Pokémon Breeding in Gold, Silver & Crystal

Pokémon Breeding is a new feature by Nintendo introduced in Gold/Silver/Crystal versions of Pokémon Games. This a good feature if you want to get the starters, Pokémon like Eevee, Aerodactyl, and other rare Pokémon (except Legendaries) again. But the question is how to use it? Ok, let’s get aquainted with this new feature!

First thing you need to know is that where do you do this thing. It is done at the Day-Care Center or the home of the old man and the lady, just south to the Goldenrod City, on R.34. The two Pokémon are to be given to one of the both persons, no matter which one receives whichever Pokémon, either one of the Pokémon could go to either of the two persons.

Now for the Breeding. One condition for the Breeding is that they both must be compatible with each other to breed. There are several such groups and are known as Egg Groups. Some Pokémon belong to more than one egg group. Here is a table describing those Egg Groups:

Each Pokémon can breed within its own Egg Group(s) and also with Ditto. All the Egg Group(s) except “No Eggs” Group can breed with Ditto including the “Gender Unknown” and “Gender Undeterminate” Group.

Once you have chosen the two parent Pokémon, it will be then easier to predict the baby and it’s attacks.

Now, for the breeded baby. The baby will be of the mother’s specie and that too the pre-evovled form of the Mother’s specie For e.g. If the father is a Marowak and the mother is a Blastoise, the resulatant baby will be a Squirtle. There are chances of the off-spring ot be of the Father’s Specie too, but that is only in the case of Ditto. As Ditto’s gender is unknown, whichever Pokémon breeds with it, the child will be only of that Pokémon and not Ditto.

Now we know which will be the baby Pokémon, now for the moves. First, we need to know how many moves will the baby know on its birth after hatching. Use the table given below:

The above table indicates the number of attacks which the baby would know ithout inheritating the moves from the father. But this whole thing of learning of the moves from the father is different. Let that be explained.

Each Pokémon that can breed some special moves called Egg Moves, that they don’t learn naturally by levelling up and also can’t learn without breeding. For e.g. Skarmory, on breeding with Male Fearow who knows these moves – Mirror Move, Drill Peck, Agility, and Fly, can learn Drill Peck only by breeding. The Pokémon will be born knowing an Egg mOve if the father knows one that the baby can learn.

Another way that the baby can learn moves that their father knew is by TM. If the father Pokémon knows a TM or HM move that the baby can learn, the baby will be born automatically, knowing that move, with a condition that the TMs must be from G/S/C. That means you can’t always pass down moves like Ice Beam and Tri-Attack to the new-born, even though those were TMs in R/B/Y.

Another way that the baby can have attacks that it wouldn’t have otherwise(at birth) is if both the father and the mother know an attack that the baby learn by levelling up. For e.g. if you breed a male Lickitung that knows Stomp with a female Rhydon that also knows Stomp, you’ll get a baby Rhyhorn that also know Stomp.

Here’s an example of a baby’s moveset that uses all of the conditions for passing down the moves:

Here’s the explanation for the above table:

• Start of with the moves that Skarmory knows at L.5 – Leer, and Peck.
• Add the moves that both the parents have – both the father Fearow and mother Skarmory knows Agility, so it is passed down.
• Add any special Egg Moves that Skarmory learns – the father Fearow knows Drill Peck and it is one of the Skarmory’s Egg Moves, so it is too passed down.
• Add any HMs or TMs from G/S/C that the father knows that the baby can also learn. Fearow and Skarmory can both learn Fly, so that is passed down.

So the Baby’s current moveset is:

• Leer
• Peck
• Agility
• Drill Peck
• Fly

But there is a limitation of moves i.e. Pokémon can have only upto four moves. Here the baby has five moves. So you have to remove one. For this start deleting the moves from the top, until there are only four left. Here, Leer is at the top of the list and so it will be deleted. At last, the baby’s moveset will be:

• Peck
• Agility
• Drill Peck
• Fly

To sum up, the order is:

1. Species Moves
2. Level-up Moves
3. Egg Moves
4. TM/HM Moves

Now we have the knowledge of how to produce a successful egg. So choose down the parents and go down to the Day-care center and give either of the Pokémon to either one of two old people sitting in there.

Now the two things left are:

1. The time parents will take to produce an egg
2. After the egg is produced how long it will take to hatch.

The time to produce an egg varies. Some certain combinations have been made which affects the time. They are as below:

Earlier, it was believed that sometimes you simply won’t get any egg. But that’s not true. If two Pokémon are compatible, they will eventually give an egg- but it might take a bit of long time.

The no. of steps you have to take to produce an egg is fairly random. Check back at the Day-Care Center every 250-500 steps to check if an egg is there. If it is, speak to the old man standing in the backyard. If it isn’t keep walking/riding your bike.

When your Pokémon produce an egg, the man will ask you whether you want to keep it or not. Say “yes” or you won’t get it later. However, you could breed it again.

The Egg itself is totally free, but you will have to pay for your two Pokémon’s stay at the Day-Care Center. With every step you took since you gave the old couple a Pokémon to take care of, your Pokémon will earn 1 experience point. You’ll have to pay a $100 service fee plus an extra $100 for each level your Pokémon gained while it was in the Day-Care Center.

Now, you know how to breed a Pokémon! Go on! Have a nice time breeding ’em all!