How to: Guarantee Shiny starters in Pokemon Gen 4 (Sinnoh)

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I have personally used this method, so I know it works.

Please do keep in mind that some parts of this require trial and error, and the whole process can take over 2 hours.

I will write this guide as it would be done on actual DS hardware, I am unsure if the process is the same for an emulator.

Required:

Nintendo DS

Copy of Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum

RNG Reporter (https://github.com/Admiral-Fish/RNGReporter/releases)

EonTimer (https://www.dropbox.com/s/tqf13ht2f4bxt66/EonTimer-1_6.zip?dl=0#download)

Patience!

It's recommended to have a DS that has a GBA slot, while also having a copy of a Gen 3 Pokemon game, however it's not a requirement.

Step 1

The first thing we need to do is to delete any previous save data on your game, and have both RNG reporter and EonTimer installed on a computer.

Before going any further, open EonTimer and set it up the same as below:

Click the cog icon in the bottom left to get the settings open.

To enable us to get a shiny starter, we need to be able to generate a trainer ID and Secret ID that we will know.

To do this, we will follow Smogon's guide here - Manipulating for Desired ID/SID

It can take a few goes to get this correct, but if you follow all of the instructions and keep trying, you will be able to hit the right time and get an ID/SID you know.

If you are planning on using RNG to get shinies later in the game I recommend getting an ID spread that you will want later, along with the correct nature. However, if you are only interested in getting a shiny starter, you can choose any ID/SID you want.

Once we have an ID/SID you are happy with, progress through the game until:

In Diamond or Pearl

- you get to two steps outside the entrance to the Lake, which is one step before your rival talks to you

In Platinum

- you are next to the briefcase to select your Pokemon

Once here, save your game and turn your DS off.

Step 2

I recommend reading this page from Smogon, which details how to manipulate for receiving ideal Pokémon - How to Capture / Receive Perfect Pokemon

You don't need to worry about steps 3 and on as they are not possible to do when trying to get a shiny starter.

Because we know our ID/SIDs, what we need to do is use the 4th Generation Time Finder application in RNG Reporter to find the right seed to use.

The ID & SID I will use are 22003 and 59858, as that is what I used to get my shiny Turtwig.

What you will want to do is set the Time Finder like below:

Shiny starters in Sinnoh all appear on Frame 1, so that is why we set the Min/Max frame to 1.

The year can be set to whatever you like, as it can be changed in the DS time settings.

If you wish to set a desired nature you can, but this may limit the number of possible results you can use. This is the same with the selection of IVs you want, you may need to give yourself a larger range of IVs rather than 31 in every stat.

Put your ID and SID in the box and tick Shiny Only.

Now hit generate.

Hopefully if you haven't restricted yourself too much with IVs and Natures, you will have one or more options for a shiny Seed. If you press generate and get no options, you will need to loosen your IV/Nature restriction. I was happy to take HP and Atk better than 30, and wasn't concerned with the rest of the IVs.

Once you have an option or some, select one that you want, copy the seed, and put it into the Seed to Times application, like so:

Doing this will generate a list of potential times you can hit the right seed to get your shiny starter.

Set the delays and seconds in the middle of the app like I have done, and hit generate that is on the middle right to get values like I have done here:

These listed seeds are the ones you will land on if you miss your desired seed. It's important to know these, as we can use them to work out how far off we are from timing it correctly to hit the shiny seed.

What I recommend is starting a spreadsheet, putting 10 seeds before, and 10 seeds after the desired seed.

Copy down the seed and delay, and have an extra column for nature of the Pokemon on that seed.

It should look like this:

Once you have this, what you need to do is take each one of these seeds, and put them into the RNG Reporter main app, and look at the result for Frame 1 for each of these seeds.

See below how I have taken the 10th seed before my desired seed, put it into RNG Reporter, and I can see that the Nature on that seed is Sassy.

I put this nature into the spreadsheet, and do this for all of the 20 surrounding seeds, and the result looks like below:

Now that we have got to this stage, we are ready to begin actually attempting to load the game on the desired seed.

Step 3

We now want to set up EonTimer for the desired seed.

See how I have used the delay and seconds values from the Seed to Times in EonTimer.

Again, if EonTimer says Minutes Before Target: 1, then when you are setting the DS clock you need to put it a minute before the desired seed's time.

Once EonTimer is set, you will again accept the DS time and start EonTimer at the same time, like was done when generating your ID/SID.

The first countdown is when you want to boot your game from the DS main menu.

This time however, the second timer on EonTimer is when you will load your save file

My personal recommendation for Diamond/Pearl is holding the up button while you are loading your save file, as this will cause you to walk forwards towards the lake's entrance, beginning the cutscene before selecting your starter Pokemon.

In Platinum, click on the briefcase as soon as you can.

This is because if the NPCs in the route move at all, the frames will skip past Frame 1 and you won't be able to get the shiny on that go.

Here's where the trial and error comes in.

Attempt to hit the correct seed by using EonTimer. Select your desired Pokemon, and it's likely in the first battle with Starly it won't be shiny.

Don't reset just yet.

Finish the battle, finish the dialogue with your rival and Dawn, and then open the Pokemon menu and check your starters Nature. Compare this Nature with your spreadsheet, and you should be able to see how far off you were in terms of delay.

Say I hit the Lax nature seed (delay 1385), to roughly confirm that I was only out by 4 delay, put the seed into RNG Reporter again to see the IVs from that seed.

Use the Pokedex IV Checker to see if the possible IVs of the Pokemon you got were the same as what RNG Reporter said that seed's IVs were.

If the Nature and potential IVs match the seed you think you hit, then you pretty much know what delay you hit.

The possible IVs on the calculator match the IVs on RNG Reporter.

As the delay I needed was 1381, but I actually hit 1385, I put this in Delay Hit in EonTimer and press update.

This will slightly adjust the timing to suit you, giving you a better chance to hit your seed.

If the delay you hit was odd, but you needed a even delay (or vice versa), you can do one of two things:

- insert a GBA cartridge into slot 2 and try again

- set the date forward one year without changing anything else

These are the only ways to switch between odd and even delays.

After updating EonTimer, and changing odd/even delay if required, all you need to do now is keep trying.

Every time you try and hit the right seed, keep checking the nature on the Pokemon you get, and update EonTimer accordingly. If you find that you get a Pokemon with a Nature and IVs that don't match those around your desired seed, then I'm afraid you've either done something wrong or EonTimer has been calibrated too far from what it needs to be.

I suggest resetting the calibrated delay back to 600 and starting from there again.

With enough patience, you will hit your seed eventually, and you will see your shiny starter!

If you're having trouble with this, please don't hesitate to leave a comment, or email us at casualsweatygaming@gmail.com, and I'll try to help you as soon as possible!

Again, if this guide was useful to you, please consider following my channels:

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Thanks for reading, and happy gaming!