Make Your Pokémon Squeaky Clean (and Friendlier) by Bathing Them in 'Scarlet' and 'Violet'

Though the newest generation of Pokémon has been riddled with glitches, players are still finding plenty to enjoy in the new game. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is truly a unique Pokémon game — including the new ability to give your Pokémon a bath. But what does washing your Pokémon actually do?

To be quite frank, giving your Pokémon a bath doesn't really do much for them in Scarlet and Violet. Like many of the other features implemented during picnics with your Pokémon, the main benefit of washing them is increasing your friendship level.

While this won't do anything for a lot of the Pokémon in your party, there are certain ones that need a high friendship level to evolve. Walking with your Pokémon will increase your friendship, but bathing them will raise it faster.

Here are the Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet that need high friendship to evolve:

• Pichu to Pikachu
• Igglybuff to Jigglypuff
• Chansey to Blissey
• Azurill to Marill
• Riolu to Lucario
• Eevee to Sylveon, Espeon, or Umbreon

Eevee will only evolve into Espeon or Umbreon if its friendship level is high enough; you'll get Espeon if you evolve your Eevee during the day, while a nighttime evolution will produce Umbreon. If you want your Eevee to become Sylveon, make sure it knows a Fairy move before evolving.

Riolu will also only evolve into Lucario during the daytime, so even if you have a high friendship level with the Pokémon, you'll have to wait until the sun is out to complete the evolution.

To see how high your friendship with your Pokémon is, you can visit the girl in the green shirt in Cascarrafa. She's standing near the fountain, and the text bubble above her will read "You friendly with your Pokémon?" She'll tell you how good of friends you and your Pokémon are when prompted.

To give your Pokémon a bath, you'll want to first set up a picnic. As your Pokémon are scampering around and playing, you'll want to walk up to the Pokémon to you want to bathe and press X. Follow the prompts on the screen to lather up and then rinse your Pokémon, leaving them visibly sparkling clean.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are now available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.