Petting

In Pokémon-Amie and Pokémon Refresh, the player can pet their Pokémon by using the touch screen. Petting a Pokémon increases its affection.

Most Pokémon that can be petted have places where they especially like being pet and places where they dislike it. The affection that a Pokémon gains is limited by its current enjoyment value, and petting a Pokémon in a favored spot affects its enjoyment less than petting it elsewhere, making it more efficient than petting it elsewhere. Petting a Pokémon in a disfavored spot never adds affection.

When a Pokémon is being petted in a favored spot, its expression will generally look extra happy and the sound effect will be higher pitched than for a neutral spot. When a Pokémon is pet in a disfavored spot, it will look wary or unhappy and the sound effect will have a lower pitch. Until a Pokémon has more than 0 points of affection, however, it will react and gain affection to any spot as if it were a neutral spot. In some Pokémon, the differences in their expressions can also be hard to tell.

Some Pokémon also have special effects on certain parts of their body, such as a slimy body or a sharp edge. Some of these effects are primarily aesthetic, still allowing the Pokémon to be pet there; others completely interrupt the player's petting if they are touched. There are seven different types of effects. Those that do not prevent petting are gooey, haunted, and slimy effects. Some Pokémon have these effects on their entire body; these Pokémon have no favored or disfavored spots and all petting has the same neutral effect. The effects that interrupt petting are burning, cutting, freezing, and paralyzing effects. Only two Pokémon have these effects on their entire body ( and ), preventing them from being pet at all.

If a Pokémon takes up both screens of the 3DS, its top half may be petted by feeding it, or either screen can be switched by holding the stylus at the top or bottom edge of the touchscreen as appropriate.

Pokémon that can high five
The player can also use the touch screen to high five certain Pokémon. This is done by holding the stylus on a spot away from the Pokémon's body for approximately five seconds, as long as the Pokémon also has at least 5 points of affection. Some Pokémon use a part of their body other than a hand or paw to "high five", such as, who uses its nose.