What are the odds of catching a shiny Pokémon in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl?

Shiny Pokémon are the ultimate form of bragging in any mainstream Pokémon title. They prove that players either got tremendously lucky or spent hours and hours to earn the shiny Pokémon of their choice. The discolored Pokémon have returned in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and are just as hard to catch as ever. 

However, luckily for players, the developers have made it so different methods can be implemented to improve the odds of finding a shiny throughout the Sinnoh region. These methods still require time and effort but players might not have to slog through multiple days of resets anymore. 

Catching a shiny Pokémon in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl 

There are three ways to currently obtain a shiny Pokémon. The first is finding naturally out in the wild or through a set encounter. The set encounters include Legendary Pokémon or Pokémon that are gifted to you, like Mew and Jirachi. The other two ways are through breeding and in-game events, the latter of which is far less reliable. 

Traditionally, players have gone the standard route of trying to find a shiny Pokémon out in the wild or through a set encounter. The chances of encountering a shiny Pokémon during a random or set battle is 1/4,906. This means that players have a microscopic chance to encounter a shiny whenever they go into a battle, either random or set. 

Those are the basic odds. However, there are ways to improve these odds. The first way is to use international breeding, which involves you using a Pokémon from a different country than where your game originated from. Breeding with this Pokémon yields a 1/683 chance to land a shiny when breeding. 

The other way is to take advantage of the Poké Radar. This mechanic allows players to see where certain Pokémon are near them and encounter them with certainty. If players can string together 40 or more of the same encounters when using the Poké Radar, their chances of encountering a shiny Pokémon go up tremendously (by 40 times the regular odds). You just need to be sure that you’re encountering the same species of Pokémon in this chain, otherwise it won’t count towards the increased chance. 

When it’s all said and done, using the Poké Radar to find a shiny or just resetting thousands of times are still the best ways to go about shiny hunting. If you want a shiny starter or Legendary, then be prepared to sit at your Nintendo Switch for a while. 

• Read more: All Grand Underground Pokémon in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Be sure to check out and follow our section dedicated to the Pokémon franchise to get the latest news, guides, leaks, update announcements and more about Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Featured image courtesy of Nintendo/The Pokémon Company.