Poké 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 and Y that is used to seek out wild Pokémon hiding in tall grass. Its most notable use is to increase the probability of encountering the normally extremely rare Shiny Pokémon.
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- radar redirects here. For radar to find Go Rocket admins, see Rocket Radar.
In the core series games
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Effect
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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. 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, 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 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 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 and one that shakes gently); if a chain is started in one type, the chain will only continue in a patch that shakes the same way. 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. Different formations of patches have no apparent bearing on the odds of the chain continuing.[1]
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 fulfills the Shininess requirement.[2] It is possible, although very unlikely, for multiple Shiny patches to appear on one reset. Entering a Shiny patch will never break a chain, but if it is in a position where the game can select invalid patches for all four new patches, it may break after. 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 formula to the right describes the probability for a patch to contain a Shiny Pokémon, where nc is the length of the chain, up to a length of 40. The results of this formula are depicted in the table shown below. 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 a 1/200 chance of finding a Shiny Pokémon for a chain of length 40 or greater. 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 finding a Shiny Pokémon in a given use of the Poké Radar can be up to 4 times as high, giving the player a maximum of approximately a 1/50 chance of finding a Shiny Pokémon at a chain length of 40.
| Chain length | Shiny Probability |
|---|---|
| 0* | 8/65536 (1/8192)* |
| 1 | 9/65536 (~1/7282) |
| 2 | |
| 3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 | 10/65536 (~1/6554) |
| 6 | |
| 7 | |
| 8 | |
| 9 | 11/65536 (~1/5958) |
| 10 | |
| 11 | |
| 12 | 12/65536 (~1/5461) |
| 13 | |
| 14 | 13/65536 (~1/5041) |
| 15 | |
| 16 | 14/65536 (~1/4681) |
| 17 | |
| 18 | 15/65536 (~1/4369) |
| 19 | |
| 20 | 16/65536 (1/4096) |
| 21 | 17/65536 (~1/3855) |
| 22 | 18/65536 (~1/3641) |
| 23 | 19/65536 (~1/3449) |
| 24 | 20/65536 (~1/3277) |
| 25 | 21/65536 (~1/3121) |
| 26 | 22/65536 (~1/2979) |
| 27 | 24/65536 (~1/2731) |
| 28 | 26/65536 (~1/2521) |
| 29 | 28/65536 (~1/2341) |
| 30 | 30/65536 (~1/2185) |
| 31 | 33/65536 (~1/1986) |
| 32 | 37/65536 (~1/1771) |
| 33 | 41/65536 (~1/1598) |
| 34 | 47/65536 (~1/1394) |
| 35 | 55/65536 (~1/1192) |
| 36 | 66/65536 (~1/993) |
| 37 | 82/65536 (~1/799) |
| 38 | 110/65536 (~1/596) |
| 39 | 164/65536 (~1/400) |
| 40+ | 328/65536 (~1/200) |
*A chain length of 0 is the first use of the Poké Radar, and the Poké Radar cannot force a Pokémon to be Shiny at this point (which would result in a flashing patch); however, the patches still have the default 1/8192 chance of encountering a Shiny Pokémon.
List of Radar-exclusive Pokémon
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 | |
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Ultra Ball | For a chain length of 1-10 Pokémon | X Y |
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PP Up | For a chain length of 11-20 Pokémon | X Y |
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PP Max | For a chain length of 21-30 Pokémon | X Y |
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Rare Candy | For a chain length of at least 31 Pokémon | X Y |
Description
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Acquisition
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In the TCG
- 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
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See also
On Bulbagarden forums
References
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This item article is part of Project ItemDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on all items. |