Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Shiny Pokemon Guide Last updated 9-24-07 By R2 ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Table of Contents Section 1) About Shiny Pokemon It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that bling. Section 2) Preparation Ready? Section 3) Preparation for the Preparation This is getting complicated. Section 4) Using the Poke Radar There's a trick to it. Section 5) Constructing a Chain Linking it all together. Section 6) Tips A few pointers. Section 7) Pokemon That Are Found In Grass As opposed to Pokemon that are thought up while on grass, like Dunsparce. Seriously, what's up with that? Section 8) Pokemon Swarms Get 'em off me, man! They're everywhere! Section 9) Legal Junk What am I gonna do with all this junk, all this junk at the end of my guides? ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section 1) About Shiny Pokemon A Shiny Pokemon is something of a trophy. When you meet a wild Pokemon, hatch an egg, or meet a scripted encounter, there is a one in 8192 chance (nice, even figure) of that Pokemon having an unusual color and a glimmer of sparkles around it when it enters battle. That's what makes it Shiny. Longtime Pokemon players will remember the Red Gyarados at Lake Rage in Johto, featured in Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal. The Red Gyarados was the first Shiny Pokemon most people encountered -- the odds of meeting a shiny in a random encounter were even worse in second-gen than they are now. In Diamond and Pearl, it is possible to increase the odds of meeting a shiny Pokemon usind the Poke Radar tool. Doing so requires quite a bit of planning and foresight and no small amount of luck -- but any little edge helps. A Shiny Pokemon is most easily discerned by its unusual color. Shiny Shuckles have a blue shell instead of red, shiny Charizards have black scales instead of orange, and shiny Chanseys are green instead of pink. Some shiny color schemes are very similar to the Pokemon's regular color, but the Pokemon still have a distinctive glimmer when they enter battle. There is nothing unusual about shiny Pokemon except their color and their rarity. In second-gen, when they were introduced, shiny Pokemon had set IV values that assured they were a little stronger than your average Pokemon, but no better than a VERY patient breeder could get. Now, shiny Pokemon have random IVs like anyone else, so there's no promise that the shiny Pokemon you catch will be any better than any other (when Natures are factored in as well, useful shinies are pretty gol-durn hard to find). Shininess is not something that can be passed on from parent to child during breeding (again, a change from previous generations). When an egg hatches, you have the same one-in-eight-thousand chance as usual. It is possible, with a cheating device, to make every encounter an encounter with a shiny Pokemon. Like any cheating in Pokemon, I just don't get it. If shinies are common, they're not special anymore, since there's no other benefit to having one. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section 2) Preparation In Diamond/Pearl, you can increase your odds of meeting a shiny Pokemon by diligence with the Poke Radar. To do this, you will need: 1) The Poke Radar. Of course. You get the Poke Radar by completing the game and filling the Sinnoh Regional Pokedex. Show your full Sinnohdex to Professor Rowan and you will get the National Pokedex and the Poke Radar. 2) Lots of Max Repels. In the hundreds. This will keep the Pokemon you don't provoke with the Poke Radar at bay. 3) Several high-level Pokemon with good combat moves -- including at least one with False Swipe. You'll be mowing down dozens of mooks before you meet your shiny, so PP-restoring items aren't a bad idea either. 4) Some Balls. I don't mean the chutzpah and tenacity to hunt for shinies, though you'll need that too. I mean Ultra Balls, Net Balls, Dusk Balls, Repeat Balls, or whatever device you plan to catch the Shiny you'll find. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section 3) Preparation for the Preparation If you need money to buy all those Max Repels, take a Pokemon with the Amulet Coin to Route 212. To the left of Mr. Backlot's mansion, there is a Gentleman and a Socialite facing one another. The Gentleman has a Chatot at level 40, and the Socialite a Roselia at level 40. Use the Vs. Seeker to battle them over and over; with the Amulet Coin, they're worth a disproportionate $16,000 per battle. If you need to level up a Pokemon, the Vs. Seeker around the Battle Area or Resort Area nets lots of Experience in a hurry. Mt. Stark has wild Pokemon at levels 55-60. If you haven't caught Heatran yet -- and I've put off that task for this very reason -- you can wander around Stark and fight the wild Pokemon there in 2v2 battles with the computer-controlled trainer Buck and his Claydol. The advantage is that Buck will heal your Pokemon after every fight, saving you the long trek back to a Pokemon Center. The move False Swipe is an attack power 60 Normal-type move. If it hits a Pokemon and would faint it, the Pokemon is left with 1 HP instead -- since Pokemon are easier to catch when they're low on HP, the benefits should be obvious. False Swipe comes in TM54, available for $2000 at the Veilstone Department Store. Pokemon that can learn False Swipe are: Naturally: By TM54: By Breeding: Farfetch'd (lv.43) Beedrill Spearow Cubone (lv.27) Paras / Parasect Heracross Scyther (lv.13) Krabby / Kingler Seedot Grovyle (lv.53) Pinsir Shroomish Nincada (lv.25) Mew Zangoose (lv.44) Gligar / Gliscor Gallade (lv.45) Sneasel / Weavile Corphish / Crawdaunt Anorinth / Armaldo Absol Kricketune Garchomp Skorupi / Drapion Of those, Parasect is one of my favorites: it also learns Spore, and catching a sleeping Pokemon at 1 HP is easier still. Zangoose and Ninjask can learn Swords Dance, which helps with False Swipe's low attack power (assuming you evolve Ninjask after Nincada hits level 25 to learn False Swipe in the first place). Finally, register your Poke Radar on the Key Items menu, so that it's useable by simply pushing the Y button. That saves a lot of time, considering how many times you have to use it. By the same token, it's a good idea to move Max Repels to the top of your bag for easy access. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section 4) Using the Poke Radar When you encounter a wild Pokemon with the Poke Radar, the game keeps track of how many times you've encountered that Pokemon in a row. The more times you can consecutively encounter a Pokemon through the Poke Radar, the more likely it is that Pokemon will be shiny. To manipulate the Poke Radar so that you encounter the same Pokemon over and over is called a chaining. To activate the Poke Radar, you must be standing in a grassy patch and not riding your bicycle, or you'll get the "There is a time and place for everything, but not now" speech. You must also have taken 50 steps since the last time you used the Poke Radar, to "recharge the battery". When you use the Poke Radar, several patches of grass nearby will start to rustle; this indicates the presence of a Pokemon in that patch. If you walk into that patch of grass, you'll encounter a Pokemon. The Pokemon you meet will probably be one of the normal Pokemon that live in the area. If you use the Poke Radar on Route 201, you'll probably run into Bidoof or Starly. But some Pokemon only show up when you use the Poke Radar -- you might run into a Nidoran Female on Route 201, too. The Pokemon you encounter with the Poke Radar will be around the same level as the Pokemon that live in the area. The aforementioned Nidoran Female will probably level 2 or 3, like the Bidoofs and Starlies that normally live on Route 201. The grass that shakes can have one of three appearances. Sometimes the grass will simply rustle; this means that it is more likely for a common Pokemon to be in that patch. Sometimes the grass will rustle and there will be two small yellow marks that look vaguely like lightning bolts over the patch; this means you're more likely to meet an uncommon or rare Pokemon there. Very rarely, the grass will have a golden glow about it. That's your shiny Pokemon! Go get it! ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section 5) Constructing a Chain To get a chain of Pokemon is to manipulate your chances so that you are more likely to encounter the same kind of Pokemon each time you step into the rustling grass. It still takes some luck, but plenty of people have reported success with catching many shinies in a single sitting. First, figure out what kind of shiny you want to bait into appearing and where you can find it. Needless to say, if you're going to be using the Poke Radar to catch this critter, it'll need to be one that is encountered in grass -- not hatched from an egg; recieved from an NPC (like Bebe's Eevee); or found in the water, in a building, or underground. A list of these is provided at the end of this guide. It helps if the Pokemon you're hunting happens to be the Swarm for the day, but more on that later. First, find yourself a nice, big patch of grass. The bigger, the better. You want it to nearly cover the screen, if possible. Spray yourself with a Max Repel and put a strong Pokemon in front to make it work. You don't want non-Radar Pokemon screwing you up. Activate the Poke Radar and watch closely for the grass around you to shake. If you step into a plain rustling patch, you will need to chain with ONLY plain rustling patches. If you step into a yellow-marked patch, you will need to chain with ONLY yellow patches. It is easier to chain in patches that are not marked with yellow than those that are. Step into one of the rustling patches to encounter a Pokemon. If it's not the one you want, flee and start over. When you encounter the Pokemon you want through the Poke Radar, faint it or catch it -- DO NOT RUN AWAY. Fleeing keeps you from starting your chain. If you're hunting for a Pokemon that can flee the battle or use Whirlwind or Roar, bring something with Mean Look, Ingrain, Suction Cups, or another move or ability to prevent those complications from arising. When you faint or catch the Pokemon you encountered, you've begun your chain. The Poke Radar is still functioning, so a few more patches of grass will rustle. Only enter the next patch if there are four patches shaking onscreen. Otherwise, reset your radar by carefully avoiding the rustling patches of grass until you've fully recharged the battery on your Poke Radar. As before, if you started with a plain rustling patch, you may only enter plain rustling patches. If you started with a yellow-marked patch, you may now only enter yellow-marked patches. If you switch, you're virtually assured to break your chain. If there are no patches of the same kind, reset your radar and try again. The next patch you choose should be the farthest one from you as possible; this increases the odds that it is the same Pokemon as the last one you encountered. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you enter a patch of grass that is fewer than four steps away. If the only rustling patches of grass are closer than four steps, reset your radar. To keep the Radar functioning, never go into a rustling patch of grass on the corner of the area you're using, and try to avoid going to (or near) the edges. "Edges" include patches of grass that touch trees, fences, other trainers, or NPCs, so stay away from those objects too. In fact, it's usually best just to look for your shinies in another bit of tall grass than one that's full of random trees or trainers. Your goal is to chain at least 20 Pokemon. 40 or more makes the odds even better. After this, simply reset your radar until you get one of the rainbow-hued patches of grass -- it'll take a while, but you don't want to keep pressing your luck by continuing to chain. When you see that patch that has a shiny in it, go get it! When your Max Repel wears off, use another one. Reset your radar afterwards to make sure you don't lose track of what you're doing. If you're careful (and use the Step Counter Poketch app), you can get five uses of the Radar out of each Max Repel. Resetting the Radar doesn't break your chain, so do that anytime you're displeased with your odds. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section 6) Tips: Sometimes the chain just breaks, even when you've followed all the guidelines. You're manipulating luck with these techniques, and sometimes your luck doesn't hold up. Just try again. Don't get on your bike, because it prevents the Poke Radar from working. Take a break if you need it, but do it at a point when you know where you were when you return. In the middle of a battle is ideal -- that way you won't risk stepping into the wrong patch of grass or need to reset your Radar when you get back. Chaining can take a long time. It wouldn't hurt to do it with your DS plugged into the battery charger, just to make sure you don't run out of power in the middle of your chain. Saving and quitting your game breaks your chain, so manage your power effectively. If you take a break, closing your DS to put it in sleep mode doesn't break your chain. Be careful walking upwards, away from the camera. It's hard to see the patch of grass behind your character, and if it rustles, you might not notice until you've stepped in it and broken your chain. If you're looking for an Electric-type Pokemon, the first Pokemon in your party should have the ability Static. This makes it more likely for you to encounter Electric-type Pokemon over other types, giving you an extra edge in keeping your chains running. Pokemon that can have the Static ability are Pichu/Pikachu/Raichu, Voltorb/Electrode, Elekid/Electabuzz (but not Electivire), Mareep/Flaaffy/Ampharos, and Electrike/Manectric. Chainable Electric-types are Pikachu, Magnemite, Voltorb, Pichu, Mareep, Flaaffy, Elekid, Electrike, Plusle, Minun, Shinx, Luxio, and Pachirisu. If you're looking for a Steel-type Pokemon, the first Pokemon in your party should have the ability Magnet Pull, for the same reason. Pokemon that can have the Magnet Pull ability are Magnemite/Magneton/Magnezone and Nosepass/Probopass. Chainable Steel-types are Magnemite, Skarmory, Aron, Beldum, and Bronzor. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section 7) Pokemon That Are Found in Grass This is a list of Pokemon that can be chained using the Poke Radar. These are encountered in the wild but not underground, in aquatic areas, off of Honey trees, or in the Safari Zone, since the Poke Radar is useless in those locations. Swarming are omitted because they're listed below. Pokemon that can only be encountered by using the Poke Radar and those that are shipped into Mr. Backlot's back lot are included. Caterpie Sentret Mightyena Starly Metapod Hoothoot Wurmple Staravia Weedle Noctowl Silcoon Bidoof Kakuna Ledian Beautifly Bibarel Rattata Ariados Cascoon Kricketot Raticate Pichu Dustox Kricketune Spearow Cleffa Lotad Shinx Fearow Igglybuff Lombre Luxio Ekans Togepi Seedot Budew Pikachu Mareep Nuzleaf Pachirisu Sandslash Flaaffy Swellow Buizel Nidoran Female Marill Wingull Floatzel Nidorina Sudowoodo Pelipper Shellos Nidoran Male Hoppip Ralts Gastrodon Nidorino Skiploom Kirlia Buneary Vulpix Sunkern Nincada Glameow Jigglypuff Wooper Loudred Purugly Zubat Quagsire Azurill Chingling Golbat Murkrow Aron Stunky Oddish Misdreavus Meditite Skuntank Gloom Wobbuffet Medicham Bronzor Venonat Girafarig Plusle Bonsly Venomoth Pineco Minun Mime Jr. Diglett Gligar Volbeat Happiny Dugtrio Shuckle Illumise Chatot Meowth Sneasel Roselia Hippowdon Golduck Teddiursa Numel Snover Mankey Ursaring Camerupt Abomasnow Primeape Skarmory Torkoal Growlithe Houndoom Trapinch Machop Stantler Vibrava Machoke Smeargle Cacnea Abra Tyrogue Swablu Kadabra Elekid Zangoose Bellsprout Magby Seviper Weepinbell Miltank Lunatone Geodude Larvitar Solrock Graveler Baltoy Ponyta Castform Slowpoke Kecleon Grimer Banette Krabby Duskull Weezing Dusclops Rhyhorn Tropius Rhydon Chimecho Chansey Snorunt Tangela Bagon Mr. Mime Scyther Pinsir Tauros Ditto Eevee Porygon ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section 8) Pokemon Swarms Each day, one kind Pokemon will "swarm" in a given area. This makes them a very common encounter in the area where they're swarming, making it easier to encounter several of them in a chain. Go to Sandgem town and go to Lucas/Dawn's house to talk to his/her sister. She'll tell you what is swarming today and where. You can also get this information from the news on TV, but your friend's sister will always tell you immediately, instead of making you watch TV for a while until the news program comes on. The Pokemon that Swarm are Pidgey, Magnemite, Farfetch'd, Doduo, Drowzee, Krabby, Voltorb, Cubone, Lickitung, Natu, Dunsparce, Snubbull, Swinub, Corsola, Delibird, Phanpy, Smoochum, Zigzagoon, Surskit, Slakoth, Makuhita, Nosepass, Skitty, Electrike, Spoink, Spinda, Absol, and Beldum. Each Pokemon swarms in a specific Route or area -- Magnemite swarms, for instance, are always at the Fuego Ironworks. Your friend's sister will tell you what Route or area to look in when she tells you what the swarm for the day is. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section 9) Legal Junk This game guide is copyright 2007 Richard Rouse. It may not be duplicated or sold for profit without permission. This is probably the first guide I've crafted for a popular game while it was still new, so what hey, that disclaimer actually means something now. No guarantee, promised or implicit, is given for the authenticity of the information contained in this guide, but if you screw up your Pokemon game it's not exactly the end of the world. Whatcha gonna do, cry about it? This guide is posted on my personal website at http://www.intentionallyblank.net, so if you found it anywhere else, I'd appreciate knowing about it (I can be contacted from the website listed above).