Diamond/Pearl - Happiness FAQ
Written By: Raymond Rui Wang
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You might recognize me as Rui993 on the boards from before. Yeah, I'm not too good with numbers so, whatever. This is my first FAQ, written more out of annoyance than out of a wanting to help, truth be told. I was getting more and more bothered by the constant questions on happiness appearing up and flooding the boards like crazy, so I decided to just make a topic that told everyone exactly how simple happiness was, but I realized that it wouldn't last. So, without further ado, here it is, the simple ways to raise or decrease happiness. Really, it's not too difficult, and it's a cinch to master once you understand the basics.
Appreciate this FAQ, as it took me a long time to add the "e" in Pokemon everywhere. Even with Ctrl-V.
Happiness is, in Layman's terms, the quality or state of being felicitous. Okay, seriously, Happiness was a factor decided in Pokemon GSC, and has remained till now. Basically, it's a little gauge encoded into your Pokemon, and changes with your decisions and what you do it. Quite a few amount of things affect happiness, and happiness, in return, affects quite a bit of things as well. Certain Pokemon can evolve by gaining a certain amount of happiness, and two certain moves increase in strength when your Pokemon hates you or loves you, respectively. Read on to find out more.
Pokemon and Moves Affected by Happiness
Exactly thirteen Pokemon as of now evolve by Happiness, and there are fourteen outcomes (Eevee evolves differently depending on what time of day you're playing.) These Pokemon are, in order of the more complete Sinnoh Dex:
- Pichu into Pikachu
- Cleffa into Clefairy
- Igglybuff into Jigglypuff
- Golbat into Crobat
- Chansey into Blissey
- Eevee into Espeon/Umbreon (Daytime/Nighttime)
- Munchlax into Snorlax
- Togepi into Togetic
- Azurill into Marill
- Budew into Roselia (Daytime only)
- Chingling into Chimecho (Nighttime only)
- Buneary into Lopunny
- Riolu into Lucario (Daytime only)
There are two moves that affect happiness: Frustration and Return (TM21 and TM27.) These two moves are Normal-type, and their power is determined solely by your Pokemon's happiness. Simply put, if your Pokemon hates you, Frustration will deal a heck of a lot of damage, and so will Return, if your Pokemon loves you. When the max amount of happiness or unhappiness is reached, Return/Frustration will deal a base damage of 104, becoming one of the strongest moves in the game (unfortunately, they're Normal-type.) If you have one on a Pokemon, don't put the other on. If your Pokemon loves you, don't bother giving it Frustration, and vice-versa. If you're using one of the above fourteen Pokemon, definitely give it Return, unless you traded for it and abused it like crazy, in which case you should give it Frustration.
There are currently eight/nine extremely effective ways to make your Pokemon love you.
- Pokemon like to be used in battle. Meaning, use them in battle, level them up, etc. This is essentially the most basic and easiest way, but if you're trying to evolve a Pokemon earlier to learn certain moves, keep reading.
- Also with battling, there are special drinks at the top floor of the Veilstone Department store. Lemonade's only 350, the priciest, and the best. Healing up Pokemon with these special drinks are the way to go. Note: Moo Moo Milk may affect this, but it is a mystery for now. Can anyone confirm this? Kudos to TBIRallySport for bringing this question up. Renote: Tested on Moo Moo Milk. Moo Moo Milk gives it about the same amount of happiness as Lemonade, although I prefer Lemonade since it's cheaper. I assume the high price on the Milk is due to its healing rate.
- Poffins. I'm sure you heard of this before. They're mostly for raising stats in the Visual part of Super Contests, but they have a second use. Go to the second page of your Pokemon screen. It tells you what kind of poffin they relish: it could be sweet, bitter, whatever (it should be noted that if your Pokemon "eats anything", it will get the same happiness from every berry as if it didn't like it--just because it eats everything doesn't mean it likes everything.) Now look in your Berry pouch, and hit "Check Tag" (not literally, assuming that there are people that actually do that on these boards--it wouldn't be surprising) on a Berry. Now you go into a pentagon-like screen, with a scheme set up so you can see just how much each berry levels up a stat. The farther it goes in a certain corner, the more flavorful it is (and the more points it gives for SC). When you know what kind of berry you want to use, go to Hearthome City. There is a house near (below, in the birds-eye view) the Pokemon Center, with a sign in front of it. You can enter, and talk to a woman inside to enter a minigame format to "cook" poffins with your stylus (or finger, whichever you prefer). You can do this with up to 3 friends, and granted your friend(s) is/are capable of following instructions, they will generally come out better with more people. But after you get the hang of it, you can do it yourself fine as well. After you're done (take my advice: don't use any poffins that are below lv. 10,) you can feed it to your Pokemon via the Poffin Case in the Key Items section (you can get a poffin case from the Pokemon Fan Club to the right of the building, if you didn't get it earlier). A Pokemon has a gauge called "Sheen". That Sheen grows a star for every poffin you give it--it needs a limit, doesn't it? Sheen never goes down. When your Pokemon's Sheen maxes out, it's full. Permanently. Unless you go MAD HAXXORS, in which case, you don't need this at all.
- Going along with Poffin-making and eating, winning Super Contests (henceforth referred to as "SC") can, supposedly, also give you happiness. It isn't confirmed completely, but it can't hurt (c'mon, you made your poffins, now put 'em to use!) And honestly, the Normal Ranks of every SC is a breeze, with or without poffins. Do this if you have time. Note: A breakthrough! Evan confirms SC's effects on happiness: "I has somehow bumbled the first try at SC with Togepi and it still had 1 heart. I entered a second time and dominated the whole contest. My point; I checked Togepi again and it had 2 hearts after it had won (it was also holding the Soothe Bell, mind you)."
- There is a lady in Veilstone City residing in a house right below (again, birds-eye view) the Gym there. Once a day, she'll give a Pokemon of your choice a massage. I'll repeat this: once per day. This acts as Daisy's grooming from Gold, Silver, and Crystal. It raises the Pokemon's happiness quite a bit, and also nets you a great little accessory for your Pokemon in photo-shooting in Jubilife, or SC. Note: There's a resort area near the Battle Tower, where you can enter only if you have 11 ribbons on one Pokemon. Apparently there's a massage parlor in there, as well, but I have yet to check this for myself (eleven ribbons is ten too many for me =P.) Thanks to ABZB for telling me this. Renote: Kylie verifies that it is TEN ribbons to get in, not eleven. Also: At Sunyshore City, there is a woman named Julia in a house at the rightmost corner. Every day, she will give you a ribbon for giving her a pronoun for her story (ANYTHING will work.) Please note that only the Pokemon first in your party will get the ribbon.
- You've definitely heard of this before too: Vitamins. What are vitamins, exactly? Simply put, they're very expensive and rare medicinal items that add to the EVs of your Pokemon in certain sections by 10. You can give your Pokemon up to 10 of each vitamin, and the order goes as follows: Protein raises physical attack, Iron raises physical defense, Calcium raises special attack, Zinc raises special defense, Carbos raises Speed, and HP Up, well, you can guess. You can find them for 9800 each (pricey, but you can't say I didn't warn you) on the second floor of the Veilstone Department Store, from the middle woman. Giving them to your Pokemon both makes them extremely happy and raises their stats like crazy, if you're EV-training. Anyway, if you've got the money, vitamins are one of the many ways to go. Edit: SuperBandit reminds me that you can buy vitamins at the Battle Tower for 1 BP each. This is a much better deal, seeing as the Battle Tower is easier than the Elite Four and you can get three vitamins per seven floors.
- There are a total of six special berries, one for each vitamin, come to be known on the boards as "EV-Reducing Berries". Basically, these are "anti-vitamins". Rather than add 10 EVs to your Pokemon, they instead decrease 10. Well, then, what's the point of them, you might ask? Beside the obvious reallocating of EVs, these "anti-vitamins" also make your Pokemon as happy as if it were given a vitamin instead! The berries are as follows, and compares oppositely to each vitamin: Kelpsy Berry = Protein, Qualot Berry = Iron, Hondew Berry = Calcium, Grepa Berry = Zinc, Tamato Berry = Carbos, and Pomeg Berry = HP Up. These berries are so much cheaper to access, but keep in mind to always leave one behind and plant it. That way, you can get more than five berries for the price of one! Edit: If your Pokemon is newly hatched/caught, it won't have any EVs. This way, when you use one of these berries on it, its EVs can't lower. Thus, you can give it all the berries you want and it won't lower anything! Great way to raise happiness without losing anything.
- Amity Square. This is the place that is above the SC Stadium (or whatever you want to call it), and it's there for two reasons. Well, actually, three reasons, but it only fulfills two: getting good items, and making your Pokemon happy. It was probably also intentioned for you, the player, to be happy as well, seeing as how Pokemon Yellow was such a success, but it doesn't work, because you can only walk with "cute" Sinnoh Pokemon, few people actually use those Pokemon, and, like the angry Youth in the right entrance of the Square, you get pissed off, screaming "BIAS!". Nonetheless, some of those Pokemon are capable of evolving by happiness (Happiny, Chansey, Slutbuni Jr.), and what better way of making someone happy by taking them out of their ball? Take them out there as long as you like--it really makes them happy fast, I guarantee it. Note: Hg reminds me that it takes 200 steps for a Pokemon to find an item on the ground in Amity Square, so checking on them every now and then (or if you're using the pedometer application) will net you a nice little berry or accessory for SC's.
- The ninth and final way of raising happiness that I know of and can remember
is my favorite. Well, actually, it's more of a suggestion, but it works
amazingly. Simply put, take your Pokemon, give it a Soothe Bell, ride up to
Route 206 (Cycling Road), get on the second column from the right, and let go
of the D-Pad. Whee! If you're clumsy, you'll crash into that stupid moving
cyclist, but that's okay. Keep your gear on 5 (the faster one) and bring
yourself up when you approach bottom. Rinse, lather, and repeat. If you wish,
Clear the pedometer (number 4 Poketch application, default) and watch your
steps go up. Gauge the proper time for when you think your Pokemon is happy
enough (either note a certain step you should reach, or check its happiness
manually.) I guarantee, this is the way to level a Pokemon's happiness without
doing anything. All I did was hold the up button for around five seconds every
couple of seconds and talk on AIM.
This is also a great way to hatch eggs.
PS: The Soothe Bell isn't a requirement, but it makes the process twice as fast, which is really worth it.
PPS: Many people tell me that a better path would be Solaceon Town and the two routes above it; find the column that goes up the bike ramp up north, and the path ends up longer than Cycling Road. The downside to this is that you have to actually press up and down, but it's your choice. Plus, there's no annoying biker, so whatever floats your boat.
PPPS: JeffM informs me of a better way: "I took him to the ironworks and out him into the lead of my group. There is one arrow tile in there that throws you up and you have to walk 13 steps downward to get to it again. I put a clamp on the down button to make my guy walk down over and over. I put the DS on a charger and I left it open all night and I went to bed. In the morning I left the ironworks, gained Golbat one level, and he evolved. It was easy and I slept REAL well last night, thank you."
How to Effectively Lose Happiness
So, want to use Frustration like a crazed beast? Or maybe you just think your Pokemon looks really ugly and hate it with a passion? Look no further. (But seriously, if you hate the Pokemon, just don't use it.)
- Kill it. I'm dead serious (no pun intended.) Let it faint, and walk around or fight battles with the Pokemon dead. I'm sure it loses a lot of happiness by fainting, so kill it near a Pokecenter, revive it (using the Pokecenter, no items,) and kill it again. Its happiness will drop like a fly on crack.
- Walking around with your Pokemon in a status effect (preferably Poison) is said to make your Pokemon dislike you. This is unconfirmed, but I've heard from many reliable sources that it does. But if it's poisoned, just let it die from it. That'll lead you back to number 1.
- At the top of Eterna City, you'll find the Herb Shop, which sells four very bitter herbs, each of which decreases your Pokemon's happiness increasingly. They are the Heal Powder, EnergyPowder, Energy Root, and Revival Herb. Heal Powder decreases the least, while Revival Herb decreases the most (but comes at a whopping price of 2800!)
- This isn't so much of a process of decreasing happiness as it is a method of. Taking the three of them combined (or two of them works better,) let your Pokemon die from poison (if it tends to survive poisoning or has high HP, just kill it off.) Then get your Revival Herbs and revive it. Take around ten-twenty of them, depending on how much your Pokemon likes you now, and find an area where your Pokemon is liable to get owned, while your other Pokemon can kill them easily (i.e. taking a Normal-type Pokemon to an area with Fighting-Types and bringing a Drifloon/Drifblim along--Ghost/Flying kicks Fighting so hard.) The rest should be easy: when it has low HP, probably from the low health that the herb gives you back, let it die, then heal it back when you change to your other Pokemon, send out your Pokemon again, rinse, and repeat.
- If you have a Pokemon that's really friendly with you, and someone you trust, simply trade it over and trade it back. It'll start over at ~70 happiness points. Then use the above procedure and it'll be at 0 in no time, and Frustration will work like a stick of dynamite in the first little piggy's house.
Listed below are the various items in the world of Pokemon that affect happiness, both positively and negatively. A "p" attached to the end of it means that it raises happiness, whilst an "n" shows that it is affected negatively.
Hold Items:
- Soothe Bell p*
Medicinal Items:
- Fresh Water p
- Soda Pop p
- Lemonade p
- Moo Moo Milk p
- Heal Powder n
- EnergyPowder n
- Energy Root n
- Revival Herb n
- Protein p
- Iron p
- Calcium p
- Zinc p
- Carbos p
- HP Up p
Pokeballs:
- Luxury Ball**
Berries:
- Kelpsy Berry p
- Qualot Berry p
- Hondew Berry p
- Grepa Berry p
- Tamato Berry p
- Pomeg Berry p
* The Soothe Bell doubles the happiness gained from each happiness-gaining
step you take. You'll find it in the Pokemon Mansion, on Route 212, right
below Hearthome City. A maid in the second room from the right on the left
side will give it to you.
** From what I understand, catching a Pokemon in a Luxury Ball makes it so that
it takes less steps for a Pokemon to gain a happiness point. However, the
numbers are currently completely undefined.
Q: Someone told me they evolved their _______ with only two small hearts! I
have two small hearts! Why isn't my Pokemon evolving?
A: There's an important thing you absolutely must know about happiness. It's
not determined simply by hearts, or what the people who measure it say. It
would be too easy if it were. No, happiness is decided by numbers. Basically,
the scale is somewhat like this: leveling up gives the Pokemon around 3-5
points; every 256 steps you take gives it 1, with the Soothe Bell, 2; when it
dies, it loses about 20; etc. Most Pokemon start off at 50-70 points (when it
hatches, is caught, or is traded.) I'm pretty sure it needs around 220 to
evolve, and 250 or so is the cap. This is why sometimes two small hearts can
have your Pokemon evolve, and sometimes it doesn't. It's all about the
numbers. (Note that the exact numbers are indefinite as of now.)
Q: What is this Poketch Application you speak of?
A: I'm speaking of the Happiness Counter, Application no. 6. Basically, it
shows your Pokemon (in your party) floating around in your Poketch. If you tap
on a Pokemon, it'll stay under your stylus (or finger) and if it likes you,
you'll see a heart appear. If it really likes you, you'll see a heart, then
another heart. If it loves you, which is generally the wanted result in this
FAQ, you'll see the two hearts, then they'll pop up, and super-size. You'll
get it from a woman in the Eterna City Pokecenter.
Q: Who are the people that can read my Pokemon's happiness?
A: There are two: a lady in Hearthome City, and one in Route 213, near
Pastoria City in a house along the beach. The one in Hearthome City is in the
Pokemon Fan Club you'll find in the middle of the city, and will be able to
tell how your Pokemon feels about you by simply looking at you; the one on the
beach will tell you how your Pokemon feels about you by reading its
footprints. Each of them have two different ways of telling you how it feels
about you. In essence, the happiest a Pokemon can be is when the Pokemon Fan
Club lady tells you she "feels like she's intruding", and the footprint reader
gives you a ribbon. When your Pokemon hates your guts, it should be easy
enough to tell from either one's comment.
Q: I'm POSITIVE that my Pokemon is as happy as can be! It has two big hearts,
has the footprint ribbon, and the Fan Club lady says she feels like she's
intruding! Why won't it evolve!?!??!?!?!ONEONE!?!?EXCLAMATIONMARK!?!
A: Another important thing you should know is that even when your Pokemon is
happy, it won't evolve. Why, you ask? IT NEEDS TO LEVEL UP. They can't have
the Pokemon evolve when you aren't ready--think of how much harder it'd be to
get Espeon and Umbreon when you want a certain one! (Okay, not too much
harder, but still.)
Q: My Pokemon had max happiness, and then I put it in the daycare to evolve
it! When I got it back, it had gained x levels, didn't evolve, and only has
two small hearts now! What happened?
A: If you didn't know, you can't evolve a Pokemon through daycare. Even if you
could, I'm pretty sure the daycare takes away almost as much as trading it,
if not the same. Don't be lazy with happiness, or else happiness will be lazy
with you.
Q: How many steps does it take for a Pokemon to reach max happiness?
A: The exact number depends on your Pokemon and what you've done with it in
the past. Assuming it's a new Pokemon (~70,) it should take... ~45,000 steps
or so (without Soothe Bell or Luxury Ball.)
Q: What is the Luxury Ball, and what does it do?
A: The Luxury Ball is a Pokeball bought in Sunyshore City or the Elite Four
castle. Supposedly, it acts sort of like a permanent Soothe Bell--it either
decreases the amount of steps needed to gain a point (or two) in happiness, or
adds to how many points you get from every 256 steps as well, although its
exact purpose is unknown. Whatever it does, however, if you want to quickly
gain happiness, the Luxury Ball is the way to catch that Pokemon. And it makes
sense, since if your Pokemon likes being in the ball, then it should be happier
the longer it spends in there, right? So, with the Soothe Bell, I'm guessing
you could probably get x3-4 happiness at the price of one!
Q: You mention these all the time. WHAT ARE EV's???
A: EVs stand for Effort Values. They're a bonus you get from choosing which
Pokemon you fight. You can learn more about them here:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/ds/file/925601/45193
Version 2.00 5/19/07
Bombarded with emails.
Made corrections, added side-blurbs about what the emails told me.
Version 1.00 5/7/07
Fixed various errors.
Added Moo Moo Milk correction.
Added Resort Area.
Happiness originated in GSC, not RSE.
Added steps question.
Version 0.85 5/2/2007
Added ways to decrease and small tidbits.
Began to clean up and finish.
Version 0.80 5/1/2007
Decided to write a guide to Pokemon happiness.
Posted methods of raising happiness 1-8.
Slapped it onto Word and began converting it into a full-fledged FAQ.
Added EV-Reducing Berries into the mixture.
If you need to contact me for some godforsaken reason, I am available via email: ruiw24 @ gmail. com. No spaces. But please, reach me only if you really need to tell me or ask me something important not already listed above. Also, I only accept emails that know and comprehend grammar/the English language. Thanks.
This FAQ is available on GameFAQs, Neoseeker, and Pokedream. If it is found anywhere else, it does not belong there.
Credit goes to:
Myself, for having (or rather, the lack of) a life to do this.
sp00nman, for helping me out on the unfamiliar territory that is the
Submission Form and Notepad.
Kylie, for giving me the correct amount of ribbons needed to enter the Resort.
Evan, for confirming that SCs do indeed raise happiness.
Hg, for reminding me about items found in Amity Square.
JeffM, for telling me the Fuego Ironworks "overnight" way.
Serebii.net for the different EV-Reducing berries and information on them.
Marriland's FAQs, because without them I'd totally have no structure in this
FAQ at all.
The constant happiness questions on the boards, for without them I wouldn't
have been driven to such exhaustion to explaining why their Pokemon were not
evolving.
The others on the boards, who helped me out with this FAQ, correcting all the
errors I made.
CJayC, for making GameFAQs, the number one gaming site out there.
Lastly, Game Freak and Nintendo, for making such an awesome game.