Single post in Guide on Shiny Hunting

Welcome to the wall of text, let me be your guide. Information this Guide includes: First Post: Information on Shinies, necessary Items to Shiny Hunt Second Post: Information on Breeding, Interacting, not breaking your Chain, trading with Shinies Third Post: Useful Resources, Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Shiny and how do I get it?

Have you ever looked at a Pokémons name in a party or it's summary and seen a nice little Star? I'm talking about this one: ! This is the mark of a Shiny Pokémon, a Pokémon that has a different colour than other Pokémon. You want an example? Well look at this graceful Gardevoir: What is so special about it, you ask? Not much. But now look at this graceful Gardevoir: It feels like it's shining, doesn't it? (And you can also visit her Summary to see the star!) This is a Shiny Pokémon, a Pokémon with a different colour than others. Some colour changes are obvious, like this one, but sometimes it has nearly the same colour. Except if you're colour blind, then I'm not sure how obvious the colour change is. Now you sure want one on your own, don't you? So how do you get a nice little Shiny? Mostly with luck. People say a lot of things but in the end it's just pure luck. You can of course raise the chances, but seriously in the end it's just luck. Still, rising the chances is a very good idea when trying to Shiny hunt. Some people might find a Shiny with luck alone, but after hatching 1,000 Eggs without one I'm pretty sure I'm not one of them. So instead people like me have to raise their chances drastically to get one of these nice little Pokémon, luckily it is possible. But first.

Read the Wiki. Love the Wiki.

Or at least tolerate it. Read the Wiki page on Shiny Hunting! I won't explain some things, like what is a Chain and the effects of site-wide boosts in this guide. I'm more focusing on how to hunt and not on explaining how it all works, so read it if you're not familiar with the mechanics at all.

What do I need to Shiny Hunt?

There isn't anything you actually need per se, like I said it is possible without any boosts. But let's be honest, you're not asking for the kind of Shiny Hunt where the chance is maybe one in a thousand (actual numbers unknown) to hatch one. You want one now, so how do we get a decent chance to hatch one? Important: I said chance! You're not guaranteed to hatch a Shiny after any number of Eggs hatched! It's still up to luck to hatch one. So let's list the items you need for a Shiny Hunt:

• PokéRadar
• Optional, but recommended: Hypermode

Now that was pretty short, and only one item is absolutely necessary. You can't start a chain without a PokéRadar, you only get the base Shiny chance without one and that one isn't very high. With the PR you can chain Eggs and your chances of a Shiny increase up to a ~1,300% boost after you reach a chain of 38. If you get HM in addition to PR, you can get a ~4000% boost to your base chances. In my opinion, very worth it. It's possible to hunt without HM, though. You could also switch the HM for an Übercharm, that doubles your Shiny Chances. It won't be quite as good as HM, but is a lot cheaper.

Is there anything else I might need?

Oh yes! The list above is just the bare minimum to start a hunt. Now to actually chain you will need a lot of Eggs of the same species and where do you get them from? Please don't say Lab. The lab is nice and all, but for a Chain you will need a lot of Eggs of the same kind (like a lot of Eevee Eggs!) you won't be able to get them from the lab. Not even with Lab Reloaders! During Shiny Hunting two places will be you biggest friend: the DayCare and the Shelter. So upgrades for both are suggested! Suggested Upgrades for the Shelter:

• Shelter Pass: (Price varies) Let's you adopt more Pokémon each day. Please don't try to Shiny Hunt with your Shelter Pass C, only being able to adopt 6 Eggs + the 6-12 Eggs from the DayCare (depending on Hypermode) is very far from effective Shiny Hunting. You don't necessarily need the Shelter Pass ★, but A (24 adoption) or S (36) adoptions would be a good start. Of course only if you're active enough to actually use them! If you're only planning on hatching 1 or 2 parties each day, then Shelter Pass C or B are fine enough. Though the Hunt might take a while.
• Black Flute: (500 GP) Shows only Eggs in the Shelter, which makes finding your Eggs a lot easier. Advice for people who can't afford it: Press Alt + 1, this makes the Shelter smaller and Pokémon only appear as icons. Finding Eggs is a lot easier this way.

Suggested Upgrades for the DayCare:

• Matchup Checker: (100 GP) It let's you see how compatible your breeding pair is. This isn't absolutely necessary and you can also lend it from someone to find a nice breeding pair or buy a breeding pair that already has a high compatibility.
• SpyGlass: (20 GP) It shows you what Eggs you have in you DayCare. This one is mostly necessary when breeding with a mixed pair or hunting a Pokémon that gives different Eggs, but an alternative is to release all Eggs without picking one, so it isn't necessary in that case. It is necessary when breeding and hunting Event Pokémon.
• Optional: Red Gigaremo: (2,000 GP) The Egg Cycle gets halved from 64 interactions to 32 interactions, but it lowers the Pokémon' happiness (which in return lowers how many Eggs they produce!). I only use this when I'm way too lazy for my own good, but it isn't necessary at all.
• Semi-Optional: DayCare Passes: (Price varies) Lets you take 1 Egg each Pass from the DayCare. Necessary when hunting for Event Pokémon.

These are suggested Upgrades, I don't think any of them are actually necessary when hunting for normal Pokémon, but I do like the Matchup Checker a lot! Suggested Premium Upgrades:

• Übercharm: (200 ZC) It doubles your chances for Shinies and Albinos for the whole duration of 28 days! This is really worth considering buying one. (It is also possible to sell a Shiny for ZC or an Übercharm, just saying.)
• Optional: Shiny Charm: (150 ZC) Also doubles your chances for a Shiny but only for 24 hours. It also disappears after these 24 hours if you don't own a Shiny Charm Box. I'd only consider buying them on a special day (Niet + Sei bonus, as an example) or while doing an annoying hunt (hunting for exclusive Pokémon or Eggs with a very high EXP.) But when owning a Shiny Charm Box they're definitely a nice addition to the Übercharm! If you have a Shiny Charm Box, then you need at least 5 Shiny Charms to be charmed 24/7.
• Optional: Shiny Charm Box: (2,000 ZC) Shiny Charms turn into Dead Charms instead of disappearing. Dead Charms can be recharged using Gold Poké. For everyone who considers hunting for longer than a month or so this is definitely worth considering. If you have enough GP you can literally stay charmed with Übercharms and Shiny Charms the whole month without spending any ZC on the Shiny Charms. (You will still need to buy the Übercharm, though!)

Again, none of this is actually necessary to Shiny Hunt. They are just a very nice addition and make it a lot easier. Suggested EXP Boosts:

• EXP. Share: (450 GP) Can be useful to get some EXP on Eggs while mass-clicking for Eggs. Not that necessary, though. You're not missing out much if you can't afford this.
• Pokémon of the same evolution line in Party: (no cost) That's not really an Upgrade, but I have no idea where else to list it. Keeping the a Pokémon of the same evolution line in your party (for example a Gardevoir when hunting Ralts) will boost the EXP Eggs are receiving. The Party Bonus stacks up to 3 Pokémon, having 1 Pokémon in your party gives a boost of 40% (the same boost Hypermode gives!), 2 Pokémon give 70% and 3 give 110% EXP boost.
• Optional: (Super) Lucky Egg: (Price varies) I don't use them at all, because I don't like mass-clicking. But if you mass-click a lot, then this certainly helps your party hatching faster.

I personally have been using the following since 2015: Basics: PokéRadar DayCare: SpyGlass, Machup Checker, sometimes Red Gigaremo. Shelter: Shelter Pass X, Black Flute. Premium Upgrades: Hypermode, Übercharm, Shiny Charm Box, Shiny Charms And since EXP Boosts have been released: EXP. Share, 1 Pokémon of the same species in Party