February 1st, 2011:
In Ruby, I'm running around on the route before the Rusturf Tunnel, hoping for a random encounter shiny. All the Pokemon on that route are pretty cool, and so far I have seen 500 Nincada/Zigzagoon/Taillow/Whismur/Skitty.
G-Money decides to hunt on Route 116. Knowing that Nincada is a totally awesome, super-cool shiny, I list it first on my list of cool shinies there.
April 21st, 2012:
777 Nincada-like characters.
...
I also continued my Route 116 hunt in Ruby for the first time since February 1st, 2011, "lol." I'm going after Nincada, so my odds are actually 1/40960! I certainly don't mind though, as the other Pokemon available are pretty cool. I'm going to keep hunting there until I get a shiny Nincada, even if it means that I get duplicates. It's probably faster to see 40,960 wild Pokemon than it would be to breed 8,192 Nincada, although I might change my mind if I end up getting shiny Whismur, Zigzagoon, Taillow, and Skitty!
I'm continuing my Nincada hunt after nearly 15 months because not only does it count for my Ghost Quest, but you get two shinies in one!!
The hunt for Nincada is reinvigorated. The coolness of shiny Nincada is affirmed.
December 19th, 2013:
WOW!!! Shiny Zigzagoon!!! {XD}
I started up Ruby when my DS was about to run out and figured I'd try to get around the internal battery problem by just leaving it running, and BAM! A shiny Zigzagoon about an hour and a half in. I'm going to keep on hunting on Route 116 for another shiny (without turning off the game) to see if I can try for Nincada (or Taillow/Whismur/Skitty). I had only done 113 encounters today, but the shiny Zig came on number 2337 overall (I started the hunt in February 2011 on my second post in the club!).
This is my first Ruby shiny in almost 7 years, haha.
I finally enter the lair of the Boss shiny, shiny Nincada. But alas! The Boss is crafty, and his henchman, shiny Zigzagoon, assaults me instead. I am able to capture this foe, but it sets my hunt back. By this point, 2337 Pokemon have been seen whilst in pursuit of shiny Nincada.
December 20th, 2013:
"lol" this is ridiculous. Shiny Taillow!! Exactly 2300 encounters since shiny Zigzagoon, same Ruby save. This came at about 27 hours in. I'm going to leave the game running and see if I can try for that Nincada, even at a pretty high risk of another Zig or Taillow. Doing 2000 encounters in Hoenn is faster than like 200 eggs in Unova, so I'm going to push my luck (I've already had 3 times as many shinies
this month as I had all last year and the first 11 months of this year put together, so even if I don't get another shiny for years, I really can't complain, haha!) and see if I can get another shiny out of Route 116 before my game turns off.
I had a ton of Premier Balls, so I caught it in a Premier Ball. I always wanted to catch a shiny in one, since it almost seems like they were made for shinies, being "A rare BALL made in commemoration of some event."
I encounter another minion of the Boss; this time, my opponent is a shiny Taillow. I capture this new shiny, but the Boss Nincada still eludes me. By this point, 4637 Pokemon have been encountered in pursuit of Nincada.
December 24th, 2013:
I got a Christmas Eve shiny last night - another shiny Zig! It came on the 5,033rd encounter since shiny Taillow, about 144 hours in. "lol" I've now gotten 3 shinies without turning off the game, haha. I caught it in a Premier Ball, too!
I've moved on to the exterior of Mt. Pyre now, as shiny Duskull can be found there (and there's no chance of a duplicate shiny), whereas I could always try this same thing again with Emerald if need be to go for Nincada again. Mt. Pyre's the site of my first successful hunt (Shuppet), so I know the luck is there waiting to be found! :)
To my astonishment, the Boss Nincada has an entire army of shiny Zigzagoon! I capture this one as well, and I get the captured former-Nincada-employee to give me some vital information. I obtain the whereabouts of a shiny Duskull, so I momentarily cease my pursuit of Boss Nincada.
By now, 9670 Pokemon have been seen.
January 5th, 2014:
655 Palais Lane encounters
...I'm also encountering in X for a shiny Honedge. Much to my surprise, Nincada is also found on Route 6! I like how so many different Pokemon are found on the X/Y routes - lots of potential Axiom 22 applications!
I track the Boss Nincada to the Kalos region, as he had abandoned his Hoenn base after that Zigzagoon surrendered his location.
January 6th, 2014:
Shiny Honedge! My first 6th gen shiny came on encounter 1354 in Palais Lane - Honedge was exactly what I wanted! I caught it in a critical capture, too. It has a Quirky nature, which isn't bad.
Another shiny for my Ghost Quest!
The Boss Nincada realizes that I'm on to him, and he abandons his Kalos base of operations. Before I can capture him, however, he throws a bodyguard at me - a shiny Honedge, who apparently joined the ranks of his criminal organization in Kalos. I capture the Honedge, who informs me that the Kalos base was only to throw me off the trail - Boss Nincada had remained in Hoenn all along!!
September 11th, 2014:
But it all worked out, and now I'm going to go back to Route 116 for a little bit to see I can nab that elusive shiny Nincada.
The folly of my Kalos excursion behind me, I return to Hoenn to finally capture that Boss Nincada.
June 28th, 2015:
8228 Route 116 encounters
I had a chance to leave my DS running for 10 hours with Emerald in it sooner than I had expected, so I've continued what will hopefully be the last Phase of my Nincada hunt on Route 116. I found shiny Spheal back in 2011 after about 9 hours of having Emerald on, so leaving it in and charging should avoid any RNG clones. I had gotten 2 shiny Zigzagoon and a shiny Taillow doing this earlier in Ruby, but fortunately (and to my pleasant surprise!), Poochyena is on the Route instead of Zigzagoon in Emerald!! No more shiny Zigs for me, haha. The route also has Abra, so I went out and caught a Trapinch with Arena Trap in case a shiny Abra tries to Teleport away.
Having failed thus far to attain the Boss's whereabouts, I switch out the red gem I had been carrying for my lucky green one. Also, the Boss Nincada had somehow discovered that a shiny Zigzagoon had talked, and he immediately banished all Zigzagoon from his army. To taunt me, he replaced them all with Poochyena. I believe this was done with the sole intention of reminding me of my encounter with the uncatchable shiny Poochyena back when I was hunting the shiny Treecko. This affirms my conviction that the Boss Nincada is pure evil and must be brought to justice.
He also attempts to trip me up with Abra bodyguards to teleport in between me and the Boss, adding further difficulty to the hunt. But I'm a shiny hunter! I come prepared, bringing along a Trapinch to trap any unforseen henchmen ambushes.
July 13th, 2015:
SHINY TAILLOW!!
"lol" Phase 4 of my Route 116 has concluded, with another shiny Taillow as the result! It came on encounter #16153. My luck's really been correcting itself for last year's shiny spree, haha, but I'm really glad that it's doing so on Emerald where the encounters are pretty quick. This one came after 15 days, 10 hours, and 25 minutes of leaving the game on, so I could try this again (hopefully I won't have to, haha) since I didn't find any shiny frames between the first day and the fifteenth, "lol."
On this Nincada hunt, I've now gotten two shiny Zigs and two shiny Taillow, "lol."
On to Phase 5!
A fourth bodyguard is captured. This marks 25,823 bodyguards that the Boss has thrown at me. Just how much power does he have!?
October 15th, 2015:
"lol"
A third
SHINY TAILLOW!!!!!!!!
I'm convinced that shiny Nincada is the boss of Route 116, and you have to defeat all of his bodyguards to get to him.
I'm glad that Taillow waited until #20767 to arrive, since that's a pretty cool number, haha. I wonder how many shinies the Nincada king has in his army? I have to pass all of these trials to prove that I'm worthy to face the shiny who yields two, haha!
This Taillow has a different level and nature than my other Emerald Taillow, and I caught it on a different day (this one appeared
only ten days after leaving the game on, "lol"), so I know for sure it's not an RNG duplicate.
The hunt continues!
25 Route 116 encounters
The Boss keeps throwing birds at me. Another green Taillow is spotted. Since I began tracking the Boss, 46,590 Pokemon have been seen. All of Route 116 is against me, and I'm now well past the odds. That Boss sure is elusive...
December 24th, 2015:
Oh my gosh! "lol"
SHINY TAILLOW!!!!!! This is the third one, haha. That Boss Nincada really is throwing all of his henchmen at me! {XD} This Taillow came on encounter #7047, 2 months and 18 days after turning the game on. Now to vanquish the remaining shiny Taillow bodyguards and get to the Shiny Boss Nincada!
I'm at 999:59 in Emerald now, haha!
The Boss throws
yet another shiny Taillow at me! With an entire team in hand, I am finally ready to face the Boss. My two shiny Zigzagoon and four (!!!!) shiny Taillow all resent working for the power-hungry criminal of Route 116. It is time to bring him to justice. With four Taillow to carry me, I am able to fly high above the Route and spot his lair! Having now encountered 53,637 Pokemon in search of this menace, I am finally able to locate his lair, deep within the confines of the haunted Route 116.
January 6th, 2016:
I enter the lair of the Boss, expecting to meet a swarm of henchmen to oppose me. Another 2665 Pokemon challenge me to combat in the Lair of the Boss, but I am resolute in my mission - not letting them slow me down, I run from each. By now, the hunt has lasted for 1,800 days. I have encountered 56,302 Pokemon. I will not give up! At 4:32 PM, I again run into the tall grass, inciting encounter #56,303.
This Nincada is gold. I wonder-OMG IT'S
SHINY NINCADA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE SHINY OF GOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE SHINY OF TWO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THERE SHE IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At level 7, she runs Route 116!!!!!!!!!!!! This bug is made entirely of gold - no wonder she could afford 56,000 bodyguards!!!!!! As an event most certainly worth commemorating, I launch at her a Premier Ball. On the very first attempt, this criminal is brought to justice. Shiny Boss Nincada will be controlling Route 116 no more.
Citizens: you are now free to hunt all throughout Hoenn!! The intimidation perpetuated by organized Boss Nincada crime shall restrain you no longer. May you freely hunt for the amazing Hoenn shinies! May you find Gulpin, and Swablu, and all of the other shinies you seek!
As for why the Nincada sent all those henchmen after me instead of fighting me herself?
May these images of this glorious occasion be postered up on the walls of the SHC!!