Pokemon Sword and Shield Evolving Alcremie Guide

With Pokémon Sword and Shield out now, tons of players have been pouring over the game to fill up the Galarian Pokédex. One Pokémon in the dex has become quite popular since it was revealed: Alcremie. The pure Fairy-type is a sweet-looking dollop of living cream, is a potent special attacker, and it has a whopping 28 forms in its normal state. That's why we've constructed our Pokemon Sword and Shield Evolving Alcremie guide to help you access as many forms as possible. 

Pokemon Sword and Shield Evolving Alcremie Guide

How to Evolve Alcremie - Step 1: The Main Ingredient 

To start things off, you need to find Alcremies pre-evolution, the Fairy-type Milcery. Milcery is found fairly early in the game on Route 4 in the grass, with a 20% chance of showing up. The Milcery here are around level 13-15 with the ability Sweet Veil, which prevents itself and its ally Pokémon from falling asleep. Those hoping to chain Milcery for its hidden ability, it is Aroma Veil, an ability that prevents the Pokémon and its allies from being affected by attacks that can limit their move choices, such as Taunt, Encore, the Cursed Body ability, and the infatuation status. 

Milcery is also fairly found in the Wild Area, specifically the locations Bridge Field and Giant's Mirror. Both areas only see Milcery show up during the fog weather condition, but they have a 30% chance of being a random spawn in the grass, making them a bit easier to find than in Route 4. The Milcery there are also around level 26-28.

It should be noted that Milcery and Alcremie are 100% female. For breeding purposes, especially for competitive players, this is a bonus, though the two moves that Alcremie can learn through breeding are Last Resort and Baby-Doll Eyes, both of which have limited use on the Pokémon. Alcremie is part of the Fairy and Amorphous egg group, which means potential partners include the Gastly line, Pumpkaboo line, Koffing line, Ralts line, Pikachu line, and Impidimp line, to name a few. 

How to Evolve Alcremie - Step 2: Adding Some Sweets

Milcery is special because it takes an item to evolve. This in of itself is nothing new in a Pokémon game, as many monsters evolve with held items or with a held item when traded. What is new is that there's more than one item this time around.

Found in the game are something called Sweet Items. These sweet items are only found in one of the three Battle Cafes found in the Galar region. The cafes are located in Motostoke, Hammerlocke, and Wyndon. Simply battle the owner of the cafe, and he gives you an item once a day for your victory. The item itself can be anything from MooMoo Milk to Lava Cookies, but you always have a chance for one of the sweet items you need. 

The list of sweet items are as follows: 

• Berry Sweet
• Clover Sweet
• Flower Sweet
• Love Sweet
• Ribbon Sweet
• Star Sweet
• Strawberry Sweet

So what do these items do? Well, they actually serve a purpose outside of just being more things to collect in the game. Each sweet becomes the accent piece on top of Alcremie's head. So for example, the default form of Alcremie uses the strawberry sweet, but if players use the flower sweet, Alcremie's head will contain the flower motif over the strawberry one.

How to Evolve Alcremie - Step 3: Mixing and Stirring

Once you have your Milcery and your sweet, players need to do more than just simply let Milcery hold the item and level up. Instead, to evolve Milcery, players need to actually spin around to "mix" the Milcery together with the chosen sweet item.

Spinning is a sort of secret movement that can be done by either moving the joystick in a circular motion, or using the full range of the joy-con controller. Every time the player spins, they can actually hold the spinning for as long as they want, before doing the Galar champion Leon's signature pose in the air. 

This is important, because the player actually needs to control their spin to receive the outcome they want for Alcremie. See, Alcremie has eight different color patterns, and they are determined primarily based on the direction, length, and time of day the player spins with their Milcery. You read that right, to get the Alcremie color pattern you want, you need to not only get the sweet item you want, but you need to follow certain conditions to guarantee the desired result. 

So what are your options? Here is the basic rundown of the nine Alcremie forms. Note that it doesn't matter which sweet item you use here, and the change in color is purely aesthetic. In fact, the only difference between the forms is the Pokédex entry that accompanies them, so completionists out there will need to get all nine to complete the set.

• Vanilla Cream - The generic form, which is achieved by spinning clockwise quickly in the day. 
   

  

• Caramel Swirl - Spin clockwise for over five seconds during the day.
   

  

• Ruby Cream- Spin anti-clockwise quickly during the day.
   

  

• Ruby Swirl - Spin anti-clockwise for over five seconds during the day. 
   

  

• Matcha Cream - Spin clockwise quickly at night.
   

  

• Lemon Cream - Spin clockwise for over five seconds at night.
   

  

• Salted Cream -Spin anti-clockwise quickly at night.
   

  

• Mint Cream- Spin anti-clockwise for over five seconds at night.
   

  

• Rainbow Swirl - See Below, possibly spinning anti-clockwise for over five seconds at dusk/dawn.
   

  

In addition to these forms, there is also a secret ninth form, known as the Rainbow Swirl Alcremie. There is not a lot of good information on how to get this rare variant of Alcremie, with most suggesting it is a random chance. That said, it is believed to be a variant that can only be achieved by spinning anti-clockwise for over five seconds during the dusk/dawn period on the game's clock.

The game's timer is only available in the Wild Area, corresponding to your Nintendo Switch's clock. So a switch set at 10 p.m. at night will see a Wild Area set at 10 p.m. at night. The best place to evolve Milcery into Alcremie would be out there, as players have more control over the outcome of their Alcremie form here than any other part of Galar. Otherwise, every major town and route is fixed at set times. Sometimes they do change, but that is story-dependent over anything else.

How to Evolve Alcremie - Final Thoughts: A Sweet Dream

And that is it. That is how to get your very own Alcremie. I personally enjoy the amount of thought and design put into this little Pokémon, especially because of how thematic it really is. Combining the words alchemy and cream and having the player mix and spin with different ingredients is great game design, if a little obtuse. But what is Pokémon without some weird, thematic elements thrown in? 

Alcremie is worth getting trained on your team thanks to its typing, abilities, and moveset. Its high special attack will make good use of moves like Dazzling Gleam or even set-up sets that take advantage of Calm Mind and coverage moves like Mystical Fire and Giga Drain.  Alcremie really shines as a support Pokémon though, thanks to its signature move Decorate, which sharply raises the attack and special attack of an ally. Other nifty support moves include Encore, Aromatic Mist, Attract, and Entrainment, giving players plenty of options to not only customize the look of their Alcremie, but their moves as well.