Pokemon Sword & Shield Cram-o-matic recipes & tips

by RPG Site Staff on 25 June, 2020

New to the Pokemon Sword & Shield Isle of Armor expansion DLC is the Cram-o-Matic, a special bird-shaped machine that can be used to create rare items... if you have the right Cram-o-Matic recipes.

The truth is that actually listing all Cram-o-Matic recipes is practically impossible. Once you unlock the machine in the dojo on the Isle of Armor as part of the Pokemon Sword & Shield DLC, you'll be able to pay some Watts to 'feed' the Cram-o-Matic four items - and what items you feed it will determine what items it spits out.

That means there are an insanely large number of possible Cram-o-Matic recipes with just as many outcomes - far too many to test. With that said, we do list some recipes on this page, as well as general tips for best understanding how to use this new mechanic.

The Cram-o-Matic can be really useful as it can give you access to rarer items such as Breeding Items, TRs for teaching moves and items for evolution, including ones to evolve Isle of Armor additions like Porygon.

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Rare Poke Ball Cram-o-Matic recipes

You can put lots of different items into the Cram-o-Matic and get lots of interesting and rare items back in return. This also includes Poke Balls, of course, with the machine possible to be used to get almost any type of Poke ball - even the rarer types.

Like everything, these Pokeball-focused Cram-o-Matic recipes have an element of the random to them - you'll need to experiment to get different results. There is a way to tilt things in your favor, however - and that's Apricorns.

Each Pokeball type has an Apricorn color it is associated with - which means if you shove multiple of that Apricorn type/color into the Cram-o-Matic, even mixed in with other items, you'll very likely get the associated Pokeball back in return.

One way to guarantee you get a Pokeball of some kind from the Cram-o-Matic is to put in any four apricorns - but like we said, which you put in helps to determine what type gets spat out.

Specifically, each type of Apricorn has a few specific Poke Ball types that they have a 25% of generating from the Cram-o-Matic... but every type also has a 25% chance of giving you a Poke Ball or Great Ball, regardless of recipe.

Don't forget that you can get Apricorns from Berry Trees, as well as from certain NPCs.

Black Apricorn: Dusk Ball, Heavy Ball & Luxury Ball
Blue Apricorn: Dive Ball, Lure Ball & Net Ball
Green Apricorn: Friend Ball & Nest Ball
Pink Apricorn: Heal Ball & Love Ball
Red Apricorn: Level Ball & Repeat Ball
Yellow Apricorn: Moon Ball, Quick Ball
White Apricorn: Fast Ball & Timer Ball

Poke Ball, Great Ball & Ultra Ball can come from a random Apricorn mix.

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Cram-o-Matic tips for Pokemon Sword & Shield

While we know that the main thing people are after are Cram-o-Matic recipes, that's actually something rather difficult to provide. That's because there are hundreds of items in Pokemon Sword & Shield, and the Cram-o-Matic essentially accepts all of them... which means there are millions of potential combinations with just as many outcomes. It's a lot.

We can tell you specific ones we've discovered, of course. We can also explain some golden rules about using the Cram-o-Matic which might make your life a lot easier. Here's some tips:

Putting four of the same item into the Cram-o-Matic generally speaking results in one of a related, more powerful item.
- For instance, feeding the Cram-o-Matic 4 Pearls results in it spitting back out a Big Pearl for you.
- Likewise, if you put 4 Bottle Caps into the Cram-o-Matic, that's a solid recipe to get a Gold Bottle Cap back.
- 4 Iron Ball items will turn into a Metal Coat.
- 4 Cell Battery items will get you a Magnet.
- 4 Fire Stone or 4 Sun Stone can be turned into a Flame Orb.
- The same is true of Ice Stones - 4 of those become an Icy Rock.
- A final example of this we've tried - if you put in 4 Tiny Mushroom, you'll get a Big Mushroom back. Makes sense, right?
- 4 Dragon Fang items into the Cram-o-Matic is a recipe for a Dragon Scale, of course.
Beyond the obvious here, simple experimentation is the best method. A random grab-bag of four items will spit out something interesting in return.
Remember, however, that Apricorns lead to Poke Balls. You can get non-Pokeball items with Apricorns in a recipe, but it seems the more Apricorns used the more likely it is you'll get a ball. So you should put Apricorns in together where possible, using the Poke Ball chart above.
Likewise, keep in mind that there are some Cram-o-Matic dead ends. Not every item leads to something better - and in some cases we've crammed in four valuable items to have the machine spit only one identical item back, meaning a net loss.

Pokemon Sword & Shield Cram-o-Matic Recopies

Some other Cram-o-Matic recipes we've found have worked are below - but obviously this list isn't anything like exhaustive, as there's a ridiculous number of possibilities.

The best thing to do with this feature is experiment, just as we have - and even then, there may be a further element of random chance to this mechanic which means you might not be guaranteed the same item from the same recipe every time.

We're still figuring it out - so consider this list advice, not iron-clad. There are seemingly multiple recipes to get every item, and sometimes (but not always) the order in which you feed stuff to the Cram-o-Matic impacts the outcome. Additionally, item order matters in some cases, so if you don't get what you were expecting, try out a different order.

We want to hear about your Cram-o-Matic experimentation, too. If you get anything cool, tell us the recipe in the comments!

Ability Capsule = 4x Rare Candy
Adrenaline Orb = 3x Fire Stone, Dusk Stone
Assault Vest = Dragon Fang, Destiny Knot, Metal Coat, Ganlon Berry
Big Mushroom = 4x Fossilized Drake, 4x Tiny Mushroom, Tiny Mushroom, 1 of any other item, 2x Tiny Mushroom
Big Pearl = 4x Pearl
Blunder Policy = Pretty Feather, Flower Sweet, Quick Claw, Rose Incense
Bottle Cap = 3x Big Nugget, Comet Shard or 2x Big Nugget, 2x Comet Shard
Brightpowder = Grip Claw, Kee Berry, Rawst Berry, Iapapa Berry or Honey, Pearl String, Tiny Mushroom, Water Stone
Cell Battery = Electric Seed, Grassy Seed, Misty Seed, Psychic Seed
Clease Tag = Mago Berry, 2x Balm Mushroom, Star Piece
Comet Shard = 4x Star Piece or 4x Cracked Pot
Cracked Pot = Destiny Knot, Lax Mint, Spell Tag, Wishing Piece
Destiny Knot = Moon Stone, 3x Wishing Piece
Dragon Fang = 3x Dynamax Candy, Stardust
Dubious Disc = 3x Wishing Piece, Light Ball
Electric Seed = 4x Pecha Berry
Everstone = Float Stone, Macho Brace, Pomeg Berry, Red Card
Expert Belt = 3x Balm Mushroom and Power Anklet, Power Band or Power Belt
Flame Orb = 4x Fire Stone
Float Stone = 4x Sun Stone or Sun Stone, 3x Evo Stone
Grassy Seed = 4x Rindo Berry
Grip Claw = Sharp Beak, 2x Balm Mushroom, Big Mushroom
Icy Rock = 4x Ice Stone
Life Orb = Dragon Scale & 3x Balm Mushroom
Light Ball = Thunder Stone, 3x Wishing Piece
Macho Brace = Power Anklet, 3x Star Piece
Magnet = 4x Cell Battery
Misty Seed = 4x Kee Berry
Muscle Band = 2x Kelpsy Berry & 2x Salac Berry or Bottle Of Iron, Sweet Apple, Figy Berry, Jar Of Odd Incense
Mystic Water = Chesto Berry, 2x Big Nugget, Black Sludge or Peal, Big Pearl, Pearl String, Comet Shard
Never Melt Ice = Icy Rock, Fossilised Bird, Wacan Berry, Pomeg Berry
Odd Incense = Mago Berry & 3x Figy Berry
Pearl String = 4x Big Pearl or 4x Balm Mushroom or 2x Big Pearl & 2x Nugget
PP Up = 4x Armorite Ore, 4x Big Nugget, 4x Bug Memory, 4x Dynamax Candy
Pretty Feather = Lum Berry, 3x Dynamax Candy
Prism Scale = Pearl String, Nugget, Stardust, Star Piece
Protector = Star Piece, Soft Sand, Power Herb, Big Pearl
Quick Powder = 3x Wishing Piece, Blue Apricorn or Wishing Piece, Comet Shard, Star Piece, Stardust
Rare Candy = 4x Comet Shard or 1x Big Nugget & 3x Comet Shard
Red Card = Fire Stone, 3x Wishing Piece
Rocky Helmet = 2x Hard Stone, 2x Metal Coat or Everstone, Light Coat, Metal Coat, Iron Ball
Sachet = Roseli Berry, Yache Berry, Up-Grade, Hard Stone
Scope Lens = Black Apricorn, 3x Armorite Ore
Sea Incense = Blue Apricorn & 3x Oran Berry or Tiny Mushroom
Sharp Beak = Jar Of Sea Incense, Pretty Feather, Resist Feather, Scope Lens
Shell Bell = 4x Mystic Water or Wave Incense, Ice Stone, Flame Orb, Gentle Mint
Smoke Ball = 2x Water Stone, 2x Wishing Piece
Snowball = Ice Stone, Pecha Berry, Sitrus Berry, Tamato Berry or Yache Berry & 3x Figy Berry
Stardust = 3x Oran Berry, 1x Moon Stone
Star Piece = 4x Stardust or Icy Rock, Lagging Tail, Rose Incense, Ribbon Sweet
Terrain Extender = 3x Nugget, Comet Shard
Toxic Orb = Coba Berry, Petaya Berry, Salac Berry, Cheri Berry
Up-Grade = Big Nugget, Big Mushroom, Star Piece, Yellow Apricorn
Wide Lens = Iapapa Berry, 3x Dynamax Candy
Wishing Piece = 3x Big Mushroom, 1x Blue Apricorn or Aspear Berry, Metal Coat, Kasib Berry, Twisted Spoon or 4x Rare Bones

TRs can be used to teach moves to your Pokemon - and you can actually obtain some of these through the Cram-o-Matic. Many TRs were only available previously via difficult max raid battles, so this is a great new optiont o have. Here's some recipes for TRs using the Cram-o-Matic that we've discovered. There are many more, for sure...

TR02 Flamethrower = 4x Flame Orb
TR04 Surf = 4x Water Stone
TR07 Low Kick = 4x Zinc or 5x Leppa Berry
TR08 Thunderbolt = 3x Rare Candy & Yellow Apricorn
TR10 Earthquake = 2x Comet Shard & 2x Nugget
TR16 Waterfall = 2x Pearl & 2x Balm Mushroom
TR23 Spikes = 4x Hondew Berry
TR31 Iron Tail = 4x Babiri Berry
TR34 Future Sight = Dawn Stone, Fire Stone & 2x Thunder Stone
TM47 Dragon Claw = 1x Aguav Berry & 3x Rindo Berry or 1x Aguav Berry & 3x Sitrus Berry
TR52 Gyro Ball = Metal Coat, Soft Sand, Light Clay, Iron Ball
TR57 Poison Jab = 2x PP Up & 2x Oran Berry
TR59 Seed Bomb = 4x Leaf Stone
TR60 X-Scissor = 4x Honey
TR66 Brave Bird = 3x Rare Candy & Coba Berry
TR79 Heavy Slam = 4x Metal Coat
TR82 Stored Power = 2x Rare Candy, Oran Berry, Leppa Berry
TR91 Venom Drench = Cheri Berry, Oran Berry, Oval Stone, Star Piece
TR98 Liquidation = Peal, Pearl String, Stardust, Star Piece