Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Bottle Caps: Where to get, and how to use Bottle Caps

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet bottle caps are an important part of preparing your team to take on the Gym Leaders, Team Star, and Titans, or the Elite Four, or even for competitive play, and luckily, finding them is fairly straightforward.

Affording them, however, may not be.

Pokemon is packed with random items that serve equally random purposes. Take the evolution stones as a basic example, and then one-use items such as the Metal Coat, or King’s Rock, also used for evolving Pokemon. Bottle Caps are rather different, as you can only use them in a specific location, and they're meant for Hyper Training.

Hyper Training is where you bump up your Pokemon's stat ceilings to eke out a bit more power in a given stat.

Here’s how to use and where to find Bottle Caps in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

How to use Bottle Caps in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Bottle Caps are a findable resource that can be used to enhance the IV of a Pokemon.

IV are a Pokemon’s Individual Values in each specific statistic: Attack, Sp. Attack, Speed, and so forth. These values can randomly vary between 0 and 31, with 31 obviously being the most desirable but least attainable (naturally, anyway). This is why you’ll often hear of Pokemon players breeding their pokemon with specific Individual Values in mind.

In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, however, Bottle Caps can be used in a similar bid to create the strongest of Pokemon. You likely won’t find them in the early-game, as they are a mid- to late-game resource that can only be used after defeating all of Paldea’s Gym Leaders, and on Pokemon of Level 50 and above.

To actually use the Bottle Caps, you’ll need to make your way to Montenevra in Glaseado Mountains. Here, you’ll find a Hyper Training Expert just behind the Pokemon Center (accompanied by an Abomasnow) that is more than happy to exchange Bottle Caps for upgrades to your Pokemon’s stats.

Where to find Bottle Caps in Pokemon

Provided that you’ve defeated all of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Gym Leaders, you can actually purchase Bottle Caps from any Delibird Presents store for $20,000 Pokedollars each.

Alternatively, Bottle Caps can be earnt as drops from Tera Raid battles, which you can take part in across the map or online via the Poke Portal. Do note, however, that they will only be dropped from Tera Raids of four stars and above.

You may also get lucky and find a Gold Bottle Cap at the Port Marinada Auction House. These are much more expensive, but they max out all of a Pokemon's IVs.

For more on Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, take a look at how to raise friendship levels with your Pokemon, as well as how to get all the Eeveelutions.