An exciting mechanic in Pokémon Sword and Shield is the ability to change your Pokémon’s nature using Mints. You won’t be able to do this until later in the game, but it is worth preparing for as you play through the story.
How to Change a Pokémon’s Nature in Sword and Shield using Mints
Late in the game, you will be able to get Nature Mints in Wyndon. After you have beaten the game, you will get access to the Battle Tower, and an NPC that will sell you Nature Mints. The Mints cost 50 BP, and the different Mints will have different effects on your Pokémon’s stats as they level up. It will give a positive or negative weighting to specific stats, influencing how those stats develop as the Pokémon levels up.
You will find a full list of natures below and the effect that they have on a Pokemon below:
- Adamant: +Attack Speed, -Attack
- Bold: +Defense, -Attack
- Brave: +Attack, -Speed
- Calm: +Special Defense, -Attack
- Careful: +Special Defense, -Special Attack
- Gentle: +Special Defense, -Defense
- Hasty: +Speed, -Defense
- Impish: +Defense, -Sp. Attack
- Jolly: +Speed, -Special Attack
- Lax: +Defense, -Special Defense
- Lonely: +Attack, -Defense
- Mild: +Special Attack, -Defense
- Modest: +Special Attack, -Attack
- Naive: +Speed, -Special Defense
- Naughty: +Attack Speed, -Defense
- Quiet: +Special Attack, -Speed
- Rash: +Special Attack, -Special Defense
- Relaxed: +Defense, -Speed
- Sassy: +Special Defense, -Speed
- Serious: All stats are equal
- Timid: +Speed, -Attack
All you need to do is give a Mint with the relevant name from the above list, that influences your Pokemon in the way you want. Just go to you Bag, select the item, then use it on your Pokémon.
While this is a mechanic that you can’t start playing around with until after you finish the story, it is a lot of fun to experiment with your Pokémon in this way.
