What is the quickest way to raise Affection?

Some of my Pokemon have started having flavour text during battle such as Dozing off, and this is due to Affection gained through Pokemon Camp.

However there are a lot of things that can happen within Pokemon Camp: playing with toys, chatting to one (or multiple) Pokemon, sending Pokemon to play with one another, and then there's the whole cooking curry section with multiple different ingredients and berries.

So all of that begs the question: what is the quickest way to raise Affection?

Solution 1:

It's similar to raising affection in the 3DS games - play with them until their play meter is maxed out, then feed them, then go back to playing. It's a little more efficient now as you can raise two at the same time. This is the method that works best for me:

1. Set up a Pokémon Camp
2. Face the two Pokémon you want to raise and Call them over to you
3. Get out the feather/bell like cat toy and wave it around (I just mash the A button) in between the two. The two Pokémon will attack it over and over, each time letting off some orange notes
4. After a while, the Pokémon will stop attacking, stand still in place, and release a speech bubble with orange notes in three times in a row - they are now ready to move to the next step
5. Cook a curry - I don't think the quality matters too much, but it doesn't hurt to aim for a nice one. Wobbuffet or higher should be fine, though
6. Go back to step 2 and repeat
7. At various points throughout this procedure you will see pink hearts instead of orange notes - this indicates they've gone up an affection level. Once they reach the maximum level, instead of orange notes at step 3, you will get nothing at all - this indicates the affection is maxed out

It's useful to max out the affection as soon as you get anything you're planning on keeping in your party. Especially a Farfetch'd/Sirfetch'd - with maxed affection and holding a Leek, every single attack it makes will be a critical hit!

Solution 2:

With the release of Isle of Armor DLC in June 2020, a new and more efficient way to increase your Pokémon's friendship/affection was added into the game¹.

Upon completion of the Isle of Armor story and receiving Kubfu after defeating Mustard, the ability to have Pokémon follow you around is unlocked. The Pokémon that follows you around is the Pokémon that is in the first slot of your party.

While the Pokémon follows you around, their friendship/affection levels will increase as well. So you can explore the islands, shiny hunt, or do anything else that would require you to move around without having to continually repeat the activities within the camp.

¹Expansion pass is required. This is only applicable while adventuring in the Island of Armor and Crowned Tundra.