Daycare

Breeding covers the eggs. This page is the rest of what the daycare does, which is easy to miss because the eggs get all the attention.

It levels Pokémon for you

A Pokémon left in the daycare gains experience on its own, whether or not you are online. You pay per level gained, so the daycare is a way to trade money for time on a Pokémon you do not want to grind.

It keeps going while you are logged off, so leaving something in overnight is the normal way to use it.

Boxes

You start with one daycare box. Ranking up gives you more, which is what lets you run several pairs at once instead of queueing them.

Mirror Herb

A Mirror Herb in the daycare passes moves between the Pokémon in it. It takes a short while, costs a little, and the herb is consumed in the process, so it is one use per herb.

Hatching without walking does not work

Eggs hatch from distance travelled, and the daycare is deliberately picky about how you travel:

• You have to be moving at a real pace. Drifting slowly, which is how AFK water pools work, does not count.
• Flying does not count. An elytra does.
• Minecarts do not count.

If you are moving in a way that does not tick the egg down, you get warned about it rather than left to wonder.

Two things it does not do

TM moves are not inherited. Egg moves and the usual inherited moves work as they do in the games, but anything taught from a TM stays with the parent.

Eggs cannot go back in. An egg is not a Pokémon the daycare will accept.