Kayle
Active Member
So, I've noticed that there are a lot of people out there who wonder how I go around talking about shinies like they'y not too hard to get (at my local league at least), and still others wonder how my Platinum file contains thirty Eevees and twenty Dittos with only about twenty hours of gameplay. I figure I should explain.
This is due to the Poke-Radar, which is actually a fantastic new tool that was added to Diamond and Pearl that not everyone noticed right away. The Poke-Radar was given some use because in DPPt, it's the only way to find certain Pokemon, but it wasn't used much beyond that. I think this is kind of sad - that scenario I gave you above is pretty tame when compared to what some other people can do with the Poke-Radar!
[[A. What Poke-Radar does]]
The Pokemon Radar is a key item you can obtain after you upgrade to the National Dex; Professor Rowan(? might be Oak) gives it to you before you leave. It only works in patches of grass - it does not work on water or in caves. It also doesn't work if you're riding your bicycle so DON'T GET ON THE BIKE IF YOU'RE TRYING TO CHAIN. (see below.)
When you walk into a patch of grass and use the Poke-Radar, the music will change briefly and up to four patches of grass should shake. On very rare occasions, the patch will remain silent (and it will say so), but... well, like I said, those are very rare occasions. The only benefit to this at first glance is that you can encounter wild Pokemon on the fly without having to wander around a grassy patch waiting, but since the encounter rate is already plenty high, you might as well just walk around. However, as mentioned earlier, sometimes the only way to find certain Pokemon (Ditto and Ralts in DP, for example) was to use the Poke-Radar.
When grass shakes, it may shake in one of three ways, and the way it shakes helps you determine what rarity of Pokemon is in that patch of grass. The first style is a simple movement of grass; it lasts about a second, maybe a little longer, and the grass doesn't change color or anything. This type of shake generally means you're encountering a pretty common Pokemon - almost always a Pokemon that can be found by walking through the grass normally. The second type is a flash - it shakes quickly and flashes brightly a couple of times as well, lasting only about 3/4 of a second. This type of shake indicates that a more rare Pokemon is probably in that patch of grass; you're most likely to find your Poke-Radar exclusive in one of these patches.
The third type is a special case. The other two types don't actually guarantee anything - they just give you an idea of your odds. The third type of grass shake, a slow shake with dust/sparkles and a rainbow effect, means that there IS a Shiny Pokemon in that patch of grass! If you walk there, YOU WILL ENCOUNTER IT AND IT WILL BE SHINY.
Finally, after you use the Poke-Radar, its tiny battery will be depleted. But don't worry, it charges up as you walk, and it only takes 50 steps to recharge.
[[B. Chaining]]
Chaining is probably the most epic thing for grass-based Pokemon ever. Any Pokemon you can encounter with the Poke-Radar, you can also chain.
Chaining Pokemon refers to the act of encountering that Pokemon several times in a row. This is really helpful with certain Pokemon if you're a competitive player who's looking for a specific nature or high IVs, or if you just need a big bundle of things to catch for some reason. There are two other very handy uses for chaining, described in more detail below.
If you want to go chaining, first, SUCCUMB TO THE CHAINING CHECKLIST:
- 50-100+ Super Repels. I have 180. I think that'll last me plenty of chains. Super Repels are more cost effective than Max Repels (you get more steps for your money) so that's why I recommend them.
- Lots of Pokeballs that should easily be able to capture the Pokemon you are chaining, OR
- A Pokemon with enough power and high-PP moves that it can knock out a lot of wild Pokemon in one hit.
- The PokeRadar, obviously.
Once you've got all that, go to the route where the Pokemon you want is found. You will want to find the biggest patch of grass you can find; the more grassy ground there is to cover, the better. Use your Repel, and proceed to the center of the patch before using the PokeRadar. Use it again and again if necessary, until you encounter the Pokemon you want. DON'T RUN FROM IT - EITHER CATCH IT, OR KNOCK IT OUT.
If you did either successfully (I hope so), when you leave the battle, the Poke-Radar's music should still be playing, and several more patches of grass should shake! You can move into those patches of grass and you have a heightened chance of encountering the same Pokemon. If you encounter it a second time, you've got a chain of 2 going.
However, if you want a seriously successful chain, you're going to need to get considerably more serious than just wandering about willy-nilly! After you leave a chain encounter, the grass will shake and you need to make a decision. However, you don't necessarily have to enter any grassy patch that shakes right away - you can carefully wander around, with your Repel on, so that you don't run into any Pokemon - and you can charge up and re-use your PokeRadar. That doesn't actually reset the chain, so you can do it as many times as you like.
XoooXoooX
ovvvvvvvo
ovvvvvvvo
ovvvXvvvo
XvvvYvvvX
ovvvvvvvo
ovvvvvvvo
ovvvvvvvo
XoooXoooX
Okay, this is a map of the grass patch you're in! We're pretending that there are four spaces of grass on each side of you. The Y in the center is you.
The first thing you need to know here is that if you don't see four patches of grass shake, RESET THE RADAR. Your odds are maximized when four patches of grass shake, so don't go for anything less.
When four patches do shake, look for one that is in one of those green "o"s - that is, four patches in one direction, and between one and three patches in another direction, as far away from you as possible without being just above, to the side, or diagonal of you. If one of those patches shook, THAT'S the one you want. Walk into it carefully and you should encounter your Chain Pokemon again. Do NOT walk into any of the red X patches - even if it didn't shake, JUST STAY AWAY. I've had chains break just because I walked into those patches before, even though I didn't actually encounter a Pokemon there. Rude.
**Note: There's an X square just above your character? Yeah, that's because you can't see that patch of grass very well - so you don't actually know whether or not that patch of grass shook. Never walk into it. Ever. EVERRRR. I've broken so many chains this way.**
Just because you waited until there were four patches and walked into one of those green "o"s, however, does not guarantee that your chain will continue. Your odds are very, very high, but they aren't 100%. It will take a lot of patience to get a really strong chain going. I've had chains last only six Pokemon even though I did everything just right.
Things to remember:
- Don't get on the bike!! You'll break your chain just by getting on!!
- If your Repel fades away, use another one immediately, then reset the radar regardless. Sometimes your chain breaks if you walk into an encounter after opening the menu.
- Don't wander too far away from your starting point if you're recharging the radar. Sometimes being too far from that centerpoint will break the chain out of battle, and it's really, really annoying when it does.
- If you save your game and shut it off, your chain will be lost when you restart. If you close your DS, however, your chain will be fine when you open it again (though I strongly recommend resetting the radar right after you open your DS).
- Don't forget: you can't run from the Chain pokemon. You must make it faint, or catch it.
When you go to the Pal Park for the first time, Professor Oak will give you an app for your Poketch that will keep track of your three best chains as well as telling you how long your current chain is. This is very handy for a couple of specific uses (see below).
[[C. Chaining for Held Items]]
This is a handy little trick that I heard about. It really helps if you're looking for a Metal Coat, Lucky Egg or other ridiculously rare item that is held by wild Pokemon.
You're going to need a couple of special Pokemon for this.
Firstly, I strongly recommend a Banette, but it's not required. In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, Banette can be found wild at night on routes 225 and 226; they can also be found on route 227 and Stark Mountain's exterior in Diamond and Pearl. Catch one that has the Frisk ability; Frisk will tell you if your opponent's Pokemon is holding an item and, if they are, what that item is. It's excellent for helping you not waste time Thiefing things that don't have items, and it's also excellent for telling you what item they have so that you don't go around stealing Oval Stones when you want Lucky Eggs. The only other Pokemon that gets the Frisk ability is Stantler, and, well... you have to PokeRadar for Stantler and I like it much less than Banette anyway.
You can also use a Butterfree or other Pokemon with the ability Compoundeyes at the beginning of a battle - it increases the chances of wild Pokemon holding items, and when you're looking for something ridiculously rare, that's really helpful. If you want to use both, you can keep Butterfree at the top slot, get it knocked out, and then have Banette second - Compoundeyes should take effect, and then at the start of the battle Frisk will take effect.
Secondly and more obviously, you will need a Pokemon that has the move Thief or Covet. This can be a lot trickier than Banette. If you want Thief for some reason (possibly going after a Ghost-type?), then:
- If you have Diamond Version, you can find Kecleon using the PokeRadar just to the east of Celestic Town, on the foggy route. You will need a Heart Scale; take your Kecleon over to the move tutor and he can teach it Thief.
- If you have Platinum Version, you can do one of two things: catch a Poochyena using the PokeRadar on route 214 and evolve it into a Mightyena, who learns the move at the absurdly high level 57, OR try and find a Kecleon in the Great Marsh. However it's one of those Pokemon that changes daily, so you may not be able to get one every day you like. Pearl's options are also available to you, if you really need it.
- If you have Pearl version, you're a little stuck. Pearl Version misses out on both Mightyena and Kecleon, so you may opt to get one of them from the GTS. You can also just use a Thief TM; a great many Pokemon learn Thief by TM so that makes it pretty easy.
You WILL want some PP Restore items, because Thief's PP is ridiculously low. You probably won't need to use them, but if you do and don't have them, you'll really regret it. Leppa berries are awesome for this.
You may also want some healing items, just in case your Thiefer takes too many hits.
But Covet is better. I completely forgot about Covet when I made this guide, but it works just like Thief, has 40 PP, and is learned by Linoone in level-up. You can catch a Zigzagoon by Swarm, which is a bit of a problem for some people, but once you've got it, it will pay you back so well with Covet and Pickup!
Anyway - Chain the Pokemon who has the item you want, using your Banette or whatever to knock it out (Banette's Faint Attack and Shadow Ball should cover enough types that you won't need anything else, and it should be at a pretty high level when you catch it); Frisk works automatically at the start of the battle, so you can just knock out anything that doesn't have the item you want. If you encounter a Pokemon that does have the item you want, though, switch to your Thief Pokemon immediately and have them use Thief. Thief isn't guaranteed to work, so you'll need to check your Summary to make sure you actually got what you wanted. When you do, you can run (if you only needed one) or switch back to Banette and continue chaining away.
[[D. Chaining for Shiny Pokemon]]
This is by far my favorite use of the PokeRadar. It makes it so easy to get legitimate and even competitive-viable shiny Pokemon~!
Let me remind you, before you get too excited, that this only works on Pokemon you can encounter in grass. However, this includes all Swarm Pokemon, such as Absol, Electrike, Magnemite, Beldum, etc etc etc...
Here are a couple more things you may want:
- A Pokemon with the nature you want and the Synchronize ability. If a Pokemon with the Synchronize ability is the first in your party when you encounter a wild Pokemon, that Pokemon has a 50% chance to have the same nature as your Synchronize Pokemon. I favor Espeon/Umbreon for this. Their stats are good for chaining (not that it should ever matter) if you level them up a good bit, and they always get the Synchronize ability, so it's not hard to breed for the nature you want in an Eevee and then friend-evolve to Espeon. The problem is, of course, friend evolution. If you don't mind taking your chances/taking a while, I understand it's actually not too hard to get a Synchronize Ralts of every nature, particularly in Platinum. (You can chain them for this~)
- Premier Balls. Because a shiny Pokemon in a ghostly white Pokeball is cool. I don't recommend this for Pokemon such as Beldum, though, whose catch rate is ridiculously high and therefore isn't conductive to a low-rate ball.
- A good False Swiper. Gallade, Smeargle, Garchomp, Breloom, Marowak, Pinsir, Scizor and zangoose all learn False Swipe. False Swipe makes it much easier to catch Pokemon by lowering their HP to 1 at the very least (never actually knocking them out). If you have someone with Hypnosis that makes things even easier. Breloom is one of the best Pokemon catchers in the game, between False Swipe and Spore, so if you can get one of those, do it.
To chain for shinies, well, just chain like normal. Your odds of getting a shiny on a "chain" of 1 Pokemon, that is, the first time you use the Poke-Radar or when you encounter something just by wandering around a cave or patch of grass, is 1/8192 or so. That means only one out of every 8,000something Pokemon you ever see will be Shiny. This also counts trainer's Pokemon, which you can't catch, and legendaries, which you can.
However, as you chain, your odds improve with each Pokemon you add to your chain. The formula that has been derived from this is pretty complicated, but the point is, your odds maximize at a chain of 40 Pokemon in a row. Once you've fainted or caught 40 of your chain pokemon, your odds of encountering a shiny cap out at the much more reasonable 1/200. Once you get to that magic 40, you can just walk back and forth resetting your radar and not risking your chain until that magic shiny grass appears.
When you encounter your Shiny, you can catch it or make it faint (or run from it
) or whatever else you like. Running will break your chain. Catching it or making it faint won't so you can just keep chaining for shiny chaining action. Which is just awesome.
LET ME POINT OUT THAT THIS IS EXTREMELY TEDIOUS AND DIFFICULT. I don't make it sound hard here, but getting a chain of 40 Pokemon is ridiculously hard, ESPECIALLY on Pokemon that can only be found with the Poke-Radar or are otherwise uncommon. I spent three weeks chaining Ralts and only got one shiny. If you want to practice this before going for your real desire, I suggest going and talking to Professor Rowan's assistant's sister (there's a tongue twister for you). She will tell you what swarm is on today. Since Swarm pokemon normally have a 30% encounter rate, they're considerably easier to chain than most Pokemon are, so it's much, much faster and you're more likely to get shinies (there are people who can get 5 shinies a day off of swarm Pokemon). It's a good place to start.
[[E. Chaining for EVs (thanks toxictaipan)]]
Another excellent use for the Poke-Radar is to chain a Pokemon that gives EVs you need. This is really very straightforward, but it's worth a mention if you're thinking about uses for the Poke-Radar; just find the Pokemon you want, KO it, and begin your chain. You can use Professor Oak's app to keep an eye on how many EVs you have accumulated so far.
Good luck and I hope the Poke-Radar benefits you in the future.
[[Thank you to everyone who posted a lot of helpful comments about the game that I didn't really know. Good stuff!]]
This is due to the Poke-Radar, which is actually a fantastic new tool that was added to Diamond and Pearl that not everyone noticed right away. The Poke-Radar was given some use because in DPPt, it's the only way to find certain Pokemon, but it wasn't used much beyond that. I think this is kind of sad - that scenario I gave you above is pretty tame when compared to what some other people can do with the Poke-Radar!
[[A. What Poke-Radar does]]
The Pokemon Radar is a key item you can obtain after you upgrade to the National Dex; Professor Rowan(? might be Oak) gives it to you before you leave. It only works in patches of grass - it does not work on water or in caves. It also doesn't work if you're riding your bicycle so DON'T GET ON THE BIKE IF YOU'RE TRYING TO CHAIN. (see below.)
When you walk into a patch of grass and use the Poke-Radar, the music will change briefly and up to four patches of grass should shake. On very rare occasions, the patch will remain silent (and it will say so), but... well, like I said, those are very rare occasions. The only benefit to this at first glance is that you can encounter wild Pokemon on the fly without having to wander around a grassy patch waiting, but since the encounter rate is already plenty high, you might as well just walk around. However, as mentioned earlier, sometimes the only way to find certain Pokemon (Ditto and Ralts in DP, for example) was to use the Poke-Radar.
When grass shakes, it may shake in one of three ways, and the way it shakes helps you determine what rarity of Pokemon is in that patch of grass. The first style is a simple movement of grass; it lasts about a second, maybe a little longer, and the grass doesn't change color or anything. This type of shake generally means you're encountering a pretty common Pokemon - almost always a Pokemon that can be found by walking through the grass normally. The second type is a flash - it shakes quickly and flashes brightly a couple of times as well, lasting only about 3/4 of a second. This type of shake indicates that a more rare Pokemon is probably in that patch of grass; you're most likely to find your Poke-Radar exclusive in one of these patches.
The third type is a special case. The other two types don't actually guarantee anything - they just give you an idea of your odds. The third type of grass shake, a slow shake with dust/sparkles and a rainbow effect, means that there IS a Shiny Pokemon in that patch of grass! If you walk there, YOU WILL ENCOUNTER IT AND IT WILL BE SHINY.
Finally, after you use the Poke-Radar, its tiny battery will be depleted. But don't worry, it charges up as you walk, and it only takes 50 steps to recharge.
[[B. Chaining]]
Chaining is probably the most epic thing for grass-based Pokemon ever. Any Pokemon you can encounter with the Poke-Radar, you can also chain.
Chaining Pokemon refers to the act of encountering that Pokemon several times in a row. This is really helpful with certain Pokemon if you're a competitive player who's looking for a specific nature or high IVs, or if you just need a big bundle of things to catch for some reason. There are two other very handy uses for chaining, described in more detail below.
If you want to go chaining, first, SUCCUMB TO THE CHAINING CHECKLIST:
- 50-100+ Super Repels. I have 180. I think that'll last me plenty of chains. Super Repels are more cost effective than Max Repels (you get more steps for your money) so that's why I recommend them.
- Lots of Pokeballs that should easily be able to capture the Pokemon you are chaining, OR
- A Pokemon with enough power and high-PP moves that it can knock out a lot of wild Pokemon in one hit.
- The PokeRadar, obviously.
Once you've got all that, go to the route where the Pokemon you want is found. You will want to find the biggest patch of grass you can find; the more grassy ground there is to cover, the better. Use your Repel, and proceed to the center of the patch before using the PokeRadar. Use it again and again if necessary, until you encounter the Pokemon you want. DON'T RUN FROM IT - EITHER CATCH IT, OR KNOCK IT OUT.
If you did either successfully (I hope so), when you leave the battle, the Poke-Radar's music should still be playing, and several more patches of grass should shake! You can move into those patches of grass and you have a heightened chance of encountering the same Pokemon. If you encounter it a second time, you've got a chain of 2 going.
However, if you want a seriously successful chain, you're going to need to get considerably more serious than just wandering about willy-nilly! After you leave a chain encounter, the grass will shake and you need to make a decision. However, you don't necessarily have to enter any grassy patch that shakes right away - you can carefully wander around, with your Repel on, so that you don't run into any Pokemon - and you can charge up and re-use your PokeRadar. That doesn't actually reset the chain, so you can do it as many times as you like.
XoooXoooX
ovvvvvvvo
ovvvvvvvo
ovvvXvvvo
XvvvYvvvX
ovvvvvvvo
ovvvvvvvo
ovvvvvvvo
XoooXoooX
Okay, this is a map of the grass patch you're in! We're pretending that there are four spaces of grass on each side of you. The Y in the center is you.
The first thing you need to know here is that if you don't see four patches of grass shake, RESET THE RADAR. Your odds are maximized when four patches of grass shake, so don't go for anything less.
When four patches do shake, look for one that is in one of those green "o"s - that is, four patches in one direction, and between one and three patches in another direction, as far away from you as possible without being just above, to the side, or diagonal of you. If one of those patches shook, THAT'S the one you want. Walk into it carefully and you should encounter your Chain Pokemon again. Do NOT walk into any of the red X patches - even if it didn't shake, JUST STAY AWAY. I've had chains break just because I walked into those patches before, even though I didn't actually encounter a Pokemon there. Rude.
**Note: There's an X square just above your character? Yeah, that's because you can't see that patch of grass very well - so you don't actually know whether or not that patch of grass shook. Never walk into it. Ever. EVERRRR. I've broken so many chains this way.**
Just because you waited until there were four patches and walked into one of those green "o"s, however, does not guarantee that your chain will continue. Your odds are very, very high, but they aren't 100%. It will take a lot of patience to get a really strong chain going. I've had chains last only six Pokemon even though I did everything just right.
Things to remember:
- Don't get on the bike!! You'll break your chain just by getting on!!
- If your Repel fades away, use another one immediately, then reset the radar regardless. Sometimes your chain breaks if you walk into an encounter after opening the menu.
- Don't wander too far away from your starting point if you're recharging the radar. Sometimes being too far from that centerpoint will break the chain out of battle, and it's really, really annoying when it does.
- If you save your game and shut it off, your chain will be lost when you restart. If you close your DS, however, your chain will be fine when you open it again (though I strongly recommend resetting the radar right after you open your DS).
- Don't forget: you can't run from the Chain pokemon. You must make it faint, or catch it.
When you go to the Pal Park for the first time, Professor Oak will give you an app for your Poketch that will keep track of your three best chains as well as telling you how long your current chain is. This is very handy for a couple of specific uses (see below).
[[C. Chaining for Held Items]]
This is a handy little trick that I heard about. It really helps if you're looking for a Metal Coat, Lucky Egg or other ridiculously rare item that is held by wild Pokemon.
You're going to need a couple of special Pokemon for this.
Firstly, I strongly recommend a Banette, but it's not required. In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, Banette can be found wild at night on routes 225 and 226; they can also be found on route 227 and Stark Mountain's exterior in Diamond and Pearl. Catch one that has the Frisk ability; Frisk will tell you if your opponent's Pokemon is holding an item and, if they are, what that item is. It's excellent for helping you not waste time Thiefing things that don't have items, and it's also excellent for telling you what item they have so that you don't go around stealing Oval Stones when you want Lucky Eggs. The only other Pokemon that gets the Frisk ability is Stantler, and, well... you have to PokeRadar for Stantler and I like it much less than Banette anyway.
You can also use a Butterfree or other Pokemon with the ability Compoundeyes at the beginning of a battle - it increases the chances of wild Pokemon holding items, and when you're looking for something ridiculously rare, that's really helpful. If you want to use both, you can keep Butterfree at the top slot, get it knocked out, and then have Banette second - Compoundeyes should take effect, and then at the start of the battle Frisk will take effect.
Secondly and more obviously, you will need a Pokemon that has the move Thief or Covet. This can be a lot trickier than Banette. If you want Thief for some reason (possibly going after a Ghost-type?), then:
- If you have Diamond Version, you can find Kecleon using the PokeRadar just to the east of Celestic Town, on the foggy route. You will need a Heart Scale; take your Kecleon over to the move tutor and he can teach it Thief.
- If you have Platinum Version, you can do one of two things: catch a Poochyena using the PokeRadar on route 214 and evolve it into a Mightyena, who learns the move at the absurdly high level 57, OR try and find a Kecleon in the Great Marsh. However it's one of those Pokemon that changes daily, so you may not be able to get one every day you like. Pearl's options are also available to you, if you really need it.
- If you have Pearl version, you're a little stuck. Pearl Version misses out on both Mightyena and Kecleon, so you may opt to get one of them from the GTS. You can also just use a Thief TM; a great many Pokemon learn Thief by TM so that makes it pretty easy.
You WILL want some PP Restore items, because Thief's PP is ridiculously low. You probably won't need to use them, but if you do and don't have them, you'll really regret it. Leppa berries are awesome for this.
You may also want some healing items, just in case your Thiefer takes too many hits.
But Covet is better. I completely forgot about Covet when I made this guide, but it works just like Thief, has 40 PP, and is learned by Linoone in level-up. You can catch a Zigzagoon by Swarm, which is a bit of a problem for some people, but once you've got it, it will pay you back so well with Covet and Pickup!
Anyway - Chain the Pokemon who has the item you want, using your Banette or whatever to knock it out (Banette's Faint Attack and Shadow Ball should cover enough types that you won't need anything else, and it should be at a pretty high level when you catch it); Frisk works automatically at the start of the battle, so you can just knock out anything that doesn't have the item you want. If you encounter a Pokemon that does have the item you want, though, switch to your Thief Pokemon immediately and have them use Thief. Thief isn't guaranteed to work, so you'll need to check your Summary to make sure you actually got what you wanted. When you do, you can run (if you only needed one) or switch back to Banette and continue chaining away.
[[D. Chaining for Shiny Pokemon]]
This is by far my favorite use of the PokeRadar. It makes it so easy to get legitimate and even competitive-viable shiny Pokemon~!
Let me remind you, before you get too excited, that this only works on Pokemon you can encounter in grass. However, this includes all Swarm Pokemon, such as Absol, Electrike, Magnemite, Beldum, etc etc etc...
Here are a couple more things you may want:
- A Pokemon with the nature you want and the Synchronize ability. If a Pokemon with the Synchronize ability is the first in your party when you encounter a wild Pokemon, that Pokemon has a 50% chance to have the same nature as your Synchronize Pokemon. I favor Espeon/Umbreon for this. Their stats are good for chaining (not that it should ever matter) if you level them up a good bit, and they always get the Synchronize ability, so it's not hard to breed for the nature you want in an Eevee and then friend-evolve to Espeon. The problem is, of course, friend evolution. If you don't mind taking your chances/taking a while, I understand it's actually not too hard to get a Synchronize Ralts of every nature, particularly in Platinum. (You can chain them for this~)
- Premier Balls. Because a shiny Pokemon in a ghostly white Pokeball is cool. I don't recommend this for Pokemon such as Beldum, though, whose catch rate is ridiculously high and therefore isn't conductive to a low-rate ball.
- A good False Swiper. Gallade, Smeargle, Garchomp, Breloom, Marowak, Pinsir, Scizor and zangoose all learn False Swipe. False Swipe makes it much easier to catch Pokemon by lowering their HP to 1 at the very least (never actually knocking them out). If you have someone with Hypnosis that makes things even easier. Breloom is one of the best Pokemon catchers in the game, between False Swipe and Spore, so if you can get one of those, do it.
To chain for shinies, well, just chain like normal. Your odds of getting a shiny on a "chain" of 1 Pokemon, that is, the first time you use the Poke-Radar or when you encounter something just by wandering around a cave or patch of grass, is 1/8192 or so. That means only one out of every 8,000something Pokemon you ever see will be Shiny. This also counts trainer's Pokemon, which you can't catch, and legendaries, which you can.
However, as you chain, your odds improve with each Pokemon you add to your chain. The formula that has been derived from this is pretty complicated, but the point is, your odds maximize at a chain of 40 Pokemon in a row. Once you've fainted or caught 40 of your chain pokemon, your odds of encountering a shiny cap out at the much more reasonable 1/200. Once you get to that magic 40, you can just walk back and forth resetting your radar and not risking your chain until that magic shiny grass appears.
When you encounter your Shiny, you can catch it or make it faint (or run from it
) or whatever else you like. Running will break your chain. Catching it or making it faint won't so you can just keep chaining for shiny chaining action. Which is just awesome.LET ME POINT OUT THAT THIS IS EXTREMELY TEDIOUS AND DIFFICULT. I don't make it sound hard here, but getting a chain of 40 Pokemon is ridiculously hard, ESPECIALLY on Pokemon that can only be found with the Poke-Radar or are otherwise uncommon. I spent three weeks chaining Ralts and only got one shiny. If you want to practice this before going for your real desire, I suggest going and talking to Professor Rowan's assistant's sister (there's a tongue twister for you). She will tell you what swarm is on today. Since Swarm pokemon normally have a 30% encounter rate, they're considerably easier to chain than most Pokemon are, so it's much, much faster and you're more likely to get shinies (there are people who can get 5 shinies a day off of swarm Pokemon). It's a good place to start.
[[E. Chaining for EVs (thanks toxictaipan)]]
Another excellent use for the Poke-Radar is to chain a Pokemon that gives EVs you need. This is really very straightforward, but it's worth a mention if you're thinking about uses for the Poke-Radar; just find the Pokemon you want, KO it, and begin your chain. You can use Professor Oak's app to keep an eye on how many EVs you have accumulated so far.
Good luck and I hope the Poke-Radar benefits you in the future.
[[Thank you to everyone who posted a lot of helpful comments about the game that I didn't really know. Good stuff!]]
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