[Sword & Shield] Pokerus preservation

[FakeNate0]

At what time does pokerus expire? Are there other methods to keep it indefinitely other than storing it on the pc? To my experience it fades after midnight on ds and 3ds internal clocks. Is it the same on switch? Are there safe times I can get my pokemon out without risk of getting cured of pokerus? I know I could search this up myself, but I'd like to hear another person's opinion and their methods of keeping pokerus active.

 

[Devalue]

Cannot recall even getting Pokerus in Sword/Shield. Take this with a grain of salt.

Could apparently keep them in Home. Might avoid the timer ticking down?

On cure timing for Sword/Shield:

In Generation VIII, the game will check on the next available random event increment after midnight. This can result in a Pokémon that was infected while in a box, and withdrawn directly after resuming the game from sleep, being subsequently cured of the Pokérus after the next battle or similar event.

Never felt particularly important, though. Looted a ton of Power items from a raid event on the main save file. Grinded out 30 Macho Braces from the Cram-o-matic in the middle of a challenge playthrough on a different file. (Looking back: "Armorite Ore + Dynite Ore + 2 treasures". Probably meant Stardust x2 usually. Cannot use too good or too weak of treasures.) Cuts down the Poke Job time pretty decently without Pokerus.

 

[FakeNate0]

Hmm. Bulbapedia is kind of vague on the answer. It says between 1 day and or 4 days according to an equation on the site. But the Bulbapedia post here presumably mentions if a certain event occurs will trigger the curing, whether be battles, possibly leaving a loading zone, trading (I'm not sure.) and either putting the switch in sleep mode or turning the system off with any number of party members Pokemon infected with pokerus on current save state after midnight.

 

[Devalue]

Interprets it like this: Acquires a Pokerus strain that lasts 1 to 4 triggers. Reaches that trigger prerequisite right at midnight (or upon loading up the game on a new day). Differs by game from here.

Pre-Sword/Shield: Decrements the Pokerus count as soon as you load the game. Checks your current party.
Sword/Shield onward: Decrements the Pokerus count on your first random event. Checks your current party.

Could not tell you what those random events are, unfortunately.

So, an example: Kept a Pokemon with Pokerus in your party. Hits midnight in-game.

• Pre-Sword/Shield: Drops that infected Pokemon's count by 1 instantly. Might be cured.
• Sword/Shield: Deposits the infected Pokemon into a box immediately. Gets into a wild battle. Grabs the infected Pokemon back. Should not have dropped the Pokemon's count.

Bases this on Bulbapedia, not personal experience, for the record.

 

[FakeNate0]

So is it just a given according to the equation on Bulbapedia? Were the examples I given out the 1-4 triggers? If not, what are considered triggers in pokerus curing process? Sorry for all these questions. I lost pokerus in gen 4 playthrough accidentally, thinking I could spread it indefinitely and infinitely, but quickly learned that it can no longer spread after curing. Still got no luck in finding it, since pokerus is rarer than finding wild shiny pokemon even as of Gen 8. Funny thing is I found pokerus way before my 1st shiny in almost all my saves I don't know how lucky I am or the odds compared to finding pokerus before shines.

 

[Devalue]

1-4 days/triggers. Changed the wording to "trigger" as it does not get cured by the number of hours it is in your party or the number of battles you fight. Occurs from playing on a new day, causing something to call a random number (such as a battle), AND having it in your party.

Calling a random number: Presumes anything that involves randomness in Sword/Shield. Likely extends to spawning in a Pokemon. Doubts anything in town (besides battles). ...Maybe the daily deal in Stow-on-Side? Writes this without any real certainty, however.

The short version of keeping it around: Put the infected Pokemon in a box after you finish playing for the day (assuming you are not playing at midnight). Get in a battle before you take it out the next day. Should last forever. As a backup, keep two infected Pokemon. Use one to spread. Do not withdraw the other unless the first one gets cured accidently. Infect a new Pokemon as your designated backup immediately, if that occurs.

Does all of that make sense?

 

[FakeNate0]

Ok, it makes sense. I'll try to at least have backups in the PC that I won't use for battling. Its not the curing that concerns me since the effects linger after the cure. I did the same on my copy of black 2 and x. Good thing it hasn't changed from gen 6.