Poké Radar

Radar redirects here. For the item in Pokémon GO, see Rocket Radar.

The Poké Radar (Japanese: ポケモントレーサー Pokémon Tracer, ポケトレ Poké Trace for short) is a Key Item in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Platinum, X, Y, and Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl that is used to seek out wild Pokémon hiding in tall grass. Its most notable use is to increase the probability of encountering Shiny Pokémon.

Poké Radar ポケモントレーサー Pokémon Tracer

Ready button sprite from Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Introduced in Generation IV Pocket Generation IV Key items Generation VI Key items Generation VIII Key items (BDSP)

In the core series games

Price

Games Cost Sell price DPPtHGSS BWB2W2 XYORAS SMUSUM BDSP N/A N/A

Effect

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: In what games is it possible to encounter roaming Pokémon using the Poké Radar?

In all games that it appears in, the Poké Radar is obtained after receiving the National Pokédex.

It can only be used in tall grass, while on foot. When used, a tune will begin to play, and up to four patches of grass will shake briefly. Upon entering one of these patches of grass, a battle with a wild Pokémon will begin immediately, even if the player is using a Repel. However, if the player enters a patch just as the repel wears off, the battle will not start until the player attempts to move again. Depending on the game, different patches may shake in a different way, corresponding to rarer species of wild Pokémon. However, all games feature a very rare and distinct type of shaking grass that glows white twice; such a grass patch will always contain a Shiny Pokémon.

Like the Vs. Seeker, the Radar's battery must be charged after use by walking around. It takes 50 steps to fully charge the Poké Radar.

If the wild Pokémon is knocked out or captured in a Poké Ball, a chain will begin; this is the principle mechanic of the Poké Radar and crucial to increasing the probability of encountering a Shiny Pokémon. When a chain is in progress, the Poké Radar will automatically activate again at the end of the battle, causing up to four more grass patches to shake. Depending on various circumstances, one of these patches may be more likely to contain the same species of Pokémon as the one just encountered; defeating or catching such a Pokémon will continue to increase the chain by 1. If a wild Pokémon of a different species is encountered, or if a battle ends without defeating or capturing the wild Pokémon, or if a wild Pokémon is encountered outside of the Poké Radar, then the chain will break and the Poké Radar will need to recharge before being used again. A chain can also automatically break if the player uses the Bicycle or Roller Skates, if the player scrolls all shaking grass patches off-screen by moving too far away from them, a Pokémon evolves, or an Egg hatches. It is also possible to enter the wrong patch and randomly encounter the same Pokémon as was being chained, but the chain will still break in this case.

Activating the Poké Radar manually in the middle of a chain will not break the chain, and will simply generate up to four new patches of shaking grass, replacing the old ones. This works even if the player is currently standing on shaking grass. This action is known as "resetting" the Radar. It is commonly used when none of the four patches is deemed likely to continue the chain; this determination varies between games.

As the chain length increases, the probability of finding a Shiny patch also increases, up to a certain maximum. After reaching this maximum, the player no longer needs to attempt to increase the chain, and can simply recharge and reset the Radar over and over until a Shiny patch appears.

Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum

The Poké Radar's functions are not explained in detail when it's obtained. In Pokémon Platinum, once the player talks to Dawn/Lucas's sister about mass outbreaks, Dawn/Lucas will give a more practical demonstration on Route 202.

In these games only, the player can encounter certain Pokémon with the Poké Radar that would not be normally found in that location; these Pokémon are often not native to the Sinnoh regional Pokédex. For example, the Poké Radar is the only way to encounter a Nidoran♀ on Route 201.

When the Poké Radar is used, the game generates four "rings" around the player, with the first ring consisting of the eight squares surrounding the player, the second ring consisting of the 16 squares surrounding the first ring, and so on for the third and fourth rings. One random square in each ring will be selected, and if that square is a patch of grass, that patch will shake. Therefore, the maximum number of patches that can shake with each use of the Poké Radar is four; if fewer than four patches shake, then one or more of the randomly selected squares were not patches of grass. If all four squares did not contain grass, then the game will display the message "The grassy patch remained quiet..." and the chain will automatically break. The patches generated after an encounter are calculated by the game on entering a patch of grass, and if no valid patches are found the chain will break on initiating the encounter. If the chain breaks this way, the "The grassy patch remained quiet..." message will not appear. This may happen even if the patch is a shiny patch, which will otherwise never break a chain.

The chance that the patch in a ring contains the same species (to continue the chain) depends on the ring. Starting from the closest ring, the chances are 28%, 48%, 68%, and 88%. Catching a Pokémon rather than defeating it will increase these odds by 10% for the patches automatically generated after the battle. There are also two different ways grass patches can shake (roughly, one that shakes vigorously for a short time and one that shakes gently for a slightly longer time); if a chain is started in one type of grass, grass of the other type will have an increased chance of breaking the chain, though it is possible to continue the chain with the opposite type of grass if the same species being chained is encountered. Additionally, the gently shaking grass can only contain Pokémon normally found in that location. For example, Nidoran♀ cannot be encountered on Route 201 in gently shaking grass. This means that gently shaking grass will always break a chain of a species only found using the Poké Radar. Different formations of patches have no apparent bearing on the odds of the chain continuing.

If a swarm or other special type of encounter ends while a chain is in progress, the Pokémon will remain available as part of the chain until it is broken.

If the Poké Radar forces a Pokémon to be Shiny due to its increased odds, the game will construct a personality value that fulfils the Shininess requirement. It is possible, although very unlikely, for multiple Shiny patches to appear on one reset. It is always possible for non-flashing patches to contain a Shiny Pokémon as well due to the normal, completely random chance of a Pokémon being Shiny.

One of the functions of the Pokétch is to display the current chain and the three best chains made so far.

Shiny probability

The probability for a patch to contain a Shiny Pokémon increases with the chain length (up to a maximum of 40), according to the following formula:

$${\dfrac {\left\lceil {\dfrac {65535}{8200-ChainLength\times 200}}\right\rceil }{65536}}$$

The probability of a patch containing a Shiny Pokémon, as calculated by this formula, as listed in the following table. As the table shows, the odds of finding a Shiny Pokémon increase slowly at first, but eventually they increase by larger and larger amounts until reaching the maximum of an approximately ${\textstyle {\tfrac {1}{200}}}$ chance of finding a Shiny Pokémon for a chain of length 40 or more. These odds do not exceed the odds of the Masuda method until a chain length of 33 is reached.

Since up to four grass patches can shake at a single time, the probability of at least one of the four patches to contain a Shiny Pokémon for a given use of the Poké Radar is approximately 4 times as likely, giving the player a maximum of an approximately ${\textstyle {\tfrac {1}{50}}}$ chance of a Shiny patch appearing at a chain length of 40.

Chain length	Shiny probability per patch		Shiny probability per Radar use (approximate)
	Relative odds (out of 65536)	Probability (approximate)
0	8	0.012%	0.049%
1	9	0.014%	0.055%
2	9	0.014%	0.055%
3	9	0.014%	0.055%
4	9	0.014%	0.055%
5	10	0.015%	0.061%
6	10	0.015%	0.061%
7	10	0.015%	0.061%
8	10	0.015%	0.061%
9	11	0.017%	0.067%
10	11	0.017%	0.067%
11	11	0.017%	0.067%
12	12	0.018%	0.073%
13	12	0.018%	0.073%
14	13	0.020%	0.079%
15	13	0.020%	0.079%
16	14	0.021%	0.085%
17	14	0.021%	0.085%
18	15	0.023%	0.092%
19	15	0.023%	0.092%
20	16	0.024%	0.098%
21	17	0.026%	0.104%
22	18	0.027%	0.110%
23	19	0.029%	0.116%
24	20	0.031%	0.122%
25	21	0.032%	0.128%
26	22	0.034%	0.134%
27	24	0.037%	0.146%
28	26	0.040%	0.159%
29	28	0.043%	0.171%
30	30	0.046%	0.183%
31	33	0.050%	0.201%
32	37	0.056%	0.226%
33	41	0.063%	0.250%
34	47	0.072%	0.287%
35	55	0.084%	0.335%
36	66	0.101%	0.402%
37	82	0.125%	0.500%
38	110	0.168%	0.670%
39	164	0.250%	0.997%
40	328	0.500%	1.987%

A chain length of 0 corresponds to the first use of the Poké Radar—the Poké Radar cannot force a Pokémon to be Shiny at this point (which would result in a flashing patch), but the patches still have the default ${\textstyle {\tfrac {1}{8192}}}$ chance of encountering a Shiny Pokémon.

List of Radar-exclusive Pokémon

#	Pokémon		Location	Game
029		Nidoran♀	Route 201	D	P	Pt
030		Nidorina	Valor Lakefront, Route 221	D	P	Pt
032		Nidoran♂	Route 201	D	P	Pt
033		Nidorino	Valor Lakefront, Route 221	D	P	Pt
048		Venonat	Route 229	D	P	Pt
049		Venomoth	Route 229	D	P	Pt
056		Mankey	Routes 225 and 226	D	P	Pt
057		Primeape	Routes 225 and 226	D	P	Pt
079		Slowpoke	Route 205 (North)	D	P	Pt
088		Grimer	Route 212 (South)	D	P	Pt
128		Tauros	Routes 209DP and 210 (South)	D	P	Pt
132		Ditto	Route 218	D	P	Pt*
161		Sentret	Route 202	D	P	Pt
175		Togepi	Route 230	D	P	Pt
179		Mareep	Valley Windworks	D	P	Pt
180		Flaaffy	Route 222	D	P	Pt
187		Hoppip	Route 205 (NorthD and South), Fuego IronworksP	D	P	Pt
188		Skiploom	Route 205 (North)	D	P	Pt
			Fuego Ironworks	D	P	Pt
191		Sunkern	Route 204 (North)	D	P	Pt
202		Wobbuffet	Lake Verity, Lake Valor, Lake AcuityDP	D	P	Pt
229		Houndoom	Routes 214 and 215	D	P	Pt*
234		Stantler	Route 207	D	P	Pt
235		Smeargle	Routes 208Pt and 212 (North)	D	P	Pt
236		Tyrogue	Routes 208DP and 211 (WestDP)	D	P	Pt
241		Miltank	Routes 209DP and 210 (South)	D	P	Pt
246		Larvitar	Route 207	D	P	Pt
261		Poochyena	Route 214	D	P	Pt
262		Mightyena	Routes 214 and 215	D	P	Pt
277		Swellow	Route 213	D	P	Pt
280		Ralts	Routes 203 and 204	D	P	Pt*
281		Kirlia	Routes 203 and 204	D	P	Pt
			Route 209	D	P	Pt
290		Nincada	Eterna Forest	D	P	Pt
294		Loudred	Mt. Coronet	D	P	Pt
304		Aron	Fuego Ironworks	D	P	Pt
324		Torkoal	Route 227, Stark Mountain	D	P	Pt
328		Trapinch	Route 228	D	P	Pt
329		Vibrava	Route 228	D	P	Pt
333		Swablu	Route 211 (East)	D	P	Pt*
343		Baltoy	Route 206	D	P	Pt
352		Kecleon	Route 210 (North)	D	P	Pt
355		Duskull	Route 224	D	P	Pt*
356		Dusclops	Route 224	D	P	Pt*
361		Snorunt	Routes 216 and 217, Acuity Lakefront	D	P	Pt*
371		Bagon	Route 210 (North)	D	P	Pt

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

Main article: Pokéwalker

The Poké Radar is not normally obtainable in the main game; however, a primitive version of the Poké Radar exists on the bundled Pokéwalker.

The Pokéwalker's Poké Radar costs 10 Watts to use and is the only way to encounter any wild Pokémon at all on the device. Similar to Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, these Pokémon are often difficult or impossible to otherwise find in the main game.

When used, four patches of grass will appear on-screen, one of which will randomly display a '!' symbol for a short period of time. If the player successfully selects that grass patch before the '!' disappears, then either a battle with a wild Pokémon will begin or there will be a delay and another random grass patch will display a second '!'. Again, if the player successfully selects the '!' patch before it disappears, a battle may begin or a third patch may display '!!'. Yet again, if the player successfully selects the '!!' patch, a battle may begin or a fourth patch may display '!!!'; the fourth patch will always start a battle should the player reach that point. Patches with greater numbers of exclamation points indicate rarer wild Pokémon; the mechanics and precise timing required may be considered a primitive form of chaining.

Pokémon X and Y

After being absent in Generation V, the Poké Radar returns in Pokémon X and Y.

The Poké Radar cannot be used while using the Bicycle or Roller Skates. If the player uses either while chaining (including using the circle pad instead of the D-pad), the chain is reset, and the Poké Radar must be recharged. It also cannot be used in the Friend Safari. However, it can be used in flower beds the same way as in tall grass.

Unlike in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, there are no Pokémon species exclusive to the Radar. All wild Pokémon encountered will be the same as those encountered normally in the area.

Once per day, the player can speak to the scientist who gave the Poké Radar, and he will assign a species of Pokémon for the player to study. If the player successfully makes a chain of that Pokémon and returns, the scientist will reward the player with an item.

In these games, when a Shiny patch appears, the game will play a unique sound effect in addition to the patch glowing.

Chains and other specific mechanics are believed to be similar to that of Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum; differences include the possibility of more than 4 patches of grass shaking at once, as well as the possibility of a grass patch failing to contain any wild Pokémon at all (thus automatically breaking the chain). It has also been verified that the Poké Radar music can change to a more upbeat tune; this is believed but not proven to increase the Shiny encounter rate. More exact details are currently unknown.

Poké Radar Researcher

The scientist at the Pokémon Lab will give items depending on the player's highest chain length of the Pokémon he requests data of that day. The player can earn more than one item at once, but each different item is only given once per day.

Item		Location	Games
	Ultra Ball	For a chain length of 1-10 Pokémon	X  Y
	PP Up	For a chain length of 11-20 Pokémon	X  Y
	PP Max	For a chain length of 21-30 Pokémon	X  Y
	Rare Candy	For a chain length of at least 31 Pokémon	X  Y

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Missing information on Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl chain bonuses.

The Pokéradar returns in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, behaving almost identically to how it did in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, with a few minor changes.

• The Pokéradar will now always generate 4 patches or shaking grass, and multiple patches of shaking grass can now appear on the same ring.
• The first Pokémon the player encounters in a chain will always appear in any subsequent patch of shaking grass, eliminating the chance that a chain will end by encountering the wrong Pokémon.
• Patches of grass that shake vigorously (Have much bigger blades of grass shaking off) no longer indicates what Pokémon can be found in it. Instead it indicates the Pokémon inside of the patch has its Hidden Ability. The chance of a patch of grass having this is 1/128 regardless of the length of the chain. This means every use of the Radar has at a 4/128 chance of spawning this patch of grass, with an approximately 3.089% chance of spawning at least one such patch on any use.
• Certain milestones while chaining will now guarantee Pokémon encountered will have a certain amount of perfect IVs.
• Despite saying so in the item description, the Shiny Charm does not boost the likelihood of encountering a Shiny Pokémon through the Pokéradar.
• In the version 1.1.2 update, a change was made so that the 10% bonus chance of a chain continuing from catching a Pokémon now only applies on patches of grass found on the fourth ring.
  • This change was reverted back to its original odds in the version 1.1.3 update
• It is possible for a chain to randomly break after defeating a Pokémon.

List of Radar-exclusive Pokémon

#	Pokémon		Location	Game
029		Nidoran♀	Route 201	BD	SP
030		Nidorina	Valor Lakefront and Route 221	BD	SP
032		Nidoran♂	Route 201	BD	SP
033		Nidorino	Valor Lakefront and Route 221	BD	SP
048		Venonat	Route 229	BD	SP
049		Venomoth	Route 229	BD	SP
056		Mankey	Routes 225 and 226	BD	SP
057		Primeape	Routes 225 and 226	BD	SP
079		Slowpoke	Route 205 (North)	BD	SP
088		Grimer	Route 212 (South)	BD	SP
128		Tauros	Routes 209 and 210 (South)	BD	SP
132		Ditto	Route 218	BD	SP
161		Sentret	Route 202	BD	SP
175		Togepi	Route 230	BD	SP
179		Mareep	Valley Windworks	BD	SP
180		Flaaffy	Route 222	BD	SP
187		Hoppip	Route 205 (NorthBD and South), Fuego IronworksSP	BD	SP
188		Skiploom	Route 205 (North)	BD	SP
			Fuego Ironworks	BD	SP
191		Sunkern	Route 204 (North)	BD	SP
202		Wobbuffet	Lake Verity, Lake Valor, and Lake Acuity	BD	SP
229		Houndoom	Routes 214 and 215	BD	SP
234		Stantler	Route 207	BD	SP
235		Smeargle	Route 212 (North)	BD	SP
236		Tyrogue	Routes 208 and 211 (West)	BD	SP
241		Miltank	Routes 209 and 210 (South)	BD	SP
246		Larvitar	Route 207	BD	SP
262		Mightyena	Routes 214 and 215	BD	SP
277		Swellow	Route 213	BD	SP
280		Ralts	Routes 203 and 204	BD	SP
281		Kirlia	Routes 203 and 204	BD	SP
290		Nincada	Eterna Forest	BD	SP
294		Loudred	Mt. Coronet	BD	SP
304		Aron	Fuego Ironworks	BD	SP
324		Torkoal	Stark Mountain	BD	SP
328		Trapinch	Route 228	BD	SP
329		Vibrava	Route 228	BD	SP
333		Swablu	Route 211 (East)	BD	SP
343		Baltoy	Route 206	BD	SP
352		Kecleon	Route 210 (North)	BD	SP
355		Duskull	Route 224	BD	SP
356		Dusclops	Route 224	BD	SP
361		Snorunt	Routes 216, 217, and Acuity Lakefront	BD	SP
371		Bagon	Route 210 (North)	BD	SP

Chain Bonuses

Chain length	Shiny probability per patch		Shiny probability per Radar use	Perfect IVs
	Relative odds	Probability (approximate)
0	1/4096	0.024%	0.098%	0
1	1/3855	0.026%	0.104%	0
2	1/3640	0.027%	0.110%	0
3	1/3449	0.029%	0.116%	0
4	1/3277	0.031%	0.122%	0
5	1/3121	0.032%	0.128%	0
6	1/2979	0.034%	0.134%	0
7	1/2849	0.035%	0.140%	0
8	1/2731	0.037%	0.146%	0
9	1/2621	0.038%	0.153%	0
10	1/2521	0.040%	0.159%	0
11	1/2427	0.041%	0.165%	0
12	1/2341	0.043%	0.171%	0
13	1/2259	0.044%	0.177%	0
14	1/2185	0.046%	0.183%	0
15	1/2114	0.047%	0.189%	0
16	1/2048	0.049%	0.195%	0
17	1/1986	0.050%	0.201%	0
18	1/1927	0.052%	0.207%	0
19	1/1872	0.052%	0.214%	0
20	1/1820	0.055%	0.220%	1
21	1/1771	0.056%	0.226%	0
22	1/1724	0.058%	0.232%	0
23	1/1680	0.060%	0.238%	0
24	1/1638	0.061%	0.244%	0
25	1/1598	0.063%	0.250%	0
26	1/1560	0.064%	0.256%	0
27	1/1524	0.066%	0.262%	0
28	1/1489	0.067%	0.268%	0
29	1/1456	0.069%	0.274%	0
30	1/1310	0.076%	0.305%	2
31	1/1285	0.078%	0.311%	0
32	1/1260	0.079%	0.317%	0
33	1/1236	0.081%	0.323%	0
34	1/1213	0.082%	0.329%	0
35	1/1192	0.084%	0.335%	0
36	1/993	0.101%	0.402%	0
37	1/799	0.125%	0.500%	0
38	1/400	0.250%	0.996%	0
39	1/200	0.500%	1.985%	0
40	1/99	1.010%	3.980%	3
41 to 99	1/99	1.010%	3.980%	0
100	1/99	1.010%	3.980%	5

Description

Games Description DPPtHGSS BWB2W2 A tool that can search out Pokémon that are hiding in grass. Its battery is recharged as you walk. XYORAS SMUSUMPE SwShBDSPLA SV A tool that can search out Pokémon that are hiding in the tall grass. Its battery is recharged as you walk.

Acquisition

Games Method DPPt Sandgem Town (from Professor Rowan after obtaining the National Pokédex from Professor Oak) XY Sycamore Pokémon Lab (2F; from a Scientist after entering the Hall of Fame) BDSP Sandgem Town (from Professor Rowan after obtaining the National Pokédex from Professor Oak)

In the TCG

Poké Radar

Main article: Poké Radar (Legends Awakened 133)

The Poké Radar was introduced as a Trainer card in the Pokémon Trading Card Game during the English Diamond & Pearl Series (the Japanese DP Era). First released in the Cry from the Mysterious expansion, the Poké Radar later debuted in English in the Legends Awakened expansion, with both prints featuring an illustration by Kazuaki Aihara. This Trainer card allows the player to look at the top five cards of their deck and keep any Pokémon after showing them to their opponent; the remaining cards are then shuffled back into the deck.

In other languages

Language Title Chinese Cantonese 寶可追蹤 Poké Jēuijūng Mandarin 寶可追蹤 / 宝可追踪 Bǎokě Zhuīzōng French Poké Radar German Pokéradar Italian Poké Radar Korean 포켓트레 Poké-Tra Spanish Pokéradar

See also

• Mass outbreak
• Dual-slot mode
• List of Key Items in Generation IV
• List of Key Items in Generation VI
• List of Key Items in Generation VIII

On Bulbagarden forums

• Shiny Pokémon with the Poké Radar

References

This item article is part of Project ItemDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on all items.