Nature Mints

[ReKoil]

Have you ever used any?

If you've used them: what's your criteria for using them?
For example: do you only fix bad natures or any nature that isn't the best for that specific mon?

Personally I've never used any before Paldea, where I used a Modest Mint on my Adamant Espathra to help it shine more.
I also gave an Adamant Mint to my Sassy Meowscarada. Although not a horrible nature, Meowscarada's is pretty speedy so I decided to fix the Speed decrease by minting it into a better nature. It's now my fastest team member =3
The rest of my team didn't have any hindering natures so I left them alone.

 

[Squirtkipfan01]

Im not smart or competitively inclined so no

 

[Adam Levine]

I've used a few in Scarlet. I'm that guy who likes applying competitive knowhow into regular playthroughs because I like to make things challenging for myself otherwise. That includes using (ugh) status moves, (UGH) held items, and (god forbid) mints. I can't remember which Pokémon specifically I gave Mints to, but I have a feeling I gave one to my Indeedee. Like the self-proclaimed free-thinker I am I also prepared my own Iron Hands for raids by giving it, you guessed it, an Adamant Mint.

On the whole I'm glad they're a thing because raising a Pokémon that doesn't have this one specific attribute is no longer a death sentence.

 

[Sweet Serenity]

Absolutely. Whenever I play Pokémon, Nature Mints are an absolute must. My criteria for using Nature Mints is that my Pokémon must perform at their absolute best, meaning that all my Pokémon must have their "correct" Natures. For instance, all my sweepers must have either a "Timid" or "Jolly" Nature depending on their attacking specialty so they can outspeed the competition, which is especially useful in mirror matches. All my bulky attackers and/or wallbreakers must have either an "Adamant" or "Modest" Nature so they can hit hard as possible either in retaliation or to break those tough defenses. If not, this must be corrected quickly when possible. The thing is, before Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Mints weren't available until post-game. Thus, whenever my Pokémon didn't have the correct Nature, I would breed them until I hatched a Pokémon with the correct Nature. This was even more complicated in games where Nature Mints didn't exist either, but I still put the work in.

Sprigatito was my starter Pokémon as well and personally, Willow (my Meowascarda's nickname) would never have an Adamant Nature because Meowascarda specializes more so in Speed, not Attack despite having a really good Attack stat. This makes it a sweeper instead of a wallbreaker, and its defensive stats are too low to be a bulky attacker. Jolly Nature is the way to go. Mind you, Natures only increase one stat by 10% and decrease another stat by 10%. You're literally better off making it Jolly to increase its Speed by 10%, decrease its Special Attack by 10%, which it would likely never use anyways, and just letting it hold a Life Orb, which increases its attacks by 30% rather than 10% at the cost of 10% of your namesake. That way your Meowascarda would be able to move fast as possible and hit harder than an Adamant Meowascarda (without a Life Orb).

 

[Devalue]

Yes. Never had much of an opportunity until recently.

Sword/Shield: Held onto them with a miserly grip, initially. Distributed them only to legendaries and shinies. Discovered how to farm mints in the last playthrough of Sword/Shield. Eased up on being so stingy.

Scarlet/Violet: Requires very little thought. Started handing them out freely after discovering them at a shop. Also acquires oodles of good ones from the Charizard and Cinderace raids.

Asks "How much does this help?" when dealing with a limited number of mints. Explains it with a short, possibly clearer example involving Espeon and a Modest Mint. Lists them in order of priority.

1. Adamant (+Attack/-Special Attack)
2. Impish (+Defense/-Special Attack)
3. Lonely (+Attack/-Defense)
4. Quirky (Neutral)
5. Quiet (+Special Attack/-Speed)
6. Bold (+Defense/-Attack)
7. Mild (+Special Attack/-Defense)

(Expects Espeon to outspeed just about everything in a normal playthrough. Avoids a negative nature only. Left out most -Speed natures to keep the list shorter.)

Treats Defense for Body Press builds, maybe Speed for U-turn Pokemon (outsped everything with Meowscarada as neutral Speed), and defenses for support-oriented Pokemon much like Special Attack with Espeon above.

The thing is, before Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Mints weren't available until post-game.

Accesses Crown Tundra (the vastly better mint farming area) before post-game. Opens up the same time as Isle of Armor. Requires losing to Peony. Lets you pass anyways. Be careful around the level 60+ Pokemon, of course.

 

[Palamon]

Hmm, no? I've certainly considered it, but I'm the type of person who doesn't really care about natures. I might change my Meowscarada named Bogart to Sassy though with the sassy mint though because Bogart (my oc) is a demanding queen. If Tyrogue were in S/V, though, certainly, in a heartbeat. I've had the misfortune of wanting a Hitmonchan that wasn't the right nature and had to use vitamins to fix its stats and if I ever raise a Tyrogue into a Hitmonchan again I am using a defense based Nature Mint like holy shit.

I think nature mints are a really cool edition to Pokemon, though. People no longer have to soft reset for the perfect Nature or whatever, and just change it with a Mint.

 

[Hashimi]

I do consume them, just for the legendaries though. As for the regular Pokémon, I usually breed, since I got a flock of Ditto belonging to every good nature (adamant, careful, calm, etc...) - well, in Pokémon Shield at least.
I prefer to have one of the two attacks lowered in favour of another stat or, in particular circumstances, a neutral nature - example is Goodra which I use with sap sipper as its ability.

 

[Corveone]

I sure do if they're available during regular playthrough, which so far only applies to Legends Arceus and SV. No point in keeping a Pokémon with a harmful nature if you can improve its efficiency with a simple item, especially if it's not a top-tier Pokémon and could really use the boost.

Obviously way better than catching/breeding the same mon a dozen times or more until it gets the nature you want, which interrupts the gameplay flow.

In a couple of rom hacks (that don't have nature mints, or that are limited/made available much later) I used the Synchronize Abra/Ralts method.