PlumpyFoof's [On-going] Comprehensive Breeding Guide

[Plumpyfoof]

Introduction

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Hello everybody, recently I've been trying to unravel the secrets to breeding the perfect Pokemon.
Now this guide will eventually (hopefully) contain every single piece of information regarding breeding the perfect Pokemon. and will be even more helpful than Bulbapedia and Serebii
If anybody has any good information that is not up here please post and I'll add it as soon as possible.
So far all the information I have will be regarding Gen V and onwards simply because I don't have any DPPt games to work with.
Copyright shizz:

Spoiler:

You may not steal, repost or claim any part of this guide as your own.
You may quote, reference, and link this guide provided you have credited the author (Me).
I do not own nor have I had any part in the creation of Pokemon nor its respective affiliates.

Okay so..

The Basics
Contents:
How to Breed
Egg groups
Why egg groups?
What is a baby Pokemon

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Let's start a the beginning I suppose.

Now.. Within the world of Pokemon there is a place in every region where a lovely old couple will look after your Pokemon and raise them for a small fee.

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Cost($) = 100x(levels gained) + 100

You may have noticed sometimes that if you have left two Pokemon with them at any time they have an egg for you to raise. Hence the purpose of this guide.
The mechanics of breeding are here:

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Because the game is coded in hexadecimal

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0=0
1=1
2=2
3=3
4=4
5=5
6=6
7=7
8=8
9=9
10=A
11=B
12=C
13=D
14=E
15=F
16=10
You don't need to know this but it's just interesting to know.

The game counts your steps to determine egg cycles (Or the time it takes to hatch an egg)
One egg cycle is the highest amount of steps in 2 digits the game can process. Which would be FF or 255 in normal numbers.
So one egg cycle is 255 steps
Nosepass takes 21 egg cycles to hatch so 21 x 255 = 5,355 steps.

To speed this up you can have a pokemon with Magma Armour or Flame Body as an ability to halve the amount of steps you need.

Now we know we can breed how can we breed something we want?
The most important thing to note with breeding is that the baby will ALWAYS be the same species as the MOTHER. Unless the mother is ditto in which the case the father will be the same species (We'll get back to breeding with ditto).
The easiest way to breed is to get two of the same species right? YES! (Please note that whenever I say species, I am referring to the entire evolutionary family, so if I say the Pikachu family I am referring to Pikachu, Raichu and Pichu. If I say Abra species I am referring to Abra, Kadabra and Alakazam :))
But you can also breed two Pokemon of different species. The two Pokemon must be in the same Egg group.
If you're interested you can find a list of these on Bulbapedia or Pokemondb but for convenience I'l post it here.
BREEDING GROUPS

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Amorphous

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Grimer
Gastly
Koffing
Misdreavous
Wobbuffet
Slugma
Raltz
Gulpin
Castform (Fairy)
Shuppet
Duskull
Chimecho
Shellos (Water 1)
Drifloon
Spiritomb
Rotom
Yamask (Mineral)
Solosis
Frillish
Tynamo
Litwick
Stunfisk (Water 1)

Bug

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Caterpie
Weedle
Paras (Grass)
Venonat
Scyther
Pinsir
Ledyba
Spinirak
Yanma
Pineco
Gligar
Shuckle
Heracross
Wurmple
Surskit (Water 1)
Nincada
Volbeat (Human-like)
Illumuse (Human-like)
Trapinch
Kricketot
Burmy
Combee
Skorupi (Water 3)
Sewaddle
Venipede
Dwebble (Mineral)
Karrablast
Joltik
Shelmet
Durant
Larvesta

Dragon

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Charmander (Monster)
Ekans (Field)
Horsea (Water 1)
Magikarp (Water 2)
Dratini (Water 1)
Treeko (Monster)
Swablu (Flying)
Seviper (field)
Feebas (Water 1)
Bagon
Gible (Monster)
Scraggy (Field)
Axew (Monster)
Druddigon (Monster)
Deino

Fairy

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Pikachu (Field)
Clefairy
Jigglypuff
Chansey
Togetic(Flying)
Marill (Water 1)
Hoppip (Grass)
Snubbull (Field)
Shroomish (Grass)
Skitty (Field)
Mawile (Field)
Plusle
Minun
Roselia (Grass)
Castform (Amorphous)
Snorunt (Mineral)
Pachirisu (Field)
Cherubi (Grass)
Phione (Water 1)
Manaphy (Water 1)
Audino
Cottonee (Grass)

Field

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Ratite
Ekans (Dragon)
Pikachu (Fairy)
Sandshrew
Nidoran♀ (Monster) - For some reason yet to be explained Nidorina and Nidoqueen can not be bred - (See Undiscovered egg group)
Nidoran♂ (Monster)
Vulpix
Diglett
Meowth
Psyduck (Water 1)
Mankey
Growlithe
Ponyta
Farfetch'd (Flying)
Seel
Rhyhorn (Monster)
Tauros
Eevee
Cyndaquil
Sentret
Mareep (Monster)
Aipom
Wooper (Water 1)
Girafarig
Dunsparce
Snubbull (Fairy)
Sensual
Teddiursa
Swinub
Delibird (Water 1)
Houndour
Phanpy
Stantler
Smeargle
Miltank
Torchic
Poochyena
Zigzagoon
Seedot (Grass)
Slakoth
Whismur (Monster)
Skitty (Fairy)
Mawile (Fairy)
Electrike
Wailmer (Water 2)
Numel
Torkoal
Spoink
Spinda (Human-Like)
Zangoose
Seviper (Dragon)
Kecleon
Absol
Spheal (Water 1)
Chimchar (Human-Like)
Piplup (Water 1)
Bidoof (Water 1)
Shinx
Pachirisu (Fairy)
Buizel (Water 1)
Buneary (Human-Like)
Glameow
Stunky
Lucario (Human-Like)
Hippopotas
Snivy Grass
Tepig
Oshawott
Patrat
Lillipup
Purrloin
Pansage
Pansear
Panpour
Simipour
Munna
Blitzle
Woobat (Flying)
Drilbur
Sandile
Darumaka
Scraggy (Dragon)
Zorua
Minccino
Deerling
Emolga
Cubchoo
Mienfoo (Human-Like)
Bouffalant
Heatmor

Flying

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Pidgey
Spearow
Zubat
Farfetch'd (Field)
Doduo
Aerodactyl
Hoothoot
Togetic (Fairy)
Natu
Murkrow
Skarmory
Taillow
Wingull (Water 1)
Swablu (Dragon)
Starly
Chatot
Pidove
Woobat (Field)
Sigilyph
Archen (Water 3)
Ducklett (Water 1)
Rufflet
Vullaby

Grass

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Bulbasaur (Monster)
Oddish
Paras (Bug)
Bellsprout
Exeggcute
Tangela
Chikorita (Monster)
Hoppip (Fairy)
Sunkern
Lotad (Water 1)
Seedot (Field)
Shroomish (Fairy)
Roselia (Fairy)
Cacnea (Human-Like)
Tropius (Monster)
Turtwig (Monster)
Cherubi (Fairy)
Carnivine
Snover (Monster)
Snivy (Field)
Cottonee (Fairy)
Petilil
Maractus
Foongus
Ferroseed (Mineral)

Human-Like

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Abra
Machop
Drowzee
Hitmonlee
Hitmonchan
Mr. Mime
Jynx
Electabuzz
Magmar
Hitmontop
Makuhita
Sableye
Meditite
Volbeat (Bug)
Illumise (Bug)
Spinda (Field)
Cacnea (Grass)
Chimchar (Field)
Buneary (Field)
Lucario (Field)
Croagunk
Timburr
Throh
Sawk
Gothita
Elgyem
Mienfoo (Field)
Pawniard

Mineral

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Geodude
Magnemite
Onix
Voltorb
Porygon
Sudowoodo
Shedinja (Odd, since it's other family members are in the bug group)
Nosepass
Lunatone
Solrock
Baltoy
Snorunt (Fairy)
Beldum
Bronzor
Roggenrola
Dwebble (Bug)
Yamask (Amorphous)
Trubbish
Vanillite
Ferroseed (Grass)
Klink
Cryogonal
Golett

Monster

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Bulbasaur (Grass)
Charmander (Dragon)
Squirtle (Water 1)
Nidoran♀ (Field)
Nidoran♂ (Field)
Slowpoke (Water 1)
Cubone
Lickitung
Rhyhorn (Field)
Kangaskhan
Lapras (Water 1)
Snorlax
Chikorita (Grass)
Totodile (Water 1)
Mareep (Field)
Larvitar
Treecko (Dragon)
Mudkip (Water 1)
Whismur (Field)
Aron
Tropius (Grass)
Turtwig (Grass)
Cranidos
Shieldon
Gible (Dragon)
Snover (Grass)
Axew (Dragon)
Druddigon (Dragon)

Water 1

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Squirtle (Monster)
Psyduck (Field)
Poliwag
Slowpoke (Monster)
Seel (Field)
Horsea (Dragon)
Lapras (Monster)
Omanyte (Water 3)
Kabuto (Water 3)
Dratini (Dragon)
Totodile (Monster)
Marill (Fairy)
Wooper (Field)
Corsola (Water 3)
Remoraid (Water 2)
Delibird (Field)
Mantine
Mudkip (Monster)
Lotad (Grass)
Wingull (Flying)
Surskit (Bug)
Corphish (Water 3)
Feebas (Dragon)
Spheal (Field)
Clamperl
Relicanth (Water 2)
Piplup (Field)
Bidoof (Field)
Buizel (Field)
Shellos (Amorphous)
Phione (Fairy)
Manaphy (Fairy)
Tympole
Tirtouga (Water 3)
Ducklett (Flying)
Alomomola (Water 2)
Stunfisk (Amorphous)

Water 2

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Goldeen
Magikarp (Dragon)
Chinchou
Qwilfish
Remoraid (Water 1)
Carvanha
Wailmer (Field)
Barboach
Relicanth (Water 1)
Luvdisc
Finneon
Basculin
Alomomola (Water 1)

Water 3

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Tentacool
Shellder
Krabby
Staryu
Omanyte (Water 1)
Kabuto (Water 1)
Corsola (Water 1)
Corphish (Water 1)
Lileep
Anorith
Skorupi (Bug)
Tirtouga (Water 1)
Archen (Flying)

Ditto

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Ditto

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Lol

It is important to note that any Pokemon that is genderless can only breed with Ditto.

Undiscovered

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This group includes all legendary Pokemon (except Phione and Manaphy) as well as the female Nidoran line and all baby Pokemon. This group will not breed no matter how long you leave them in daycare

Any of these Pokemon species can breed if you have a male and a female and they're in the same egg group.
Here's how you know if they'll breed

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Same species and different ID number
"The two seem to get along very well"
69.87% chance of getting an egg every 255 steps

Same species, same ID number
"The two seem to get along"
49.5% chance every 255 steps

Different species same ID number
"The two don't seem to like each other"
19.81% chance of an egg every 255 steps.

Different species different ID number
"The two seem to get along"
49.5% chance ever 255 steps

Different egg group, same gender, or undiscovered egg group
"The two prefer to play with other Pokemon"
0% chance to get an egg

But why would you want to breed with a different species?
The answer, to get a Pokemon with egg moves.

Egg moves are moves a Pokemon can only learn via breeding a Male with a move you want to have the baby learn with a female of the species you want.
For example, the Bulbasaur line can earn Ingrain but only via breeding.
I'll explain this in depth more in the next section.

Intermediate breeding
Contents:
Baby Pokemon In-depth
Egg Moves
Breeding for Natures
Introduction to IVs
Abilities
Gender

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Breeding For baby Pokemon

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This is easy, a lot of baby Pokemon must be bread for.
Happiny, Chingling, Azurill etc. Simply breed Pokemon of the same evolutionary family.
HOWEVER!
Some require you to breed while holding an item (Incense generally)It does not matter whether the mother or father holds the item as long as one of them have it.

The reason for this is because breeding was not possible in Gen I therefore no baby Pokemon were introduced until Gen II. When Baby Pokemon were introduced for Gen II Pokemon in Gen III (Azurill) it would be awkward to have bred a Marill in gen II and not received an Azurill simply because it didn't exist until 3rd Gen. To make sense of new baby Pokemon the game designers decided to make the parents hold an item to get the baby. And an item not in Gen II means the criterion weren't met therefore no Azurill. Logic!

Breeding For Moves

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So in my previous example Bulbasaur can possibly be bred to have Ingrain as a move. Bulbasaur is in the egg group Grass and Monster, so who is in either of these groups that can learn Ingrain?
Let's go with Roselia, this Pokemon learns ingrain at level 33.
So now I make sure to have a female of the Bulbasaur family and a male Roselia with Ingrain.
Sounds simple enough right? Right. Not much to it.
You can also breed for TM moves, and level moves and move tutor moves.

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Baby Pokemon who are bred will be born with moves with this priority.

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4, Level 1 moves
3, Level up moves (If both Parents know them)
2, TM/HM and move tutor moves (If both parents know them)
1, Egg moves

SO based on my example you should be able to breed your own favourite egg moves onto all your babies!

Breeding for Natures

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Having the right nature is imperative for competitive battling so why bother sift through what could be hundreds of eggs to find an Adamant Larvitar? A very helpful item has the ability to transfer natures from the mother to baby Pokemon.
You know, the tool you dropped in earlier games because why wouldn't you want to evolve your Pokemon?
That's right. Give the mother an Everstone to hold and you will have a 50% chance of a Modest Litwick.

If however you are breeding with a Ditto, the Ditto will be the one that holds the Everstone, despite the other Pokmon being Female.

IVs
No doubt the most frustrating part if breeding.

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It is incredibly difficult to get a Pokemon with decent IVs via breeding naturally. Of course you can turn to RNG but some don't like the idea,

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Or Windows >_>

Breeding for this is very time consuming and you will find yourself often filling boxes of level 1 Pokemon you will have to release later on.
Now ideally we're breeding for 31 in everything. But because of the incredibly low chance of that happening naturally it is recommended to aim for Iv's above 25 in only the states you will be using.
Game Freak have made it thankfully easier to get good sets by introducing Power Items.

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Power Weight (HP)
Power Bracer (Attack)
Power Belt (Defense)
Power Lens (Sp.Atk)
Power Band (Sp.Def)
Power Anklet (Speed)

Highly useful in the sense that add 4 Effort Values (EV's) to their specified stat for every battle. They also transfer their specified stat's IV from the holder to their offspring.

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Say for example I want a Physical Sweeper Lucario and I have a ditto with 30 IV's in Attack. If Ditto is holding the Power Bracer all eggs will have 30 Iv's in Attack also.

Be careful when using two Power items however as the possibilities of having the Iv's transferred 50% for each stat.

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It IS possible to transfer both stats using two power items, I'll explain this later.

Well that's not so hard. And remember if you breed a female with the right nature but not the right stats you can switch ditto for the female with an ever stone to make it easier to get the right nature. GOOD LUCK!!

Abilities

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This section is so small.
If the Pokemon you wish to breed has dual abilities, there is a 50% of getting either.
If you are breeding with a Pokemon that has it's Dream World ability their is a 50% chance of getting the Dream World ability and 25% chance of the other two.

Gender

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This Section is even smaller
The possibility of breeding either gender depends on the Species.
The most common is 50-50 such as Nosepass
But you may have found already it is especially difficult to breed a female Eevee this is because Eevee has only 12.5% chance of getting a female
This works exactly the same as in the wild.

Advanced Breeding
Contents:
Chaining for Egg moves (Still to come Breeding With Smeargle)
Chaining for IVs
IVs or Nature

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Chaining for Egg moves

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Basically the same as what was described in the intermediate section, only a little more advanced.

I think the most famous example is Eevee with Wish.
Togetic (wish) (m)+ Pikachu (f) = Pikachu (wish) (m)
Pikachu (wish) (m) +Eevee (f) = Eevee (wish)

Another personal experience was:
Emboar (m) (Head Smash) + Nidoran (f) = Nidoran (m) (Head Smash)
Nidoran (m) (Head Smash) + Aron (f) = Aron (Head Smash)

The purpose of this is to breed moves across egg groups.
The Catalyst Pokemon (Pikachu and Nidoran in these examples) always has two egg groups otherwise rendering them redundant. On most occasions from the Pokemon with the moves group to the target Pokemon's group.

It is possible to chain across multiple egg groups with multiple chains. Just make sure you are breeding for males (derp).
Never teach a female a move tutor move. Just in case you need to breed the move and can't get that move taught again.
You can always breed the male with the move for another female.

And that is basically It.

Chaining for IVs

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IVs are not all generated random as you may already know. In fact without using power items your Pokemon will inherit 2 to 5 of it's parents IV's.
The rest are generated randomly.
It is generated with priority like this:

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1) Power items
2) One random stat from either parent (Not HP or Def)
3) One random stat from either parent (Not HP)
4) Two random stats from opposite parents

Of course that's IF they inherit the stats, sometimes you will find that no stats will be inherited that I believe is because (don't be flaming if I'm wrong here) is because the stat chosen for the random stats inherited was HP and or HP or Def which is removed by the game.

So because of this, each two that are the same stat are overwritten by the higher priority.

So you would think to put two Power items on to increase the likelihood of getting two good stats. Well not necessarily true. You have 50% chance of either occurring but the likelihood of the other will be randomly assigned as normal.

Here is a personal account of chain IV Breeding using two power Items

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I want a Beldum with at least 30 in Attack and Speed, but I also want bulk in Def and Sp Def as well as HP
HP, Attack, Defence, Special Attack, Special Defence, Speed
Ditto (20, 9, 16, 31, 11, 31) + Beldum (5, 1, 31, 28, 30, 21) = Beldum (9, 9, 31, 16, 30, 31)
Ditto (30, 30, 3, 24, 28, 6) + Beldum (9,9,31,16,30,31) = Beldum ( 30, 30 31, 14, 28, 31)

Of course I did fill up a box and a half of failed babies.

The trick to chain IV breeding, is that when you find a baby with more IVs in all the stats you switch one of the Pokemon out, and give it a new power item (or Everstone).
Not all that difficult once you have the hang of it.

Some people find that breeding for correct IVs and Natures far too tedious if that person is you open this spoiler.

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So you're too lazy to put more effort into breeding..
Well okay then, I bet you want to know what is more effective when you get to level 100 having 31 IVs or having a beneficial nature right?

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(((2 x Base Stat)+ IV + EV) x Level / 100 + 5) x Nature
(rounding down)

That is the equation to calculate the stats at any given level

For those not mathematically inclined, i'll break it down.

BASE STAT < 121, you will benefit more with 31 IVs and neutral nature
BASE STAT > 126, you will benefit more from a beneficial nature and 0 IVs
*With 252 EVs

Of course both is ideal don't get confused.

I soon hope to add more information on each section as well as my experience trying to breed an almost perfect IV spread from a Scyther with IVs (16, 4, 1, 8, 15, 8) without catching another.
Which I have started on my quest you can see my progress in this spoiler where I'll explain everything I have done.

Darwin's Theory within Pokemon Experiment:

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Here we go..
First I should explain that I have two Ditto's I will be using throughout the course of this experiment.
DITTO 30, 30, 3, 24, 28, 8 Sassy
and Ditto 20, 9, 16, 31, 11, 31

The Scyther I began with was this:
16, 4, 1, 8, 15, 8 (f) (nature)
DITTO 30, 30, 3, 24, 28, 8 Sassy - Power Bracer(Atk)

From here I'll just list who I put In Daycare after each swap in steps.

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Step 2)
Scyther 31 30, 2, 16, 26, 16 (m) naughty - Power Bracer(Atk)
Ditto 20, 9, 16, 31, 11, 31 Calm - Power Anklet (Spd)

Step3)
Decided to put Jolly with Naughty to see what would happen
Scyther 31 30 2 16 26 16 (m) Naughty
Scyther 20, 2, 16, 16, 26, 30 (f) Jolly

Step 4)
Rash has higher everything than Jolly, other than SpD which I can forgo a point or so especially when Naughty can possibly make up for it.
Scyther 31, 30, 2, 16, 26, 16 (m) Naughty
Scyther 31, 18, 26, 16, 24, 30 (F) Rash

Step 5)
Scyther 31, 30, 26, 12, 12, 31 (f) Adamant - Everstone
Scyther 31, 30, 2, 16, 26, 16 (m) Naughty

Step 6)
30, 30, 20, 4, 22, 31(m) gentle
Scyther 31, 30, 26, 12, 12, 31 (f) Adamant - Everstone

End product:
31, 30, 20, 8, 22, 31 (m) Adamant, with Technician
Not bad for 6 hours of breeding ey ;P

Spoiler:

hatched eggs:
Step 1)
31 30, 2, 16, 26, 16 (m) naughty - Straight up hah, something better.
12, 30, 0, 0, 16, 10 (f) brave
Step 2)
31, 30, 2, 0, 14, 18 (f) Hasty
20, 2, 16, 16, 26, 30 (f) Jolly -
18, 30, 2, 12, 26, 6, (f) Calm
31, 30, 16, 6, 0, 4(f) Quiet
26, 22, 2, 16, 28, 30 (m) Quirky
20, 30, 2, 31, 12, 6 (m) Modest
Step 3)
28, 30, 8, 31, 26, 14 (f) Rash
8, 30, 2, 21, 31, 16 (m) careful
31, 18, 26, 16, 24, 30 (f)Rash -
4, 30, 2, 30, 20, 16, (f) Modest
20, 30, 0, 16, 26, 20 (f) Gentle
Step 4)
18, 31, 2, 16, 6, 30 (m) Impish
31, 30, 26, 12, 12, 31 (f) Adamant
31, 18, 2, 14, 26, 30 (f) gentle
Step 5)
8, 30, 16, 12, 26, 28 (m) Adamant
10, 8, 2, 16, 12, 21(f) Sassy
2, 8, 2, 16, 12, 18 (f) Adamant
31, 30, 26, 28, 12, 10 (f) Adamant
31, 2, 2, 4, 16, 16 (m) Serious
24, 30, 2, 24, 12, 16 (f) Adamant
31, 30, 6, 30, 26, 16 (f) Bashful
10, 30. 20, 16, 26, 8 (m) Adamant
28, 30, 26, 8, 4, 16 (f) jolly
16, 30, 26, 0, 26, 31 (m) Quirky
30, 30, 20, 4, 22, 31(m) gentle
Step 6)
31, 30, 20, 8, 22, 31 (m) Adamant

No one hesitate to add information or ask questions, like it says in the title this is on-going I'll be adding whenever I find new info.

 

[»ѕιℓνєяωιηgѕ«]

Wow. *Mouth drops open* Long, but awesome!

 

[Plumpyfoof]

It does say comprehensive hah, I tried to make it as easy as possible to navigate. Any suggestions to make it easier?

 

[Satycorn89]

Not trying to look like a total retard (which I know I will), but I'm new to 4th and 5th Gen Pokemon, especially in breeding, but I totally lost it in the advanced breeding section. Does the level of the parent matter, and will the baby has the parent's IV transmitted, no matter what? For example you have a level 70 beldum with a sp attack of 170, will the baby have the same special attack? That would be tremendously strong and wierd... Sprry if I'm understanding this wrong :(...

 

[Plumpyfoof]

Not trying to look like a total retard (which I know I will), but I'm new to 4th and 5th Gen Pokemon, especially in breeding, but I totally lost it in the advanced breeding section. Does the level of the parent matter, and will the baby has the parent's IV transmitted, no matter what? For example you have a level 70 beldum with a sp attack of 170, will the baby have the same special attack? That would be tremendously strong and wierd... Sprry if I'm understanding this wrong :(...

The levels have nothing to do with it, and it's not guaranteed to get the IVs there is just an elevated chance that you will inherited.
And the baby will not have 170 Special Attack at level 1 that would be ridiculous haha but if the IV's AND Evs are the same then it will have the same at the same level. I think that's what you meant.

Sorry for the late reply , I've been in hospital and such.