Happiness

Happiness & Friendship

Happiness has been a constant feature in Pokémon since Pokémon Yellow and allows for you to create bonds with the Pokémon. Typically this was used for moves such as Return & Frustration, but as they're now removed the only element that wold appear for Friendship is the various evolutions that required it. However, Pokémon Sword & Shield brings about a couple of changes.

In Pokémon Sword & Shield, you can no longer max out your Pokémon's Happiness with just the usual methods. Instead, it now caps out at 160 and can't be increased any further. However, there have been a few tweaks. Previously the Happiness value was required for you to reach the value of 220. Now, you only need a happiness value of around 160 in order for your Pokémon to evolve. You can also get it to 180 friendship by having it follow you in Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra

Reaching Maximum Friendship

To reach maximum friendship in Pokémon Sword & Shield, you have to play with your Pokémon in Pokémon Camp. However, in these games, happiness and affection are now tied together as the same value so the higher the Pokémon's happiness, the better rewards your Pokémon get. These rewards do not carry over to multiplayer.

Action	Current Friendship
Action	0-99	100-159	160+
Level Up without Exp. Candy	+1	+2	0
Faint from Pokémon less than 30 levels higher	-1	-1	-1
Faint from Pokémon more than 30 levels higher	-5	-5	-10
Battle Gym Leader or Champion	+5	+3	0
Walking (50% chance every 128 steps)	+1	+1	0
Walking (every 255 steps) on overworld in Isle of Armor/Crown Tundra (for Pokémon following)	+1	+1	+1 (up to 180)
Pomeg Berry Kelpsy Berry Qualot Berry Hondew Berry Grepa Berry Tamato Berry	+10	+5	+1
HP Up Protein Iron Carbos Calcium Rare Candy PP Up Zinc PP Max	+4	+2	0
Guard Spec. Dire Hit X Attack X Defense X Speed X Accuracy X Sp. Atk X Sp. Def	+1	+1	0
Health Feather Muscle Feather Resist Feather Genius Feather Clever Feather Swift Feather	+2	+1	0
Exp. Candy XS Exp. CandyS	+1	+1	0
Exp. Candy M	+2	+1	0
Exp. Candy L	+3	+2	0
Exp. Candy XL Dynamax Candy	+4	+2	0
Sweet Heart	+3	+3	0
Energy Powder Heal Powder	-5	-5	-10
Energy Root Revival Herb	-5	-5	-10

Eating certain Berries will also reach beyond the previous limit and add +5 for each Berry eaten.

Statement	Happiness Checker Description	Hearts in Camp	Bonus
Maybe you're a bit too strict? It doesn't seem like you're friends at all...	0	0
I guess you two just met? It's still getting used to things.	1-29	0
Seems like it likes you an average amount! Don't worry—you two will get closer as time passes!	30-79	0	None
Wow, I think you're on your way to becoming real good friends!	80-129	1	None
Seems like you're pretty good friends! Still, I bet you could become even closer!	130-179	2	None
You two get along great! Together is always better—am I right?	180-219	3	Pokémon bounces when sent into battle Text boxes indicate what it's doing in battle 10% chance of preventing itself being prevented from being knocked out from a move
You two are almost best friends! I can see you really care about each other!	220-254	4	Pokémon bounces when sent into battle Text boxes indicate what it's doing in battle 15% chance of preventing itself being prevented from being knocked out from a move Increase of experience gained from battle of 20% 20% Chance of recovering from status conditions by itself
Oh wow, you're best buddies! I can tell you're so happy to be together!	255	5	Pokémon bounces when sent into battle Text boxes indicate what it's doing in battle 20% chance of preventing itself being prevented from being knocked out from a move Increase of experience gained from battle of 20% 20% Chance of recovering from status conditions by itself 10% Slim chance of avoiding opponents moves Critical Hit ratio increased by a factor of 2

Special Bonuses

Happiness Value	Bonus
255	+10% Chance of move missing
255	2* Critical Hit Rate
255	20% chance of surviving a KO
220-255	20% of healing status
220-254	15% Chance of surviving a KO
180-219	10% Chance of surviving a KO