The Shiny Encounters Thread

So, we had a lot of threads discussing the various different methods of obtaining Shiny Pokémon; those sparkly little critters that only bother to show up once in a blue moon. So it was decided to put it all in one nice little package!

In this thread, you may discuss your encounters with Shiny Pokémon as long as the following rules are followed:

1) If you are attempting to hunt down a particular Shiny, don't update every day with how you haven't obtained your target yet; just one post to state your goal, and then another when it's done will be enough (In fact, that could be fun in timing how long it took you!)

2) Pokémon that are set to always be Shiny don't count. Everyone who plays the games / attended the event got them, so we don't need people posting when they obtain them. However, if it's a Pokémon of the same species encountered in a different way (for example, fishing up a Red Gyarados) than that's fine, as long as you say so.

3) No updating about RNG attempts. It's somewhat similar to the last rule, where you try to make a Pokémon have a 100% chance of being Shiny. It's not fun when someone posts over and over again when they RNG a Pokémon.

4) You can discuss Shiny Pokémon that you have encountered that have escaped from you, as hopefully, that won't happen very often.


Now, in the Pokémon games, there are numerous ways to encounter these Pokémon in which this thread is for discussing, for example:

Random Encounter:
When you're in grass, exploring a cave or sailing along the sea, there is a 1 in 4096 chance (8192 prior to Generation VI) that a Pokémon will appear with that magical sparkle (that does nothing except make it look pretty). These are usually pretty rare events (the chance is like getting a dice with 4096 sides, rolling it and hoping for a single number ).

The same goes when breeding Pokémon. Keep in mind that a Pokémon's Shininess or lack off is determined when you collect the Egg, so you can either hatch multiple Eggs, or soft reset before you collect it (more on Soft Resetting in a bit).

Shiny Charm:
The Shiny Charm is a Key Item that increases the chance of encountering a Shiny Pokémon, both in the wild and through breeding. Having the Shiny Charm in your bag increases the chance of encountering a Shiny Pokémon to 1 in 1,365.

You receive the Shiny Charm as follows:

• Gen VI: From Professor Sycamore (XY) or Professor Birch (ORAS) after obtaining all Pokémon in the National Dex (with the exception of Mythical Pokémon).
• Gen VII: From the game director at Game Freak in Heahea City (Akala Island) after obtaining all Pokémon in the Alola Pokédex (with the exception of Magearna and Marshadow)

Masuda Method:
This method, named after Junichi Masuda, the Director of the Board at Game Freak (the company that makes the main series Pokémon games), after Masuda revealed the method on his "Hidden Power" blog. Basically, when breeding Pokémon that originate from different language games (for example, a Japanese Pikachu with an English Pikachu) the chances of hatching a Shiny Pokémon drops to 1 in 683 from Gen VI on (1 in 2048 in Gen IV and 1 in 1366 in Gen V), or 1 in 512 with the Shiny Charm in your bag.

The most common way to do this is to use one Pokémon from your own game and one from a game of a different language. If you don’t have any friends in foreign countries, it’s often easy to find a foreign Pokémon via the GTS or Wonder Trade. However, note that whether the Masuda method works depends on the language of the game, not the region. Therefore, an American Pikachu breeding with a British Pikachu would still have the 1 in 4096 odds; as would be if one of those Pikachu was breeding with an Australian one.

Note: This does not work with foreign Pokémon obtained in-game, such as Meister's Foppa (Magikarp) and Lt. Surge's Volty (Pikachu).

Soft Reset:
Soft resetting doesn't increase your odds of finding a Shiny Pokémon, but is used to get a Shiny Pokémon you can’t encounter in the wild, like the starter Pokémon and Type: Null. Basically, you save in front of said Pokémon, then initiate a battle. If the Pokémon isn't Shiny, you hold L+R+Select to restart the game without a need to reboot the entire system, and then you try again...and again...and again (etc).

Note: Some species (namely version legendaries) are rarely programmed to be Shiny. In SuMo this goes for all Legendaries (including Cosmog, Zygarde, Magearna, and Marshadow), all Ultra Beasts, all Guardian Deities, and all in-game trades. It's therefore no use to Soft Reset for them.

Chaining:
Throughout the series, various methods have been utilised to allow "chaining"; a sequence where encountering the same species of Pokémon can gradually increase the chances of finding a Shiny. Introduced in Diamond & Pearl, the mechanics of chaining have been expanded over time.

PokéRadar:
A key item available in the Generation IV games and X/Y, this was the original way to chain - by using this item in grass and catching/knocking out a species, the device will go off once more - with the patches that shake having a higher chance of containing the same Pokémon that started the chain (the patch furthest away from the original patch have a higher chance of having the same Pokémon). The only catch is that a player must not encounter any Pokémon just by walking through non-wiggling grass, only by walking into the grass that shakes. As a chain grows, the chance of encountering a Shiny Pokémon (which have their own special patch animation) increases.

In Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, chaining can be carried out using the DexNav instead.

Consecutive Fishing:
Introduced in XY, Consecutive Fishing will increase your odds of hooking up a Shiny Pokémon as you maintain a streak. This can be done by battling, catching or fleeing from a Pokémon and unlike ordinary chaining, isn't species specific. However, streaks will end if you fail to get a bite. Shiny Pokémon tend to appear at around the 40 mark. This method also works in ORAS.

SOS Battle Chaining:
Sun/Moon introduced a new way to obtain shinies, namely through SOS Battles. An SOS Battle is a battle in which a wild Pokémon calls for help from allies. Wild Pokémon gain this ability after you have cleared Ilima’s trial. Defeating multiple allies in a row is called chaining, and making long chains increases the chance of a called ally being Shiny.

A chain length of 70 to 255 gives you a 1 in 1,024 chance of encountering a Shiny Pokémon. If you have obtained the Shiny Charm, the chance becomes 1 in 683. After a chain of 255, the increased chance goes back to 0.

Friend Safari:
In X/Y, Pokémon encountered in the Friend Safari have a higher chance of being Shiny; which is estimated at being 1/512.

Currently Unobtainable As Shiny:
Gen VI:
Gen VII:

So yeah, capture us with your stories of Shiny encounters!