I didn't just copypasta this from serebii or anything. But that being said, some of the information I have learned from other sites and I am paraphrasing and adding to it.
Materials needed:
- Pokemon Diamond, Pearl or Platinum
- A Pokeradar
- A large number of Repels (Max preferred)
- A large amount of Pokeballs (whatever kind works best)
- A pokemon with high PP moves (preferably high level)
- Patience
Optional Materials:
- PokeRadar Poketch App (not sure what it is called, but I think you get it at Pal Park. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)
- A pokemon that can inflict status conditions
- A Black Flute or Cleanse Tag
- A pokemon with Mean Look, or Block
- A pokemon w/the "Static" or "Steel Pull" abilities for chaining Elec. or Stl. Pokemon.
- A pokemon w/the Synchronize ability for natures.
To start off, if you don't know what a shiny pokemon is, I suggest you look it up or something. A standard wild pokemon will have about 1/+8000 chance of being a shiny. So yes, they are very rare. But by a method called "chaining" they can be acquired much easier.
First off, after you beat the Elite Four in D/P/Pt, and acquire the PokeRadar, you can start chaining. Stock up on the suggested supplies, and get a Pokemon with high PP attacks, enough to defeat 40 wild pokemon.
Starting Off
Choose the desired pokemon that you want a shiny of. Find out where you can catch the pokemon and go to that route. *Note you can only chain Pokemon found in wild grass, no caves/buildings/water. Next, find the biggest patch of grass in the desired route. I suggest you preselect the pokeradar, so you can easily activate it with the "y" button. Now activate your Max Repel, and Black Flute (if you have one). Now walk into the middle of the grass and press the 'y' button (make sure your Poketch is on the Pokeradar App). You will see grass shake. You may also see grass shake and shine white. In my experiences I always tried to avoid the white shining ones. But that's up to you. So walk in one of the shaking patches. A pokemon will appear, just like a normal battle. It may or may not be the pokemon you are looking for (it won't be shiny yet). If it is the pokemon you want, defeat it in battle. Catching it also works but is very inefficient. If you defeat it in battle, it'll go back to the route like it normally does. Now look at your Poketch. It will have an icon of the pokemon you defeated, with a number 1 next to it. That is your current chaining streak. Also right after you defeat a pokemon, the pokeradar will automatically activate without you pressing 'y.'
Now this part is important, once you start your streak, the grass will shake again. This time, go to the farthest piece of grass from you (still trying to avoid the white shining patches). But, you must try to avoid the edges and corners. Take a look at the picture:
Say you're on this route and chaining. Try to avoid the edges and corners, i.e. try to stay within the red square, still trying to go into the farthest piece of grass. Then when you go into another piece of grass, if it is the same pokemon as the one you're chaining, defeat it, and your streak will increase to '2.' If it is a different pokemon, then your chain will disappear and you will have to reset the radar. Also if you some how encounter a random wild pokemon without walking into a shaking piece of grass, your chain will disappear. That's why a black flute is recommended in addition to your repels.
Resetting the radar
If you lose your chain, or if you don't encounter the pokemon you want to chain, you will have to reset the radar. So, just run around for 50 steps avoiding the shaking patches, then press 'y' again. Also (this is important, you'll have to do this a lot), if you're in the middle of chaining, but the shaking pieces of grass are really close to you, you might want to restart the radar (remember, you want to go in a piece of grass that are far away). You may want to do this a lot to get father pieces of grass. This will give you a better chance of continuing your streak.
The magical number for the chain is 40. Once you reach a streak of 40 (it may take a while, but it can be done after 1, or multiple tries), it is advised that you don't go into the shaking grass anymore. Instead, just keep resetting the radar. The chance of a shiny has fallen to about 1/200, and won't get any better, so why risk losing your chain. So keep resetting as many times as you need, until you find the shiny patch.
The Shiny Patch
I've described two patches of grass so far. One that shakes, but doesn't shine, and one that shakes and shines white. If you happen to come across a patch that glows pinkish, it won't shake at all, then you've found a shiny pokemon. Proceed cautiously to the patch, and it will be a shiny pokemon. If you catch it or defeat it, you chain will continue as normal, and you can try to find more shinies. Once you hit 40, you may have to reset the radar many times, but be patient, and look out for the shiny patch.
Tips and Tricks
- If you decide you want to chain an electric or steel pokemon, a pokemon with the Static or Steel Pull abilities, you can increase the chance of encountering an Elec. or Stl. pokemon respectively if you put the pokemon in the first position in your party (fainted, or alive). This will increase your chances of maintaining your streak.
- I also find that "swarm pokemon" are a lot easier to chain. Pokemon like Electrike that show up occasionally at Valley Windworks have a higher encounter rate than most other pokemon. To see what swarm pokemon appears, talk to the little girl in Sandgem (Barry's sis?).
Tips by another member
1.) Buy Super Repels instead of Max Repels. Max Repels give you only a mere 50 steps more, and cost a ****load more. They are a rip-off of the ultimate proportions. Be smart, be super, never max!
2.) If you are in a large enough area, try to go to the patch four "squares" away from you.
444444444
433333334
432222234
4321Y1234
432222234
433333334
444444444
Numbers denote distance away from you. Y is you.
Try to enter squares denoted with a "4". Those are the most likely to increase your chain. If you are chaining in an area that does not have this grid, either go to another, larger area or risk it.
3.) DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, GO INTO A PATCH NEAR AN EDGE, A FENCE/WALL/TREE, OR AN NPC. DO NOT DO IT.
4.) If you would like to chain for a certain nature (for example, Modest), have a Modest Natu (or Abra, or anything with Synchronize) fainted at the front of your party. You will have a 50% chance to get that nature when you encounter your shiny.
5.) Do not, under any circumstances, enter the square directly behind you. One, it's a 1-away square. And two, you can't see if it shaked or not (unless you saw four patches shake elsewhere), meaning you could potentially break your chain. Always reset your radar in spaces you KNOW are safe. If you weren't paying attention, pick one of the four squares around you, and alternate between that and your original square for 50 paces.
6.) Enter the patch of grass that had the same denotation type as your originally. There are a bunch of denoation types: shake normally, shake with white sparkle, shake with orange sparkle, shake with two white sparkles, et cetera. Make sure you know what you should be looking for. The pink sparkle, of course, is your shiny.
7.) After you have a chain of 40, your chances of getting a shiny are about 1/200, or 1/50 resets. DO NOT TRY TO ADVANCE YOUR CHAIN FURTHER. Just keep resetting the radar until you find a shiny patch. You can get multiple shinies of the same Pokemon if you keep on resetting and keep on entering shiny patches, thus increasing the chance you will get at least one correct nature or gender or ability or good IVs.
8.) You will be resetting the radar a lot. If you are not up to this, don't bother chaining. DO NOT FAIL, YOUNG WARRIOR.
