Guide:Shiny Hunting

Shiny Pokémon are Pokémon that are a different color palate than their non-shiny counterparts. The odds of randomly hatching a shiny from a random egg are exceptionally low. In order to increase the odds of getting a shiny, most PFQ users start shiny hunts.

Materials

To start a shiny hunt, you will need a PokéRadar, which can be purchased for credits at the Shop. You cannot shiny hunt without a Pokéradar. Once you obtain the PokéRadar, you have two options; you can get Hypermode, or you can buy a PokéRadar+. With Hypermode, you can chain indefinitely, however the boost doesn't get raised any further than after hatching 40 eggs. With a PokéRadar+, your chain will will also go indefinitely, but the boost already caps after 35 eggs. The chain will also break after hatching a Shiny Pokémon. A Pokéradar+ will not work without a PokéRadar, and a PokéRadar will only chain 1 Pokémon without Hypermode or a PokéRadar+.

You will also need a breeding pair that includes the Pokémon you'd like to hunt. The ideal pair is two of the same Pokémon you'd like to hunt that are fairly compatible with each other.

It is highly recommended that you get a Shelter Pass B or higher, the Black Flute, and the Matchup Checker. The Shelter Pass will allow you to adopt more eggs from the Shelter per day, the Black Flute will make it so only eggs appear in the shelter, and the Matchup Checker will tell you how compatible your Pokémon are to breed with one another. If you are breeding a Pokémon with multiple formes, or have a breeding pair of two different Pokémon, it is also recommended that you get a Spyglass, which will allow you to see the kinds of eggs that your breeding pair have produced. All of these items can be purchased with Gold Poké

Bonuses

There are several bonuses that can boost your chances of finding a shiny while you hunt. One is Sei's Counter, a site-wide shiny boost that activates once the site as a whole hatches a certain amount of shinies. At the moment, the goal to reach is 777 shinies. Once that goal is reached, a percent boost is applied to the entire site.

Another boost is the Pokémon of the Day. Every day, a random Basic Pokémon is chosen, and every time one of those Pokémon is hatched, it has a 10% boosted chance of being a shiny.

There are several ways a user can directly boost their chances of getting a shiny. One such boost is a Shiny Charm. Shiny Charms can be purchased at the Black Market with Zophan Canisters, and double your chances of hatching a shiny for 24 hours. Another boost can be purchased in the form of an Übercharm. Übercharms can only be purchased with Zophan Canisters, but the boost lasts for 28 days instead of 24 hours.

The third user-based boost is a secret boost. <spoiler hide="Hide" show="Show">If you donate Zophan Canisters to Elta's Cookie Jar, you will get a small boost to your shiny percentage. The smallest amount of Zophan Canisters that can be donated is 1. The boost lasts 24 hours per Zophan Canister donated. It's not as effective as Sei's Counter, but you can apply the boost as many times as you'd like. This boost does not leave an entry in the Timeline of the Pokémon.</spoiler>

The Hunting Process

After placing your breeding pair in the DayCare, start interacting with users on the site. For every 64 interactions you make, there is a chance that your breeding pair will produce an egg, based on their compatibility. The easiest and fastest way to make a lot of eggs is to mass click in fields. Many people check the PokéRus host, as most hosts have many Pokémon in their fields.

You may adopt one free egg from the DayCare per day. You may also purchase DayCare Passes in order to adopt more eggs from the DayCare, if you'd like. Once you have exhausted your DayCare adoptions, you may release your eggs to the Shelter. You can then go to the Shelter and adopt the Pokémon eggs you're looking for. The more eggs you release, the better chances of you finding the eggs you need.

With every egg of the same Pokémon that you hatch, you will add on to your chain, and improve your chances for finding a shiny. You can check how high your chances are on the Shiny Hunting Page. Remember that the number shown is not the probability of getting a shiny, but rather the boost of getting one. For example, a chain of 40 Pokémon or higher gives you a 3,996% boost to finding shinies, but that's not a 3,996% chance of finding a shiny. Otherwise, you'd be getting a shiny more than 100% of the time, which is impossible!

Shiny hunting is a matter of luck and patience. If you have the right tools, you will hatch a shiny. Stay persistent!

Breaking Your Chain

Be advised that if you hatch an egg that is not the egg you are chaining (whether it be a different forme or an entirely different Pokémon), you will break your chain, and need to start over. One way to avoid this is to purchase Egg Passes from the Black Market. An Egg Pass will allow you to hatch one egg that would break your chain, without breaking your chain. It will also give you an "are you sure you want to hatch this egg?" dialogue box when you click the "hatch" button on an egg that would break your current chain.