10 Incredible Tips & Tricks You Didn't Know About Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

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#1) You Can Improve Performance With These Settings
#2) Swap Hold Items Fast
#3) Autobattle Has Two Secret Settings
#4) Visit Sandwich Shops To Get More Recipes
#5) Autoheal Uses Your Lowest Level Healing Items First
#6) Get Hidden Rewards From Academy Classes & Pokedex Progress
#7) You Can Restore Save Files With A Secret Code
#8) Using The Mirror Herb Lets Your Pokemon Learn Egg Moves
#9) Get Free PP By Forgetting And Re-Learning Moves
#10) There’s A Second Legendary Waiting For You At Lab Zero

Pokemon games are weird. Anyone that’s played this series since the beginning knows that Pokemon isn’t just a family-friendly RPG — these games have systems stacked on top of systems. The developers have to please children-aged fans and adults trying to maximize their end-game Pokemon. Even Pokemon Scarlet & Violet has to contend with the layers of complication that have stuck with the series since the early days. Things like the Move Reminder and the IV Judge have been streamlined, but even these systems have been clunkily fixed and taped onto a more modern version of Pokemon.

Wading through all the secrets in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet might be impossible while we’re still trying to discover everything. Until that day comes, here are 10 weird features and helpful tidbits every player really needs to know. Did you know an NPC will teach you more sandwich recipes? That you can earn free rewards by going to school? Or checking your Pokedex? There are hidden Pokemon, secret fix codes, and features on your Nintendo Switch console that can make playing Pokemon more fun.

More Pokemon Scarlet & Violet guides:

#1) You Can Improve Performance With These Settings

Even with the 1.1 Patch, performance isn’t always perfect in the Paldea region. Certain areas experience serious slowdown when you’re exploring, and battles can still chug when there are too many Pokemon wandering around nearby. There are ways to boost performance on the Nintendo Switch — and you don’t have to only play undocked to do it.

If you have a digital copy, move the download onto the Internal Storage. This will instantly give a small boost to performance.
Lower the resolution. Under the System Settings menu, you’ll find a place where you can set the resolution for Docked and Undocked play. Normally resolution is set automatically, but you can set a hard limit to resolution. Lower it to 720p or even 480p for an instantly improved gameplay experience.

You’ll also want to download the 1.1 Patch and all future patches — Nintendo promises significant changes to the big performance problems.

#2) Swap Hold Items Fast

Here’s a simple trick that’s totally undocumented in the main game. You can instantly swap around Hold Items — these are items you can give to your Pokemon to hold during battle. These items give your Pokemon stat buffs, more XP from battle, or healing. The right Hold Items can change the way you play and swapping Hold Items in and out has been an annoying issue since the beginning of the series.

Now switching Hold Items is extremely simple. Open the Party Menu with [X] — then scroll left to select the Pokemon in your party. From here, press [ZL] to instantly select the Hold Item. With the Hold Item on your cursor, move to the Pokemon you want to swap to and press [ZL] again.

Previously, players had to open the items, remove the hold item from a Pokemon, then select the other Pokemon and add it. It was a slow process that just got streamlined. This is one simple change we’re happy exists. Too bad nobody knows about it.

#3) Autobattle Has Two Secret Settings

Autobattle is an incredibly useful new function exclusive to Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. By summoning your Pokemon, it will walk alongside you and increase its happiness. That’s useful already, but what’s even more useful is autobattle. Pressing the same button to summon will target wild Pokemon — your Pokemon will attack. If the match-up is good, your Pokemon will win and claim victory with only a small amount of stamina loss. This is a great way to quickly grind XP without entering into constant wild battles. There are two small functions you might not know about autobattle.

When using Autobattle to level up, Pokemon will never evolve. Pokemon that earn enough XP to level up with autobattle do not enter the evolution phase. Even if your Pokemon is primed to evolve during a level up, it will skip this level. You’ll need to earn another level while in a regular battle to evolve.

When using Autobattle, your Pokemon will NOT ATTACK SHINY POKEMON. If you’re fighting Pokemon at a Mass Outbreak event, don’t worry about using autobattle with the increased Shiny Pokemon rate. Your Pokemon will simply refuse to attack a Shiny Pokemon. You can only fight them in a normal wild battle. This is useful both for identifying Shiny Pokemon and for avoiding accidentally instakilling a rare Pokemon.

Autobattle also won’t work if a Pokemon is disguised. Ditto and Zorua are disguised Pokemon, and autobattle won’t initiate if a Pokemon isn’t what it seems.

#4) Visit Sandwich Shops To Get More Recipes

Sandwiches are useful for leveling up, hunting shiny Pokemon, and providing buffs before battle. There are two ways to make sandwiches — you can follow recipes or you can get creative and try to create your own. Some of the best buffs in the game come from creative sandwiches, but you don’t have to combine ingredients blindly to get powerful new sandwich recipes.

To earn more recipes, visit Sandwich Shops at every location. As you progress in the story, an NPC standing next to the sandwich counter will offer you new recipes. Revisit these locations often to earn better recipes, including recipes that can give you 3-Star Buffs.

If you haven’t been visiting the sandwich shop interiors, there’s actually a good reason to do it. Finding the sandwich recipe NPC will give you many more options on your journey. There are so many ingredients to play around with, only a truly dedicated player would waste time seeing what every combination actually does.

#5) Autoheal Uses Your Lowest Level Healing Items First

There’s a good reason to only buy Potions. Playing through the Paldea region, you’ll level up and earn more cash — eventually you’ll be able to afford Super Potions and Hyper Potions. These potions heal far more than standard potions but cost a lot more too. The most efficiently priced potion is the standard starting potion — but it is totally useless in battle. Using a single potion only heals a fraction of your health by the middle of the game.

You’ll still want to stock up on potions for autoheal. Open the menu with [X] and select your Pokemon party members on the left. You’ll get a prompt to autoheal here. Autoheal uses healing items to fully fix up your hurt Pokemon. And Autoheal always uses the weakest healing items first.

Autoheal will always use Potions until you run out — then it uses Super Potions and finally Hyper Potions. Potions are the most cost-efficient healing item in the game, so buying a huge stack and only using them between battles is a viable strategy for saving money. At least you can get rid of some of those potions you have stacked up in your inventory.

#6) Get Hidden Rewards From Academy Classes & Pokedex Progress

Earn stacks of XP Candy, rare items and more just by making progress in the game. You’ll earn useful items (like the False Swipe TM) by catching a few Pokemon and talking to the right NPC. There are three areas where you can earn easy rewards that are extremely easy to miss. There’s no reason not to do these little mini-activities, and they pay dividends for your progress through Paldea. Here’s a few NPCs and features you’ll want to check out.

Open your Pokedex [Minus Button] then select the Pokedex book in the top-left corner. From the menu that looks like a library, press [X]. This will give you rewards for your Pokedex progress.

Similarly, talk to Professor Jacq in the Biology Room at your academy. He will reward you with False Swipe TM and other useful rewards just for catching Pokemon and filling out the Pokedex.

Finally, completing classes will give you big reward. Talk to the Receptionist at the Academy and you can choose what classes to take. There are many classes — each one has six sessions. You’ll take a Midterm and a Final to complete the class.
- For every Midterm you complete, you’ll earn x5 S Exp. Candy. For completing Finals, you’ll earn x5 M Exp. Candy.

In addition to candy, you can also complete mini-quests with each teacher. Talk to them after completing classes to slowly befriend them. At the end of the questline, you’ll earn a reward. Some of these rewards, like lots of Tera Shards, are pretty useful.

#7) You Can Restore Save Files With A Secret Code

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet is packed with technical problems on launch day. Players aren’t just struggling with poor performance — glitches can cause players to lose progress. You can get stuck on the geometry of the world — or fall through the world completely. If you lose progress, there’s a backup method to save yourself a lot of time replaying through the game. There is a hidden backup save file you can access from the main menu.

On the Title Screen, press these buttons at the same time: [D-Pad: Up] + [X] + [B]
- A special menu will appear. From here, you can select to overwrite your save file with a backup.

Agreeing to overwrite the save will essentially delete your previous save — so check the date and time stamp on the autosave before attempting. This feature works even if you don’t have autosaves turned on. This can be a lifesaver for some players. Even if you don’t need it, you’ll want to keep it in mind.

#8) Using The Mirror Herb Lets Your Pokemon Learn Egg Moves

One of the most useful items in Paldea is the Mirror Herb. This rare item is sold at the Cascarrafa – Delibird Presents store for $30,000. It’s a steep price but absolutely invaluable for players that want to fully customize their Pokemon. The Mirror Herb, when used as a Hold Item, allows one Pokemon to learn an Egg Move from any other Pokemon in your party.

Equip a Pokemon with Mirror Herb and leave one Move Slot available. You can choose to delete (forget) moves at any time.
Enter a Picnic with a Pokemon that has a learned Egg Move you want. The Egg Move Pokemon must have the Egg Move in its move list and be in your party so it appears during the Picnic.

Leave the picnic, and your Pokemon holding a Mirror Herb will have inherited an Egg Move! Egg Moves are essentially moves that Pokemon can pass down when breeding. Not all moves are Egg Moves, so you’ll want to do your research to learn more about which moves are Egg Moves. Using a Mirror Herb is so, so much easier and faster than trying to breed Pokemon to learn the exact right Egg Move you want. This way you can just try again if you don’t get the right move.

#9) Get Free PP By Forgetting And Re-Learning Moves

One trick still remains in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Save yourself valuable PP restoration items — you can refresh your PP without visiting a Pokemart. This trick can only be done outside of battle, so you’ll still want to grab some PP restoration items for long battles against tough enemies like the Elite 4. This trick is most handy for grinding sessions in the wilds. No need to run home and restore your Pokemon at a Pokemart when you can restore your favorite moves anywhere.

To restore PP, open the menu with [X] and select a Pokemon in your party to the left.
Go to the Summary and tab over to the Move Menu. From here you can select to Forget or Remember moves.
To restore PP, forget the move you want to restore, then remember it again.

This essentially resets your move. This trick was curtailed in Pokemon Legends — in that game, using this trick restored your PP to 50% only. Now this trick is back to 100% power. This is a great way to save yourself time while hunting in Paldrea far, far away from any Pokemarts.

#10) There’s A Second Legendary Waiting For You At Lab Zero

Legendary Pokemon are some of the most important finds in any Pokemon game. In Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, you can catch a spare after beating the main story.

Return to Area Zero after finishing the main story. Travel to the bottom of the crater and you’ll find a second Miraidon / Koraidon outside Lab Zero.

You can capture that second copy of your Legendary Mount and keep it for EV training or trade it to get the opposite Legendary exclusive to the version you don’t have. Having a spare Legendary is too useful to pass up.

That’s 10 weird little tips we’ve found in the Paldea region! And there are so many more to discover. Check out our guides section — we’ve only just begun our coverage of Pokemon Scarlet & Violet.