PokeMMO Breeding Guide: How IVs, Natures, and Egg Moves Work

PokeMMO’s breeding system is nothing like the main-series games. Parents are consumed. Braces cost money. Gender matters for species inheritance. And yes, you will lose Pokemon you care about in the process. This guide explains every mechanic, every item, and exactly how to breed a 5×31 competitive Pokemon from scratch.

If you’re looking for PokeMMO guide, or How IVs, Natures, and Egg Moves Work, you’re in the right place.

Core Breeding Rule: Parents Are Consumed

This is the single most important thing to understand: when you breed two Pokemon, both parents are permanently deleted from your box. The egg replaces them. You do not get to keep the parents.

This changes everything about breeding economics. In the main games, you breed the same Ditto endlessly. In PokeMMO, every breeding step costs you two Pokemon. A full 5×31 breeding chain consumes 32 individual Pokemon.

IVs: Individual Values

Every Pokemon has six IV stats: HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. Each ranges from 0 to 31. Higher is better. A “perfect” competitive Pokemon has 31 in the five stats it uses (the unused attack stat — physical on a special attacker or vice versa — can be anything).

How IV inheritance works in breeding:

Without items, the egg inherits 3 random IVs from the parents’ combined 12 IV values (6 from each parent).
The other 3 IVs are randomly generated.
Brace items change this: you can force specific IVs to pass down.

Brace Items

Item	Cost (GTL)	Effect
Power Weight	10,000	Forces HP IV to pass from the parent holding it
Power Bracer	10,000	Forces Attack IV to pass
Power Belt	10,000	Forces Defense IV to pass
Power Lens	10,000	Forces Special Attack IV to pass
Power Band	10,000	Forces Special Defense IV to pass
Power Anklet	10,000	Forces Speed IV to pass
Destiny Knot	25,000	Egg inherits 5 random IVs instead of 3

Standard competitive breeding setup:

Parent A holds Destiny Knot (5 IVs pass down)
Parent B holds a Power item for the IV you want to guarantee
This forces 6 total IV considerations: 1 guaranteed + 5 selected from the combined pool

Natures: The 10% Stat Modifier

Natures increase one stat by 10% and decrease another by 10%. Five natures are neutral (no effect). The remaining 20 natures each pair a boosted stat with a reduced stat.

How to pass natures to eggs:

Give the parent with the desired nature an Everstone to hold.
The Everstone guarantees the egg inherits that parent’s nature.
If both parents hold Everstone, it’s 50/50 which nature passes.

Most-used competitive natures:

Nature	Boosted Stat	Reduced Stat	Common Users
Jolly	Speed	Special Attack	Garchomp, Weavile
Timid	Speed	Attack	Gengar, Alakazam
Adamant	Attack	Special Attack	Scizor, Metagross
Modest	Special Attack	Attack	Hydreigon, Volcarona
Bold	Defense	Attack	Blissey, Slowbro
Calm	Special Defense	Attack	Chansey, Clefable
Impish	Defense	Special Attack	Skarmory, Ferrothorn

Rule of thumb: Always reduce the attack stat your Pokemon doesn’t use. If it’s a physical attacker, reduce Special Attack. If it’s a special attacker, reduce Attack.

Egg Groups and Species Inheritance

When you breed two Pokemon of different species, the egg will be the mother’s species (the female parent). If you breed with Ditto (genderless/any-gender), the egg will be the non-Ditto species.

This matters because Ditto is the most valuable breeding Pokemon in the game. A single Ditto can breed with any breedable Pokemon, producing eggs of the non-Ditto species. But Ditto is also consumed when breeding — and catching Ditto with good IVs is difficult.

Egg groups: The standard Pokemon egg groups apply (Monster, Water 1, Field, Dragon, etc.). Two Pokemon must share at least one egg group, or one must be Ditto, to breed.

Egg Moves: Special Moves Passed Through Breeding

Egg moves are moves a Pokemon can only learn through breeding, passed down from the father. Some competitive movesets require egg moves that are impossible to get any other way.

How egg moves pass:

The father must know the egg move at the time of breeding.
The egg will hatch knowing the egg move.
A single egg can inherit multiple egg moves if the father knows them.

Egg move chains: Sometimes no single Pokemon can pass the move directly. You need an intermediate breed. Example:

Move X is only learned by Species A
Species A breeds with Species B, producing a Species B egg that knows Move X
Species B (now knowing Move X) breeds with Species C, producing a Species C egg with Move X
This is an egg move chain and each step consumes two parents

Breeding a 5×31 Competitive Pokemon: Step-by-Step

Here is the complete process to breed a 5×31 IV Pokemon with correct nature. This assumes you’re starting from wild-caught parents with 1-2 perfect IVs each.

Step 1: Catch Base Parents

Catch multiple Pokemon of your target species until you have at least one with 31 in each of the five stats you need. You’ll probably need 20-30 catches. Use the in-game IV judge (unlocked after beating the Elite Four).

Step 2: Nature Lock

Catch or buy a Pokemon with the correct nature. It doesn’t need good IVs — it will be consumed early in the chain. Give it an Everstone. This parent will always pass its nature.

Step 3: First Round — 2×31

Pick two parents that together cover two different 31 IVs. Example: Parent A has 31 HP, Parent B has 31 Speed.

Parent A holds Power Weight (forces 31 HP)
Parent B holds Destiny Knot (5 random IVs) The egg should have 31 HP guaranteed plus 31 Speed if Destiny Knot selects it. Repeat until you get a 2×31.

Step 4: Second Round — 3×31

Breed the 2×31 with a new parent that has 31 in a third stat. Use the same item strategy: Power item for the third guaranteed stat, Destiny Knot for the other parent.

Step 5: Repeat to 5×31

Each round adds one more guaranteed 31 IV stat. You’ll need approximately:

2×31: 2 parents consumed (1 breeding)
3×31: 4 parents consumed (2 breedings)
4×31: 8 parents consumed (4 breedings)
5×31: 16 parents consumed (8 breedings) Plus the initial catches and nature-locking steps. Total: ~32 Pokemon consumed for one 5×31.

If at any point you lose the nature (Everstone parent consumed without passing nature), restart from Step 2.

Cost Estimate

At current GTL prices (July 2026), each breeding step costs:

1× Destiny Knot: 25,000 Pokéyen
1× Power item: 10,000 Pokéyen
2× Breeder parents: variable (wild-caught = free in Pokéyen cost)

A full 5×31 chain: 8 Destiny Knots (200,000) + 7 Power items (70,000) = 270,000 Pokéyen in item costs alone, plus the value of consumed Pokemon. This is why finished 5×31 Pokemon sell for 500,000-1,200,000+ on GTL.

Gender and Breeding

Female Pokemon determine the egg’s species (when breeding without Ditto).
Ditto bypasses gender restrictions — Ditto + any breedable Pokemon = egg of the non-Ditto species.
Genderless Pokemon (Magnemite, Voltorb, etc.) can ONLY breed with Ditto.
Some Pokemon have skewed gender ratios (e.g., starters are 87.5% male, 12.5% female). Females of these species are worth more because they control species inheritance.

Shiny Breeding: Advanced and Expensive

Shiny Pokemon in PokeMMO are extremely rare (~1/30,000 base rate). Breeding two shiny Pokemon together guarantees the egg will be shiny. This creates a functioning shiny economy where shiny Pokemon are traded as breeding stock.

Shiny breeding follows the same mechanics but the parent value makes mistakes catastrophic. A failed shiny breed can cost millions of Pokéyen.

Note: Breeding mechanics reflect PokeMMO as of July 2026. Brace item prices and GTL market rates fluctuate. Always check current prices before starting a breeding chain.