On Route 7, a Day Care takes in two of your Pokémon. If they get along, an Egg appears. X and Y made breeding simpler and more powerful than ever, notably thanks to the Destiny Knot. Here is how it works.

🥚Getting an Egg

Leave two Pokémon at the Route 7 Day Care, between the Parfum Palace and the Battle Chateau. They only get along if they are of opposite sexes and belong to the same Egg Group, or if one of them is a Ditto, which gets along with almost everyone. The Egg contains the base form of the female’s species, or of the other Pokémon if the partner is Ditto.

  • The old man outside the Day Care waves to you when an Egg is ready.
  • Two Pokémon of the same species get along better, especially if they come from different Trainers.
  • Legendaries and a few baby Pokémon do not lay Eggs.

🐣Hatching faster

An Egg hatches after a certain number of steps, which depends on the species. To speed things up:

  • Put a Pokémon with the Flame Body or Magma Armor ability in your team, which halves the number of steps.
  • Use the PSS Hatching O-Powers.
  • Go back and forth by bike or on Roller Skates along a long straight line.

🧬What the parents pass down

  • The Destiny Knot: held by a parent, it passes down 5 of the 6 individual stats of the parents to the baby, instead of 3. This is the big novelty of X and Y. You find it at the seaside hotel in Cyllage City.
  • The Everstone: held by a parent, it passes down its nature for sure. A Scientist gives it to you in Geosenge Town.
  • Moves: the baby learns some moves its parents know, the Egg Moves. In X and Y, the mother can also pass them down.
  • The Hidden Ability: a female that has her Hidden Ability has a good chance of passing it down.
  • The Poké Ball: the baby is born in the same Poké Ball as its mother.

For perfect Pokémon and Shiny Pokémon, see our Premium guides Advanced Breeding and Hunting Shiny Pokémon.