Teaching Pokemon egg moves has been of vital importance for years now, but Pokemon Scarlet & Violet make the process easier than it ever has been. Though they’re still called “egg moves,” Pokemon can learn them outside the breeding process.
While Pokemon breeding is usually done to ensure Pokemon have great stats, Pokemon can also pass on moves to their children. These are often moves that they don’t usually learn and, for many Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, they need them to be effective. They can also unlock new ways to utilize the Pokemon, such as the ever-popular Belly Drum Azumarill.
In previous generations, Pokemon could only learn egg moves via breeding. This often resulted in disappointment for players who caught a shiny Pokemon in the wild or found a battle-ready Pokemon in Max Raid dens. Thankfully, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet allows any Pokemon to learn egg moves even if they didn’t hatch from the egg with them.
How to Teach Pokemon Egg Moves
Players can teach Pokemon egg moves by breeding a male Pokemon of one species with a female of a different species. If the male Pokemon knows a valid egg move at the time of breeding, Pokemon that come from eggs produced from that breeding session will automatically know the move. This can introduce new moves to Pokemon that they can’t otherwise learn.
For example, Yawn is a very useful support move that Dachsbun can learn as an egg move. If the player breeds a male Komala that knows Yawn with a female Dachsbun or Fidough, the resulting eggs will contain Fidough that know Yawn at level one.
Recent generations have allowed female Pokemon to also pass down egg moves to their children. This can save Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players a headache with Pokemon like Azumarill that may need multiple egg moves.
If the player wants to get Azumarills that know the egg moves Aqua Jet and Belly Drum, they can breed a female Azumarill that knows Belly Drum with a male Pokemon that knows Aqua Jet. Eggs that come from this pairing will be Azurills that know both Belly Drum and Aqua Jet.
How to Teach Pokemon Egg Moves with Mirror Herb
Players can teach Pokemon egg moves during picnics by using the Mirror Herb held item. This is a new feature added in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet that lets players teach Pokemon egg moves directly using a Mirror Herb, which is ideal for Pokemon caught in raids with a desirable Tera Type and shinies that were caught in the wild. Here is the step-by-step process:
- Add the Pokemon that needs to learn an egg move to the party
- Equip it with the Mirror Herb held item
- Forget a move on the Pokemon, and leave it with just three known moves
- Add a Pokemon that already knows the desired egg move to the party
- Start a picnic
After following these steps, the empty move slot on the Pokemon will be filled with the egg move. Pokemon that learn egg moves in this way will not be able to pass the move down to their children, but they will know the move and be able to use it normally.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.