How to Check Friendship Level in Pokemon Violet and Scarlet

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Everything you need to know about friendship in Generation 9

Co-authored by Hannah Dillon Reviewed by Ishrak

Last Updated: August 24, 2024 Fact Checked

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Checking Friendship

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Raising & Lowering Friendship

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What is friendship/happiness?

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Whether you're a brand new Pokémon player or a long-time fan of the series, you might be wondering what exactly the "friendship" mechanic is. Certain Pokemon evolve only if they have high friendship, after all, so knowing what this mechanic is and how it works is important if you're looking to fill out your Paldea Pokédex. In this article we'll go over friendship (also called happiness) in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet—how to check it, how to raise (or lower) it, and what it is.

Things You Should Know

You can check a Pokémon's friendship level by showing it to the female NPC next to the fountain in Cascarrafa..
Doing positive activities with your Pokemon—such as battling, leveling, evolving, and using items—will raise friendship.
Letting your Pokemon faint and using bitter herbal medicine on your Pokemon will lower its friendship.

Section 1 of 3:

Checking Friendship

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Go to Cascaraffa. In the city center by the fountain, there is a female NPC with a Marill. This is the Friendship Checker. If you present your Pokemon to her, she will say a phrase that correlates with a specific happiness level. Pokemon have a maximum happiness value of 255 and a minimum of 0, and it can be raised or lowered with certain actions. The happiness levels and related phrases are listed below^{[1]
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- 0: "Oh my gosh! What happened between you two?! There's not even a smidge of friendship here!"
- 1-49: "Are you two just starting to get to know each other? I'm sensing some awkwardness here…"
- 50-89: "You two seem kinda neutral—like you don't mind each other. I hope you get closer!"
- 100-149: "You're starting to get friendly. I bet you'll get along better soon!"
- 150-199: "You're getting along well...but I'm sure you could get way friendlier!"
- 200-229: "You're good friends, all right! You definitely enjoy each other's company!"
- 230-254: "Wow, you're pretty great friends! You sure mean a lot to each other."
- 255: "Whoa, you're the best friends ever! I can tell just being together gives you warm fuzzies!"

Section 2 of 3:

Raising & Lowering Friendship

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Friendship can be raised in many ways. Generally speaking, if you do positive activities with your Pokemon, it will become happier and your friendship with that Pokemon will go up. Some things that will raise a Pokemon's happiness:^{[2]
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- Using the Pokemon in your party, leveling it up, and evolving it
- Using items on the Pokemon (except for herbal medicine)
- Grooming your Pokemon
- Feeding your Pokemon
- Playing with your Pokemon or using the Let's Go feature with it
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You can use items or locations to boost your Pokemon's happiness gain. You can add bonuses to the amount of happiness your Pokemon gets by doing the following:
- Catching the Pokemon with a Luxury Ball, which increases all friendship gains by 1
- Catching the Pokemon with a Friend Ball, which sets the Pokemon's initial friendship at 200
- Giving your Pokemon a Soothe Bell, which boost friendship gain by 50%
- Raising your Pokemon's happiness in the area you caught it, which boosts any friendship gain by 1
- Pokemon hatched from an egg start with 120 happiness
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Some actions will lower your Pokemon's happiness. If you're trying to raise your Pokemon's happiness, avoid allowing your Pokemon to faint. You should also avoid using herbal medicine on your Pokemon.
- In Scarlet and Violet, herbal medicine includes Heal Powder, Energy Powder, Energy Root, and Revival Herb.^{[3]
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Your Pokemon's happiness will cap at 160 if you only use it in battle, use items on it, level it, and evolve it. To fully max your Pokemon's happiness to 255 you must make sandwiches, play with, and wash your Pokemon during picnics.^{[4]
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Section 3 of 3:

What is friendship/happiness?

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Friendship and happiness were introduced in Pokemon Yellow. Friendship is a somewhat hidden stat that signifies how attached a Pokemon is to its trainer. Friendship has been in all Pokemon games since Yellow, and has been used in conjunction with other mechanics to add variance to the game.^{[5]
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- Happiness and friendship are used interchangeably. The official term is "friendship," but some fans refer to it as "happiness."
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Some Pokemon can only level up with high happiness. In Scarlet and Violet, the minimum friendship you need to evolve certain Pokemon is 160, but some Pokemon require more. The following Pokemon level up with high friendship in Scarlet and Violet:^{[6]
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- Pichu
- Igglybuff
- Chansey
- Azurill
- Riolu
- Snom
- Eevee (for its Espeon, Umbreon, and Sylveon evolutions)
- Cleffa (in the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC)
- Chingling (in the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC)
- Munchlax (in the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC)
- Swadloon (in the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC)
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Pokemon with high friendship can perform better in battle. The higher your Pokemon's happiness is, the more bonuses it will get in battle. If your Pokemon has a high friendship with you, it has a chance of not getting knocked out in battle, it may be able to heal itself from status conditions, and it may get more experience.
- You also might notice your Pokemon wiggle when it's sent out of its ball, and the text box will be more descriptive about what your Pokemon is doing in battle when it has high happiness.^{[7]
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