Pokemon Breeding Simplified (with pictures!) (2024)

Post 1

What is Pokemon Breeding and Why Do I Care?

Welcome to Pokemon Breeding
Getting Familiar with the Breeding House
How to Breed
Selecting a Gender
Pokemon that Cannot Breed
Genderless Pokemon
Pokemon with Only One Gender
Costs
OT (original trainer)
Terms / Keywords to know
FAQ

Post 2

2x31 - 5x31 Breeding Example

Post 3

Natured Breeding, a continuation of 2x31 - 5x31

Post 4

What is an Egg Move?
How to Breed a Particular Egg Move
How to Chain-Breed a Particular Egg Move

Post 5

"Free" Breeding
"Budget" Breeding
Special Cases / Other Hold Items used in Breeding

Cut Egg Hatch Time in Half
Pokeball Selection

In its simplest form, Pokemon Breeding is handing over two compatible pokemon in exchange for their baby. You cannot change certain traits about pokemon after they are born, and the only way to do so is through breeding.

Pokemon Breeding has several features and advantages. You can do things like ensure a particular Hidden Power type, pass along certain moves a pokemon couldnt learn naturally by leveling, TM or tutor; and it's the only way to get "Baby" pokemon like Pichu, Smoochum, Azurill, etc. and pokemon that are only level 1.

And maybe the most important part of Breeding: it is the only way to create super-powerful pokemon for competitive battling. If you open up your pokemon's summary and look under the tab that looks like a double-helix / DNA strand, you'll find your pokemon's IV numbers. IV stands for "Inherited Values" and these are the stats they were born with and no amount of training, levels or EV-wise, can change these numbers.

(not the same geodude but you get the idea)

Breeding pokemon is the only way to ensure these IV numbers are good. We have a range from 0 being the lowest IV number and 31 being the highest IV number. All pokemon vary in their natural skills and abilities. Pokemon with a naturally high ATK stat should be bred with a high ATK IV to maximize it. Pokemon who are special attackers should have a high SP ATK IV. Bulky defensive pokemon should have high HP, DEF and SP DEF IVs. And a good SPEED IV can help determine who hits first in battle.

Pokemon Natures also come in with breeding, you can change and ensure a baby is born with a specific nature; this is usually done so a pokemon can have a particular boost in one of its stats. Most pokemon natures give a +10% boost to one stat and a -10% defect to another stat. There are also neutral natures that give no boost and no defect.

A "perfect" pokemon would be a 6x31 IV stat pokemon, meaning it has 31 IV numbers in every stat, HP, ATK, DEF, SP ATK, SP DEF, and SPEED. Or a 5x31 with an appropriate nature, as many pokemon simply do not need one of their stats to be 31. A physically attacking pokemon doesnt need a high SP ATK IV, for example.

Note: A perfect pokemon is not needed to compete and win in PVP battling or tournaments. 20+ IV stats are considered good enough / "comp-worthy" and 25+ are the most desirable. Most of the time, a 5x31 or 6x31 pokemon is considered a trophy or a status-symbol. 5x31 and 6x31 pokemon can be beaten by wild-caught pokemon and lesser bred pokemon. Training, movesets, strategy and skill are all still very necessary in order to win battles, even with perfect pokemon.

So now you've seen the outside of the place and you know where it is. Now, what do I do?Notice both houses have an older man standing outside of them. This is the Day-Care Man.This is the man you will exchange your breeding pokemon with for egg-babies.

Before we get to that part, lets go inside:

So you'll see we have a PC in the back right-hand corner, you'll be spending a lot of time there, and then there aretwo NPCs inside. Age before beauty is the saying, right? So I'll start with the older lady to the left.

This is the Day-Care Lady. She can raise up to two pokemonfor you in exchange for a small fee per lvl. Both Day-Care ladies say the same thing and do the same jobs. Upon return of your pokemon you'll be told how many levels they've grown and how much you owe for their return. It's a nice feature, but it doesnt have anything to do with breeding, so I won't expand any further on it.

Next is the young lady sitting at the table to our right. She, however, IS very important to the breeding process! She sells our necessary breeding materials: BRACES. As with the Day-Care Man and the Day-Care Lady, this young lady is the same in both regions as well. Both have the same items for sale, at the same prices.

Heres what she's got for sale:

As you can see here there is a BRACE for each of the 6 IV stats and they are brightly color-coded. Notice BRACES are $10,000 PokeYen EACH andBRACES are CONSUMED during breeding.Breeding is not a cheap venture. And should not be entered into without sufficent PokeYen on-hand.

So now that we are familiar with the breeding houses, all the NPCs and what they do. Let's breed something shall we?!

In order to breed, you needtwo compatible pokemon to breed with. What makes pokemon compatible breeders? Essentially, two things:

1) One male and one female

2) The same egg group

What is an egg group and how do I know what egg group a pokemon belongs to?

1) An Egg Group is the group of pokemon that can breed with each other. In PokeMMO, we have:

Field, Monster, Bug, Plant, Humanoid, Water A, Water B, Water C, Fairy, Dragon, Chaos, and Mineral egg groups.

If two pokemon do not belong to the same egg group, they cannot breed together. There is also another class of pokemon thatCannot Breed, as well as Genderless pokemon, who belong to different egg groups but cant breed with anyone in them, these groups will be explained further later.

2) To check what egg group or groups a particular pokemon belongs to, check your PokeDex. There are several pokemon that belong to more than one egg group, and breeding across egg groups is possible.

One More Thing:The baby pokemon species is determined by the Mother's species.This means you can breed pokemon that arent the same species together.For example Meowth and Pikachu can breed together, and if your goal is a baby Pichu, you'll need that mother Pikachu to be a female.

Now that you can identify compatible breeding partners, it's time to talk to the Day-Care Man!

Both Day-Care men say the same thing. You will trade two pokemon in exchange for an egg. You will not get these pokemon back.

From here you'll get the breeding preview box. Simply drag and drop your breeding pokemon into the spaces provided. Or click the space and select the breeder from the drop down menu.

As shown above, once a parent is placed in a box, all of it's info is displayed below it. Its gender, IVs, moves, nature and the item its currently holding.

Once you have placed both parents in the breeding preview box, a third column will appear in the middle, a preview of your brand new baby pokemon!

The IV stats shown for the baby are a possible range it can be born with. A baby's IV stat is determined in a range from the lowest and highest IV stats of it's parents, or a mean average of the two. What this means is the baby will be born with a SP DEF IV ofno lower than 11, and no higher than 18, or an average of the two.

If you hover your mouse over the Baby's stats, it will show the range, average and chancepercentages.

Now, Notice the SP ATK BRACE on bulbasaur andthe 30 in SP ATK inGREENon the Baby's IV column. As we learned when we read the description of the BRACES inside, holding a brace for a particular stat ensures that stat it will be passed down to the baby.This shows in GREEN that the baby will be born with 30 sp atk because of the SP ATK BRACE bulbasaur is holding.

So why is Aron holding an EVERSTONE instead of a BRACE?BRACES are not the only hold item used in breeding. An EVERSTONE ensures the NATURE of the pokemon holding it will pass down to the baby. This is why the NATURE of the baby is also appearing in GREEN. There are other hold items you can use in breeding as well.

Now Id like to call your attention tothe 30 in ATK across all three pokemon.Obviously, a pokemon cannot hold more than one item at the same time, so how do you prevent losing the good stats while making a pokemon with more than two good stats? You overlap them.This is how to breed super pokemon. Overlap good stats in common, while bracing the stats you dont have in common, until you have a perfect pokemon.

This means it costs several hundred thousand to a couple million PokeYen to create pokemon with perfect IVs and natures.Ill post examples to explain further.

Finally, you can set the pair off to breed.

After which the breeding preview box goes away and you'll get something similar to the following:

Until your egg is ready, the Day-Care Man will just repeat this phrase over and over again.

So.... How long does it take for a pokemon to lay an egg?

Time varies from pokemon to pokemon, the most common pokemon have short times, while rarer pokemon have longer times.Time only counts as spent in-game. If you log out and come back in an hour, you wont have an egg.

The most beautiful sight in PokeMMO:

When you see this instead of the previous phrase, your egg is ready!

Before you receive your egg, the Day-Care Man walks you through some options he has for you. These are Gender and Pokeball selection.

When breeding pokemon there are often times when you need a specific gender, whether you just prefer it, or you are making a partner to pair with another specific pokemon in a larger breeding project.

Selecting a gender costs money. The fee depends on the pokemon species and the gender. Remember that the baby born is determined by the MOTHER's species, so gendering a pokemon FEMALE in order to keep a particular species is commonplace.

The cheapest fee for selecting a gender is $5000 PokeYen. The most expensive fee is $21,000.

If you do not select a gender, the baby will be born a random gender, no fee added, as is natural.

The pokemon thatCannot Breed are all "Baby" Pokemon. Pichu, Cleffa, Igglybuff, Mr. Mime Jr, etc.

These pokemon must evolve before they can breed.

Lengendary pokemon also fall into this category.

Also noteworthy here, GIFT pokemon cannot be traded, and therefore cannot be bred either. This includes your starter pokemon, and any pokemon received from in-game NPCs via event or trade. Ch'ding the Farfetch'd, Zynx the Jynx, Mimien the Mr Mime, the Lapras from Silph Co, and the Eevee from the Celadon Mansion are all examples of GIFT pokemon.

Genderless pokemon, meaning they cannot be male or female,are a special breeding case and they are more common than you'd think, and found in many different egg groups. Examples of this are pokemon like Staryu, Magnemite, Voltorb, Beldum, Porygon, and a long list of others.

But Wait! Ive seen a perfect -insert genderless pokemon here-, before! How did so-and-so get it?

One answer is that it could be wild-caught. Its highly unlikely, but 3-4x31 wild-caught pokemon are out there. But this is a breeding guide, and I wouldnt be mentioning if it you couldnt breed them. So how do you do it?

The answer is simple: Ditto!All genderless pokemon can breed with Ditto.

Genderless pokemon cannot breed with each other, or any other pokemon in their egg group, including ones with genders. But they can all breed with Ditto.

There is just one problem.... Ditto cannot breed with each other, only with other pokemon. It is impossible to breed multiple high stats onto a Ditto. So all Ditto breeders are wild, unbred pokemon.

WHICH MEANS...

In order to breed a multiple high-IVed genderless pokemon, you must have wild-caught Dittos with multiple high IVs to match and overlap for every step of the breeding process.

So a 5-6x31 IV genderless pokemon requires a 4-5x31+ IV WILD CAUGHT Ditto to breed with.

Yes, they are incredibly rare and expensive.

Just as there are pokemon of both genders and pokemon without genders, there are also pokemon who can only be of ONE gender. Some of these pokemon have female counterparts, but not all. And currently, PokeMMO does not offer seamless breeding for pokemon of One Gender.

For example:

Nidoran male cannot breed with Nidoran female to get a Nidoran baby of either gender.

Tauros cannot breed with Miltank and get either a baby tauros or miltank.

And sometimes while breeding, single gender pokemon can come out different than what the breeding preview had shown. Particularly in Nidoran. Breed these pokemon using caution!

When breeding female-only pokemon, the baby will always turn out the female species, and you cannot choose a gender.

When breeding male-only pokemon, you must use a Ditto to get a baby of the same species as the male.

Staff has said that this feature is being worked on and should change in the future!

As of a recent update, breedings costs have changed. These should be the new accurate prices.

credit to Matoka for prices

2x31IVs = 25k

3x31IVs = 75k

4x31IVs = 175k

5x31IVs = 375k

6x31IVs = 775k

Natured 31 IV'd pokes (Assuming Everstones are all 20k and all are gender confirmed)

See Natured Breeding

1x31IVs + Natured = 35k

2x31IVs + Natured = 95k

3x31IVs + Natured = 205k

4x31IVs + Natured = 415k

5x31IVs + Natured = 825k

6x31IVs + Natured = 1M 635k

In a new update, the OT (original trainer) credit now is affected by breeding.

If both parents areyour OT, the baby will retain your OT.

If both parents are NOT your OT, the baby will be born with an Unknown OT.

In order for a babypokemon to retain your own OT with a mixed OT parentage, the FEMALE must have your OT.

Breeding with a Ditto

To Keep OT:

If both parents areyour OT, the baby will retain your OT.

If the Ditto isNOT your OT and the other pokemon IS your OT, the baby will retain your OT.

Unknown OT:

If both parents are NOT your OT, the baby will be born with an Unknown OT.

If the Ditto isyour OT and the other pokemon is NOT your OT, the baby will be born with an Unknown OT.

When you're new to breeding it may seem a little confusing trying to talk to others who are more experienced than you. They use terms like "5x31," "4x20+," "5x25+,""good nature," or "bad nature," "RNG," and all sorts of things that boggle your mind. Heres a helpful list of common breeding "slang" terms and keywords and what they mean. Most of it is simple, I promise you!

? x ??, 1x31, 4x20+, 5x25+, 5x31, etc

This may look like a math problem but I assure you, its not. These numbers refer to a pokemon's IV numbers. And how many of them are of a certain value.The first number is how many stats, 'x' refers to 'times', and the second number is the stat value they are referring to.Ill explain a few of the most common ones.

1x31, 2x31, 3x31, 4x31, 5x31, 6x31

This means the pokemon has atleast 1 IV that is 31. Its a valueable breeder and you'll need these little buggers by the dozens if you are looking to make a perfect all-31s pokemon. So it would follow that 2x31 means a pokemon has 2 IV that are 31, and 3x31 would mean 3 IVs that are 31, etc all the way up to 6x31. Also, 1*31, 2*31, 3*31, are all the same thing. x and * areboth often used to represent the multiplication symbol.

4x20+

This term means that a pokemon has 4 IV stats with a value of 20 or more. Its important because its a good breeder, you could save a lot of money by breeding it just a few times with other 20+ IV pokemon.

5x25+

This extends to other terms like 3x25+, meaning a pokemon has atleast 3 IV stats of a value of 25 or higher, 4x25 would mean the pokemon has 4 IV stats of 25 or higher, and 5x25+ would mean a pokemon has 5 IV stats of a value of 25 or more. A 5x25+ pokemon is a great cheap alternative to 5x31 pokemon for competitive battling.

Good and Bad Nature / Natured

"Natured" refers to whether or not a pokemon has a nature that is appropriate for its abilities and base stats. A Good Nature also refers to a nature that is appropriate for that particular pokemon's base stats and abilities. A Bad Nature refers to any nature that would be detrimental to stats that particular pokemon needs. For example, a pokemon like Machoke usually needs high ATK, and any nature that is -10% ATK, like TIMID or MODEST, would be a bad nature for it.What makes a nature good or bad differs from pokemon to pokemon, how it will be used in battle, and how it is trained.

RNG

RNG stands for Random Number Generator. The game relies on a lot of random number generation to determine outcomes. Its especially relevant in breeding, as there is only an 8%-ish chance to hit the highest IV possible in a range without a brace.

High and Low Roll

Because stats that arent braced can have 1 of 3 different outcomes, and a random number generater is used to determine the outcome, it is likened to a roll of the dice. If your pokemon comes out with the lowest possible outcome, its a "low roll," if it comes out with the highest possible outcome, it's a "high roll."

More to come! Reply to the thread to suggest another term!

Q: So when breeding on PokeMMO, the two parent pokemon are gone forever?

A: Yes

Q: What is a BRACE and where can I buy them?

A: A BRACE is the hold-item used to ensure a certain IV stat of a parent is passed down to the baby while breeding. They are sold inside the House that the Day-Care Man is standing outside of.

Q: So to ensure ATK stat of a parent, I let it hold a 'BRACE - ATK' while breeding?

A: Yes, and the same goes for each stat.

Q: Is there a way to ensure a stat without holding a BRACE or overlapping them?

A: No, just sheer luck. If you read the in-depth breeding guide mentioned in the Prelude, you'll find the mechanics / statisics of the actual chance of passing down high IVs vs low IVs.

Q: Are ALL hold items consumed during breeding? That Light Ball was expensive!

A: Yes. ALL Hold items are consumed during breeding.

Q: How can you afford to breed? It's so expensive!
A: The genral advice is to beat the story before you start breeding. There are more opportunities to make money after the Elite Four than there are before it. Your wild-caught pokemon are plenty strong enough to beat the story in both regions.

Q: Can I breed my starter pokemon?

A: No. Your starter pokemon is a GIFT, and if you have the HG / SS rom installed you'll be able to see a tab in your pokemon's summary that says RIBBONS, all GIFT pokemon bear a GIFT RIBBON. All GIFT pokemon CANNOT be bred.

Q: Can lvl 1 pokemon be bred?

A: Yes

Q: Can baby pokemon (like Pichu, Cleffa, Igglybuff, Azurill, etc) be bred?

A: No, they must evolve in order to breed.

Q: Can unevolved pokemon (like machop, magikarp, dratini, etc) breed with their evolved forms (machop x machamp, magikarp x gyarados, dratini x dragonite) and other evolved pokemon in their egg group?

A: Yes, as long as they are not a "Baby" class of pokemon, they can breed with any evolved pokemon, no matter the size, shape or level difference.

Q: The Day-Care Man says my pokemon dont like each over very much, will they still breed?

A: Yes, it will just take longer before you receive an egg.

Q: How long does it take for a pokemon to lay an egg?

A: Time varies from pokemon to pokemon, the most common pokemon have short times, while rarer pokemon have longer times. Time only counts as spent in-game. If you log out and come back in an hour, you wont have an egg.

Q: Are eggs hatched in time, steps, or what?

A: Eggs are hatched via time spent in-game, again, time varies from pokemon to pokemon and the most common pokemon have short times, while rarer pokemon have longer times. Time only counts as spent in-game. If you log out and come back in an hour, your egg will not have hatched.

Q: Whats the longest it can take to receive and/or hatch an egg?

A: There isnt a clear answer, but the longest I've seen was 3+ hours for a pokemon to breed with a Ditto it didnt like. Longest time to hatch an egg was around 20-30min with FLAME BODY ability on.

Q: Whats the shortest time to receive and hatch an egg?

A: Shortest time to receive an egg is instantly. Shortest time to hatch an egg, while using a FLAME BODY pokemon, is about 3-5 minutes.

Q: Can I hatch a shiny pokemon while breeding?

A: Yes, its the same possibility as finding one in the wild.

Q: Can I breed a shiny pokemon and still get a shiny baby with better IVs / egg moves / nature / etc?

A: Shiny breeding has recently been implemented. If you breed TWO shiny parents together, the baby is guarenteed to come out shiny as well. BOTH PARENTS MUST BE SHINY.Breeding a shiny pokemon with a non-shiny will NOT guarentee a shiny baby, and the percentages of the baby being shiny are unknown.

As far as IVs, the IV mechanics work differently with shiny breeding, please refer to a more in-depth guide for specifics.

NATURE, Egg Moves, BRACED IV stats, and Egg Groups allstill works the same as normal breeding. Everstones still guarentee nature, shinies can breed with shinies of other species within their own egg groups to make more powerful rarer shinies, using a brace on an IV stat still guarentees that stat to be passed down, and egg moves will pass down normally as well.

Q: If I breed two pokemon of the same NATURE, will the baby have that nature aswell?

A: No, the ONLY way of ensuring NATURE in a baby is to have the parent with the desired nature hold an EVERSTONE while breeding.

Q: I saw someone selling a ???x31 pokemon for an amount less than the cost of breeding it, are you lying about the cost of breeding???

A: No. Most likely, they dont know how much they put into it. Breeding is a long and tedious process, a lot of people lose track of the actual amount spent breeding a pokemon, and then mistakenly try to sell it for less than what they put into it. Alternatively, there are a few short cuts to cutting the costs of breeding, but this is all up to sheer luck. For example, they may have caught matching 2x31 wild pokemon, or 3x31s, allowing them to sell it at a price below the normal breeding cost.

Q: I saw someone sell a ???x31 pokemon for more than twice the amount of breeding it! Why?

A: Certain pokemon cost a lot more than others to breed. Eevee and fossil pokemon, for example, all cost 21,000 for a female. Machop and other pokemon geared to be mostly male, or mostly female, are $9000 for the lesser common gender.If the NATURE was bred onto it, that costs money. Other pokemon have specific EGG MOVES bred onto them you cant otherwise get. Further you can breed specific Hidden Power types onto pokemon, which is very tedious.All this extra work costs money.Also, some of the breeders used could've been bought, not caught, and the money spent on this must go into the final price to be recooped. The time and effort put into breeding deserves some profit, otherwise, you should go and breed your own.

Q: Can I accidentally use my Masterball if Im not paying attention during the Pokeball selection?

Q: Can I put my brand-new bred super-pokemon in a Masterball?
A: No, the Masterball is not an option that appears in the Pokeball Selection list at all.

Q: What are ALL the pokemon that cannot be bred, at all, in any shape or form?
A: Ditto, Shedninja and all Legendary pokemon. You cannot get a baby Ditto under any circ*mstances. And all Shedninja are totally random IVs, like a wild pokemon, a 6x31 bred Nincada will produce a 6x31 Ninjask but not a 6x31 Shedninja. Legendary pokemon belong to a class of pokemon that Cannot Breed.

More to come