There are multiple benefits for raising your affection level, and we’re going to go over all of them in this guide. Note: Affection is not happiness. You still have to raise your Pokemon’s happiness separately.
And be sure to check out our other guides for Pokemon Sun and Moon!
Pokemon Sun and Moon Guide: How to Unlock Extra Throwing Styles Pokemon Sun and Moon Competitive Guide: Breeding Pokemon Sun and Moon Competitive Guide: EV Training Pokemon Sun and Moon Guide: How to Get Type: Null and Cosmog Pokemon Sun and Moon Guide: Getting the Most out of the Festival Plaza
What is Pokemon Refresh in Pokemon Sun and Moon?
Pokemon Refresh is a feature that allows you to pet, cure and feed your Pokemon. Doing these things will increase the Pokemon’s affection, which gives benefits in battle like avoiding attacks and extra experience.
You can access this feature by opening the menu and selecting Pokemon Refresh, which you gain access to this shortly after selecting your starting Pokemon.
You may also get an icon popup for this feature on the touch screen after a battle. This means there is an effect on your Pokemon that you can cure for extra affection.
Touch the icon in the top-right, then select the right tool for the job. You must rub your Pokemon’s problem spots with the tool until the negative status effect goes away.
Each tool has a different effect on different circumstances:
Medicine - This is used to cure any status effect, such as Poison or Paralysis. Comb - This is used when Pokemon get puff balls on their body. Rag - This is used to clean up mud. Brush - This is used to brush away dirt. Dryer - This is used to dry your Pokemon if they get wet.
Gaining Your Pokemon’s Affection
Curing any of the above effects after battle will gain you affection, but there are other ways to gain affection, too!
Petting your Pokemon Feeding you Pokemon Poke Beans Randomly during and after battle
There are also three meters to keep track of in Refresh. You can access these meters by touching the bottom right of the screen during Refresh, and selecting the Pokemon you want.
Affection - This meter shows your Pokemon’s total affection Fullness - This meter shows how hungry each of your Pokemon are, which you can directly affect by feeding them Poke Beans. Enjoyment - This meter shows how excited each Pokemon is, which you can directly affect by petting them.
Keep in mind: Affection never goes down, but Fullness and Enjoyment do. If either of those two are not maxed, you can do one of the above activities to raise your affection level.
When feeding beans, the patterned and rainbow beans, which you can find on Poke Pelago, provide more Affection than the standard beans.
Note: Feeding your Pokemon two Rainbow Beans, then petting them will give you max affection – even if you start at 0.
Benefits of Pokemon Refresh
Now that you know how to raise your affection, it is time to show you why it is so important to do so when going through the game. Note: These benefits only apply to single player and will not work online, at the Battle Tree, or the Battle Royal Dome.
Ok. Each stage of affection, which is the number of hearts shown on the affection meter, adds extra benefits.
2 Hearts - Increases the amount of experience Pokemon gain by 20% 3 Hearts - Pokemon has a chance to survive at 1 HP when it gets hit by a move that would have knocked it out. This chance increases as you gain more affection. 4 Hearts - Pokemon has a chance to cure its status effect on its own, and may avoid enemy attacks. 5 Hearts - Increases Pokemon’s chance to get a critical hit.
When going through the game, getting at least two hearts is very helpful because it will help you level up faster. Three and four hearts is also very helpful because you will be able to survive at times when you would have lost.
There you have it, all you need to know about raising affection in Pokemon Sun and Moon. Now you can have a deeper connection to your Pokemon, and get great benefits for doing so! You’ll be a Pokemon master in no time!
How do you think the affection system works in Pokemon Sun and Moon? Is it a good addition? Let us know in the comments below!
