Can you breed 6 IV Pokemon in Scarlet? A breeder‘s guide to perfect IVs

Hey friend! Terry here, back at you today with an in-depth breeding guide about getting those perfect 6IV Pokemon in the new Pokemon Scarlet and Violet games. I know you‘re probably eager to breed up an awesome competitive team, so let me break down everything you need to know about IV breeding this gen.

IV Breeding 101

For newcomers, IV stands for "Individual Values" – they‘re hidden stats that range from 0 to 31 for each of a Pokemon‘s six battle attributes: HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. The higher the IV in a particular stat, the greater potential that Pokemon has in that area at Level 100.

Getting Pokemon with max IVs (31) across the board is crucial for building the strongest team possible. It allows you to better optimize stats through Nature, EVs, and movesets. The difference between 0 IV and 31 IV in a stat can mean over 100 points stronger at max level!

Just how rare are perfect 6IV Pokemon?

The chance of randomly encountering a wild Pokemon with all 31 IVs is extremely slim – only 1 in 1,073,741,824! That‘s because each IV is randomly generated with 1 in 32 odds. With six different IVs to hit 31 for, those odds stack exponentially.

To put this in perspective, you‘re as likely to be struck by lightning over 3 times in your life as randomly finding a 6IV Pokemon. Not great odds if you‘re looking to build a competitive team!

Luckily there are ways to drastically boost your chances through deliberate IV breeding.

Starting out with IV Breeding

When breeding two Pokemon, babies inherit 3-5 IVs randomly from their parents. Without any special items, it‘s 3 guaranteed IVs and the rest randomized.

Giving one parent a Destiny Knot will make 5 IVs inherited instead of 3. The 6th IV is still random, so using two 5IV parents with a Destiny Knot gives you a 1 in 32 chance of breeding a 6IV baby.

I‘d recommend starting your IV breeding journey by catching or trading for these key items:

• 6IV Foreign Ditto – Your MVP for quickly breeding 6IV Pokemon of any species
• Destiny Knot – Item to pass down 5 IVs from parents to baby
• Everstone – Makes baby inherit parent‘s Nature
• Power Items – Guarantees passing 1 specific IV from parent holding it

With those set up, you‘re well on your way to IV breeding mastery!

Step-by-Step: Breeding Your First 6IV Pokemon

Let‘s walk through a simple example of breeding a perfect 6IV Dreepy:

1. Obtain a 6IV Foreign Ditto and give it a Destiny Knot
2. Breed Ditto with a 5IV Dreepy holding an Everstone until you hatch a 5IV Dreepy baby
3. Replace the 5IV parent Dreepy with the new 5IV baby
4. Repeat steps 2-3, replacing parents with better IV babies each generation
5. Once you hatch a 6IV Dreepy, use it and Ditto to breed more!

Following this process, you should be able to breed a 6IV baby within 3-5 generations on average thanks to starting with optimized parents.

Advanced Breeding Techniques

Once you‘ve gotten the basics down, here are some advanced tactics top breeders use when going for flawless competitive Pokemon:

Power Items for Guaranteed IVs

Equipping a Power Weight, Bracer, Belt, Lens, Band, or Anklet on a parent will guarantee that it passes down its IV for that specific stat.

Very useful when combined with Destiny Knot to control 5 IVs in total. I like to use Power items to quickly breed Pokemon that need 0 Speed IVs.

Chain Breeding with Multiple Good IV Parents

Instead of relying on Ditto, collect or breed a group of 4-6 IV males/females of the Pokemon you want. Then breed different combinations, replacing parents as you hatch better offspring. This recycles good IVs already within the species.

Breeding for Hidden Abilities

Make sure to research which items or parent abilities are needed to pass down Hidden Abilities like Long Reach or Libero. Items like Ability Patch can also change a Pokemon‘s Ability if inheriting it proves difficult.

Shiny Breeding

Using the Masuda Method with a foreign Ditto boosts your Shiny odds to 1 in 512 while also passing down IVs! Make sure you have a Shiny Charm to better your chances.

Getting Competitive Ready

Once you‘ve bred your 6IV Pokemon, there‘s still a bit more work to make it truly competitive ready:

• EV Training: Boost Effort Values to max out key stats
• Moveset Tailoring: Teach it the right moves for its role and team synergy
• Nature Setting: Mint the Nature to boost the desired stat
• Ability Capsuling: Change Ability if needed
• Bottle Cap Maxing: Hyper Train any non-31 IVs if you‘re keeping it

But the foundation of having flawless 31 IVs in the right stats will give you a major head start!

Parting Thoughts on IV Breeding

• Getting perfect 31 IVs takes patience – be ready to hatch a lot of eggs on the journey! But it‘s very rewarding.
• Different species have different ideal IV spreads based on base stats, moves, abilities etc. Do your research!
• Bottle Caps can max IVs at Level 100, but don‘t pass down through breeding. Useful on final team members.
• Take breaks and mix it up – hatch eggs while watching shows or shiny hunting to avoid burnout.
• Check out r/Pokemontrades to find foreign Dittos, rare Pokemon, and items. The community is super helpful!

Let me know if you have any other questions about maxing out your Pokemon‘s IVs! This guide should hopefully give you a great starting point on breeding that perfect competitive team. Time to hatch some eggs and battle your way to victory in Ranked Online!