The main game in Pokémon Sword & Shield for the Nintendo Switch takes the player all across the UK-themed Galar region to meet and interact with a slew of new Pokémon, characters, and mechanics. But for lots of seasoned trainers, seeing the credits roll is just the beginning. Afterward, it’s time to start planning up and creating the perfect team to use against other players.
Of course, training a team of Pokémon to be competitively viable in Pokémon Sword & Shield requires a lot of knowledge and careful consideration. Thankfully, there are many items and features that make the whole training process a lot more accessible after beating the game’s main story. One such innocuous little treasure will save you a world of time later, so look out for Bottle Caps and read on to learn how they’ll help on your own Pokémon journey!
Uses for Bottle Caps in Pokémon Sword and Shield
Bottle Caps and Gold Bottle Caps help to increase IVs, an easy stat to overlook. IVs (Individual Values) determine how naturally good a given Pokémon is in each of its six stats. Each of a Pokémon’s IVs range from 0 at worst to a 31 at best, with a higher IV Pokémon having a significant advantage in a given stat as they level up. The IV Checker unlocked during the post-game can help identify your Pokémon’s strengths, but unlike Effort Values, a Pokémon’s IVs are impossible to change on their own.
Thankfully, that’s where Hyper Training comes in! One of the people at the right counter of the Battle Tower in Wyndon will increase a Pokémon’s IVs to the max in exchange for Bottle Caps. A regular Bottle Cap will increase one IV at a time to max, but the rarer Golden Bottle Cap will max out all six at the same time! Of course, there are a few caveats to this process. First, a Pokémon must already be Level 100 to undergo Hyper Training, and they’re probably going to need a lot of EXP candy to get there. Second, Hyper Training doesn’t change a Pokémon’s IVs for the purpose of breeding. To get tons of perfect Pokémon, you’re still going to need to learn about breeding the hard way.
Where to find Bottle Caps in Pokémon Sword and Shield
Considering the immense potential of Hyper Training, Bottle Caps are actually pretty easy to come by. Regular Bottle Caps can be found as some of the sparkling items that are sprinkled around the Galar region, particularly in the Wild Area, as rewards for completing high-level Max Raid Battles after finishing the story, and purchased from one of the Battle Tower shops for 25 BP.
Additionally, both kinds of Bottle Caps can be found from the Digging Duo that hangs out near the Wild Area Day Care, and by reaching certain victory milestones in the Battle Tower itself. Don’t worry too much about what team to bring to the Battle Tower for grinding – most of the rental teams available right at one of the counters there should be able to do the job just fine until you’ve built a battle-ready Pokémon team of your own.
Pokémon Sword & Shield are available on the Nintendo Switch.
