Whether you’re trying to evolve your Eevee or you simply want to know if you and your ‘mon are best pals, Sword and Shield’s Friendship Checker will tell you how well you’re getting along with your Pokémon.
Certain Pokémon in Sword and Shield evolve when they reach a specific level of happiness, similar to previous iterations of Game Freak’s RPG. Players eager to know how close their best buddy is to evolving must seek out the Friendship Checker, who will rate the relationship between you and your Pokémon.
Here’s how to find Sword and Shield’s Friendship Checker.
Nintendo and Game Freak decided to embody the Friendship Checker in a blonde little boy who innocently analyzes the meaningful relationship you created with your Pokémon.
To find the little boy, players need to progress far enough into the story to enter the town of Hammerlocke. Once there, the Friendship Checker will be located in a stone-faced house just right, or east, of the Pokémon Center.
You can ask him about your relationship with any Pokémon in your party or in your Box, which will prompt one of many responses depending on the friendship. Players who make their Pokémon completely happy will receive a Best Friends Ribbon.
This is an efficient way of checking how close your Eevees, Budews, or Snoms are to evolving. To evolve your Eevee to an Umbreon, for example, players must build rapport with the Pokémon by playing with it and feeding it Curry while camping. Taking out other Pokémon in battles also helps, as well as making it hold a Soothe Bell.
The Eevee should evolve when your relationship grows to the 150 to 199 Friendship value, marked by the Friendship Checker saying “seems like you’re pretty good friends… I bet you could become even closer.”
High friendship levels will also cause your Pokémon to perform better in battles. Your best bud may survive a finishing blow with a sliver of HP left or hit a clutch critical strike to win you the battle.
