Ah, Shiny Pokémon hunting! One of the most intense and time consuming portions in the Pokémon experience. Most causal Pokémon players will go entire runs without running into a palate swapped monster, and in many cases, may not even know they exist at all. But for others, Shiny hunting IS the game. While the base odds of encountering a shiny Pokémon are a staggering 1/4096, luckily for us, the good folks at Game Freak have programed a way to significantly increase your odds of an encounter in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl to 1/99! Here’s what you need to do to maximize your chances of snagging a shiny Pokémon of you very own!
What are Shiny Pokémon?
Shiny Pokémon are Pokémon with alternate color schemes that also sparkle when they emerge from their Poké Ball. For instance, a Shiny Shinx is yellow whereas a standard Shinx is blue. Shiny Pokémon can be encountered in the wild or during scripted encounters, like with Legendaries, although their appearance rates are very low. You can, however, increase your odds of encountering one with a few tricks.
What are the odds of finding a Shiny Pokémon in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl?
For each Pokemon encountered in the wild, there is a 1/4096 chance that it will be a Shiny Pokémon. Breeding is similar, with there being a 1/4096 chance a hatched egg will result in a Shiny Pokémon. Chaining Pokémon, which we’re covering in this guide, increases these odds significantly.
How to acquire the PokéRadar in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
The first step in maximizing your shiny chances is to obtain the PokéRadar. This handy little device becomes available after you become Sinnoh League Champion AND at least encounter each of the 150 Sinnoh Pokémon. Once that’s done, head on over to Professor Rowan’s lab where he bestows you with the PokéRadar! This handy little device gives you the ability to locate specific Pokémon in grassy areas.
With the PokéRadar in hand, head on over to Ramanas Park and find Professor Oak. He’ll hook you up with an app for your Pokétch called the Chain Counter. This will help with the Pokémon chaining you’ll have to do to get the best chances of encountering a Shiny.
How to chain Pokémon encounters to increase Shiny chances
It’s highly recommended you use repel to eliminate random encounters while you are doing this. You should also have loads of Poké Balls on hand!
Equipped with the PokéRadar and the Chain Counter, it’s time to start chaining Pokémon! The PokéRadar works by showing you spots in the grass where wild Pokémon are hiding. Once you have the PokéRadar charged up by running around the area, you can start inspecting these grassy areas until you find a Pokémon you want to chain. It’s easy to tell where chainable Pokémon are hiding, as the grass will shake when you have the PokéRadar charged and equipped. Once you find the mon you want to hunt, capture it, and head to another patch of shaking grass to continue your chain. As long as you are still engaged in a chain, you are guaranteed to encounter the same Pokémon in each patch of rustling grass.
Now the frustrating thing about chaining is that it’s not guaranteed that the chain will continue after each encounter. The chances are pretty high, but a bit of bad luck has the potential to end your chain and require you to start over. However, there are a few things you can do to increase your odds. Check out the informative video by PokéTips which shows you the best way to increase your chaining odds and get the largest chain possible. It can get pretty complicated, but the effort is well worth it!
As your chain increases, the chances of encountering a Shiny Pokémon increased dramatically. Here are the current stats:
- 10 Chained: 1 in 2521
- 20 Chained: 1 in 1820
- 30 Chained: 1 in 1310
- 40 Chained: 1 in 99
Now the best thing about shiny chaining is the visual clue you get when a Shiny is available. Instead of a standard patch of rustling grass, little stars will appear to indicate a 100% chance of a shiny encounter.
Second radar shiny! #PokemonBrilliantDiamond #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/8cKz4LUVGl
— PokéNinja (@iPokeNinja) November 20, 2021
And that’s it! With enough luck and perseverance, you can Shiny hunt with the best of them! Good luck!
More Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl guides
Looking for more help with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl? Check out our other guides!
Written by Jason Ganos
Nintendo super fan since birth, Jason is the creator of Amiibo News and editor-in-chief at Nintendo Wire. One of his life goals is to provide the latest Nintendo news to fellow gamers with his natural know-how.
