Of all the many currencies in Pokemon Sword & Shield, the normal money you get is probably the most important. This is how you’ll get access to most healing items, Poke Balls, clothing, and salon choices that help you customize your team and succeed in your first playthrough in Galar, and competitive trainers need even more for Vitamins to quickly train their Pokemon.
Thankfully, there are several ways to grind for money, each with its own style and similar speeds that can easily be accomplished by casual and serious trainers. Those in need of a lot of quick cash should look into one of these methods, as you can get more than enough money for anything you need in Galar within just a few minutes.
7 Watts & Luxury Balls
One of the fundamental ways of getting money is through selling Luxury Balls, an item that’s bought for a surprisingly low amount of the Watts you spend on vendors in the Wild Area. Essentially, if you have a good way to grind Watts, you can find a Watt Trader to fill up on Luxury Balls before selling them at any Poke Mart.
This is even easier with the Crown Tundra, as Watt Vendors have randomized item lists each day and none may be selling this high-value item when you need them. At the base of the snowy mountain, there’s a new Watt Trader with triple the inventory of a standard trader, and makes farming Luxury Balls far more consistent since he’s especially more likely to have them.
6 Champion Cup Rematches
A much more traditional way to get money in any Pokemon game is by rechallenging the Elite 4, but with Pokemon Sword & Shield this is somewhat of a different process. Trainers instead have a replayable Champion Cup, where you take on a random variety of Gym Leaders and Rivals to cement your title as Champion.
Thankfully, this still grants a massive amount of money, and the ability to Dynamax in these battles can make it incredibly easy to win these battles. Ball Guy will also give you a gift after completing any tournament, and besides the guaranteed first Wishing Piece of the day, he can sometimes give expensive gifts for winning like a pile of Nuggets.
5 Galarian Star Tournament
Another new method of farming cash introduced in the Crown Tundra is the Galarian Star Tournament, a double battle experience where players team up with Gym Leaders to take on unexpected combos of familiar foes. This functions about the same as the Champions Cup, and since there are double the trainers there’s double the cash.
That said, be warned that there’s also double the Pokemon and double the text, meaning this can be a much slower method than the standard Champion’s cup. If you plan on grinding this particular challenge, it’s recommended that you turn off Battle Effects in the options menu, since all the attack animations can take up far too much of your valuable time.
4 Use Gigantamax Meowth
It’s important to mention that the Amulet Coin is an important item in any form of money grinding that involves battles, as it’ll double any income you make so long as the Pokemon holding it appears in the battle. If you really want to maximize your cash, though, you can also give it to Pokemon with moves that produce money, such as Gigantamax Meowth.
This attack will literally throw cash at the ground to put in your pockets, and with your three turns of Dynamax you’ll almost always fill up your wallet with just a few battles. Entering a battle with Klara, Avery, or Mustard from the Isle of Armor is a great way to do this in just one quick battle, and if you win against them you’ll get even more.
3 Max Raid Battle Rewards
Max Raid Battles are a go-to source for nearly any resource in Pokemon Sword & Shield, but one of the absolute best things you can get is money thanks to the surplus of items you get. Alongside minerals like Armorite Ore and Dynite Ore, you can end up with tons of TRs and sellable items after nearly any Max Raid Battle, and most will sell for a fairly moderate amount of cash.
This can even include Experience Candy, which sells for an extraordinary amount of money if you don’t need to level up any of your Pokemon. Finding Pokemon like Blissey and Chansey will always grant tons of each type of candy, and selling the less expensive forms can often make a great way to get cash while keeping a clean inventory.
2 Digging Pa
It was already mentioned earlier that grinding for Watts can be an equivalent way of grinding for money, but there’s one way of getting a massive amount of Watts with very little effort. For just seven Armorite Ore, you can visit the Digging Pa on the Isle of Armor to dig you up a random amount of Watts, which can range from around 20,000 to several hundred thousand in a single attempt.
This number is random each time, so don’t expect to hit the full amount every time, but if you don’t need to reset a Pokemon’s EVs or need any moves from the Isle of Armor’s Move Tutor, then you should feel more than free to just spend your Armorite Ore to help you fill up on Watts to spend on Luxury Balls.
1 Ranked Battle Gifts
If you don’t want to take time out of your day to grind aimlessly for money, it’s worth noting that you can usually get a fair sum of cash simply from playing the game. When participating in the game’s online Ranked Battles, you’ll gain rewards every few fights whether you win or lose, and many of these include things like Comet Shards and Nuggets.
It’s not a major source of income, but if you just want a few extra dollars you shouldn’t feel like you need to grind. Instead, feel free to just play the game and fight some online foes, and you’ll end up with some spare dollars by the end of your play session.
