How to change nature of your Pokemon in Sword & Shield

David Purcell

Pokemon Sword and Shield trainers looking to make their way to the very top in the Galar Region will need to know how to change the nature of their Pokemon. So, let’s run through how to do it, why, and the benefits. 

How do Pokemon natures work?

First of all, its beneficial to say – just in case you don’t know already – that the nature of your Pokemon decides how well they attack, defend, and perform in other battle attributes. For example, one with the Brave nature will have increased attack, but will have decreased defense by the same token.

Knowing which nature works better, or worse, will take time and will depend highly on the Pokemon you have.

How to change nature of your Pokemon

Your Pokemon will always have a nature, affecting how they perform in battle, but you can change it.

If you want to change the nature of your Pokemon right away, you can use mints. Below you can find a step-by-step guide on how to do this.

  1. Complete Pokemon Sword or Shield.
  2. Earn Battle Points via the Battle Tower (unlocked at the end of the game’s story) or via Mystery Gifts.
  3. Visit the Wyndon BP shop with your winnings.
  4. Take a look through what mints they sell and pick one that you can afford.
  5. Apply the mint to the Pokemon of your choosing.

The other way to secure the desired nature for a specific Pokemon is to breed them, until the hatch gets the nature you’re looking for. Mints, though, are much less time consuming,

All the mints in Pokemon Sword & Shield

There are a wide variety of different mints to pick up in the Galar Region, as seen in the long list below, and each of them are useful for different things.

So, let’s take a look at all of them that you can buy and what changes they make to your Pokemon when applied.

  • Adamant Mint – Increases Attack, Decreases Special Attack
  • Bold Mint – Increases Defense, Decreases Attack
  • Brave Mint – Increases Attack, Decreases Speed
  • Calm Mint – Increases Special Defense, Decreases Attack
  • Careful Mint – Increases Special Defense, Decreases Special Attack
  • Gentle Mint – Increases Special Defense, Decreases Defense
  • Hasty Mint – Increases Speed, Decreases Defense
  • Impish Mint – Increases Defense, Decreases Special Attack
  • Jolly Mint – Increases Speed, Decreases Special Attack
  • Lax Mint – Increases Defense, Decreases Special Defense
Pokemon / Nintendo
Overall, there are 21 Nature Mints to buy in Pokemon Sword and Shield.
  • Lonely Mint – Increases Attack, Decreases Defense
  • Mild Mint – Increases Special Attack, Decreases Defense
  • Modest Mint – Increases Special Attack, Decreases Attack
  • Naive Mint – Increases Speed, Decreases Special Defense
  • Naughty Mint – Increases Attack, Decreases Special Defense
  • Quiet Mint – Increases Special Attack, Decreases Speed
  • Rash Mint – Increases Special Attack, Decreases Special Defense
  • Relaxed Mint – Increases Defense, Decreases Speed
  • Sassy Mint – Increases Special Defense, Decreases Speed
  • Serious Mint – All stats increase at same rate
  • Timid Mint – Increases Speed, Decreases Attack

How to find out the nature of your Pokemon

Here’s how the nature screen looks in-game.

Knowing the nature of your Pokemon will greatly help you understand which mint you should buy in order to take it to the next level.

All you have to do is complete a few simple steps, too. Select your Pokemon, click the pencil icon at the top, and there you will find out the nature. In this case (above), the Perrserker is Adamant by nature. From the bullet point list above, we can see that this increases Attack, and decreases Special Attack.


So, there you have it! Now you know how to change your Pokemon’s nature, the benefits of doing so, and how much it’s going to cost you in-game. These can all have a positive impact on how you perform in competitive battles, so choose wisely and hopefully reap the rewards while you’re at it.

If you would like to find out more about the different candies available in Pokemon Sword Shield, check out our guide.