Shiny hunting was a feature of the original Sinnoh games. With the release of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, there’s even more ways to try to find that elusive palette swap! We cover the methods and teach you the ways of the PokéRadar.

Shiny Rates

Since generation six, the chance for a Pokémon to be Shiny (have a different colour than usual, and a sparkle effect on entering the battle) is 1 in 4096. Unlike recent titles however, the Shiny Charm, which you can obtain after completing the Sinnoh Pokédex, only increases the rate (giving three rolls rather than one) when hatching Eggs. This is true of version 1.1.

The Masuda Method also exists in Sinnoh – the region it originated in! This comes into effect when breeding two Pokémon originating from games with different languages to each other (e.g. one from a game with the English setting, and another with the Japanese setting). The chance for a Shiny is roughly ~1 in 683, or with the Shiny Charm 1 in 512.

Unlike in Pokémon Let’s Go, Pikachu and Eevee!, you cannot see if a Pokémon is Shiny on the overworld – only once you begin the battle.

For more details about Shiny Pokémon and the above aspects, check out the article below. There’s more analysis here too.

All About Shiny Pokémon

Shiny-locked Pokémon

The following Pokémon are Shiny-locked – they can not be caught or obtained in their Shiny forms.

• Mew (Gift)
• Jirachi (Gift)
• Potentially Manaphy via an Event Egg

You can reset for the Shiny form of the Sinnoh Starters – however, you will have to receive it to check, as they will not show as Shiny in the selection screen. You can also reset for any other Legendary Pokémon in the game.

Grand Underground

The Grand Underground contains wild Pokémon that appear in the overworld. However, like in Pokémon Sword and Shield, they will not appear as Shiny until you encounter them in battle.

The regular Shiny rate is the same – but a Colour, or “Shiny”, statue in your base may give you an extra roll on a Shiny appearing in the Hideaways for each species (not clear nor confirmed yet!). From in-game text, statues only seem to give an effect on the type of Pokémon that spawns. This means the Grand Underground won’t be the best way to find a Shiny.

You can try to reroll quicker by exiting a room and reentering to respawn a Pokémon in a Hideaway. Saving and resetting in front of one you see will not change whether it is Shiny or not.

Lastly is a Diglett bonus. You can see Diglett and Dugtrio while exploring the Grand Underground, and they will leave 1 or 3 points worth of energy respectively as they flee. Once you hit 40 points during a session, the Shiny Rate is halved (1/2048) for the next four minutes (and the chance for a Color statue to be found is also increased). Perhaps playing with friends is the way forward, but the next section shows you can get far high Shiny rates…

PokéRadar

The PokéRadar returns, with a few changes from their debut in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum. But let’s go over the basics first!

The PokéRadar is an item you use in a grass patch that allows you to chain Pokémon through battles. You can only obtain it after beating the Elite Four and completing the (seen, not caught) Sinnoh Dex.  The higher your chain, the higher the chance of encountering a Shiny Pokémon. Ideally, you want to catch every Pokémon you encounter, aim for a chain of 40, and be stacked with Repels and Dusk/Repeat/Quick Balls.

When you use the PokéRadar, up to four patches of grass will shake. There are three kinds of patches:

• Regular patches, shake in a regular way
• Shiny patch which contains a Shiny Pokémon will sparkle (and quite obviously too)
• Hidden Ability patches (Pokémon will have a Hidden Ability – 1/128 chance)

You can enter any patch to start a chain, but you will want to aim for the one four steps away from you in any single direction. See the image for a guide on what counts as four steps away in the generation four titles – the same applies here. Defeating a Pokémon gives you a 83% chance of the chain continuing (and 17% chance of it ending) if you selected a far-away patch of grass, while catching it increases it to 93%. That means to reach a chain of 40, you have a roughly 5.5% chance if you do everything correctly. Rates changed in the 1.1.2 version, and then changed back in 1.1.3 (see below):

So why aim for 40? You certainly do not have to – you could go for 35, for example, and simply reset the radar every time it recharges (50 steps) while keeping the chain at 35 until you see a Shiny patch. However, a chain of 40 gives the highest chance of a Shiny patch being generated (1/99 – an improvement over gen four’s 1/200 rate), which is significantly higher than the rate for a chain of 35 (1/1192). Check the table below for the rates – note the third column gives the rates if the Shiny Charm affected more than just Eggs. The chain can still continue once you catch a Shiny patch Pokémon – the above rates still apply.

Be sure to never use your bike, leave the Route, or forget to use a Repel (to prevent non-patch encounters) while using the PokéRadar – this will break your chain! Unlike in generation four, multiple patches can be four steps away, and you do not have to worry about picking a patch at the edge of a grass area – the chain will not break due to that.

Every 10, 20 and 30 chain will give a Pokémon with one, two and three perfect IVs, but currently for numbers between each 10, you do not have such a guarantee.

Do you have your own tips for Shiny hunting in the new Sinnoh games? What are you planning to try to find first?

Information and statistics from Kaphotics and mattyoukhana_. Many thanks to the dataminers!
Edited by Sheep and Siddhar.