I did not know that raising a Pokemon's affection above 2 hearts in Pokemon-Amie gave it a exp boost and battle benefits until I noticed that my Marshtomp with 2 hearts grew much quicker than my other Pokemon.The thing is, I don't WANT any of the Affection benefits, because I think they make me too overpowered. Is there any way at all to lower Affection? I've brainstormed some ways, so please tell if they work or not:
- Making the Pokemon faint a lot, or keeping it fainted for a long time
- Storing the Pokemon in a PC
- Never interacting with the Pokemon (What would this include? Not doing anything Amie-related? Not battling with it? Not having it in your party at all?)
- Poking or hitting the Pokemon in Amie
- Getting out Pokepuffs in Amie for the Pokemon, then dropping them
- Trading the Pokemon do a different Trainer, then trading it back
- Putting the Pokemon in Pokemon Bank
- Hacking the game to change Affection values, or uploading the game to a computer and messing around with the code (is that even possible?)
Will any of these methods lower Affection? Does anyone else know another way to lower Affection? Do I just have to restart the game if I want to get rid of the Affection hearts?
Also, assuming I can lower Affection, how do I keep it Affection lowered? I do like to feed my Pokemon Pokepuffs and to let them run around on the Pokemon Amie screen while you walk around, but will this increase Affection?
Best Answer
No. Unlike Friendship/Happiness there are no methods to decrease Affection.
Per the chart on Bulbapedia's Affection page I've linked to, you can safely walk around with the Amie open and have the active Pokemon frolic from side-to-side without raising affection. But petting them and feeding them Pokepuffs is right out if you do not want that affection bonus XP. (Also, if you are their original trainer, having a Pokemon participate in the contest halls raises affection.)
Since level growth rate is your main issue; if you haven't already, I'd recommend turning off EXP-Share and just not use your Marshtomp as often, put him at the back of your party and focus on leveling everyone else. Or raise everyone else's affection to 2 hearts so it balances out.
Because the only way I can figure to legitimately lower a Pokemon's affection is to trade it to a friend, restart your save game (either using the Bank, or the same friend to hold onto any other important Pokemon), and then trade back on a new save-game. But in this case, though you'd lose the 1.2* XP gain from affection, you'd gain a 1.5* XP gain from not being the original trainer.