How to Increase Pokémon Happiness in Pokémon Sword and Shield

Here’s what you need to know about a Pokémon’s Happiness and how to check it in Pokémon Sword and Shield

A Pokémon’s Happiness is something you can influence as their trainer in Pokémon Sword and Shield. You have a variety of different choices of how to go about improving it, too.

Here are the several ways you can go about raising a Pokémon’s Happiness toward you:

• Keeping them in your party
• Having them battle
• Having them hold the item Soothe Bell
• Giving them Curry while in camp
• Feeding them vitamins
• Give them berries that are going to “raise friendliness.” Make sure to check a berry’s description before giving it to them
• Catching them with a Friend or Luxury Poké Ball

The quickest methods are to keep the Pokémon with you in your party while you travel around, battling with them, and feeding them Curry, berries, or vitamins whenever you have the chance. The Curry only happens at your campsite, but you can feed a Pokémon a berry or a vitamin whenever you have one available in your bag.

There’s also the chance of lowering a Pokémon’s Happiness.

• Keeping them on your PC in a Box
• Using bitter items on them
• Having the Pokémon faint in battle

A Pokémon loses the Happiness you’ve built up with it when you trade it away, and it returns to its base Happiness setting.

Unfortunately, you cannot consistently see and remain vigilant of a Pokémon’s Happiness by looking at their stats. You need to seek out the Friendship checker, who is a small child in Hammerlocke. You can find him in the building to the right of the Pokémon Center, at the entrance of Hammerlocke. Go inside, and he’s going to ask you, “Would you like me to see if your Pokémon are feeling friendly toward you?” You need to say yes, and you have to pick which one you want him to examine. You can choose any from your current party or your Boxes.

You can only get into Hammerlocke if you have the first three Pokémon badges: Grass, Water, and Fire.