Pokémon Sword & Shield are over a month old now, and players are already hard at work hunting and searching for their favorite Shiny Pokémon. Unfortunately, finding Wild Shiny Pokémon is more difficult in this game than it was in Sun & Moon, so hatching eggs is now the optimal method of satisfying all your sparkling needs. If you’re looking for the best way to hatch Pokémon Eggs quickly and effectively, look no further!
Obtaining a Ditto
Introduced in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, the Masuda Method increases your odds of hatching a Shiny Pokémon if both of its parents originate from games with different languages. Most English players look for a Japanese Ditto to breed with, though these are somewhat rare and difficult to trade for. If for some reason you own two Nintendo Switch consoles from two different countries, you can obtain a Ditto via a rare Max Raid Battle at the den shown above (in the Stony Wilderness). Fly to the nearby Day-Care Center, take a right, and it’s the first den after the bridge.
If you aren’t in that minority, you can try to find a player to trade with, but it isn’t going to be easy. If you run out of options, feel free to join our Discord server, head to the Pokémon channel, and ask around for a foreign-language Ditto. We’d be happy to help! There are also Pokémon hatching communities out there that can set you up with a foreign Ditto. Assuming you’re able to obtain one, let’s move right along!
Choosing a Day-Care Center
Pokémon Sword & Shield have two day-care centers: one in Bridge Field of the Wild Area and one on Route 5. I personally prefer the latter because the camera stays still, but the two are functionally identical. Once you’ve got your Ditto and the Pokémon you want to hatch, place them both in the day-care center. You can also breed your Pokémon for the correct nature, IVs, and egg moves and then start shiny hunting, but all of these can be changed in-game via Nature Mints, Hyper Training, and the day-care center, respectively.
If you’ve beaten Champion Leon, fly over to Circhester and enter the hotel next to the Pokémon Center. Speak to the police officer, defeat him in a double battle, and you’ll receive the Oval Charm. The Oval Charm increases the chance of an egg appearing at the day-care center, which will really help speed up this process.
Party Setup & Hatching
Before you start hatching eggs, make sure you have a Pokémon with the ability Flame Body in your party. Ponyta, Rapidash, Magby, Magmar, Magmortar, Heatran, Litwick, Lampent, Chandelure, Larvesta, Volcarona, Fletchinder, Talonflame, Carkol, and Coalossal all have the ability Flame Body and thus fit this role perfectly. Carkol can be found in the Galar Mine, so keep catching them until one of them has Flame Body. Then make sure it’s the only Pokémon in your party so you can gather up a team full of eggs!
Here’s a quick tip that’ll help you save time: go into the Options menu and turn off the option to give Pokémon nicknames. This way you won’t have to sit through the nickname prompt for every Pokémon you hatch. You can still change your Pokémon’s names at any Pokémon Center.
With a Flame Body Pokémon in your party and your two Pokémon in the day-care center, it’s time to start hatching! When the day-care lady crosses her arms, it means she has an egg to give you, so be sure to talk to her and receive it. Once your party is full of eggs, hop on your bike and spin the control stick in a small circle. Each time the day-care lady crosses her arms, speak to her and send the egg to a box. Once all five of your eggs have hatched into Pokémon, replace them with a new batch of eggs and repeat.
Other Helpful Information
If you’re hatching eggs via the Masuda Method without the Shiny Charm (awarded to players who complete their Pokédex), your odds are 1 in 682. If you do have the Shiny Charm, these odds are boosted to 1 in 512, making egg hatching the fastest method of obtaining Shiny Pokémon. If you don’t have the Shiny Charm, it’s no big deal, as the increased odds aren’t that much higher — but it’s still pretty helpful if you do have it!
I don’t recommend zeroing in and focusing solely on shiny hunting, as that gets boring fast. Instead, I recommend multitasking. When I shiny hunt a Pokémon, I usually do so while reading an article or watching a video. It makes the process a lot more bearable. You can also turn on “Casual Controls” from the Options menu and hatch eggs with a single Joy-Con and keep one of your hands free.
From this point on, your chance of hatching a Shiny Pokémon is a roll of the dice. It might take a while to obtain one, but keep at it and you’ll get it eventually! Hatching a Shiny Pokémon is a lengthy process, but a rewarding one at that. I wish you all the best of luck and happy hunting!
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