6th Gen Some notes on chaining shinies

Advanced X/Y-specific chaining guide and research

Last Edited: 25th October, Evening (GMT +8)
I'll highlight the new sections in color so they are easier to find when I edit like this.

Hi guys!

I've only chained two three shinies so far (Doduo and two Scatterbug), but I've noticed that the way chaining and shinies work in these games seems maybe a little different to previous versions. (Confirmed, read more in the rules list)

Firstly, occasionally while chaining the music will change and become a lot more frantic and climactic. I haven't seen this actually do anything in particular, and if you reset the poke radar or encounter a pokemon a few times it usually puts the music back to normal. But this seems like an indicator of increased shiny chance or something. Only thing is: I can't figure out what the trigger to activate this mode is. I do have a theory, but I'll get to that in a minute.

The second thing I noticed is what occurred when I was chaining Scatterbug. I broke a chain of 40 with no shinies and was kicking myself after all that work, reset my 3DS (to conserve repels) and started again. After only 8 Scatterbug, I suddenly had a shiny patch appear. I entered it and sure enough, it was a shiny. After I caught it, the music was in that frantic mode that I mentioned before and the grass was actually a darker green than before! I didn't notice the grass thing until about 30 seconds had passed, because its color suddenly went back to normal and made me do a double take. However, this brings up some interesting questions.

Is chaining different in X/Y? (Again, confirmed, read the rules) Does the fast music represent increased chance of shiny? Why did the grass change color? Like I said, I have a theory, but maybe someone here knows in better detail.

In any case, my theory is that there's a way to greatly increase the chances of a shiny appearing, but it involves using a much riskier method of chaining than the past generations. I suspect that the closer the shaking grass is to you when you enter it, the higher chance there will be of your chain breaking, but also if it doesn't break then you will have a higher chance of a shiny next, and that it increases with each dangerous spot you try. I think eventually if you hit that lucky spot it enters some kind of "frenzy mode" with the intense music and darker grass color and super high shiny chance. I do intend to test this theory out later when I have a moment, but it certainly seems like shinies can appear well outside of the 40 chain either way.

Currently my new theory is actually the opposite: I am starting to suspect that when the music gets crazy it's trying to kill your chain by making it much harder to find the right patch of grass. This theory does not quite seem to fit either, but so far I have seen no correlation between anything I've done and the occurrence of the music change. I successfully reproduced the greener grass thing (see below), but still have no idea what it means.

Edit: I am now updating my progress to this post as my findings become more concrete. After much testing, I have discovered the following:

A friend of mine linked me this: http://yellowfur.tumblr.com/post/64774138413/shiny-hunting-guide-1-since-so-muc-people-asked

It helped me by identifying an even easier way to separate the safe patches from the bad ones. The only thing that differs from my rules is she still uses the 4 square rule, whereas my current research seems to indicate that the minimum safe range has been reduced to 3.

-Key-
* = Confirmed as best as I can with multiple tests
? = Unconfirmed or unsure of accuracy of claim
! = Not a rule, but a very useful tip

GENERAL RULES

1. * (Updated) The grass now shakes a certain amount relative to the chances of it being your chosen Pokemon. So if a patch of grass is going nuts and shakes a lot, that's the tile you should always pick (assuming the other rules are still satisfied). If you don't see any of those grass tiles, reset. This makes keeping your chain SO MUCH EASIER.
2. * Tiles 3 or more spaces away from your character appear to be safe (except for when rule #3 occurs, and possibly rare pokemon are less safe for closer tiles but that is unconfirmed)
3. * Grasses touching each other diagonally appear to be ok, but if they are horizontally or vertically touching it's a no-go zone
4. * Do not touch the control stick! Using your skates or bike or even the item finder WILL end the chain!
5. * It is safe to step outside of the grass (at least for a few steps). You can use this in areas where the grass patches are somewhat irregular to avoid touching a bad grass patch.
6. ! If you're not sure what to do about a certain grass configuration, reset. It's always better than losing your chain!
7. ? The music changes of its own accord at certain, currently unpredictable points after an encounter. I THINK this means it's suddenly more dangerous for you to chain, but resetting will change it back to normal quickly enough.

GOLDEN RULES (These take precedence over the above rules)

1. * Watch out for a very slightly moving patch of grass. That patch of grass is a trap and should always be avoided!
2. * Shaking tiles 1 or 2 spaces away from your character are dangerous and should not be entered
3. * Edge and corner tiles are never safe! (But a shiny edge or corner tile WILL be a shiny pokemon)
4. * If a patch glitters, it is a shiny pokemon. Forget which way it shakes, it IS a shiny and you should enter that grass! THIS RULE OVERRULES ALL OTHERS! (Note that shining grass on an edge can still end your spree after you encounter that Pokemon)
5. ! When a patch glitters, it's the BOTTOM of the patch that shines, not the top. This is important for cases like mine where I stepped into the lower patch of two shaking patches, only to break my chain and lose the shiny that was actually hiding in the top patch. As a reference, see my image below. The shiny part happens around where my character's waist is, so you can see why it would look like it was the lower patch shining when it was actually the upper patch! Don't be fooled like I was!

ALSO

Remember how I mentioned the grass color changing? Well I got a (somewhat blurry) picture of it today as part of my chaining run, hopefully to prove I'm not going insane!

In the top image, you can see the grass is a reasonable amount darker than that of the bottom image, which makes it seem like the shaking grass is somehow more bountiful than it would otherwise be. I can't honestly say whether it was or not. I CAN say that I know it's related to chaining though, because I intentionally broke my chain by riding a bike, and the grass changed back to what you see in the lower image. This could still be a graphics glitch, or it could be only something that happens on Route 2. Whatever the case, it's a weird phenomenon that I'd definitely like to get more info on.

You should definitely try this and inform us all how it went.

When you fish chain, your chances of encountering a shiny Pokémon increases gradually as your chain increases. I guess it could be the same for Pokéradar chains.

Time for a progress report on chaining!

So far, I've chained 12 scatterbug whilst almost completely disregarding the rules of chaining set forth in the D/P and B/W chaining guides. The music has not changed, nor has the grass color. But my chain hasn't broken yet either. Also, I have come across an unusually high female ratio (9 have been female thus far). I have had to reset a few times due to lack of shaking grass, but beyond that I just walk into whatever grass shakes the same way as my original patch. Even if it's one square away. As of yet, perfect chain.

(Edit on the above: Common Pokemon like Scatterbug seem very forgiving about which grass tile you touch. Rarer ones like Absol will end your chain if you don't follow the painstakingly-learned rules in the first post. However at the time of me posting this I was testing the dangerous approach to confirm the rules and for some reason I got lucky and chained really high before what you see in that first edit.)

To me this indicates that maybe the rules have indeed changed, and changed in order to be easier on players no less. I can't seem to end this chain despite making what would otherwise be terrible chaining choices. Either I'm really lucky, or I'm onto something here. I'll edit this post with more as it develops.

Edit: Chain broke at 15 when I went into the wrong patch of grass on accident. I'll start again and update this post with more info in round 2.

Edit 2: Have been starting and ending chains to see what does and doesn't work. So far, it seems that grass that is one space away is not always safe to enter. It also seems like the music will change unpredictably but I think it expects you to enter a specific patch of grass when it does. That specific grass patch may be one of the ones that you normally shouldn't enter. Beyond that, 2 and 3 spaces grass has had 100% correct rate, except when 4 or 5 of the grass patches all shake the same way. In that case it seems only the further away patches work. None of this is confirmed yet, and my testing is ongoing.

Edit 3: Confirmed that 1 space away grass is bad for you. So far have had no mishaps with grass 2 or 3 spaces away. Am feeling a lot more confident that those spaces are safe spaces, or at least very high % ones.

Edit 4: Just killed a 20 chain by YOLOing my way onto an edge piece of grass. The pokemon that appeared was correct, but the chain broke when no more patches of grass shook. Conclusion: The D/P and B/W rules about not going into edge grass are still definitely valid. I'll add that to my rules.

Edit 5: Rules have been moved to first post on thread for easy viewing. Some of my initial assumptions were also disproven, and others seem to have solidified.

I found a shiny Skiddo at chain 4 so you can definitely get a shiny pokemon before you get to 40 but once you reach 40 it becomes a 1/200 chance so that is the difference once you get a chain of 40 and over.
The pattern appears to be the same as in the other games

I have updated my first post with new info based on my current experimentation. I will continue to add info to there if I gain any new insights into it. And yes, 40 chains are still the aim, but with this new method, getting there is much, much simpler. Comments, questions and the like are of course much appreciated and I will try to confirm any related findings that people bring to me.

Edit: So I just got to a chain of 40 using my method described above. I finally got a shiny patch... but I couldn't see exactly which of two patches (one above the other) it was. I picked the wrong one and killed my chain haha. As painful as this story is (lost a shiny scatterbug and my chain), I can see at least that my chosen method does work! Next time I will be a lot more careful about which patch of grass I step into though...

Thanks for all the tips, I will try your method after I beat the league. :)

I just have one question since I didn't really use the Pokeradar before, in Pokemon X and Y, do you have to kill the Pokemon or can you run away?

Farore said:

I just have one question since I didn't really use the Pokeradar before, in Pokemon X and Y, do you have to kill the Pokemon or can you run away?

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You have to either K.O. them or catch them. If you run away it breaks the chain, unfortunately. Apparently you can run away while chain fishing, but that is a different mechanic.

Anyone have tips for shiny absol chaining? The grass patches for him are so tiny it's hard to even tell which ones are save and which ones aren't.

I was chaining Skiddo, but Zapdos interrupted it. :/ I didn't follow the D/P rules completely, but for the most part I did. I was able to get 15.

iiKontaii said:

Anyone have tips for shiny absol chaining? The grass patches for him are so tiny it's hard to even tell which ones are save and which ones aren't.

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I just wandered up to route 8 on my lunch break to see the layout of the grass there for myself, and you're definitely right - it's got a terrible configuration which makes chaining very hard.

But not impossible! While the D/P method (4 squares away) won't work here, the method that I've been researching seems to work reliably for cramped patches like this. I managed an absol chain of 7 before I stepped into some trap grass that had escaped my notice and ended my chain. My lunch break was nearly over anyway, so I decided to stop there.

In case anyone is wondering, I used the grass patch directly above Ambrette town and past those stepping stones.

I gleaned the following tips from my quick jaunt:

• Standing 2 squares under the big rock in the middle of the grass patch seems to be the optimal place for getting the most spots of grass shaking
• You may have to take some risks as most of the correct shaking patches tend to be edge patches (which breaks a golden rule to step into but have a high chance of being the correct Pokemon)
• If you choose not to take risks, it takes longer but resetting about 4-5 times will usually yield at least one patch which satisfies all the rules set out in my original post. As mentioned, these rules work thus far and allow you to use patches 2-3 tiles away (rather than 4) for chaining
• Patience and paying attention is key. The trap spot that ended my spree was so hard to see that I didn't notice it at all until I walked on it!

Perpetr8r said:

I just wandered up to route 8 on my lunch break to see the layout of the grass there for myself, and you're definitely right - it's got a terrible configuration which makes chaining very hard.

But not impossible! While the D/P method (4 squares away) won't work here, the method that I've been researching seems to work reliably for cramped patches like this. I managed an absol chain of 7 before I stepped into some trap grass that had escaped my notice and ended my chain. My lunch break was nearly over anyway, so I decided to stop there.

In case anyone is wondering, I used the grass patch directly above Ambrette town and past those stepping stones.

I gleaned the following tips from my quick jaunt:

• Standing 2 squares under the big rock in the middle of the grass patch seems to be the optimal place for getting the most spots of grass shaking
• You may have to take some risks as most of the correct shaking patches tend to be edge patches (which breaks a golden rule to step into but have a high chance of being the correct Pokemon)
• If you choose not to take risks, it takes longer but resetting about 4-5 times will usually yield at least one patch which satisfies all the rules set out in my original post. As mentioned, these rules work thus far and allow you to use patches 2-3 tiles away (rather than 4) for chaining
• Patience and paying attention is key. The trap spot that ended my spree was so hard to see that I didn't notice it at all until I walked on it!

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Yeah, I know what you mean. I think my longest one was like 14 chains, but that was just super lucky. The rest of my chains are like 2 or 3 now. It's really frustrating cause Absol is like one of my favorites and the shiny version just looks so cute!

Thanks for your answer!

I have another question, when you find a shiny, does it break the chain or can you continue and try to get more of them?

Farore said:

Thanks for your answer!

I have another question, when you find a shiny, does it break the chain or can you continue and try to get more of them?

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The chain doesn't break, unless (I believe) it's a different patch of grass.

Koyan said:

The chain doesn't break, unless (I believe) it's a different patch of grass.

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The chain keeps going, but for some reason after I got a shiny (another shiny scatterbug just now), I reset the grass over 50 times and didn't see another one. I then ended my spree when my hand slipped from the 3DS and caused me to veer off into a bad patch of grass. Definitely take breaks when your chains are high and your hands are getting tired! Anyway, it could just be bad luck on my part that I didn't see another shiny or it could mean that each shiny requires a whole new 40 chain. I'll reserve judgment on that one until I know for sure, but my fingers hurt from running around so much haha.

Also, iiKontaii, I discovered some VERY useful additional tips on catching shinies which I'm just about to add to the list in the first post. They may help you get your hands on a shiny absol finally. (I'm also going to try to get one for curiousity's sake)

Note: By this point I've successfully found 4 shinies (using a separate chain each time) using the chaining method I have documented in the first post. I still can't claim perfect accuracy of my rules until I chain the more rare and difficult pokemon, but so far results are positive!

I've never chained before. However i decided to try chaining since the post elite 4 game seems pretty empty. My max chain is 35(a Roselia chain), which ended in an unexpected way.(I reseted the Pokeradar in the middle of the route 7 yellow flowers field, and i saw a fast-shaking flower like 4 squares in my left, and one upper. Turned out it was a Croagunk.)

I've ended several chains the same way as i did my roselia one. Also, it's pretty hard to a non edge shakes, atleast in that field, most of the edge ones are fine, however one or another break my chain after i kill the right pokemon. I'm also curious about the music...It seems kinda random when it changes.

Well, i would like some routes to try to start my chaining carrer(rofl). It's like i can't chain yet in the grasses field, however i do just fine in the flowers field. Even in route 2 i can't chain more than 10-15.

By the way, my English isn't that good, but i guess it's understandable. Thx in the advices TC, it sure helped me alot.

Numix said:

Well, i would like some routes to try to start my chaining carrer(rofl). It's like i can't chain yet in the grasses field, however i do just fine in the flowers field. Even in route 2 i can't chain more than 10-15.

By the way, my English isn't that good, but i guess it's understandable. Thx in the advices TC, it sure helped me alot.

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Your English is pretty good compared to a lot of people I've seen! Are you looking for chaining routes for only grass? Or just any chaining route (possibly with flowers)? A good flower chaining area is route 5 (go right from Camphrier town). There's a HUGE patch of purple flowers which make chaining a lot easier. It's where I chained my first pokemon.

As for grass patches, it's hard to find a good one since the grass is so big now and most of the good shaking spots are either too close to the player or on an edge. I'll let you know if I do find a nice grassy spot though.

I might be hijacking your thread, Perpetr8r, but it's for a good cause, I swear! =p

Anyways, people, let's try a bit of trial and error on that whole music thing while using Pokeradar.

Whenever you encounter the frantic music that plays at times while a chain is going, post here and say when it happened in your chain, and what happened after (e.g. did the chain break when you went into a patch? If so, what patch did you go for? Did the music maybe go back to normal after resetting the radar? And so forth).

This sort of thing I think will take this sort of effort to figure out, so let's see if we can break it. Well, you, because I still haven't beaten the game yet thanks to rl stuff. =p (Certainly will be chaining once I do though!)

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, a friend of mine recorded what the music sounds like and put it up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDN03bTioJQ

Well, i've been chaining with my sound off for like a day or two, it made me luckier this way, don't know why =P

But i renember getting the music on a 5 chain on the grass path in route 7, and all went normal as i stepped on the path...Music didn't influence me there, atleast for this time...

Gonna try to chain with the music on for now, so i can contribute more with the topic^^