Catching Shiny Pokémon

I'm sure you've all heard of or have seen of a picture of one. Maybe you even own one... A pokémon with unusual colors. As you can probably guess (or know), this is an extremely rare occurrence. While I'd like to be able to tell you that there are some sort of special tactics to finding a shiny, the truth is that it mostly just depends on some really, really good luck. You can find them in basically any area you can catch normal pokémon, but the odds of that are about 1 in 8,191 battles. Honestly, the best way to find a shiny is just to play a lot of pokémon. And I mean a lot. But, of course, there's still no guarantee.

Since the fourth generation, however, there have several changes added to slightly assist the process of obtaining a Shiny:

• Mesuda Method - Named after game developer Junichi Mesuda, this method is the most commonly known and used. It has you breed two pokémon, but one must be of a different nationality than your game (i.e. a Japanese pokémon in an English game - you can obtain foreign pokémon through the GTS). This raises the chances of hatching a Shiny from 1 in 8,191 to 1 in 2,048 - cutting it by a whopping 75% (in Gen IV). In Gen V, however, it's boosted even further, from 1 in 8,192 to 1 in 1,365.3.
• Chaining - This method has you carry on a chain on the PokeRadar. As you battle pokemon and your chain increases, your chances of seeing a Shiny also increases (until you reach the 40th chain, where it levels out.) This is calculated by the formula Chance = (14747 - 40 * ChainNumber) / 2621440 (41 - ChainNumber). Continue the chain and you might see a grass tile glowing instead of shaking like it normally would. If this happens, there is definitely a shiny pokemon there. When you defeat or capture a pokemon you find on the PokéRadar, the chain begins and you must follow the chain to the other grass tiles to continue. A chain is broken when a different pokémon appears, or you encounter a wild pokémon outside of the set grass tiles. (So it's recommended that you use a Repel or some other type of wild pokémon prevention technique.)
• Shiny Charm - In Black & White 2, this new item was introduced. Although you can't obtain it until completing the National Pokédex, it is extremely useful when searching for Shinies. When you have the item in your bag, it increases the chances of encountering a shiny pokémon by 300% - making it a 1 in 2,730.6 chance. However, if you're using the Mesuda Method to breed, it reduces it from 1 in 1,365.3 down to 1 in 1024.

Unfortunately, while we would all would like to think that such a special looking pokémon would also have a special set of IVs, this hasn't been the case since Gen II. Shiny pokémon are always going to end up with the same odds of having good stats as normal pokémon. 

But with all this in mind, I wish very good luck to all you trainers out there searching for the perfect shiny pokémon!

[Progress: 132/256]

Catch of the Week (#3) - Flying Pikachu

I'll start out with a little disclaimer by saying that I had to catch this one with my roommate's assistance, but I still think it's an appropriate Catch of the Week, cause it's pretty rare.

(A card clearly manufactured during Pikachu's pudgy phase.)

You can only catch a flying Pikachu on the Yellow Forest pokéwalker route, which was available through a Wi-Fi event a while ago. So we had to program the route onto the pokewalker using an Action Replay (this is where my roommate came in). The only pokémon you can catch in Yellow Forest are Pikachus, but it takes over 10,000 steps to find one with Surf or Fly in their moveset. A surfing Pikachu might have been cooler, but I'll definitely take what I can get. And although the rest of his moveset isn't great, I can always change that. And he doesn't have the greatest nature (it lowers speed unfortunately), so I'm not even sure how much use I'll make of him, especially since I already have a pretty capable Skarmory with Fly on my team. But I still think it's pretty awesome to have a Pikachu that can fly (and even though he traditionally uses balloons, I like to think of him going at it flying-squirrel style, because for some reason I find that to be much more amusing). Either way, kind of exciting.

In other news, I've been making slow progress through Kanto... I beat Lt. Surge in Vermillion City yesterday, but otherwise there's really not too much to talk about. So instead I'm going tell you that you should all go grab your copy of Black/White 2 (if you have one) and pick up the level 100 Deoxys from the Wi-Fi event that started today! (Now if that's not exciting, I don't know what is.) It's part of the new Plasma Freeze promotion and it's available til May 31st, so you have some time. But I, for one, am going to get started early, head to the nearest Pokémon Center, and soft-reset until I get one with a naive or hasty nature (to boost speed). Hopefully I won't go insane before then. But I'm pretty determined - I've never actually used a Deoxys on my team, and I might just try it out in Ubers sometime if I get it properly configured. But anyways, before then I suppose I should fight my inherent procrastination and get some more work done on SoulSilver. Starting.... Well, I s'pose I should probably start now.

[Progress: 125/256]

And the Journey Continues.

So I don't really like to brag, but I won't lie to you guys... I kind of curb-stomped the Elite Four. I mean, that was more or less the idea to begin with. It's not like you're actually supposed to battle them with your team at the level of Lance's Dragonites. (But let me tell you - I made those Dragonites my bitches.) Anyways, after training til my eyes bled I went into the Pokemon League and one-shotted most of the opponents. It was pretty satisfying.
Like I said, you're expected to go in there at level 40, but it's just not the same when you have to soft-reset (or just take the loss) so many times. So I figured I would just cut that whole part out and grind levels until I could take on the whole League in one go. And I'd say it went pretty well. I didn't even make any of the adjustments I had been talking about yesterday. They're not the best I've had, but I'm pretty proud of my team (as horribly obsessive as that sounds). And I have practically no shame, so here they are:

         Skarmory / Garuda
         Level 51
         Slash / Fly / Spikes / Steel Wing
       

  Meganium / Leafos
  Level 49
  Reflect / Light Screen / Petal Dance / Synthesis



          Starmie / Aster
          Level 50
          Swift / Rapid Spin / Waterfall / Surf


        Mamoswine / Manny
        Level 51
        Ice Fang / Ice Shard / Avalanche / Earthquake


          Gengar / Umbra
          Level 51
          Confuse Ray / Shadow Ball / Dark Pulse / Mean Look


           Heracross / Hercules
           Level 50
           Reversal / Close Combat / Aerial Ace / Brick Break


Anyways, now it's time to really get down to business and catch some more Kanto pokémon. I've made hardly any progress with my pokédex in the last couple of days, what with all the training I've been doing. But with the Pokémon League behind me, I have no more excuses.

[Progress: 120/256]

So close, yet still so far away...

Well, it's been a slow weekend, but I did make some progress. I finally found a water stone and evolved my Staryu, which was quite exciting. And after a few haircuts in the Goldenrod Tunnel, I managed to get an Espeon (still working on the Umbreon, though). That aside, I still have a bit of work to do before taking on the Elite Four. I have two more levels to cover on my team (I'm shooting for 50 - I don't want to waste time soft-resetting), and I still have a couple TMs to acquire. I really wanted to get Psychic for my Starmie, but I don't think it'll be available til I get to Saffron City. It almost seems like a waste to take Starmie to the Pokémon League without a psychic move, but there really aren't many other powerful options as far as psychic-type moves go. So I guess I'll just have to go without, unless I want to look into teaching something to my Gengar. But he has a pretty tailored moveset already, and I'm not sure I'm quite ready to change it.
I do, however, think I'm going to spend some time in the Goldenrod Casino to get Ice Beam. I might not make it though... You have to play a lot mini games to earn 10,000 coins.
But, if all goes well, I plan on making it through the Pokémon League by the end of the day. As soon as I finish up what small adjustments I still want to make to my team, I don't see it being too much of a challenge. But we'll see. I s'pose I might not even be able to make all of those changes, depending on my mini-gaming abilities.

Voltorb Flip gets pretty tedious after about... two levels.

Either way, I'm off to KO some more Golbats and win gratuitous amounts of casino coins. Then, the Pokémon League shall (hopefully) be mine! And I'll be free to finish up my pokédex in Kanto.

[Progress: 117/256]

An Unsolicited Explanation

So, I'm not gonna lie to you guys. I've been talking a little break from training. I mean, I've been training a little (maybe two hours a day or so), but the weather has been really nice lately where I live, so I've mostly just been taking my pokémon on strolls with the pokéwalker instead of training in-game. Like I said, spending so much time in a digital cave really makes you yearn for some nicer scenery. I just decided to find it in real life instead of in Johto. I have, however, still been catching pokémon on the pokéwalker routes. So it hasn't been entirely in vain.
I still have about eight levels to go on my team before I think I'll be ready for the Pokemon League, but once I get motivated I know that won't take terribly long. I can one-shot nearly everything in Victory Road at this point, and still get a decent amount of experience from battles. I just need to sit  down with my DS for a good evening or so, and I think I'll be able to take on the Elite Four.
And I know that my 30 days are almost up, but I don't care. As much as I love playing pokémon, it doesn't quite merit sacrificing real life activities entirely. And I'm having fun, so I'm going to keep going until I fill up my dex, no matter how long it takes. (Although I don't think it will take too long once I'm set loose in Kanto).

So, with that, I clip my pokéwalker to my belt and set off as a real-life Pokemon Trainer.

[Progress: 111/256]

On the Road to the Pokémon League

Well, I've officially passed the 100 mark! I took my Vulpix for a stroll on my Pokewalker last night and caught a Ponyta & a Magby. I was thinking about saving Lugia for #100, but once I had dragged myself all the way to the bottom of the Whirl Islands, I kind of just wanted to get it over with. And yes, I did use my master ball, but only so I could catch it and soft-reset over and over again until I got a good nature (I settled with Bold, for defense purposes). I did take a short trip to Cianwood while I was over there, smashed some rocks for a while, and evolved my Piloswine - cause Mamoswine is way more awesome. I also put Synthesis back on my Meganium while I was at it. I think he'll do pretty well as a defensive wall in the Pokémon League.

Route 27 - The bridge to Kanto

And now... KANTO! Down Route 27, through Tohjo Falls, and to Victory Road. Man, I remember the first time I played this game, when I realized I was going to get to explore Kanto after the Pokémon League. So much excitement.
But there is that whole "Pokémon League"" thing... And I dunno about you guys, but after about five run-throughs Victory Road really starts to get to me. I know what you're probably thinking right now: "Who doesn't love getting lost inside one of Kanto's deepest caves and being bombarded with a constant onslaught of pokémon you've seen so many times that the battles have started blending together?" But the answer to that question would probably be, well, myself. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of training until the shapes on my DS screen don't mean anything to me anymore, but grinding for the Elite Four just gets sooo old sooo fast. One can only hang out in a digital cave for so long before desiring some more interesting scenery. (Not to mention the fact that you can only battle so many level 32 Golbats without dying a little bit inside.) I just wish there were other more legitimate training areas than just Victory Road.

I think I might take a little break to evolve a few of my Eevees (or at least Umbreon & Espeon), and also probably enter some Pokéathlon events to try and win some extra stones. Mini games always provide a decent vacation from the daily frustrations of training. Wish me luck!

[Progress: 106/256]

To Kanto! But first...

I feel like there's such a training hump after the 8th Gym. (In addition to the hump I have yet to get over with catching - as if no one has noticed.) For one, I always forget about the Kimono Girls. But secondly, you don't really get much of a chance to train after defeating Clair. You haven't had access to a new route since leaving Mahogany Town, and upon exiting the Dragon's Den you recieve a call from Professor Elm, who sends you to Ecruteak City, where, oh by the way you have to consecutively battle/defeat five (decently strong) trainers. Which, in itself, really isn't that bad - I mean, they only have one Eeveelution apiece. But then they make you go deal with Lugia before you can leave for the Pokemon League, and I suppose I shouldn't be complaining (because at least it gives me a new pokédex entry), but at this point I kind of just want to get to Kanto already.
So I headed back to Route 44 (again), littered the ground with KO'd Gravelers and Teddiursas, gained a few levels, and quickly laid waste to the Kimono Girls. Now, I'm on my way to the Whirl Islands to catch me a legendary bird.

On the bright side, I finally evolved my Yanma into it's not-so-useless form (Yanmega) - Slowly but surely getting ready to kick some Elite Four ass. Now I just have to find a water stone for my Staryu and get a heart scale  to teach my Piloswine AncientPower. Perhaps I'll stop by Cianwood City while I'm in the area for some rock smashing.

[Progress: 98/256]