon. You can obtain this item by talking to the Happiness Checker in Hammerlocke.
Fortunately, the Happiness level that is necessary to evolve certain Pokémon has been lowered from 220 points to 160 points in Generation 8. This is the case for Eevee (Espeon during the day and Umbreon during the night), Pichu, Cleffa, Togepi, Budew (Roselia during the day), Munchlax, Riolu (Lucario during the day), Woobat, Alolan Meowth (Alola forme), Snom (Frosmoth during the night), and Type: Null.
Now, if you want to fully max out the remaining 95 Happiness points, you will have to do so by playing with your Pokémon in Pokémon Camp and by cooking delicious Curry for it. A single Copperajah class Curry is enough to raise the Pokémon's Happiness level from 160 straight to 255.

1. c Effort Value (EV) Judge


While you could check to see if a Pokémon has earned all of the available 510 EVs by checking its summary and by pressing "X" while on the stats tab, you can also check this by visiting a very specific NPC in the game. The Effort Value (EV) Judge can be found to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pokémon Center in the same house as the Happiness Checker. If your Pokémon has earned the maximum amount of 510 EVs, the lady on the couch will reward your Pokémon with the Effort Ribbon.

1. d Battle-Ready Mark NPC


With the release of the Isle of Armor DLC expansion, Game Freak now allows Pokémon that were transfered via HOME from past generation games to participate in the official ranked battle formats (Battle Stadium Singles and Battle Stadium Doubles/VGC). In order to make a Pokémon from a past generation game elligible eligible, you need to visit the new NPC that is waiting for you next to the right counter in Wyndon's Battle Tower. However, while this does sound promising in theory at first, I do however want to place great emphasis on informing you that, once the NPC marks your Pokémon, all of the moves that it would normally not be able to legally learn in Generation 8 games will be completely removed from its movepool and replaced by some of its standard Level Up moves. I hence recommend thinking twice before removing an old event-exclusive move or an old tutor move, since your Pokémon might never be able to learn it again in future games.

1. e Steel Beam Tutor


The Steel Beam tutor can be found in Motostoke. In order to find him easily, I recommend going to the Pokémon Center in the western part of Motostoke and then heading to the right until you reach the warehouse facility with the children playing with their Minccino. Next, you want to follow the path to the south that leads through the turning industrial infrastructures tunnel until you reach a staircase. Follow the stairs, and you will find the tutor waiting for you down at the docks with the containers, ready to teach this powerful move to any of your Steel-type Pokémon — including Steel-type Silvally! However, please keep in mind that, while Motostoke can be accessed early on in the playthrough, the tutor will only start offering his service once you have become the Champion of the Galar region.

1. f Fire Pledge, Grass Pledge, and Water Pledge Tutor


The tutor for the moves Fire Pledge, Grass Pledge, and Water Pledge can be found in Hammerlocke. In order to find him easily, I recommend going to the Pokémon Center in the western part of Motostoke and then heading to the left past the park until you reach the drawbridge that leads to Route 6. However, instead of crossing the drawbridge, you need to head to the South and follow down a staircase until you find the tutor waiting for you. Each Starter Pokémon can learn the move that corresponds to its typing: the Bulbasaur line and the Grookey line can learn Grass Pledge, the Charmander line and the Scorbunny line can learn Fire Pledge, and the Squirtle line and the Sobble line can learn Water Pledge.

1. g Draco Meteor Tutor


The Draco Meteor tutor can be found in Circhester. In order to find him easily, I recommend starting at the Pokémon Center and the moving to the north until you reach the Circhester Bath to the right of the restaurant. You will find the tutor waiting for you on the left poolside, ready to teach this powerful move to some of your Dragon-type Pokémon — including Dragon-type Silvally!

1. h Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, and Hydro Cannon Tutor


The tutor for the moves Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, and Hydro Cannon can be found in Wyndon. You can easily find the tutor waiting for you at the benches in the park in the East of Wyndon. However, while this tutor is also specialized in tutoring Starter Pokémon, just like the tutor for the moves Fire Pledge, Grass Pledge, and Water Pledge, this tutor here only teaches moves that match the corresponding typing of Starter Pokémon that have reached their final evolution stage: Venusaur and Rillaboom can learn Frenzy Plant, Charizard and Cinderace can learn Blast Burn, and Blastoise and Inteleon can learn Hydro Cannon.

1. i Master Dojo Tutor (Isle of Armor)


The Master Dojo tutor can be found in the Master Dojo of Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield's Isle of Armor DLC expansion. You will unlock this useful NPC once you have completed Mustard's first trial and brought back Avery's/Klara's uniform from the thievish Galarian Slowpokes Slowpoke. The NPC will stand to the right of the doors that lead to the Battle Court outside and tutors the following moves in exchange for 5 Armorite Ores each:

Terrain Pulse​
Burning Jealousy​
Flip Turn​
Rising Voltage​
Grassy Glide​
Triple Axel​
Coaching​
Corrosive Gas​
Scorching Sands​
Dual Wingbeat​
Expanding Force​
Skitter Smack​
Meteor Beam​
Poltergeist​
Scale Shot​
Lash Out​
Steel Roller​
Misty Explosion​

2. Exploits

I dedicate the second section to two major kinds of exploits that you can perform in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. However, keep in mind that Game Freak may patch these exploits in the future, meaning that while they worked at the time I wrote this guide, they might unfortunately not work anymore by the time you are reading this. So, let us not waste any time and make good use of them for as long as we can!

2. a Purple Beam Den Exploit

To efficiently aim for Purple Beam Dens, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Press "X" and go to "Options" in order to set the Text Speed to "Slow".
  2. Scroll a bit further down in the "Options" menu and ensure that the "Autosave" feature is set to "Off".
  3. Make sure that you have one or more Wishing Pieces in your inventory.
  4. Go and find an inactive den in the Wild Area and save the game in front of it.
  5. Interact with the den and use a Wishing Piece.
  6. The game will ask you if you want to save the game; as soon as you see the beam color, press "HOME". The reason as to why we set the Text Speed to "Slow" earlier is that it gives us slightly more time to react to the color of the beam that will shoot out of the den.
  7. Sometimes the beam will be red. In this case, just reset your game by pressing "X" and then selecting "Close" and try again until you get the purple beam.
2. b Date Skip Exploit

The Date Skip Exploit requires a bit of a different setup. Please keep in mind that skipping the date in Pokémon will also affect time-based events of other games on your Switch!
To get it to work, you need to follow the instructions below:
  1. Go and find a den in the Wild Area. It can either be a den that is already active or an inactive den that you activate yourself using a Wishing Piece. Both methods work. However, if you are going to skip multiple days one at a time (in order to roll for a specific weather for example), I recommend using Wishing Pieces, as natural dens will move after the first skip.
  2. Interact with the den and click the "Invite Others" option.
  3. Press the "HOME" button to access the main menu and proceed to open the System Settings.
  4. Scroll all the way down to "System" and then pick the "Date and Time" option under "Language" and "Region".
  5. For it to work, you need to ensure that the "Synchronize Time via Internet" option is set to "Off".
  6. Change the date on your console to the next day and click "OK" once you have done so.
  7. Press "B" to go back into the main menu and go back to your Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield game.
  8. Go back in-game and cancel the raid.
This exploit can significantly speed up many time-based tasks in the games, such as growing Berries or and completing Poké Jobs.
The Hammerlocke University hosts daily EV training Poké Job seminars during which your Pokémon gain 4 EVs for every passing hour.
If you want to speed up this process, remember to send your Pokémon to do these Poké Jobs before doing this exploit. Once you have followed the steps above correctly, you can go and pick up your fully EV trained Pokémon again at the PC in the nearest Pokémon Center. Remember that the effects of factors such as the Pokérus and the Power Items are also taken into account when EV training with this method.

While you are already at the PC, you might as well use this exploit repeatedly to replay the Loto-ID for a chance to win items such as Moomoo Milk, PP Up, PP Max, Rare Candy, or even the highly sought-after Master Ball!

Since the den stays active every single time you skip a day, this also means that there will be 2000 Watts pouring out of it every single time you repeat this trick. Please do, (AC) however, (AC) note that you need to have finished the game in order to reap the full 2000 Watts. The notable amount of Watts that you can collect in a short amount of time allows you to buy many Wishing Pieces, Technical Records (TRs) and even Luxury Balls for only 100 Watts each. You can then proceed to sell the Luxury Balls that you got from the traders in the Wild Area at any Pokémon Center for 1500 Poké Dollars. This way, you can earn huge amounts of money in no time, allowing you to purchase the expensive Technical Machines (TMs), as well as clothes. You can also spend your Watts at the Digging Duo near the Daycare in Bridge Field (Wild Area) and collect more Wishing Pieces, fossils, evolution stones, and Bottle Caps, all while also collecting items that you can sell for Poké Dollars, such as Rare Bones, Stardust, and Star Pieces. This method of earning money is a lot faster and more efficient than the one that requires you to redo the Champion's Cup with your Gigantamax Meowth and the Amulet Coin over and over again. However, doing the Champion's Cup has the advantage of simultaneously earning you a lot of money and, with a bit of luck, rewards such as Apricorn Balls, Life Orbs, Toxic Orbs, and Flame Orbs.

This exploit can also be used to change the weather in the Wild Area. Some Pokémon in the Wild Area can only be encountered during very specific weather conditions, and it can be quite annoying to wait for the right weather because you have to wait an entire day. However, please note that you will have to have beaten the first three Gyms and made your way to Hammerlocke in order to unlock both the Sandstorm and the Snowstorm weather. In a similar manner, you need to have beaten the game in order to unlock the Fog weather!

On the first day of every month, the weather is the exact same in all the places in the Wild Area.
Below you can find a list with key dates, their respective weather conditions and the Pokémon that will show up in the Wild Area:

DateWeatherPokémon
February 1st​
Snowstorm:​
Sneasel, Swinub, Piloswine, Delibird, Mawile, Snorunt, Glalie, Mime Jr., Riolu, Snover, Abomasnow, Weavile, Glaceon, Vanillite, Vanillish, Vanilluxe, Cubchoo, Pawniard, Honedge, Avalugg, Togedemaru, Eiscue (Shield)​
March 1st​
Overcast​
Farfetch'd (Sword), Kingler, Hitmonlee (Sword), Hitmonchan (Shield), Togepi, Espeon, Corsola (Shield), Hitmontop, Larvitar (Shield), Ralts, Roserade, Croagunk (Shield), Toxicroak (Shield), Munna, Throh (Shield), Sawk (Shield), Cottonee, Scraggy, Cinccino, Karrablast, Elgyem, Shelmet, Spritzee (Shield), Swirlix (Sword), Barbaracle, Shiinotic, Jangmo-o (Sword), Rookidee, Falinks, Dreepy​
April 1st​
Sandstorm​
Umbreon, Pupitar (Shield), Nincada, Trapinch, Flygon, Bonsly, Hippopotas, Hippowdon, Croagunk (Shield), Gigalith, Drilbur, Scraggy, Stunfisk, Zweilous (Sword), Mudbray, Carkol, Stonjourner (Sword)​
May 1st​
Normal Weather​
Cloyster, Kingler, Lanturn, Togepi, Bellossom, Gardevoir, Flygon, Crawdaunt, Combee, Vespiquen, Munchlax, Lucario, Croagunk (Shield), Leafeon, Gigalith, Scraggy, Cinccino, Elgyem, Steenee, Golisopod, Blipbug, Gossilfeur, Wooloo, Applin, Toxel​
June 1st​
Fog​
Clefairy, Clefable, Cloyster, Lanturn, Togepi, Togetic, Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir, Sableye (Shield), Milotic, Roserade, Togekiss, Munna, Musharna, Cinccino, Gothita (Sword), Gothorita (Sword), Gothitelle (Sword), Solosis (Shield), Duosion (Shield), Reuniclus (Shield), Elgyem, Litwick, Meowstic, Honedge, Aegislash, Spritzee (Shield), Swirlix (Sword), Sylveon, Morelull, Mimikyu, Hatenna, Milcery, Indeedee, Dreepy​
July 1st​
Intense Sun​
Vulpix, Ninetales (Sword), Growlithe, Arcanine (Shield), Flareon, Larvitar (Shield), Nincada, Torkoal, Flygon, Hippopotas, Gigalith, Drilbur, Maractus, Litwick, Lampent, Chandelure, Stunfisk, Heatmor, Durant, Mudbray, Salandit, Turtonator (Sword), Jangmo-o (Sword), Carkol, Stonjourner (Sword)​
October 1st​
Raining​
Pikachu, Vaporeon, Electrike, Crawdaunt, Rotom, Karrablast, Shelmet, Deino (Sword), Binacle, Barbaracle, Goomy (Shield), Grubbin, Charjabug, Dewpider, Araquanid, Shiinotic, Wimpod, Golisopod, Toxel​
November 1st​
Thunderstorm​
Pikachu, Kingler, Jolteon, Chinchou, Lanturn, Gardevoir, Electrike, Manectric, Crawdaunt, Rotom, Karrablast, Joltik, Shelmet, Zweilous (Sword), Binacle, Barbaracle, Helioptile, Sliggo (Shield), Grubbin, Charjabug, Mareanie, Dewpider, Araquanid, Shiinotic, Wimpod, Golisopod, Pyukumuku, Drampa (Shield), Hakamo-o (Sword), Yamper, Applin, Toxel, Morpeko, Dreepy​
December 1st​
Snowing​
Mr. Mime, Sneasel, Swinub, Piloswine, Delibird, Snorunt, Glalie, Snover, Abomasnow, Glaceon, Vanillite, Vanillish, Vanilluxe, Cubchoo, Beartic, Bergmite, Avalugg, Wooloo, Snom, Eiscue (Shield)​

3. Charm Items

I dedicate the third section to the five Charm Items. They are very useful Key Items, meaning that their respective influence will become effective the moment you obtain them and store them away in the designated Key Items section in your inventory. You will hence not have to constantly equip them to a Pokémon in your party for them to work.

3. a Catching Charm


The first Charm Item on our list is the Catching Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of Critical Catches when trying to catch wild Pokémon. You will notice a Critical Catch when the ball makes what players describe as a "whistling sound" before it shakes only once and then either catches the Pokémon or breaks. While the catch rate is undeniably increased during a Critical Catch, this does not mean that you are guaranteed the Pokémon whenever one occurs.

You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item. To obtain this item, follow the instructions below:
  1. Visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the second room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the Game Director (depicted as a Doctor) and he will hand you the Catching Charm.
3. b Shiny Charm


The second Charm Item on our list is the Shiny Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of encountering a shiny Pokémon. Despite the fact that you need to have all 400 Pokémon of the Galar region registered in your Pokédex, the time and effort spent to earn this item is well worth it in the end. It significantly increases the standard 1/4096 odds of finding a shiny Pokémon to 1/1365. Not only does the Shiny Charm influence the odds of finding shiny Pokémon in the wild, but it also influences the odds of hatching a shiny Pokémon from an egg: the 1/683 odds of hatching a shiny Pokémon via the Masuda Method, meaning with two breeding parents that have different language origins, are increased additionally to 1/512 odds thanks to the Shiny Charm. However, please note that the Shiny Charm does not influence the odds of gifted Pokémon, revived Fossil Pokémon, or Raid Pokémon.

You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item. To obtain this item, follow the instructions below:
  1. Once you have registered all 400 Pokémon in your Pokédex, visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the second room.
  3. Proceed to talk to the Game Director (depicted as a Doctor) and he will hand you the Shiny Charm, a diploma, as well as a League Card sticker.
3. c Oval Charm


The third Charm Item on our list is the Oval Charm. As the name suggests, this item will speed up Egg production at the Daycares on Route 5 and in Bridge Field (Wild Area). Unlike the Catching Charm and the Shiny Charm, the Oval Charm can only be obtained after completing the main story.

To obtain this item, follow the instructions below:
  1. Once you have become the Champion of the Galar region, visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).
  2. Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the first room.
  3. Proceed to talk to GAME FREAK's Morimoto (depicted as a Police Officer), (AC) and he will hand you the Oval Charm after you defeat him in a battle.
I recommend coming prepared when challenging Morimoto. Not only does he face you with a team consisting of 6 Pokémon at level 65, but he also challenges you to a Double Battle. He leads with Grapploct and Cursola and has Stonjourner, Dragapult, Coalossal, and even a Dynamax Snorlax in the back. Be especially careful with Cursola's Perish Body hidden ability.

3. d Exp. Charm (Isle of Armor)


The fourth Charm Item on our list is the Exp. Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the amount of Exp. Points (EXP) that your Pokémon can earn through battling. The Exp. Charm can only be obtained in the Isle of Armor DLC expansion for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. You receive the Exp. Charm early on in the campaign. Hyde hands it to you as a welcome gift once you become the Master Dojo's new trainee.

3. e Mark Charm (Isle of Armor)


The fifth Charm Item on our list is the Mark Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of finding marked Pokémon in the wild. Marks are similar to ribbons, and they can be checked on the exact same status screen tab. Just like the Exp. Charm, the Mark Charm can only be obtained in the Isle of Armor DLC expansion for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. You receive the Mark Charm from the female Doctor at the Armor Station as a reward for completing the Isle of Armor Pokédex.

4. Pickup

The fourth paragraph is dedicated to the Pickup ability. This notably useful ability allows certain Pokémon in your party to literally "pick up" random items after battles.
The following Pickup Pokémon can be found in the Galar region without a Nintendo Switch Online membership:
  1. Meowth (Galarian forme)
  2. Zigzagoon (Galarian forme)
  3. Linoone (Galarian forme)
  4. Munchlax
  5. Bunnelby
  6. Diggersby
  7. Pumpkaboo
  8. Gourgeist
If you do have a Nintendo Switch Online membership, then you also have access to the following three Pickup Pokémon:
  1. Meowth (Kantonian forme & Alolan forme)
  2. Zigzagoon (Hoennite (? idk haha & it's not technically needed to specify anyways) forme)
  3. Linoone (Hoennite forme)
Ever since the Isle of Armor DLC expansion, the following two Pickup Pokémon have become available as well:
  1. Lillipup
  2. Dedenne
It is important to note that the rarity of the items that can be picked up depends on the level of the Pickup Pokémon in your party.
Below you can find a list of all of the items that can be picked up with the help of this ability, as well as the rarity for each level range:

Level RangeVery Common ItemsCommon ItemsUncommon ItemsRare ItemsVery Rare Items
1-10​
Potion​
Tiny Mushroom​
Poké Doll, Repel, Super Potion​
Big Mushroom, Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Revive, Super Repel​
Ether​
11-20​
Repel​
Big Mushroom, Poké Doll, Super Potion, Super Repel, Tiny Mushroom​
Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Max Repel, Moon Stone, Revive, Sun Stone​
Ether, Rare Candy​
21-30​
Super Potion​
Big Mushroom, Full Heal, Poké Doll, Super Repel, Tiny Mushroom​
Ether, Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel, Moon Stone, Nugget, Revive, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Ether, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
31-40​
Poké Doll​
Full Heal, Revive, Super Repel​
Balm Mushroom, Ether, Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Ether, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
41-50​
Super Repel​
Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Ether, Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Elixir, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb​
51-60​
Full Heal​
Hyper Potion, Max Repel, Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Max Potion, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Elixir, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
61-70​
Revive​
Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Ether, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Elixir, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
71-80​
Hyper Potion​
Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Ether, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Elixir, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
81-90​
Max Repel​
Max Potion, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Elixir, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​
91-100​
Max Potion​
Big Nugget, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Sun Stone​
Balm Mushroom, Elixir, Max Elixir, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy​
Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb​

I hence recommend using a full party consisting of 6 Pickup Pokémon with a level of 91 or higher in order to get as many rare items as quickly as possible.

Before I conclude this paragraph, I would also like to highlight a useful trick that DaWoblefet documented in this YouTube video. As it turns out, Pickup Pokémon in Generation 8 will keep picking up items in your party even while you battle Trainers in the Battle Tower with a team in your Battle Box. Using this trick, you can find items and earn Battle Points (BP) simultaneously. Ever since the release of the Isle of Armor DLC expansion, this trick is also confirmed to work when battling in the Restricted Sparring mode at the Master Dojo.

5. Egg Move Mechanics

The fifth paragraph is dedicated to a notable improvement that Game Freak implemented with regards to Egg Moves (EMs). EMs are special moves that are passed down by the parent Pokémon to their offspring while breeding at the Daycare. Veteran Breeders among our readers will remember how annoying and time consuming (RH) it can be to get parents with the right EMs. However, while you can still pass down EMs the old-fashioned way, there is also a new EM mechanic in Generation 8 that allows you to breed EMs onto Pokémon even after they have already hatched. In order to do so, you need both the Pokémon that you want to breed an EM onto, as well as a Pokémon of the same species that knows the EM in question. You can also teach multiple EMs at once via this method; however, do ensure that the Pokémon that will inherit them has enough free slots in its moveset. If you need to make room for more than one move, you can easily do so at the Move Deleter that you can find in any of the Galar region's Pokémon Centers. The gender of the Pokémon does not matter; our main goal is not to collect an Egg, but to pass down the move.

I will use an example from personal experience to demonstrate this:

Let us for example take my Raboot that already knew the EMs High Jump Kick and Sand Attack through regular inheritance.
Because I also wanted to get the EMs Sucker Punch and Super Fang for completionist's sake, I borrowed a second Raboot with the two missing EMs from a fellow community member. I then ensured that my own Raboot had two free move slots moveslots available, went to the nearest Pokémon Center, and got the Move Deleter that I introduced a few paragraphs earlier to delete two unwanted moves. I then took both Raboot to the Daycare and left them there for a minute or two while I cycled back and forth. After a few minutes, I went and picked both Pokémon up again from the Daycare, and upon inspecting the summary screens of my own Raboot, noted that the two missing moves had indeed been passed down.

This useful mechanic also works for Pokémon that you either caught in the wild or during a raid, meaning that you can get Sparkling Aria for your Gigantamax Lapras or Fake Out for your Gigantamax Pikachu, just to name a few notable examples.

6. Berry Tree Shaking

Finally, last but not least, I am going to dedicate the sixth section to the Berry Trees and how to shake them properly in order to get as many Berries as possible. In contrast to how you would approach Berry Trees in previous games, you have to be careful and pay attention when shaking Berry Trees in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. If you are not careful enough, you will have wild Pokémon such as Cherubi, Skwovet, and Greedent attack you when they fall down from the tree. As if this was not annoying enough, they will also proceed to steal all of the Berries of a random type from right under your nose after the battle, escaping with the literal fruits of your labor. In order to prevent this from happening to the best of your abilities, take a quick break after each shake to pay attention to the rhythm to which the leaves at the treetop shake. A slower rhythm means that you can still continue to shake; however, once the leaves start to shake wildly, that's when you want to stop shaking the tree. Defeating the Pokémon that fall down from trees does not, unfortunately, help you recover any of the stolen Berries. I would also like to mention that, in addition to Berries, you can also occasionally find the very useful Leftovers while shaking the Berry Trees.

Conclusion Final Thoughts

This about sums up all of the helpful tips and tricks you need to know about in Generation 8. Ironically, the various unintentional Den-related exploits are the most useful ones, and here's to hoping that they will not be patched anytime soon. Feel free to use them to your advantage for as long as possible to significantly speed up certain in-game tasks and get the most out of your game. Other than that, I can also only highly recommend the Shiny Charm and the Oval Charm to the shiny hunters among our readers—especially the ones that like to breed via the Masuda Method. Time is money, after all. So, what are you waiting for? Go out there and be the best and most efficient Trainer you can be!
 

Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
ok today = almost 3 hours

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SS In-Game Tips and Tricks

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<div class="author">By <a href="/forums/members/max-optimizer.309941/" target="_blank">Max. Optimizer</a>.</div>


<h2>Introduction</h2>

<p>In this article, I will discuss tips and tricks that will be helpful for your Pok&eacute;mon Sword or Pok&eacute;mon Shield playthrough. Please note that some of the tips and tricks you are about to find below can only be done once you have become the Champion of the Galar region. By the end of this article, you should be able to make a lot of things considerably faster and easier for yourself, allowing you to fully focus on your objectives without having to waste too much time. Everything I will mention over the course of this article can be done in both versions of the games, and no Nintendo Switch Online membership is required. I would also like to give a shoutout to <a href="/forums/members/light-sanctity.491200/" target="_blank">Light Sanctity</a> for providing the screenshots.</p>

<div id="toc">
    <h3>Table of Contents</h3>
    <ul class="links">
        <li><a href="#" data-show-link="helpful-npcs"><i class="fa fa-caret-down fa fa-caret-right"></i> 1. Helpful NPCs</a></li>
        <li>
            <ul data-link="helpful-npcs">
                <li><a href="#helpful-npcs">Description</a></li>
                <li><a href="#rater-memorychecker-reminder-deleter">Name Rater, Memory Checker, Move Reminder, and Move Deleter</a></li>
                <li><a href="#happiness-checker">Happiness Checker</a></li>
                <li><a href="#ev-judge">Effort Value (EV) Judge</a></li>
                <li><a href="#battle-ready-mark-npc">Battle-Ready Mark NPC</a></li>
                <li><a href="#steel-beam-tutor">Steel Beam Tutor</a></li>
                <li><a href="#pledge-tutor">Fire Pledge, Grass Pledge, and Water Pledge Tutor</a></li>
                <li><a href="#draco-meteor-tutor">Draco Meteor Tutor</a></li>
                <li><a href="#blastburn-frenzyplant-hydrocannon-tutor">Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, and Hydro Cannon Tutor</a></li>
                <li><a href="#master-dojo-tutor">Master Dojo Tutor</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li><a href="#" data-show-link="exploits"><i class="fa fa-caret-down fa fa-caret-right"></i> 2. Exploits</a></li>
        <li>
            <ul data-link="exploits">
                <li><a href="#exploits">Description</a></li>
                <li><a href="#purple-beam-den-exploit">Purple Beam Den Exploit</a></li>
                <li><a href="#date-skip-exploit">Date Skip Exploit</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li><a href="#" data-show-link="charm-items"><i class="fa fa-caret-down fa fa-caret-right"></i> 3. Charm Items</a></li>
        <li>
            <ul data-link="charm-items">
                <li><a href="#charm-items">Description</a></li>
                <li><a href="#catching-charm">Catching Charm</a></li>
                <li><a href="#shiny-charm">Shiny Charm</a></li>
                <li><a href="#oval-charm">Oval Charm</a></li>
                <li><a href="#exp-charm">Exp. Charm</a></li>
                <li><a href="#mark-charm">Mark Charm</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li><a href="#pickup"><i class="fa fa-caret-right hidden"></i> 4. Pickup</a></li>
        <li><a href="#egg-move-mechanics"><i class="fa fa-caret-right hidden"></i> 5. Egg Move Mechanic</a></li>
        <li><a href="#berry-tree-shaking"><i class="fa fa-caret-right hidden"></i> 6. Berry Tree Shaking</a></li>
    </ul>
</div>

<hr />

<h2 id="helpful-npcs">1. Helpful NPCs</h2>

<p>Since you will find many helpful NPCs in Galar, it can sometimes be hard to remember which one offers which service, as well as their locations. For that reason, I decided to dedicate the first section to a compilation of the NPCs that you will likely find yourself visiting the most.</p>

<h3 id="rater-memorychecker-reminder-deleter">1. a The Name Rater, Memory Checker, Move Reminder &amp; Move Deleter</h3>

<img src="swsh-namerater-memorychecker-movereminder-movedeleter.jpeg" alt="Name Rater, Memory Checker, Move Reminder, and Move Deleter" />

<p>Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. While you had to travel around quite a bit in previous regions to access all of the mentioned services, Game Freak finally decided to make things considerably more convenient; in the Galar region, the Name Rater, the Memory Checker, the Move Reminder and the Move Deleter are now one and the same person. What's more, this NPC can be found behind the left counter in every single Pok&eacute;mon Center across the Galar region. You can easily spot the man in question, since he is always accompanied by his partner Indeedee.</p>

<p>The first service he offers allows you to change the nickname of a Pok&eacute;mon you have caught or hatched. You can also remove the nickname by typing the Pok&eacute;mon's standard species name as long as you are the Pok&eacute;mon's Original Trainer (OT). In addition, starting with Generation 8, it is now possible to nickname another Trainer's Pok&eacute;mon only once if it does not already have one, provided that the Pok&eacute;mon's language/region matches the language/region of your game. This mechanic is very interesting, as you are now able to give Pok&eacute;mon from older games longer nicknames thanks to the increased character limit and can also pick from a variety of characters that were never available before. This also allows you to nickname Pok&eacute;mon obtained from Generation 8 events; events from past generations cannot be renamed in this manner, however, as they are labeled as "Fateful Encounters".</p>

<p>The second service he offers involves checking the memories of your own Pok&eacute;mon, as well as the ones of Pok&eacute;mon you received in trades with other Trainers from all around the world. In addition to this, the man will also be able to tell you the emotions that the Pok&eacute;mon felt in specific moments during your adventures.</p>

<p>The third service he offers involves helping your Pok&eacute;mon remember deleted or "forgotten" moves. This works for moves that your Pok&eacute;mon learns normally via leveling up, as well as moves that it inherited from its parents via breeding. However, this does not work for moves that you taught your Pok&eacute;mon via specific tutors, moves that have been acquired via the new Egg Moves (EMs) mechanic that I am going explain further below, or moves that are tied to specific events. You should hence not act hastily and carefully think things through if you decide to replace these kinds of moves. Another significant improvement in Generation 8 consists in the fact that the Move Reminder no longer takes Heart Scales as a currency in exchange for his services; all of his services are completely free.</p>

<p>The fourth and final service he offers involves helping your Pok&eacute;mon forget moves. However, while this service is pretty much self-explanatory, I still want to welcome the opportunity to remind you that you need to be particularly careful when deleting moves. As I have already mentioned in the paragraph above, moves that were acquired via specific tutor moves in previous generations cannot be remembered once they were forgotten. The same also applies to moves that are exclusive to certain events.</p>

<h3 id="happiness-checker">1. b Happiness Checker</h3>

<img src="swsh-happiness-checker.jpeg" alt="Happiness Checker" />

<p>The Happiness Checker can be found in the house to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pok&eacute;mon Center. You can check the Happiness level of your Pok&eacute;mon by showing them to the little boy. However, since you cannot check the exact value of the Happiness level, and since the responses of the boy are rather vague, I decided to include a table that shows you which response corresponds to which Happiness level range, ranging from lowest (0) to highest (255):</p>

<div class="center">
    <table class="tips-table">
        <tr>
            <th>Response</th>
            <th>Happiness Level Range</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>"Maybe you're a bit too strict? It doesn't seem like you're friends at all..."</td>
            <td>0</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>"I guess you two just met? It's still getting used to things."</td>
            <td>1-49</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>"Seems like it likes you an average amount! Don't worry—you two will get closer as time passes!"</td>
            <td>50-89</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>"Wow, I think you're on your way to becoming real good friends!"</td>
            <td>100-149</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>"Seems like you're pretty good friends! Still, I bet you could become even closer!"</td>
            <td>150-199</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>"You two get along great! Together is always better—am I right?"</td>
            <td>200-229</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>"You two are almost best friends! I can see you really care about each other!"</td>
            <td>230-254</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>"Oh wow, you're best buddies! I can tell you're so happy to be together!"</td>
            <td>255</td>
        </tr>
    </table>
</div>
<p>Once your Pok&eacute;mon has reached the maximum Happiness level of 255, the boy will reward your Pok&eacute;mon with the Best Friends Ribbon.</p>

<p>Below you can find a list of easy ways to raise your Pok&eacute;mon's Happiness efficiently. I would like to give a shout out to <a href="/forums/members/lego.188833/" target="_blank">Lego</a> for helping research some of the data.</p>

<p>Throughout the following list, I will refer to "the use of consumable items that increase the Happiness level by a non-zero amount", walking, and battling as "actions":</p>

<ol>
    <li>Catch the Pok&eacute;mon in a Friend Ball. Doing so will immediately raise a Pok&eacute;mon's Happiness level to 150, regardless of its initial base level. For example, a Mudbray with a base Happiness level of 50 will immediately have its level raised to 150, and a Duskull with a base Happiness level of 35 will also have its level raised to 150.</li>
    <li>Walking around with the Pok&eacute;mon in front of your party will also increase its Happiness level by +1 for every few steps taken. However, this method will stop working once the threshold of 160 has been reached.</li>
    <li>Feed the Pok&eacute;mon EV-increasing Vitamins, such as HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc, and Carbos. They can be purchased in exchange for 2 Battle Points (BP) each from the League Staff lady in Hammerlocke's central Pok&eacute;mon Center or for 10,000 Pok&eacute; Dollars each at the right counter of Wyndon's southern Pok&eacute;mon Center. In addition to this, they can also be randomly obtained after winning ranked battles in Battle Stadium. The Vitamins will raise the Pok&eacute;mon's Happiness level by +4 if its level is 0-99, by +2 if its level is 100-159, and by +0 once the threshold of 160 has been reached.</li>
    <li>Feed the Pok&eacute;mon Rare Candies. The Candies will raise the Pok&eacute;mon's Happiness level by +3 if its level is 0-99 and by +2 if its level is 100-159, and, much like the Vitamins, they will stop raising the level once the threshold of 160 has been reached.</li>
    <li>Feed the Pok&eacute;mon EV-reducing Berries, such as Pomeg Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), Kelpsy Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and Rolling Fields), Qualot Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, Giant's Seat, and Motostoke Riverbank), Hondew Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, and North Lake Miloch), Grepa Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Dappled Grove, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank), and Tamato Berries (found on Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, and Motostoke Riverbank). These Berries will raise the Pok&eacute;mon's Happiness level by +10 if its level is 0-99, by +5 if its level is 100-159, and by +1 even after the threshold of 160 has been reached.</li>
</ol>

<p>In the next list, I will focus on methods that, in conjunction with the "actions" from the previous list, will raise your Pok&eacute;mon's Happiness level even more efficiently:</p>
<ol>
    <li>Catch the Pok&eacute;mon in a Luxury Ball. There is no immediate increase when catching a Pok&eacute;mon in a Luxury Ball, instead, it will raise the Happiness level of the Pok&eacute;mon by an additional +1 for every action after it is caught.</li>
    <li>Let the Pok&eacute;mon hold the Soothe Bell, which increases your Pok&eacute;mon's Happiness level when you walk around or battle with it. Similar to the Luxury Ball, this item will also increase the Pok&eacute;mon's Happiness level by an additional +1 for every action as long as it is equipped to the Pok&eacute;mon. You can obtain this item by talking to the Happiness Checker in Hammerlocke.</li>
</ol>

<p>Fortunately, the Happiness level that is necessary to evolve certain Pok&eacute;mon has been lowered from 220 points to 160 points in Generation 8. This is the case for Eevee (Espeon during the day and Umbreon during the night), Pichu, Cleffa, Togepi, Budew (Roselia during the day), Munchlax, Riolu (Lucario during the day), Woobat, Alolan Meowth, Snom (Frosmoth during the night), and Type: Null.</p>

<p>Now, if you want to fully max out the remaining 95 Happiness points, you will have to do so by playing with your Pok&eacute;mon in Pok&eacute;mon Camp and by cooking delicious Curry for it. A single Copperajah class Curry is enough to raise the Pok&eacute;mon's Happiness level from 160 straight to 255.</p>

<h3 id="ev-judge">1. c Effort Value (EV) Judge</h3>

<img src="swsh-ev-judge.jpeg" alt="Effort Value (EV) Judge" />

<p>While you could check to see if a Pok&eacute;mon has earned all of the available 510 EVs by checking its summary and by pressing "X" while on the stats tab, you can also check this by visiting a very specific NPC in the game. The Effort Value (EV) Judge can be found to the right of Hammerlocke's central Pok&eacute;mon Center in the same house as the Happiness Checker. If your Pok&eacute;mon has earned the maximum amount of 510 EVs, the lady on the couch will reward your Pok&eacute;mon with the Effort Ribbon.</p>

<h3 id="battle-ready-mark-npc">1. d Battle-Ready Mark NPC</h3>

<img src="swsh-battle-ready-mark-npc.jpeg" alt="Battle-Ready Mark NPC" />

<p>With the release of the Isle of Armor DLC expansion, Game Freak now allows Pok&eacute;mon that were transfered via HOME from past generation games to participate in the official ranked battle formats (Battle Stadium Singles and Battle Stadium Doubles/VGC). In order to make a Pok&eacute;mon from a past generation game eligible, you need to visit the new NPC that is waiting for you next to the right counter in Wyndon's Battle Tower. However, while this does sound promising in theory at first, I do want to place great emphasis on informing you that, once the NPC marks your Pok&eacute;mon, all of the moves that it would normally not be able to legally learn in Generation 8 games will be completely removed from its movepool and replaced by some of its standard Level Up moves. I hence recommend thinking twice before removing an old event-exclusive move or an old tutor move, since your Pok&eacute;mon might never be able to learn it again in future games.</p>

<h3 id="steel-beam-tutor">1. e Steel Beam Tutor</h3>

<img src="swsh-steel-beam-tutor.jpeg" alt="Steel Beam Tutor" />

<p>The Steel Beam tutor can be found in Motostoke. In order to find him easily, I recommend going to the Pok&eacute;mon Center in the western part of Motostoke and then heading to the right until you reach the warehouse facility with the children playing with their Minccino. Next, you want to follow the path to the south that leads through the turning industrial infrastructures tunnel until you reach a staircase. Follow the stairs, and you will find the tutor waiting for you down at the docks with the containers, ready to teach this powerful move to any of your Steel-type Pok&eacute;mon — including Steel-type Silvally! However, please keep in mind that, while Motostoke can be accessed early on in the playthrough, the tutor will only start offering his service once you have become the Champion of the Galar region.</p>

<h3 id="pledge-tutor">1. f Fire Pledge, Grass Pledge, and Water Pledge Tutor</h3>

<img src="swsh-pledge-tutor.jpeg" alt="Fire Pledge, Grass Pledge, and Water Pledge Tutor" />

<p>The tutor for the moves Fire Pledge, Grass Pledge, and Water Pledge can be found in Hammerlocke. In order to find him easily, I recommend going to the Pok&eacute;mon Center in the western part of Motostoke and then heading to the left past the park until you reach the drawbridge that leads to Route 6. However, instead of crossing the drawbridge, you need to head to the South and follow down a staircase until you find the tutor waiting for you. Each Starter Pok&eacute;mon can learn the move that corresponds to its typing: the Bulbasaur line and the Grookey line can learn Grass Pledge, the Charmander line and the Scorbunny line can learn Fire Pledge, and the Squirtle line and the Sobble line can learn Water Pledge.</p>

<h3 id="draco-meteor-tutor">1. g Draco Meteor Tutor</h3>

<img src="swsh-draco-meteor-tutor.jpeg" alt="Draco Meteor Tutor" />

<p>The Draco Meteor tutor can be found in Circhester. In order to find him easily, I recommend starting at the Pok&eacute;mon Center and the moving to the north until you reach the Circhester Bath to the right of the restaurant. You will find the tutor waiting for you on the left poolside, ready to teach this powerful move to some of your Dragon-type Pok&eacute;mon — including Dragon-type Silvally!</p>

<h3 id="blastburn-frenzyplant-hydrocannon-tutor">1. h Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, and Hydro Cannon Tutor</h3>

<img src="swsh-blastburn-frenzyplant-hydrocannon-tutor.jpeg" alt="Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, and Hydro Cannon tutor" />

<p>The tutor for the moves Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, and Hydro Cannon can be found in Wyndon. You can easily find the tutor waiting for you at the benches in the park in the East of Wyndon. However, while this tutor is also specialized in tutoring Starter Pok&eacute;mon, just like the tutor for the moves Fire Pledge, Grass Pledge, and Water Pledge, this tutor here only teaches moves that match the corresponding typing of Starter Pok&eacute;mon that have reached their final evolution stage: Venusaur and Rillaboom can learn Frenzy Plant, Charizard and Cinderace can learn Blast Burn, and Blastoise and Inteleon can learn Hydro Cannon.</p>

<h3 id="master-dojo-tutor">1. i Master Dojo Tutor (Isle of Armor)</h3>

<img src="swsh-master-dojo-tutor.jpeg" alt="Master Dojo Tutor (Isle of Armor)" />

<p>The Master Dojo tutor can be found in the Master Dojo of Pok&eacute;mon Sword and Pok&eacute;mon Shield's Isle of Armor DLC expansion. You will unlock this useful NPC once you have completed Mustard's first trial and brought back Avery's/Klara's uniform from the thievish Galarian Slowpoke. The NPC will stand to the right of the doors that lead to the Battle Court outside and tutors the following moves in exchange for 5 Armorite Ores each:</p>

<div class="center">
    <table class="tips-table" style="max-width: 200px;">
        <tr>
            <th>Move</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Terrain Pulse</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Burning Jealousy</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Flip Turn</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Rising Voltage</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Grassy Glide</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Triple Axel</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Coaching</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Corrosive Gas</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Scorching Sands</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Dual Wingbeat</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Expanding Force</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Skitter Smack</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Meteor Beam</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Poltergeist</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Scale Shot</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Lash Out</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Steel Roller</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Misty Explosion</td>
        </tr>
    </table>
</div>

<p><a href="#toc">Back to top!</a></p>

<hr />

<h2 id="exploits">2. Exploits</h2>

<p>I dedicate the second section to two major kinds of exploits that you can perform in Pok&eacute;mon Sword and Pok&eacute;mon Shield. However, keep in mind that Game Freak may patch these exploits in the future, meaning that while they worked at the time I wrote this guide, they might unfortunately not work anymore by the time you are reading this. So, let us not waste any time and make good use of them for as long as we can!</p>

<h3 id="purple-beam-den-exploit">2. a Purple Beam Den Exploit</h3>

<p>To efficiently aim for Purple Beam Dens, you need to follow the instructions below:</p>
<ol>
    <li>Press "X" and go to "Options" in order to set the Text Speed to "Slow".</li>
    <li>Scroll a bit further down in the "Options" menu and ensure that the "Autosave" feature is set to "Off".</li>
    <li>Make sure that you have one or more Wishing Pieces in your inventory.</li>
    <li>Go and find an inactive den in the Wild Area and save the game in front of it.</li>
    <li>Interact with the den and use a Wishing Piece.</li>
    <li>The game will ask you if you want to save the game; as soon as you see the beam color, press "HOME". The reason why we set the Text Speed to "Slow" earlier is that it gives us slightly more time to react to the color of the beam that will shoot out of the den.</li>
    <li>Sometimes the beam will be red. In this case, just reset your game by pressing "X" and then selecting "Close" and try again until you get the purple beam.</li>
</ol>

<h3 id="date-skip-exploit">2. b Date Skip Exploit</h3>

<p>The Date Skip Exploit requires a bit of a different setup. Please keep in mind that skipping the date in Pok&eacute;mon will also affect time-based events of other games on your Switch!</p>

<p>To get it to work, you need to follow the instructions below:</p>

<ol>
    <li>Go and find a den in the Wild Area. It can either be a den that is already active or an inactive den that you activate yourself using a Wishing Piece. Both methods work. However, if you are going to skip multiple days one at a time (in order to roll for a specific weather for example), I recommend using Wishing Pieces, as natural dens will move after the first skip.</li>
    <li>Interact with the den and click the "Invite Others" option.</li>
    <li>Press the "HOME" button to access the main menu and proceed to open the System Settings.</li>
    <li>Scroll all the way down to "System" and pick the "Date and Time" option under "Language" and "Region".</li>
    <li>For it to work, you need to ensure that the "Synchronize Time via Internet" option is set to "Off".</li>
    <li>Change the date on your console to the next day and click "OK" once you have done so.</li>
    <li>Press "B" to go back into the main menu and go back to your Pok&eacute;mon Sword or Pok&eacute;mon Shield game.</li>
    <li>Go back in-game and cancel the raid.</li>
</ol>

<p>This exploit can significantly speed up many time-based tasks in the games, such as growing Berries and completing Pok&eacute; Jobs.</p>

<p>The Hammerlocke University hosts daily EV training Pok&eacute; Job seminars during which your Pok&eacute;mon gain 4 EVs for every passing hour.</p>

<p>If you want to speed up this process, remember to send your Pok&eacute;mon to do these Pok&eacute; Jobs before doing this exploit. Once you have followed the steps above correctly, you can go and pick up your fully EV trained Pok&eacute;mon again at the PC in the nearest Pok&eacute;mon Center. Remember that the effects of factors such as the Pok&eacute;rus and the Power Items are also taken into account when EV training with this method.</p>

<p>While you are already at the PC, you might as well use this exploit repeatedly to replay the Loto-ID for a chance to win items such as Moomoo Milk, PP Up, PP Max, Rare Candy, or even the highly sought-after Master Ball!</p>

<p>Since the den stays active every single time you skip a day, this also means that there will be 2000 Watts pouring out of it every single time you repeat this trick. Please do, however, note that you need to have finished the game in order to reap the full 2000 Watts. The notable amount of Watts that you can collect in a short amount of time allows you to buy many Wishing Pieces, Technical Records (TRs) and even Luxury Balls for only 100 Watts each. You can then proceed to sell the Luxury Balls that you got from the traders in the Wild Area at any Pok&eacute;mon Center for 1500 Pok&eacute; Dollars. This way, you can earn huge amounts of money in no time, allowing you to purchase the expensive Technical Machines (TMs), as well as clothes. You can also spend your Watts at the Digging Duo near the Daycare in Bridge Field (Wild Area) and collect more Wishing Pieces, fossils, evolution stones, and Bottle Caps, all while also collecting items that you can sell for Pok&eacute; Dollars, such as Rare Bones, Stardust, and Star Pieces. This method of earning money is a lot faster and more efficient than the one that requires you to redo the Champion's Cup with your Gigantamax Meowth and the Amulet Coin over and over again. However, doing the Champion's Cup has the advantage of simultaneously earning you a lot of money and, with a bit of luck, rewards such as Apricorn Balls, Life Orbs, Toxic Orbs, and Flame Orbs.</p>

<p>This exploit can also be used to change the weather in the Wild Area. Some Pok&eacute;mon in the Wild Area can only be encountered during very specific weather conditions, and it can be quite annoying to wait for the right weather because you have to wait an entire day. However, please note that you will have to have beaten the first three Gyms and made your way to Hammerlocke in order to unlock both the Sandstorm and the Snowstorm weather. In a similar manner, you need to have beaten the game in order to unlock the Fog weather!</p>

<p>On the first day of every month, the weather is the exact same in all the places in the Wild Area.
Below you can find a list with key dates, their respective weather conditions and the Pok&eacute;mon that will show up in the Wild Area:</p>

<div class="center">
    <table class="tips-table nocenter nobreak3">
        <tr>
            <th>Date</th>
            <th>Weather</th>
            <th>Pok&eacute;mon</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>February 1st</td>
            <td>Snowstorm</td>
            <td>Sneasel, Swinub, Piloswine, Delibird, Mawile, Snorunt, Glalie, Mime Jr., Riolu, Snover, Abomasnow, Weavile, Glaceon, Vanillite, Vanillish, Vanilluxe, Cubchoo, Pawniard, Honedge, Avalugg, Togedemaru, Eiscue (Shield)</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>March 1st</td>
            <td>Overcast</td>
            <td>Farfetch'd (Sword), Kingler, Hitmonlee (Sword), Hitmonchan (Shield), Togepi, Espeon, Corsola (Shield), Hitmontop, Larvitar (Shield), Ralts, Roserade, Croagunk (Shield), Toxicroak (Shield), Munna, Throh (Shield), Sawk (Shield), Cottonee, Scraggy, Cinccino, Karrablast, Elgyem, Shelmet, Spritzee (Shield), Swirlix (Sword), Barbaracle, Shiinotic, Jangmo-o (Sword), Rookidee, Falinks, Dreepy</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>April 1st</td>
            <td>Sandstorm</td>
            <td>Umbreon, Pupitar (Shield), Nincada, Trapinch, Flygon, Bonsly, Hippopotas, Hippowdon, Croagunk (Shield), Gigalith, Drilbur, Scraggy, Stunfisk, Zweilous (Sword), Mudbray, Carkol, Stonjourner (Sword)</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>May 1st</td>
            <td>Normal Weather</td>
            <td>Cloyster, Kingler, Lanturn, Togepi, Bellossom, Gardevoir, Flygon, Crawdaunt, Combee, Vespiquen, Munchlax, Lucario, Croagunk (Shield), Leafeon, Gigalith, Scraggy, Cinccino, Elgyem, Steenee, Golisopod, Blipbug, Gossilfeur, Wooloo, Applin, Toxel</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>June 1st</td>
            <td>Fog</td>
            <td>Clefairy, Clefable, Cloyster, Lanturn, Togepi, Togetic, Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir, Sableye (Shield), Milotic, Roserade, Togekiss, Munna, Musharna, Cinccino, Gothita (Sword), Gothorita (Sword), Gothitelle (Sword), Solosis (Shield), Duosion (Shield), Reuniclus (Shield), Elgyem, Litwick, Meowstic, Honedge, Aegislash, Spritzee (Shield), Swirlix (Sword), Sylveon, Morelull, Mimikyu, Hatenna, Milcery, Indeedee, Dreepy</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>July 1st</td>
            <td>Intense Sun</td>
            <td>Vulpix, Ninetales (Sword), Growlithe, Arcanine (Shield), Flareon, Larvitar (Shield), Nincada, Torkoal, Flygon, Hippopotas, Gigalith, Drilbur, Maractus, Litwick, Lampent, Chandelure, Stunfisk, Heatmor, Durant, Mudbray, Salandit, Turtonator (Sword), Jangmo-o (Sword), Carkol, Stonjourner (Sword)</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>October 1st</td>
            <td>Raining</td>
            <td>Pikachu, Vaporeon, Electrike, Crawdaunt, Rotom, Karrablast, Shelmet, Deino (Sword), Binacle, Barbaracle, Goomy (Shield), Grubbin, Charjabug, Dewpider, Araquanid, Shiinotic, Wimpod, Golisopod, Toxel</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>November 1st</td>
            <td>Thunderstorm</td>
            <td>Pikachu, Kingler, Jolteon, Chinchou, Lanturn, Gardevoir, Electrike, Manectric, Crawdaunt, Rotom, Karrablast, Joltik, Shelmet, Zweilous (Sword), Binacle, Barbaracle, Helioptile, Sliggo (Shield), Grubbin, Charjabug, Mareanie, Dewpider, Araquanid, Shiinotic, Wimpod, Golisopod, Pyukumuku, Drampa (Shield), Hakamo-o (Sword), Yamper, Applin, Toxel, Morpeko, Dreepy</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>December 1st</td>
            <td>Snowing</td>
            <td>Mr. Mime, Sneasel, Swinub, Piloswine, Delibird, Snorunt, Glalie, Snover, Abomasnow, Glaceon, Vanillite, Vanillish, Vanilluxe, Cubchoo, Beartic, Bergmite, Avalugg, Wooloo, Snom, Eiscue (Shield)</td>
        </tr>
    </table>
</div>

<p><a href="#toc">Back to top!</a></p>

<hr />

<h2 id="charm-items">3. Charm Items</h2>

<p>I dedicate the third section to the five Charm Items. They are very useful Key Items, meaning that their respective influence will become effective the moment you obtain them and store them away in the designated Key Items section in your inventory. You will hence not have to constantly equip them to a Pok&eacute;mon in your party for them to work.</p>

<h3 id="catching-charm">3. a Catching Charm</h3>

<img src="swsh-catching-charm.jpeg" alt="Catching Charm" />

<p>The first Charm Item on our list is the Catching Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of Critical Catches when trying to catch wild Pok&eacute;mon. You will notice a Critical Catch when the ball makes what players describe as a "whistling sound" before it shakes only once and then either catches the Pok&eacute;mon or breaks. While the catch rate is undeniably increased during a Critical Catch, this does not mean that you are guaranteed the Pok&eacute;mon whenever one occurs.</p>

<p>You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item. To obtain this item, follow the instructions below:</p>
<ol>
    <li>Visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).</li>
    <li>Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the second room.</li>
    <li>Proceed to talk to the Game Director (depicted as a Doctor) and he will hand you the Catching Charm.</li>
</ol>

<h3 id="shiny-charm">3. b Shiny Charm</h3>

<img src="swsh-shiny-charm.jpeg" alt="Shiny Charm" />

<p>The second Charm Item on our list is the Shiny Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of encountering a shiny Pok&eacute;mon. Despite the fact that you need to have all 400 Pok&eacute;mon of the Galar region registered in your Pok&eacute;dex, the time and effort spent to earn this item is well worth it in the end. It significantly increases the standard 1/4096 odds of finding a shiny Pok&eacute;mon to 1/1365. Not only does the Shiny Charm influence the odds of finding shiny Pok&eacute;mon in the wild, it also influences the odds of hatching a shiny Pok&eacute;mon from an egg: the 1/683 odds of hatching a shiny Pok&eacute;mon via the Masuda Method, meaning with two breeding parents that have different language origins, are increased additionally to 1/512 odds thanks to the Shiny Charm. However, please note that the Shiny Charm does not influence the odds of gifted Pok&eacute;mon, revived Fossil Pok&eacute;mon, or Raid Pok&eacute;mon.</p>

<p>You do not need to have completed the game to obtain this item. To obtain this item, follow the instructions below:</p>

<ol>
    <li>Once you have registered all 400 Pok&eacute;mon in your Pok&eacute;dex, visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).</li>
    <li>Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the second room.</li>
    <li>Proceed to talk to the Game Director (depicted as a Doctor) and he will hand you the Shiny Charm, a diploma, as well as a League Card sticker.</li>
</ol>

<h3 id="oval-charm">3. c Oval Charm</h3>

<img src="swsh-oval-charm.jpeg" alt="Oval Charm" />

<p>The third Charm Item on our list is the Oval Charm. As the name suggests, this item will speed up Egg production at the Daycares on Route 5 and in Bridge Field (Wild Area). Unlike the Catching Charm and the Shiny Charm, the Oval Charm can only be obtained after completing the main story.</p>

<p>To obtain this item, follow the instructions below:</p>

<ol>
    <li>Once you have become the Champion of the Galar region, visit Circhester and head to Hotel Ionia (the hotel on the left).</li>
    <li>Take the elevator to reach the second floor and then follow the corridor until you reach the first room.</li>
    <li>Proceed to talk to GAME FREAK's Morimoto (depicted as a Police Officer), and he will hand you the Oval Charm after you defeat him in a battle.</li>
</ol>

<p>I recommend coming prepared when challenging Morimoto. Not only does he face you with a team consisting of 6 Pok&eacute;mon at level 65, he also challenges you to a Double Battle. He leads with Grapploct and Cursola and has Stonjourner, Dragapult, Coalossal, and even a Dynamax Snorlax in the back. Be especially careful with Cursola's Perish Body hidden ability.</p>

<h3 id="exp-charm">3. d Exp. Charm (Isle of Armor)</h3>

<img src="swsh-exp-charm.jpeg" alt="Exp. Charm (Isle of Armor)" />

<p>The fourth Charm Item on our list is the Exp. Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the amount of Exp. Points (EXP) that your Pok&eacute;mon can earn through battling. The Exp. Charm can only be obtained in the Isle of Armor DLC expansion for Pok&eacute;mon Sword and Pok&eacute;mon Shield. You receive the Exp. Charm early on in the campaign. Hyde hands it to you as a welcome gift once you become the Master Dojo's new trainee.</p>

<h3 id="mark-charm">3. e Mark Charm (Isle of Armor)</h3>

<img src="swsh-mark-charm.jpeg" alt="Mark Charm (Isle of Armor)" />

<p>The fifth Charm Item on our list is the Mark Charm. As the name suggests, this item will increase the odds of finding marked Pok&eacute;mon in the wild. Marks are similar to ribbons, and they can be checked on the exact same status screen tab. Just like the Exp. Charm, the Mark Charm can only be obtained in the Isle of Armor DLC expansion for Pok&eacute;mon Sword and Pok&eacute;mon Shield. You receive the Mark Charm from the female Doctor at the Armor Station as a reward for completing the Isle of Armor Pok&eacute;dex.</p>

<p><a href="#toc">Back to top!</a></p>

<hr />

<h2 id="pickup">4. Pickup</h2>

<p>The fourth paragraph is dedicated to the Pickup ability. This notably useful ability allows certain Pok&eacute;mon in your party to literally "pick up" random items after battles.</p>

<p>The following Pickup Pok&eacute;mon can be found in the Galar region without a Nintendo Switch Online membership:</p>
<ol>
    <li>Meowth (Galarian forme)</li>
    <li>Zigzagoon (Galarian forme)</li>
    <li>Linoone (Galarian forme)</li>
    <li>Munchlax</li>
    <li>Bunnelby</li>
    <li>Diggersby</li>
    <li>Pumpkaboo</li>
    <li>Gourgeist</li>
</ol>

<p>If you do have a Nintendo Switch Online membership, then you also have access to the following three Pickup
Pok&eacute;mon:</p>
<ol>
    <li>Meowth (Kantonian forme &amp; Alolan forme)</li>
    <li>Zigzagoon (Hoennite forme)</li>
    <li>Linoone (Hoennite forme)</li>
</ol>

<p>Ever since the Isle of Armor DLC expansion, the following two Pickup Pok&eacute;mon have become available as well:</p>
<ol>
    <li>Lillipup</li>
    <li>Dedenne</li>
</ol>

<p>It is important to note that the rarity of the items that can be picked up depends on the level of the Pickup Pok&eacute;mon in your party.</p>

<p>Below you can find a list of all of the items that can be picked up with the help of this ability, as well as the rarity for each level range:</p>

<div class="center">
    <table class="tips-table nobreak nocenter nobreak2" style="max-width: 900px;">
        <tr>
            <th>Level Range</th>
            <th>Very Common Items</th>
            <th>Common Items</th>
            <th>Uncommon Items</th>
            <th>Rare Items</th>
            <th>Very Rare Items</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>1-10</td>
            <td>Potion</td>
            <td>Tiny Mushroom</td>
            <td>Pok&eacute; Doll, Repel, Super Potion</td>
            <td>Big Mushroom, Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Revive, Super Repel</td>
            <td>Ether</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>11-20</td>
            <td></td>
            <td>Repel</td>
            <td>Big Mushroom, Pok&eacute; Doll, Super Potion, Super Repel, Tiny Mushroom</td>
            <td>Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Max Repel, Moon Stone, Revive, Sun Stone</td>
            <td>Ether, Rare Candy</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>21-30</td>
            <td></td>
            <td>Super Potion</td>
            <td>Big Mushroom, Full Heal, Pok&eacute; Doll, Super Repel, Tiny Mushroom</td>
            <td>Ether, Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel, Moon Stone, Nugget, Revive, Sun Stone</td>
            <td>Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Ether, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>31-40</td>
            <td></td>
            <td>Pok&eacute; Doll</td>
            <td>Full Heal, Revive, Super Repel</td>
            <td>Balm Mushroom, Ether, Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, Sun Stone</td>
            <td>Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Ether, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>41-50</td>
            <td></td>
            <td>Super Repel</td>
            <td>Full Heal, Hyper Potion, Revive</td>
            <td>Balm Mushroom, Ether, Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, Sun Stone</td>
            <td>Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Elixir, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, PP Up, Rare Candy, White Herb</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>51-60</td>
            <td></td>
            <td>Full Heal</td>
            <td>Hyper Potion, Max Repel, Revive</td>
            <td>Balm Mushroom, Max Potion, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone</td>
            <td>Big Nugget, Destiny Knot, Elixir, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>61-70</td>
            <td></td>
            <td>Revive</td>
            <td>Hyper Potion, Max Potion, Max Repel</td>
            <td>Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Ether, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone</td>
            <td>Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Elixir, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>71-80</td>
            <td></td>
            <td>Hyper Potion</td>
            <td>Max Potion, Max Repel, Max Revive</td>
            <td>Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Ether, Moon Stone, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy, Sun Stone</td>
            <td>Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Max Elixir, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>81-90</td>
            <td></td>
            <td>Max Repel</td>
            <td>Max Potion, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Sun Stone</td>
            <td>Balm Mushroom, Big Nugget, Elixir, Max Elixir, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy</td>
            <td>Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>91-100</td>
            <td></td>
            <td>Max Potion</td>
            <td>Big Nugget, Max Revive, Moon Stone, Sun Stone</td>
            <td>Balm Mushroom, Elixir, Max Elixir, Nugget, PP Up, Rare Candy</td>
            <td>Bottle Cap, Destiny Knot, Leftovers, Mental Herb, Power Herb, White Herb</td>
        </tr>
    </table>
</div>
<p>I hence recommend using a full party consisting of 6 Pickup Pok&eacute;mon with a level of 91 or higher in order to get as many rare items as quickly as possible.</p>

<p>Before I conclude this paragraph, I would also like to highlight a useful trick that <a href="/forums/members/dawoblefet.300799/" target="_blank">DaWoblefet</a> documented in <a href="//www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mRIxq3b2eo" target="_blank">this YouTube video</a>. As it turns out, Pickup Pok&eacute;mon in Generation 8 will keep picking up items in your party even while you battle Trainers in the Battle Tower with a team in your Battle Box. Using this trick, you can find items and earn Battle Points (BP) simultaneously. Ever since the release of the Isle of Armor DLC expansion, this trick is also confirmed to work when battling in the Restricted Sparring mode at the Master Dojo.</p>

<p><a href="#toc">Back to top!</a></p>

<hr />

<h2 id="egg-move-mechanics">5. Egg Move Mechanics</h2>

<p>The fifth paragraph is dedicated to a notable improvement that Game Freak implemented with regards to Egg Moves (EMs). EMs are special moves that are passed down by the parent Pok&eacute;mon to their offspring while breeding at the Daycare. Veteran Breeders among our readers will remember how annoying and time consuming it can be to get parents with the right EMs. However, while you can still pass down EMs the old-fashioned way, there is also a new EM mechanic in Generation 8 that allows you to breed EMs onto Pok&eacute;mon even after they have already hatched. In order to do so, you need both the Pok&eacute;mon that you want to breed an EM onto, as well as a Pok&eacute;mon of the same species that knows the EM in question. You can also teach multiple EMs at once via this method; however, do ensure that the Pok&eacute;mon that will inherit them has enough free slots in its moveset. If you need to make room for more than one move, you can easily do so at the Move Deleter that you can find in any of the Galar region's Pok&eacute;mon Centers. The gender of the Pok&eacute;mon does not matter; our main goal is not to collect an Egg, but to pass down the move.</p>

<p>I will use an example from personal experience to demonstrate this:</p>

<p>Let us for example take my Raboot that already knew the EMs High Jump Kick and Sand Attack through regular inheritance.
Because I also wanted to get the EMs Sucker Punch and Super Fang for completionist's sake, I borrowed a second Raboot with the two missing EMs from a fellow community member. I then ensured that my own Raboot had two free moveslots available, went to the nearest Pok&eacute;mon Center, and got the Move Deleter that I introduced a few paragraphs earlier to delete two unwanted moves. I then took both Raboot to the Daycare and left them there for a minute or two while I cycled back and forth. After a few minutes, I went and picked both Pok&eacute;mon up again from the Daycare, and upon inspecting the summary screens of my own Raboot, noted that the two missing moves had indeed been passed down.</p>

<p>This useful mechanic also works for Pok&eacute;mon that you either caught in the wild or during a raid, meaning that you can get Sparkling Aria for your Gigantamax Lapras or Fake Out for your Gigantamax Pikachu, just to name a few notable examples.</p>

<p><a href="#toc">Back to top!</a></p>

<hr />

<h2 id="berry-tree-shaking">6. Berry Tree Shaking</h2>

<p>Finally, last but not least, I am going to dedicate the sixth section to the Berry Trees and how to shake them properly in order to get as many Berries as possible. In contrast to how you would approach Berry Trees in previous games, you have to be careful and pay attention when shaking Berry Trees in Pok&eacute;mon Sword and Pok&eacute;mon Shield. If you are not careful enough, you will have wild Pok&eacute;mon such as Cherubi, Skwovet, and Greedent attack you when they fall down from the tree. As if this was not annoying enough, they will also proceed to steal all of the Berries of a random type from right under your nose after the battle, escaping with the literal fruits of your labor. In order to prevent this from happening to the best of your abilities, take a quick break after each shake to pay attention to the rhythm to which the leaves at the treetop shake. A slower rhythm means that you can still continue to shake; however, once the leaves start to shake wildly, that's when you want to stop shaking the tree. Defeating the Pok&eacute;mon that fall down from trees does not, unfortunately, help you recover any of the stolen Berries. I would also like to mention that, in addition to Berries, you can also occasionally find the very useful Leftovers while shaking the Berry Trees.</p>

<p><a href="#toc">Back to top!</a></p>

<hr />

<h2>Final Thoughts</h2>

<p style="margin-bottom: 1em;">This about sums up all of the helpful tips and tricks you need to know about in Generation 8. Ironically, the various unintentional Den-related exploits are the most useful ones, and here's to hoping that they will not be patched anytime soon. Feel free to use them to your advantage for as long as possible to significantly speed up certain in-game tasks and get the most out of your game. Other than that, I can also only highly recommend the Shiny Charm and the Oval Charm to the shiny hunters among our readers—especially the ones that like to breed via the Masuda Method. Time is money, after all. So, what are you waiting for? Go out there and be the best and most efficient Trainer you can be!</p>
I uncentered most of the items in the Pickup section and the Pokemon in the exploits section in order to make the table easier to read.

I also played a bit with the tables to remove unnecessary breaks (like the one that was in November 1st, for example).

all imges were resized to 700x394

live preview: https://scms-u-honest_hyacinth_search.www.smogon.com/ingame/guides/swsh_ingame_tips_and_tricks

The Dutch Plumberjack
 
Last edited:

Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
can add some spacing around the <hr />, can also use your toggle to show/hide the subchapter headings in the toc to avoid stretching, seems good otherwise though Ryota Mitarai
ok got on computer to address this

addressed the TOC thing, I also added "invisible" carets so the links with no subchapters are aligned evenly with the other ones

I also increased the space around the <hr />s, hope it's enough
 
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