Get Egg Moves Without Breeding:

A Complete Guide for Sword/Shield and Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl Versions

In Sword/Shield and Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, it is possible to teach egg moves to Pokémon who were not originally bred with them! This guide gives you step-by-step instructions that apply to both games; the process is exactly the same.

As a demonstration, I'll be playing Shield, and I'll teach my Dragapult the egg move Double Team. Concorde, my Dragapult, was wild captured rather than bred. He didn't come with any egg moves and therefore would not normally be able to learn Double Team.

  1. Before you start, verify that your Pokémon can learn the desired move as an egg move in the game you're playing. You can look up that information on sites like PokémonDB and Serebii. Other kinds of moves, like level-up and TM moves, cannot be learned using this method! Volt Tackle also cannot be learned using this method, even though it is an egg move.
  2. You need two Pokémon of the same species: your 'trainee' Pokémon that needs to learn the egg move, and a 'tutor' Pokémon that knows the egg move you'd like to teach the trainee. The trainee and tutor don't have to be breeding compatible, but they do have to be exactly the same species and form. In this example I want to teach Double Team to my Dragapult, so my tutor Pokémon must be another Dragapult that already knows Double Team. Dragapult's other evolution stages, Dreepy and Drakloak, will not work!
    Shield version Pokémon summary screen displaying an un-nicknamed Dragapult's active moveset: Dragon Darts, Take Down, Double Team and Phantom Force.
    I traded for a Dreepy with Double Team and evolved it.
  3. Put the trainee and the tutor in your party.
    The player's current party menu. Three Pokémon are in the party: a Dragapult named Concorde, a Dragapult with no nickname, and an irrelevant placeholder Eternatus.
    The trainee is Concorde and the tutor is the other Dragapult.
  4. The trainee must have an empty moveslot. If it already has four moves, forget one to make room for the egg move.
    Move Deleter screen displaying Concorde's active moveset: Dragon Darts, Phantom Force, Fly and Dragon Dance. A prompt asks the player to confirm that they want Concorde to forget Dragon Dance. The player's cursor highlights 'yes'.
    I'm going to replace Dragon Dance.
  5. Go to the Nursery. In Sword/Shield, it's located in Bridge Field in the Wild Area. In Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, it's located in Solaceon Town.
    The player stands in front of the Nursery attendant.
    I'm ready to drop off the two Dragapult.
  6. Deposit the trainee and tutor at the Nursery together.
    The player leaves both Dragapult at the Nursery.
    Have fun, you guys!
  7. Run around for a minute or two. You'll need to wait a bit, and it's step-based, not time-based.
    The player bicycles around aimlessly in the vicinity of the Nursery. Sandstorm weather obscures most of the environment.
    Ah, those beautiful graphics...
  8. After a few laps of the area, go back to the Nursery and retrieve the trainee. (If there's an egg at the Nursery, keep or reject it.)
    The player, back at the Nursery, talking to the attendant. A prompt asks the player to select a Pokémon to pick up from the Nursery. The player's cursor highlights 'Concorde'.
    Time to pick up Concorde.
  9. The trainee should now know the egg move. If it doesn't, then put the trainee back in the Nursery with the tutor, run around a while longer and check again.
    Pokémon summary screen displaying Concorde's active moveset: Dragon Darts, Phantom Force, Fly and Double Team.
    Ta-da! Concorde learned Double Team!

This method does not add the egg move permanently to your Pokémon's move memory list. If your Pokémon forgets a move it learned using this method, it won't be able to remember the move later - but you can follow these same instructions to teach it the move again. There's no limit on how many times you can repeat the process.

Have fun adding new egg moves to your Pokémon!