Pokemon games are extremely complex, and Pokemon Scarlet & Violet is no different. There are various stats that you'll have to into consideration when training a Pokemon team, and friendship is one of them.
When creating a team, you'll want your Pokemon to be friendly toward you. This guide will teach you everything you need to know about friendship in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet - how to raise it, where you should go to check friendship levels, and why it's so important.
How To Check Friendship
If you want to know how well you're doing with a certain Pokemon on your team or in your boxes, there is a Friendship Checker in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet that can help you with that.
To find the Friendship Checker, you will have to visit Cascarrafa. The NPC you're looking for stands in the northeastern corner of the central town square, by the hedges, and she has a Marill beside her - one of the Pokemon evolves when it has a high friendship level with its trainer.
If you've already unlocked it, fly to the western Cascarrafa Pokemon Center fast-travel point in order to reach the destination faster.
Approach the Friendship Checker if you'd like to know how close you and one of your Pokemon are. When you talk to her, she'll ask you to select a Pokemon either from your party or your boxes and then she will check how it feels towards you. You can either be best friends or she'll tell you to keep improving your relationship with some quality time.
The Friendship Checker is particularly useful when it comes to knowing how close you are to evolving a Pokemon that can only do it through friendship. If she lets you know that you've reached maximum friendship and you notice it hasn't evolved yet, then you're most likely missing another requirement for the evolution to occur.
How To Raise Friendship
There are various ways to raise friendship with a Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. It is likely that throughout the game you will naturally increase with some of these methods without even knowing it. Here are several methods to make a Pokemon more friendly toward you:
Luxury Ball
If there's a Pokemon that you'd like to grow friendly towards you faster, you'll want to catch it using a Luxury Ball. It will make it so that whenever a Pokemon increases its friendship level, it'll gain an extra point and make the Pokemon become friendly faster.
This functionality can be inherited from a parent, so the offspring of Pokemon caught in Luxury balls will also raise their friendliness quicker.
Soothe Bell
The Soothe Bell is an item that has been part of Pokemon games for years, and is very useful. When a Pokemon holds the Soothe Bell, it becomes friendlier towards you.
You can purchase several of these and give them to as many Pokemon as you'd like. You can also have the Pokemon hold it while you complete some of the other steps.
The Soothe Bell can be found in the General Goods section of the Delibird Present shop in northwest Cascarrafa or in the center of Levincia. It costs $5,000 or 5,000 LP. Once obtained, it can be found in the Other Items section in your bag.
Other items such as Exp. Candies, Rare Candies, Vitamins, and certain Berries will increase a Pokemon's friendship with its trainer when consumed. On the other hand, items like the Revival Herb, Energy Powder, Heal Powder, and Energy Root will decrease it.
Steps
Walking around with a Pokemon in your party will make it like you more, especially if you have it walk in the overworld with you by pressing ZR.
Alternatively, you can also have it explore and freely battle in the wild by pressing R, but you must be careful if its health becomes dangerously low; if a Pokemon faints, it will be less friendly toward you.
Picnics
In Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, you can set up a picnic table and enjoy a few moments with your team before you prepare for your next adventure.
During your time out on a picnic, there are various activities you can do with your Pokemon squad. Here you can play with toys, enjoy some sandwiches, and even wash them. These will definitely be bonding moments and afterward, your Pokemon will certainly feel happier to be with you.
Why Friendship Matters
Friendship can impact certain moves and make them more powerful, and surprisingly, it can also make other moves weaker. The damage output of Return is calculated on how close the Pokemon is with its trainer, but on the opposite hand, the damage output of Frustration depends on how distant the Pokemon feels towards its trainer.
Having a high friendship rating can even save your Pokemon from fainting. In battles, a Pokemon with high enough friendship can survive devastating attacks with one HP, shake off status effects like poison and sleep, and will gain EXP faster, making it easier to train up.
Most of the time, you'll be interested in raising your Pokemon's friendship level with you because it's the only way to evolve them. There are several Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet that will only evolve if they level up while having a high enough friendship level with their trainer. Here is a list of all currently available Pokemon that can only be obtained if leveled up this way:
- Pikachu
- Blissey
- Jigglypuff
- Marill
- Umbreon
- Sylveon
- Espeon
- Lucario
- Frosmoth