Talk:Poké Radar

Shouldn't more information be added to this article about catching shinies with the Radar? - MrWho 17:16, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, Pokémon Wiki has its own article on Poké Radar chaning... TTEchidna 09:57, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

It said chainning didn't help catch shinys...

http://youtube.com/user/shinyhunter disagrees, but I settled for putting in a citation needed instead. --Scwizard 07:15, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Well, it may not. I honestly don't know myself. However I do know that if it's ALWAYS 1/8192, finding 8192 wild Pokémon will likely result in you finding at least one shiny. TTEchidna 10:55, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

This isn't true. You will have a 1/8,192 chance of a shiny each time, not all together.--William slattery (talk) 10:48, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

You should check this out

http://pokeguide.filb.de/index.php?subaction=showcomments&id=1187474533&archive=&start_from=&ucat=&

I don't understand it but it looks interesting. --Scwizard 00:03, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Chains

Unless it's just my crappy luck, catching Pokemon doesn't always continue a chain; usually it works only half the time. Similarly, most of my chains consist of three or four Pokemon (five at the most, so far), even with the help of Max Repels, before encountering an entirely new species (ie, four Bagons, then Machop). The article is very misleading in that, unless it's just my own interpretation, it almost guarantees you'll encounter Bagon after Bagon after Bagon until you do something to break the chain rather than chains simply ending on their own like what has happened to me on more than several occasions. I would alter the article myself, but I would like to listen to the comments of others first. // SzayelAporro 21:14, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

The method itself is not wrong - it has been proven through lots of testing. However, I think there are some subtleties to continuing the chain that need to be made more clear. --FabuVinny ^T-C-S 21:23, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

"Formula"

Cam someone please describe the formula for catchin a shiny in words? Im not a super genius.....KPF 18:20, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Your chances of encountering one are 1 out of 8192. That not hard to understand.--Ｌｏｖｅはドコ？ (talk • contribs) 23:34, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

is that it? im talkin bout using the radar, how it improves the chances! KPF 00:09, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

By using the radar and building a chain, your odds of finding a shiny pokemon increases to about .5%(1 in 200) at 40 pokemon chained, way better than 1 in 8192. So if you really want shiny pokemon, the radar is the way to go. There are still pokemon that you can't get with the radar though, for those pokemon you're stuck at 1 in 8192.

Theoretically, you couldn't chain over 40 because at 41 the formula divides by 0, and beyond 41 you have negative percentages. However I've seen various accounts of people chaining above 40, so it is possible. Resolver13 21:31, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, the formula caps, so if Nc > 40, Nc = 40 --Phred 01:00, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

Question...

I've seen this come up: "The grassy patch remained silent..." When does that occur? ^ht14 04:11, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

When there are no Pokemon who are tracked by the Poke Radar. For example, there are usually 4 patches of grass, usually north, south, east and west of you. However, let's say you're in a small patch of grass and there's no space to place the patches of moving grass. You're screwed. This can occur during chains but doesn't break the chain, all one has to do with walk the 50 steps and redo the Radar. Θρtιmαtum♏_Talk|Links 06:31, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

Formula Origin

I am quite intrigued by this formula: where exactly did it come from? I'm saying this because the results are not even near "round" numbers, though that's not the main reason(if I were a game designer, I'd prefer "non-round" probability numbers, too). I'm just curious: how does one determine such a... complex formula like that? -- Professional Mole (Talk here) 00:35, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Actually the bottom number 2621440 = 40 * 2^16 so it is more or less a round number, in computer terms. Not sure about the top number, 14747. Often odd numbers are one less than a round number (e.g. 65535) but I can't see anything with that one. --DisgruntledGoat 22:47, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

Full Japanese name for Poké Radar Key Item

According to the main article, it separates the name into "Poké Tore". Does anyone else believe that the "Tore" in the name is just a shorthand version of "Tracer"?

If the above is correct, the name will then fully extend to "Pocket Monster Tracer".

- HechEff, 2008/01/07, 0655 (+0000 GMT)

True, but it is translated through the games into English as Poké Radar, so this is the title we use. Thanks for your concern, and next time use four tildes (~~~~) to sign your posts. It'll save you typing it out manually. — THE TROM — 19:41, 7 January 2009 (UTC)

That I understand, but just thought I would mention it considering how many name changes were made during translation. And thank you for the tip regarding signatures. HechEff 22:22, 7 January 2009 (UTC)

Animation

Would it be possible for anyone to get an animation of the Poké Radar in use, and perhaps show the difference between grass shaking normally and grass shaking "more violently"? I don't know how to capture anything, or I'd do it myself. --Crystal Shards 17:27, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

Something Interesting

I was just chaining Machop, when I walked into a patch that had another one, but as I walked into it my repel ran out and the Machop didn't show up. I had to walk off the patch and back on to it for it to work. I thought it should be mentioned. Dexington 14:54, 22 September 2009 (UTC)

Yeah wow, i thought i was the first to find this, but someone a year ago found it apparently. I think it needs to be mentioned. I didn't have to walk off of the patch though, I simply changed my direction then my roselia showed up Malake256 19:36, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

Chaining without the Pokéradar?

I was ev training my speed in bell tower in the morning, so all i ran into was rattata. After going through about 38 of them i found a shiney rattata. Is it possible that the same chaining function comes in if you simply run into the same pokemon over and over? Newops 01:40, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

There's no effect like that with normal battles. It's just a flat 1/8192 chance that any individual Pokémon you encounter is shiny. Obviously the more of a particular Pokémon you encounter the more likely it is that one of them will be shiny, simply because you are taking that same chance repeatedly. Werdnae (talk) 19:27, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

If you're there at daytime, you will only ever find Rattata. —darklordtrom 01:58, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Tutorial?

Lucas never gave me a tutorial..... when does he give it to you? after you pester him enough? Volcronaperson 19:55, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

I know that this is an old topic, but I have an answer...

Lucas/Dawn only gives you a tutorial after you have received the Eevee from Bebe in Hearthome City. Tk3141 02:46, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Encounter rate

How does a chain affect the encounter rate? For example, while chaining Gastly in the Eterna Forest it took around 20 times of using the radar in order to find Gastly, but once I had a chain, I encountered about 10 of them in a row. Does having a chain increase the encounter rate of the chained Pokemon? If so, how much?

As an add-on, if this is true, what happens if, in the middle of a chain, the Pokemon stops being available (i.e. something like chaining Hoothoot starting at 2:59 am)? The same question applies for swarms (starting a chain at 11:59 pm and continuing past midnight) and roaming pokemon. If a roaming pokemon is encountered and defeated while using the radar, could a "chain" start? I ask this question with the possibly flawed assumption that (a) Roamers can be found with the Poké Radar, and (b) the encounter rate of a defeated roamer could increase from zero (since the E4 would have to be defeated again) to a finite number (since I'm guessing that the encounter rate increases). Tk3141 18:12, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

I tested this with a swarm in Platinum. At about 11:50, I started a chain of Larvitar, and even after midnight I was still able to find it. I'm going to change this page. Tk3141 12:17, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

The Right Side?

OK, literally EVERY time I move to the right side to go to a shaking patch, the chain gets broken. Is this just bad luck? :( KyuremsIceBlade (talk) 01:21, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

Clarification

"Patches that shake more violently than others are often rarer Pokémon"--I think this sentence needs to be made much clearer. I have no idea what "more violently" means, and from the sound of it, Crystal_Shards doesn't understand what this was supposed to mean, either. There are three grass animations: The grass "glistens" and shakes quickly for a brief period, the grass shakes more slowly for a longer period, or it glistens for a long period (the shiny animation). Which of the first two results in rarer Pokémon, and could someone update the article with a clearer definition of the grass animations? - Xelrog T. Apocalypse (talk) 04:12, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

I'm assuming that you're talking about Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. By "more violently", they mean the grass that flashes (or "glistens") when shook. The flashing is really a crude animation of leaves being tossed around. There are three types of shake patterns: one that shakes gently for a long period of time, one that shakes violently (and flashes) for a shorter period of time, and one that does not shake at all but sparkles instead (This contains a shiny Pokemon). Saxorus (talk) 23:05, 2 June 2015 (UTC)

Poké Radar Shiny Probability Table

MadeFromMetal (talk) 19:41, 12 July 2013 (UTC)

Different music

Has anyone else noticed that in X and Y, the Poké Radar sometimes has different music? I have no idea what it means, and it freaks me out sometime because I feel like I've done something wrong... KYUREM'S ICE BLADE 01:56, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

All ways to break in Gen VI

What are all the ways to break the chain in X and Y?

Does saving and quitting break the chain? Cclloyd

High Chains Improve IVs?

Surprisingly, this isn't in the article. Can someone confirm? Read this for details: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/696959-pokemon-x/67656515

Katrinuh (talk) 14:26, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

Formula

It's usually considered a good idea to use single-letter variables where possible. With that in mind, here's a better LaTeX formula for the probability:

$p={\frac {14747-40n}{2621400\left(41-n\right)}}$

I was going to upload an image, but I don't have the ability to do so, apparently. This wiki seems unnecessarily strict with this sort of thing. Dada (talk) 01:15, 22 December 2013 (UTC)

Poke Radar in XY

I can't seem to use my Pokemon Radar in X/Y, it just gives me the "you can't use this now" error. I picked up from the Lab after beating the Elite 4, and have gotten the Mega Ring upgrade as well. I've been walking when I activate it, I've tried Route 6 and Frozen Cave, which as far as I can tell are areas where it should work. Am I missing something? - unsigned comment from ShadyCharacter (talk • contribs)

Poké Radar doesn't work in long grass or obviously, in caves.--電禅Den Zen 23:52, 27 December 2013 (UTC)

Huh, I could've sworn when I got it the guy said it caused dust clouds with Pokemon in caves... So I guess the 'Rustling Grass' in Route 6 just happens by itself then? I've spent forever in there, never seen it rustle. =\ - unsigned comment from ShadyCharacter (talk • contribs)

It also doesn't work if you're using the Roller Skates. Glik (talk) 02:39, 28 December 2013 (UTC)

Right, I got it now. I thought the 'rustling grass' in Route 6 was something you had to trigger with Poke Radar... - unsigned comment from ShadyCharacter (talk • contribs)

Roaming Pokémon

So, the article states that roaming Pokémon cannot be encountered while using the Poké Radar. However, while playing Pokémon X today, I managed to encounter Moltres while midway through a Drapion chain on Route 19. It appeared between the seventh and eighth encounters, and had no effect on the chain whatsoever. The Poké Radar tune was still playing afterwards, and the patches of grass containing Pokémon were the same (although they didn't shake again), meaning that the Poké Radar didn't have to be recharged and used again. While this is most likely intentional, it would be useful to know if anybody else has had a similar experience. In addition, I'm not sure if this applies to the Generation IV games, or even if Diamond and Pearl have the exact same mechanics as Platinum.

On a related note, I discovered that if a patch of grass containing a Pokémon is stepped into at the same time a repel wears off, the message asking if another repel should be used takes priority, and the player will have to change the direction they're facing in order to initiate the encounter. This also has no effect on the chain, and once again, I don't know if it applies to the Generation IV games. Dannyboy601 (talk) 22:36, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

It does happen in the Generation IV games, it's happened to me in Platinum several times. KYUREM'S ICE BLADE 21:11, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

I was just chaining Goomy on Route 14 and had Zapdos appear, but the chain continued as normal Christmas4477 (talk) 00:07, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Formula for shiny pokemon is mathematically incorrect.

Based on the current posted formula a chain of 1 would result in a -.292...% chance, or 1/-341.31... (this is physically impossible). This error is because of order of operations. For it to be as the 1/8000, chance as is stated, there needs to be another set of brackets enclosing "8200-Nc*200". The entire formula should look like this (65535/(8200-Nc*200))/65536. With this amended formula a chain of 1 results in .012...% or 1/8000.12... chance. CIBlue (talk) 21:09, 10 March 2014 (UTC)CIBlue

XY, shaking doesn't seem to indicate species/rarity at all

I've been at this for 5 hours, and I can say with confidence the intensity of a patch of grass shaking has no baring on species in (X?) and Y. I'm trying to chain Watchog and I've run into the same species of Pokémon regardless of the patch's shaking intensity. From lightly shaking grass to grass shaking so vigorously you'd expect a rabid Houndoom to come jumping out and tear open your throat. Which game(s) was the info relating to grass shaking intensity corresponding to species/rarity verified? Yamitora1 (talk) 00:25, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

Items research

So has anyone done any research on what items the scientist gives you in XY? I know that a chain of 2-5 gets you a Ultra Ball, but are there better items for higher chains, or is it just Ultra Balls? Yamitora1 (talk) 05:00, 14 August 2014 (UTC)

I started some. I was torn between trying to figure it out myself and putting a call out for someone good at it to explore. (I've gotten distracted from this, so it'd be really good if someone else could investigate it.) I know at chains length 1 and 5 you get Ultra Ball, and for lengths 11 and 18 you get PP Up. He'll give you any items you qualify for when you speak to him but he only gives you each item once per day. (So if your first chain of the day was 11, he'd give you Ultra Ball and PP Up. If you had spoken to him with a chain of 5 beforehand, though, he would only give PP Up for 11.)

It should definitely be checked all the way to length 40, possibly even 50 just to be sure. If someone can jump that high, we can at least know all the items below that, even if we won't know exactly what lengths are required for them (although intervals of 10 seems a good guess). Tiddlywinks (talk) 12:52, 14 August 2014 (UTC)

Interesting, and do chains accumulate, like if you got a chain of 2, went to him, then a chain of 5 went to him, and then a chain of 4, would he give you the PP Up do you know? Yamitora1 (talk) 05:37, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

I don't think so. Test it. I'm elsewhere for the foreseeable future. Tiddlywinks (talk) 11:21, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

Glitch/Issue?

I'm not sure if this is the place to post this, and if its not I apologize. I am just having a huge problem with using the Poké Radar. Every once and awhile when I use it, nothing happens. No patch shakes or anything and it needs a full 50 steps charging. It usually happens when I don't see any patches I like or feel comfortable risking, so I just use it again, but no patch shakes and the Radar music goes away and the regular Route music comes back signifying my chain breaking. I have been doing this all day on Route 4 to get a Shiny Budew. Before it always worked and it'd only end because I picked the wrong patch, and now its happening very consistently. What is going on?? Ryuun12 (talk) 05:06, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

Ok now its happening even when trying to start a NEW chain. And when it finds patches on its own after defeating the Budew or catching it. Does anyone know whats going on?? Ryuun12 (talk) 06:08, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

This is not the best place to discuss this. You should ask someone on the forums. Make sure you're not on roller skates. --リックEO (オープン for discussion) 07:46, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

Actual chain percentages found for Diamond/Pearl/Platinum (needs verification)

A user on the Smogon forums named FroggestSpirit has found the actual percentage of continuing the chain for each patch of grass generated by the PokeRadar. The first ring has a 28% chance, the second has a 48% chance, the third a 68% chance, and the fourth a 88% chance. Also, catching a Pokemon rather than fainting it boosts the chance of continuing the chain by 10%. This goes away if the PokeRadar is reset. The original post can be found here. FroggestSpirit claims to have found this out by reverse-engineering the game's code, whereas previous PokeRadar mechanics were based on purely experimentation. I'd like to see his notes and find the actual location in the ROM so this can be investigated further. Saxorus (talk) 22:44, 2 June 2015 (UTC)

PokeRadar Exclusive Pokemon

How do you determine which patch of grass has the rare PokeRadar exclusive Pokemon in it? From what I can tell, it's all random. I just want one very hard to catch Pokemon (on Route 201 in Sinnoh), but I can't tell which patches of grass to go for, the ones that shake the longest or the ones that have the movement animation motion on them (the same as when you walk through the grass yourself).

XY chaining mechanics

Just wanted to throw this here, in case anyone feels like editing it in. Nescientist (talk) 16:03, 4 June 2018 (UTC)

Small correction on DPP Pokéradar

So, I made some small edits earlier that were changed back. First one saying that a chain can break even if you step on a shiny patch, in case the game generates the patches on non-grass patches. Not saying out of nowhere, I had this happen to me. Me saying that won't change anything, but I imagine videoproof will. https://youtu.be/zXnVOQHL9Ac?t=6553 This is where I find the shiny patch. Skip a bit to after I catch the Makuhita, and you'll find, by the music, that the chain have stopped. Forgot to show that the chain had been broken, though I checked and that was the case.

Second edit was regarding Lucas/Dawn's practical demonstration, where it says only that talking to it's sister will prompt the demonstration. Not the case. It will keep mentioning Bebe after that, and it will only prompt the demonstration after I get the Eevee gift. Don't have it recorded now; however, I have not saved it, so I can record the proof if necessary. Obviously, I have used my non-modified 2DS with an original Platinum cartridge. SpikOriundo (talk) 17:58, 8 June 2018 (UTC)

If all four patches of grass generate outside the map, the chain breaks instantly. You were standing in a corner, which means the probability of this happening is (5/8)*(11/16)*(17/24)*(23/32), or about about 22%. This is why most guides advise against chaining in corners or on edges. Anyhow, that's probably what happened. Natnew (talk) 23:34, 8 June 2018 (UTC)

Yep, that's what happened, not what I'm questioning. Thing is, the page says "Stepping on a Shiny patch will never break a chain", which as seen, is not what happens. Just stating this out as this edit plus the Bebe's Eevee one was changed back for some reason. So, I decided to not do an edit-back war by changing the page again non-stop.

Also, at the time I wasn't worried about stepping on the corner patch, because of what the page here said. Either way, wouldn't not have gone to it, it was a shiny patch after all. SpikOriundo (talk) 02:28, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

I thought that maybe the game should be showing a message if the Poke Radar couldn't generate a valid patch after automatically activating, but I tried short chains in the south end of Route 206 and the only time I saw a message was after I manually used the Poke Radar (and not if it broke after it should have automatically activated).

So it's not a result of stepping in a wrong patch. I presume the Poke Radar app would have counted that Shiny as part of your chain (which you may be able to verify if it's one of your top 3). The chain breaks for a different reason afterwards, not when you step in the Shiny patch, like Natnew said. Tiddlywinks (talk) 06:38, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

It does indeed counted as part of the chain, it is up to 42. But no, the chain broke once I stepped on it. Nothing else happened. Stepped on the patch, caught the shiny, battle ended and the chain was gone. Unless there's some other reason why you think the chain broke, I'm curious, please do tell. Else, I'm lead to believe that the chain can end even if you step on a Shiny patch, contrary to what the article says. SpikOriundo (talk) 15:57, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

Not "nothing else happened". The Poke Radar attempted to activate again after the battle--but it always does this silently and if it doesn't create any valid patches, it's still silent about it. The patch you entered was not an inherently chain-breaking patch. With different luck, you could have entered that patch and still continued your chain. That's as opposed to entering some patch that is inherently chain-breaking, where no matter what the chain will not continue afterwards.

The chain did not break "once you stepped on it", it broke after the battle, when the Poke Radar's new activation failed to create a valid patch. Tiddlywinks (talk) 20:51, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

Correct, yes. Point is: article says stepping on a shiny patch never breaks a chain. It clearly does, however, has a minimal chance of it happening. It may have counted for the chain, but it did not continue it. AKA it broke. You see where I'm getting at, or are we completely different channels? SpikOriundo (talk) 20:57, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

Just remembered, as well: stepping on a patch is when the game decides if your chain will continue or not. You can know such a thing by having the Pokéradar app open, if the part that counts the chain disappears as the battle starts, the chain broke. If it just faded out with the rest of the screen, the chain continues. One thing tho, I can't quite know if finding the same Pokémon from the chain, but it breaking because of not choosing grass patches, adds up on the final chain count. My chains are too high to easily check. SpikOriundo (talk) 22:54, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

If the chain broke because you didn't do an encounter from a patch, I don't imagine it would add anything to the chain. Tiddlywinks (talk) 08:55, 10 June 2018 (UTC)

There are four ways to break a chain:

-Step on the wrong patch (happened due to patch)

-leave battle without catching/KOing (happened due to battle)

-patches generate OoB (happened due to generation)

-used bike, reset, or patches went offscreen (broke "on purpose")

if they generate OoB, that happened because of scenario 3, a result of the new patch generation- NOT stepping into it (which would have been Scenario 1) Natnew (talk) 22:09, 10 June 2018 (UTC)

A bit of help, if you would?

If you can't tell, this page looks quite broken. Could someone fix it for me, as I do not know how to do it. Could you also explain how you did it? Thank you! BlueDecoRoller (talk) 04:28, 10 March 2020 (UTC)