IV Breeding - Chapter 2. Section 3A.

SECTION THREE: Hatching The Eggs
Number of steps required to hatch an egg-------------------------------

Each Pokémon requires that you walk a certain number of steps in order to be able to hatch its egg. This number, unlike what many people think, depends on many factors, which will be explained in detail here.

First of all, there is an internal number for every hatchable Pokémon on which the number of steps for the egg to hatch is dependent. We will call this number the egg counter. For now, just remember that the smaller the egg counter is, the quicker that Pokémon will hatch. Here is a list of all hatchable Pokémon, and their corresponding egg counter starting number:

Egg Counter Starts From---Pokemon To Be Hatched
5 Magikarp
10 Azurill, Cleffa, Croagunk, Igglybuff, Manaphy, Marill, Pachirisu, Pichu, Togepi
15 Bidoof, Burmy, Caterpie, Combee, Corphish, Geodude, Hoothoot, Illumise, Kricketot, Ledyba, Lotad, Nincada, Pidgey, Poochyena, Rattata, Seedot, Sentret, Shroomish, Skitty, Slakoth, Spearow, Spinarak, Spinda, Starly, Surskit, Taillow, Volbeat, Weedle, Wurmple, Zigzagoon, Zubat
20 Any hatchable Pokémon not mentioned
25 Absol, Carnivine, Castform, Chimecho, Chingling, Duskull, Elekid, Heracross, Lunatone, Magby, Mantine, Mantyke, Mime Jr., Misdreavus, Mr. Mime, Onix, Pinsir, Riolu, Sableye, Sandshrew, Scyther, Shuppet, Skarmory, Smoochum, Solrock, Tropius, Tyrogue, Venonat
30 Anorith, Cranidos, Drifloon, Hippopotas, Kabuto, Lileep, Omanyte, Shieldon, Spiritomb
35 Aerodactyl, Aron, Eevee
40 Bagon, Beldum, Chansey, Dratini, Gible, Happiny, Lapras, Larvitar, Munchlax, Phione, Relicanth, Snorlax, Wailmer

Internally, in the game, there is also a step counter. This step counter literally counts the number of steps that you walked during the game. It starts from zero and increases by 1 for every step you take. If it exceeds 255, (i.e. becomes 256) it is reset to zero. (In DP, it is reset to zero when it becomes 255, not 256. Why this happens is unclear.) This step counter is also reset to zero whenever the player collects an egg from the Day Care.

Whenever the step counter reaches 255, the game checks if you have any eggs in your team. If you do, then it checks if its egg counter is zero or less. If it is not zero, this egg counter is decreased by 1, or by 2 if you have a Pokémon with Flame Body or Magma Armor in your team. This is the reason why Flame Body and Magma Armor roughly half your number of steps needed in order to hatch an egg. If the egg counter is zero or less, that egg hatches.

If you are carrying more than one egg, and the step counter reaches 255, then all the egg counters, starting from the topmost one, are checked to see if they hatch or not. If that egg's egg counter is not zero, it is decreased accordingly (by 2 if you have a Magma Armor/Flame Body Pokémon, or by 1 otherwise), and the next egg is checked. If it is zero, then that egg hatches, and the other eggs’ counters are not checked or decreased. This means that you cannot hatch two or more eggs simultaneously, but you need to wait at least 256 steps (255 in DP) between a hatching egg and another.

Here is a step-by-step account of the above explanation.

Whenever the player walks/rides a step, the game does the following:

1. Increase the step counter by 1.

2. (For RSFRLGE) If the step counter is 256, reset the step counter to zero.

3. If the step counter is not 255, skip all the following steps.

4. (For DP) Reset the step counter to zero.

5. Make an internal list of all the eggs that the player has in the team, starting from the topmost egg in the team and finishing with the bottom egg.

6. If this list is empty, skip all the following steps.

7. If the egg counter for the first egg in the list is zero or less, hatch that egg and skip all the following steps.

8. If the egg counter for the first egg in the list is greater than zero, decrease it by 2 if the player has a Pokémon with the ability Magma Armor or Flame Body in the team, or by 1 otherwise.

9. Remove the first egg from the list and go to Step 6.

Remember also that the step counter resets to zero whenever you take an egg from the Day Care. Every time you do so, the number of steps you need to walk in order to hatch your eggs will be increased by at most 254, depending on how much was the step counter before being reset.

Assuming you do NOT reset the internal step counter by taking another egg from the Day Care and you have only one egg in your team, these are the amount of steps you need to walk in order for your egg to hatch:
Number of Steps in RSFRLGE Egg Counter Starts From

Magma Armor/Flame Body No Magma Armor/Flame Body
5 1023 1535
10 1535 2815
15 2303 4095
20 2815 5375
25 3583 6655
30 4095 7935
35 4863 9215
40 5375 10495

Number of Steps in DP Egg Counter Starts From

Magma Armor/Flame Body No Magma Armor/Flame Body
5 1020 1530
10 1530 2805
15 2298 4080
20 2805 5355
25 3570 6630
30 4080 7905
35 4845 9180
40 5355 10455

If you have more than one egg in your team, and/or you get another egg from the Day Care while already having an egg in your party, the number of steps you need to walk for the eggs to hatch isn’t so clear-cut. An example would explain what will happen more than just words.

Suppose we’re breeding Magikarp in Emerald with a Magcargo with Flame Body in our team. A Magikarp egg is taken from the Day Care, and thus, the step counter resets to zero. The egg counter for Magikarp starts from 5:

Step Counter: 0. Egg1 Counter: 5.

After walking 255 steps, the step counter reaches 255. The game checks if Egg1 Counter is zero or less. It isn’t, so it is decreased by 2.

Step Counter: 255. Egg1 Counter: 3.

Suppose that now we walk 50 more steps, and another Magikarp egg is created. We go and fetch it. The step counter is reset to 0.

Step Counter: 0. Egg1 Counter: 3. Egg2 Counter: 5.

After walking 255 steps, the step counter reaches 255. The game checks if Egg1 Counter is zero or less. It isn’t, so it is decreased by 2. Egg2 Counter is also greater than zero, so it is decreased by 2 as well.

Step Counter: 255. Egg1 Counter: 1. Egg2 Counter: 3.

We walk 256 more steps (one to reset the counter to zero, and 255 more to reach 255), and the step counter reaches 255 again. The game checks if Egg1 Counter is zero or less. It isn’t, so it is decreased by 2. Egg2 Counter is also greater than zero, so it is decreased by 2 as well.

Step Counter: 255. Egg1 Counter: -1. Egg2 Counter: 1.

We walk 256 more steps, and the step counter reaches 255 again. This time, Egg1 Counter is less than zero, so the first egg hatches. Since an egg hatched, the game doesn’t check nor decrease Egg2 Counter at this point.

Step Counter: 255. Egg1 Hatches. Egg2 Counter: 1.

We walk 256 more steps, and the step counter reaches 255 again. Egg2 Counter is still greater than zero, so it is decreased by 2.

Step Counter: 255. Egg2 Counter: -1.

Finally, after walking yet another 256 steps, the second egg hatches.

Step Counter: 255. Egg2 Hatches.

Let’s see how many steps we had to walk for the eggs to hatch.

For the first egg, we walked 255 + 50 + 255 + 256 + 256 = 1072 steps.

For the second egg, we walked 255 + 256 + 256 + 256 + 256 = 1279 steps.

The above example should have shown why calculating the number of steps required to hatch an egg is more complicated than most people think. It showed, however, that having more than one egg in your team increases the number of steps required in order to hatch them. In the example above, the first egg required 49 steps more than the minimum 1023 steps in order to hatch, while the second one required a whopping 256 more steps.

As most people know, you can also look at the egg to check its state. The message that is displayed is directly related to its egg counter. There are three different messages that can be displayed:

"What will hatch from this? It will take some time."
In this case, the egg counter is 11 or more.

"It moves occasionally. It should hatch soon."
In this case, the egg counter is between 6 and 10.

"It's making sounds. It's about to hatch!"
In this case, the egg counter is 5 or less.

Continued in Section 3B.