Breeding is incredibly useful for creating high IV Pokémon, but in Generation 8, it’s not the end all, be all. After completing the game, you’ll be able to enhance your Pokémon’s IVs and change their Nature at the Battle Tower in Wyndon.

How to Use¶

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(1 of 2) You want to speak to this guy.

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You want to speak to this guy. (left), You can Hyper Train as many imperfect IV stats as you want. (right)

To use Hyper Training, speak to the right-most fellow at the back counter. He’ll let you Hyper Train any Pokémon that are Level 100. You can then give him a Bottle Cap for each stat that you want to have max IVs, or a Gold Bottle Cap to max all 6 stats at once.

When you’ve first completed the game, your Pokémon will probably be around the Level 60 range–far from the Level 100 goal. The quickest way to Level Up is to engage in high difficulty Max Raid Battles and feed your Pokémon experience candies obtained there. This can be done online or (slightly harder) offline.

Bottle Caps (and gold ones) can be obtained randomly from the Digging Duo or you can buy the regular ones for 25 BP from the clerk who’s second from the left. You can earn BP by battling in the Battle Tower or online battles/competitions. You can also earn both kinds of Bottle Caps by reaching certain milestones in the Battle Tower.

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(1 of 2) Here’s the lady who’s smelling fresh.

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Here’s the lady who’s smelling fresh. (left), A Timid Mint boosts Speed, but lowers Attack. (right)

Mints can be purchased from the left-most lady at the back counter, for 50 BP apiece. You can also obtain Mints by reaching certain milestones in the Battle Tower. Once you’ve got a Mint, you can feed it to a Pokémon directly to change its boosted/lowered stats.

When to Use¶

We went through this previously, but it doesn’t hurt to repeat this information again. Basically, you should only use Hyper Training and Mints as a last resort, because it usually takes a lot of time and effort to farm for the items/BP. However, if you’re swimming in those resources, go crazy!

In general, you should use them for:

1. Legendary Pokémon, since you cannot breed them to improve their IVs. Nor can you use Synchronize to guarantee their Nature.

2. Shiny Pokémon. You can breed them, but the offspring will have the same chance of being shiny as any Pokémon (in other words, very small).

3. Gigantamax mons for the same reason as above. You can breed them, but the ability to Gigantamax does not pass down. (However, if you own the Expansion Pass, you can feed them Max Soup to grant them Gigantamax.)

4. Pokémon you’ve bred for high IVs, but you can’t get every relevant stat with max IVs. Or Pokémon with high IVs caught from Max Raid Battles, etc. Or you’re lazy (that’s OK!).

5. Pokémon you used during the main story, which you’ve grown attached to. Honestly, you’re better off breeding new Pokémon, but if you can spare the resources, why not?