How to Easily Get Egg Moves in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (Breeding and Mirror Herb Guide)

Learn how to easily teach your Pokémon Egg Moves in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet in this in-depth guide to the Mirror Herb and Egg Move breeding. Thanks to some new methods introduced in Generation 9, obtaining Egg Moves is easier than ever and this guide teaches you the difference between methods as well as how to use the new Mirror Herb item.

How to Easily Get Egg Moves in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (Breeding and Mirror Herb Guide)

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have introduced a brand new way of acquiring Egg Moves that completely outclasses the previous method. Egg Moves are special moves that can usually only be learnt through a process of breeding, and some of them can increase the potential of a Pokémon significantly. As a result, many people have wanted a simpler way of teaching Pokémon these elusive moves.

Now, in Generation 9, we have a fast and simple method to teach a Pokémon an Egg Move. Even better, it doesn’t have as many requirements or restrictions as the previous method, making it an excellent easy pick for anybody looking for endgame-viable Pokémon for either the VGC or Tera Raids. And all you need is a single key item. 

Here is how to easily learn Egg Moves in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Want more Pokémon Scarlet and Violet articles and guides? You can find more here on KeenGamer:

  1. How to Increase Your Shiny Odds in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
  2. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Ultimate Sandwich Guide
  3. How to Change Your Pokémon’s Tera Type in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
  4. The Best Pokémon for Tera Raid Battles in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
  5. How to Catch and Evolve Gimmighoul in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

What are Egg Moves?

Egg Moves are a special category of move which differs from Pokémon to Pokémon. They can usually only be inherited via breeding from one of the parent Pokémon. Egg Moves are separate from the moves they can learn through level-up or TMs and, without the correct method or investment, most Pokémon will never be able to learn any of their Egg Moves.

Each Pokémon has a completely different list of Egg Moves that they can learn: Meowscarada has Sucker Punch among its Egg Moves, while Skeledirge has Curse, for example. These are often more niche moves that are far more situational than their level-up or TM counterparts. However, they can also be insanely useful and prove to be an important tool in clearing endgame content like Tera Raids or give you a better fighting chance in competitive play.

For example, Gastrodon can learn Clear Smog as an Egg Move which proved mighty useful during the recent 7-Star Greninja Tera Raid. This special Greninja can raise its evasion at set intervals of the fight using Double Team: a Gastrodon with Clear Smog can not only deal damage but also strip Greninja of those annoying evasion buffs. This elevated Gastrodon’s viability in the Raid massively and helped a lot of people clear it – all thanks to this one Egg Move.

Sometimes, special wild Pokémon can appear with Egg Moves in their move pool. Gigantamnax Pokémon from Sword and Shield as well as wild Tera Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet both have a chance to know Egg Moves, but these aren’t reliable sources. Breeding (and the new Mirror Herb Method) are the only consistent ways of getting Egg Moves.

Now that you know what Egg Moves are and how useful they can be, how can you get them? Well, there’s a classic method and a far simpler one.

Traditional Method

In order generations of Pokémon, breeding was the only way to get Egg Moves. While recent games have introduced new methods of obtaining these Egg Moves, breeding remains the classic (or traditional) way of getting them and it still works in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

The traditional method involves breeding 2 compatible Pokémon so that one of them receives the Egg Move from the other. While the father and mother Pokémon’s move sets will not change, the child Pokémon that is produced via breeding will obtain the Egg Move you desire, should all conditions be met. These conditions include:

  • The mother Pokémon must be the species you want to learn the Egg Move
  • The father Pokémon must have the Egg Move learned and in their selection of moves
  • Both the father and mother belong to the same Egg Group

Egg Moves follow the constraints and rules set by other forms of breeding, and the most important rule is that (outside of Ditto) the Pokémon you want to breed must belong to the same Egg Group. In total, there are 15 different Egg Groups and your parent Pokémon must share one to breed and, in turn, pass down an Egg Move. This does limit the amount of viable Pokémon you can use to both breed and obtain Egg Moves, effectively eliminating any non-gendered Pokémon from this method.

The traditional Egg Move method is fairly straightforward (if you understand Pokémon breeding, anyway) but it certainly takes a lot of time to do. From gathering the compatible Pokémon to making sure they are the right gender and have the right moves to even just hatching the Eggs, it takes a while to see results. Additionally, the strict requirements for breeding limit the pool of available Pokémon that you can use to obtain the moves you want. This method still works today, though, and remains as steadfast and predictable as ever.

Parent Pokémon

Parent Pokémon

Example: Electric Terrain Ampharos

We’re going to be using the example of trying to get an Amphraos with Egg Move Electric Terrain. Ampharos is an Electric Type Pokémon which belongs to both the Field and Monster Egg Groups. This means that to get an Ampharos with Electric Terrain, we need to breed an Ampharos (or a Mareep or Flaaffy) with another Pokémon who both knows Electric Terrain and belongs to either of Ampharos’ Egg Groups.

Fortunately for us, Luxray is an Electric Type Pokémon who belongs to the Field Egg Group and is capable of learning Electric Terrain. With that in mind, we’ll grab a Female Ampharos and a Male Luxray that knows the move Electric Terrain (the Pokémon that comes from the Egg will take the species of the Female). In previous games, you would take them to the Day Care and have them breed to produce some Eggs. However, in Scarlet and Violet, you simply set up a picnic and wait about for some Eggs to appear in the basket.

When you get your Eggs, hatch them and you should be blessed by a Mareep that knows the move Electric Terrain. Rinse and repeat this strategy with any compatible Pokémon. 

After breeding compatible Pokémon, Mareep now has Electric Terrain - Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Egg Moves

Mareep with Egg Moves

Mirror Herb Method

The old method of Egg Move hunting is pretty long and arduous, but it can be useful if you are already planning on breeding Pokémon (whether for Shiny purposes or for competitive play). Fortunately, there is another, way easier method of acquiring Egg Moves in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and that is via the Mirror Herb item. 

You can acquire this Battle Item from the Delibird Presents to the North-side of Cascarrafa (the city with the Water Type Gym). Fly to the Northern Pokémon Centre and take a sharp right as soon as you enter the city – the shop should soon come into sight. You can purchase it for fairly cheap from the Battle Item section of the shop. 

Like most other items used in Pokémon breeding (such as the Destiny Knot or Everstone), the actual effect of the Mirror Herb doesn’t effectively describe its role. The Mirror Herb is used to directly transfer an Egg Move from one Pokémon to another without restriction. This means that any Pokémon can learn an Egg Move from any other Pokémon who knows that move: they don’t have to share an Egg Group or species and, now, even Pokémon without a gender have a way to learn these moves. 

Mirror Herb

Mirror Herb

The Mirror Herb method simply involves having the Pokémon you want to learn an Egg Move hold the item while on a picnic with another Pokémon who knows the move you want. Aside from having an empty move slot on the Pokémon holding the Herb (which you can do by forgetting a move in the summary menu of said Pokémon) that is all you need. Simply put the two Pokémon in a picnic, wait about a minute, exit and the Pokémon holding the Mirror Herb will have inherited the Egg Move all on its own.

Compared to the somewhat archaic traditional method, the Mirror Herb method of obtaining Egg Moves is better in every way imaginable. You aren’t restricted like you are with Egg Groups or gendered Pokémon, it is significantly faster than breeding Eggs and any Pokémon can take part. While you can do the traditional method, use a Mirror Herb if you want to save your sanity while grabbing the best moves for your team.

Student and Master

Student and Master

Example: Acid Armour Gastrodon

Like before, we’ll give a step-by-step example to showcase how this method works in practice. We’ll be using the example of a Gastrodon wanting to learn the move Acid Armour. Unlike before, we don’t have to worry about Egg Groups, gender or anything like that: simply find the Gastrodon you want and give it the Mirror Herb. 

Next, go out and find a Pokémon with Acid Armour. Any Pokémon. You may even have one already sitting in your box (which you can determine easily using the Box Search feature). Once you’ve found one, put it in your party alongside Gastrodon and take it to a picnic. In this example, Glimmora is the Pokémon that knows Acid Armour. Just make sure that you only have Gastrodon and the Acid Armour user in your party to guarantee that Gastrodon actually learns the desired Egg Move.

With the table laid and the picnic ready, you just need to stand around for a short while. After about a minute, pack up the shop and check your summary. Gastrodon will have learned Acid Armour from Glimmora (or any other Pokémon) with no strings attached. The Mirror Herb isn’t used up, either, so you can continue to do this as long as you want.

That was an explanation of how to easily get Egg Moves in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

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