Reason #10: The Shroomish Factory pt. ii - 11/09/25
So, when taking yesterday's entry into account, what have we learned thus far? Pokemon Breeding is 1). more complex than you would think, 2). a semi-requirement for competitive play, and 3). a potentially large time commitment. It doesn't really sound that fun all laid out. I'm usually the kind of person that can't stand repetitive or grindy gameplay - that being said, how has my breeding project become something I look forward to instead of an annoying obligation?
i. Routine
This Shroomish project isn't my first rodeo. I've also bred a few rounds of Bramblin and Foongus for my dream team, breeding lines that I've since put on the backburner in favor of Shroomish hell. And those experiences have allowed me to create the perfect gaming routine that leaves me feeling relaxed, fulfilled, and hopeful instead of endlessly exhausted. I don't play Pokemon everyday (in fact, I'm just now coming off of a several week break) but when I do, this is how I do it:
I pick an egg from the pool to hatch. I pick a Pokemon from my box to evolve in an effort to complete my Pokedex. I train that Pokemon until evolution. The egg will have hatched at this point; I check it's stats and nature, then name it. I do this until 9 Shroomish have been born. At this point, any Shroomish with subpar stats and/or a non-target nature are on the chopping block. Everyone's sizes are checked on the off chance someone has been born XXXL or XXXS and, with that check having been failed, my superfluous Shroomish are released back into the wild. Their siblings with better stats are kept in boxes to bred with other keepers.
This does seem monotonous on paper, but there's actually enough variation from day to day to keep me engaged! The unique challenges of working on my Pokedex bring an extra layer of progression for me to focus on so I don't get bored. Checking new Shroomishs is weirdly a lot of fun - it's like a harmless gacha, the excitement of potentially getting the thing you want but with lots of little victories amongst the big wins and failures! And, with 9 hatches being my daily end goal, I never end up playing so long that it exhausts me. I can relax and listen to music or a podcast, enjoy the mindlessness for a minute. It really feels like genuine downtime for someone like me, who's always thinking and worrying.
ii. Familiar Faces
I feel very connected to all of Paldea's pokemon, locations, and characters because of this project. It really feels like my character is living a life in-game, going about my day and visiting my neighbors in between errands.
There are two individuals who I interact with every single time I play and I've grown to love them dearly because of it. The first is one of my own Pokemon: Redline the Volcarona. Redline acts as kind of a team nanny. He's always in the team when I'm hatching, so we are constantly travelling together and picnicing with Shroomish!
Redline isn't around just for fun though. Pokemon eggs hatch after you've walked with them for a certain number of steps - but a Pokemon like Redline with the ability Flame Body cuts that number in half when its in the party! Having him around speeds up the process quite a bit, which is beyond helpful. I love you buddy!
My second companion is the wholly underrated Size Judge. She's an NPC in Mesagoza who tells you how big your Pokemon are! Not a lot of people talk about this, but a Pokemon being XXXL or XXXS without rate manipulaton is literally four times as rare as finding a full odds shiny. So if one of these little mushrooms is born huge or tiny, I'm definitely keeping them.
Outside of utility, I also just think she's really cute! I wonder about her life...what her name is...what other Pokemon she has in her team...Maybe one day I'll take the initiative and write a fanfiction about her to flesh her out. Until then, keep on keeping on my beautiful queen.
iii. Shroomish
Another constant in this endeavor is, of course...the Shroomish. I've thus far hatched (approximately) 300 Shroomish, with another 153 eggs currently sitting in my boxes. When I started, I didn't keep very good track of who came from who or who fit best with who. It was very freeform. Now though, I have a system! I keep track of my Shroomish lineages, give them crazy names like race horses, and analyze match ups between them until I'm confident they'll have the kids I want. My current egg pool was produced by 3 main couples, who were all born from my past keepers.
| Hardtack ♂ | Brat Fork ♀ |
|---|---|
| - Hardy | - Brave |
| - "Great stats!" | - "Great stats!" |
| - Effect Spore | - Poison Heal |
| - Average-sized | - Average-sized |
| Sons have the suffix "-tack" in their name | Daughters have the word "Brat" in their name |
| Minty Cup ♂ | Jujyfork ♀ |
|---|---|
| - Mild | - Jolly |
| - "Good stats" | - "Good stats" |
| - Poison Heal | - Effect Spore |
| - Smaller than average size | - Bigger than average size |
| Sons have the word "Mint" in their name | Daughters have the word "Juice" in their name |
| Donatello ♂ | Bonita Fork ♀ |
|---|---|
| - Adamant ☆ | - Bold |
| - "OK stats" | - "Good stats" |
| - Poison Heal | - Poison Heal |
| - Average-sized | - Smaller than average size |
| Sons have the suffix "-aissance" in their name | Daughters have the word "Beau" in their name |
Across all three couples, I've released 21 children to the wild, have kept 15, and still have 117 unhatched eggs to go through. I was hoping to put together a genealogy chart for this generation, but I didn't not realize how hard that was to do...Maybe one day!
My ultimate goal is to breed a Shroomish with "Amazing stats!", but on average our hatches still only have "Good stats" with the occasional "Great" thrown in. I'm optimistic for the rest of these hatches however!!
iv. In Conclusion
There is still so much to share, such as in depth Shroomish genealogy, a profile of my dream Breloom, the rest of my team, etc. But these last two entries have seriously gotten away from me! So I'll go ahead and end it here. At the end of the day, though Pokemon breeding has a long history of being tedious, I'm really enjoying my journey! Having a low stakes project that I can make progress on when I need a pick me up is huge in my current depressive slump. I love my Shroomishs and I love Pokemon. Few things can make me as genuinely happy as I feel when playing Pokemon :3