DexNav Chaining Guide and Tips

[vzxt]

DexNav Chaining Guide for ORAS
approved by NoCheese

Hello everyone! From time to time I see people asking questions about how to DexNav pokemon or asking for advice on how to do it effectively. Since I have been DexNav chaining for some time and have even captured competitively flawless wild pokemon I thought I'd share my knowledge with you on how to do long chains with the DexNav app. While the content of this guide will be focused on getting long chains that increase your chances of getting wild competitive or shiny pokemon, this information also helps if you just want to capture a female with Hidden Ability, good IVs and even a rare Egg move for your next breeding project.

Contents:​

1 Basics

1.1 What is the DexNav?
1.2 Search function and level
1.3 Special Qualities​

2 Getting started

2.1 TIME
2.2 Items needed
2.3 Pokemon recommendations​

3 Chaining

3.1 How to Chain
3.2 Actions that break a Chain
3.3 Actions that don't break a Chain​

4 Pro Tips

4.1 Check your progress
4.2 Optimal positioning
4.3 Search and Dash
4.4 "Safe" Sneaking​

5 FAQ

 

[vzxt]

1 Basics

Before I explain chaining and the things required to do so, I'll cover a bit of the functionality of the DexNav app and what you can achieve by chaining with it.

1.1 What is the DexNav?

The DexNav is a new application of the PokeNav Plus that was re-introduced in Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby games. It tells the player information about the wild Pokemon in the player's current location and allows the player to search for specific Pokemon.

1.2 Search function and level

One of the main advantages of using the DexNav is that it grants the player a certain amount of control over the pokemon you can encounter by means of the Search function. As long as the Pokemon is already registered in the Pokedex you can click on it's sprite displayed in the menu, this will display a screen with the Pokemon's name, image, and Search Level. The screen also includes "Pokédex" and "Search" buttons, which brings up the Pokémon's Pokédex entry, and activates the DexNav's search function respectively.

1.3 Special Qualities

While using the Search function to find pokemon you will notice that the DexNav will give you information about the pokemon hidden in the grass. Here's a brief description of each of them.

• First Move: This shows the first move a pokemon has on it's current level and moveset. By chaining, Pokemon can have their normal first move replaced with a random Egg Move. If a Pokémon has an Egg move you will see this
  
  next to it.
• Ability: This shows the ability of the pokemon. When chaining there's a chance the Pokemon will have it's hidden ability (HA). When that happens you will see this
  
  next to the ability title. You will start getting the Hidden Ability when the Search Level is above 10.
• Level: This shows the Pokemon level. Pokemon found using the DexNav can be 10 levels higher than the level otherwise possible in that area. If a Pokémon is at a higher level due to this, you'll see this
  
  next to the level title. When this happens, the Pokémon will also have an Egg Move as its first move.
• Potential: This shows the number of IVs set to 31 the pokemon will have. One star means 1 IV set to 31, two stars means 2 IVs set to 31 and three stars means 3 or more IVs set to 31. Any 3 star pokemon will have a
  
  next to the potential title. You will start getting 3-star pokemon once the Search Level is above 25.

1.5 Why DexNav chain

Due to the benefits presented in the previous section using the DexNav is specially useful for breeders and collectors. This are the things I find DexNav chaining is the most useful for.

• Breeding: Since pokemon found using the DexNav search function can have an Egg Move, their HA, and the potential to have 3 perfect IVs or more you can use chaining to catch a pokemon that will help you breed pokemon more easily. DexNav chaining is especially useful for catching pokemon with their HA that were only available through the Dream world in BW2 or were really hard to get in XY Hordes. The HA of certain pokemon are only available through dexnav, like Adaptability Skrelp.
• Shiny Pokemon: Some fans of the Pokemon series like collecting the shiny versions of their favorite pokemon. DexNav chaining improves the chance of getting a wild shiny Pokemon. From what I've researched the chances of getting a shiny via DexNav chaining are the same as the Friend Safari in XY (1/512). The chances does not improve as your chain gets bigger but you should chain anyway because failed encounters are a waste of time.
• Novelty captures: In generation VI a new breeding mechanic was introduced which allowed female pokemon to inherit the Poke ball they were caught in to their offsprings. This mechanic allowed breeders to have an extra level of control over the aesthetics of the pokemon they breed. For example having a Water-type Pokemon in a Poke Ball that matches it concept-wise like Dive Ball or a Fire-type in Poke Ball that matches it color-wise like Repeat Ball. Because only female Pokemon can pass on their Poke Ball to their offspring, Pokemon in the Gender Unkown Egg Group like Magnemite and Male-only Pokemon like Braviary can't inherit the Poke Ball they are in to their offsprings. So when you are trying to breed these Pokemon to get a competitive flawless offspring, it will always be in a regular Poke Ball. Fortunately through DexNav chaining you are able to get these Pokemon with competitive IVs, Nature and ability in the Poke Ball you desire. I know the practicality of this is low but for collectors it's a way to get a rare novelty capture that is impossible to get trough breeding. (You can hunt Pokemon in the Friend Safari in XY and get wild Pokemon with decent IV's but that is a lot less practical because you can't control the Pokemon you encounter).

 

[vzxt]

2 Getting Started

Before you go in your DexNav journey there's a couple of things you will need to accomplish your goal.


2.1 Items

You need to stock up on some key items before attempting to DexNav chain.

• Super/Max Repels: Since chaining only counts the pokemon you find through the DexNav search function you need to avoid random wild pokemon. I prefer using Max Repels because it interrupts less frequently compared to Super Repels. When the repel wears off a message will appear asking if you want to use another repel, this can be dangerous if this happens next to a pokemon you are sneaking on as it can break your sneaking motion if you are not careful.
• Pokeball of choice: Chances are you want to catch the pokemon you are looking for in a specific pokeball so make sure you bring a lot of them.
• Elixir/Ether/Leppa Berries: You will need PP restoring items to restore the moves of your pokemon as you need to either KO or catch the pokemon you find to continue the chain. Alternatively you can also use the PP O-power.
• HP and Status restoring items: Your False Swiper might get hit or statused occasionally while chaining so having these items on hand is a must.

2.2 Pokemon recommendations

Once you have a good amount of the items you need for chaining you will also need some pokemon that have useful field abilities and a strong pokemon to defeat/catch your targets easily.

Synchronizer: This is a pokemon with the Synchronize ability. If a pokemon with this ability is in the lead of your party it will give you a 50% chance of finding a wild pokemon with the same nature (This works even if the Synchronizer is fainted). Probably one of the most important pokemon to have while chaining as specific natures are needed for certain competitive pokemon sets. Because repels only work if your lead pokemon in your party is of higher level than the wild pokemon around you, your Synchronizer must be leveled up to be at least one level higher as the strongest wild pokemon available. Example: In (Hoenn) 121 route the stronges pokemon are level 30 and the weakest is 27, your Synch needs to be level 30 or higher. A level 50 Synchronizer should be strong enough to be used in any situation. If the pokemon you want to catch can use different natures you could take 2 or more different Synchronizers with you so that when you catch one with good IVs and nature you switch to a Synch with different nature.

Synchronizer Example

Ralts-Kirlia-Gardevoir Level 50
Ability: Synchronize
Nature: The one you want your wild pokemon to have
Egg Moves: Memento or Healing Wish
Note: Memento or Healing Wish will let you faint your synchronizer easily so that you don't need to make it faint by fighting pokemon. If it is fainted in the first slot of your party you can fight with your False Swiper directly and still get the benefits from Synchronize.

-

Cute Charmer: This is a pokemon with the Cute Charm ability. If a pokemon with this ability is in the lead of your party it will give you a 50% chance of finding a wild pokemon of the opposite gender (This works even if the Cute Charmer is fainted). This pokemon should be used if you are hunting for a shiny and don't care about the nature or you are hunting for a female to use in your next breeding project.

Because repels only work if your lead pokemon in your party is of higher level than the wild pokemon around you, your Cute Charmer must be leveled up to be at least one level higher as the strongest wild pokemon available. Example: In (Hoenn) 121 route the stronges pokemon are level 30 and the weakest is 27, your Cute Charmer needs to be level 30 or higher A level 50 Cute Charmer should be strong enough to be used in any situation.

Cute Charmer Example

Buneary-Lopunny Level 50
Gender: Male if you want to encounter females; Female if you want to encounter males.
Ability: Cute Charm
Moves: Healing Wish
Note: Healing Wish will let you faint your Cute Charmer easily so that you don't need to make it faint by fighting pokemon. If it is fainted in the first slot of your party you can fight with your False Swiper directly and still get the benefits from Cute Charm.

-

False Swiper: This is a pokemon that is used for its ability to use the move False Swipe, which is an attack that will never KO a pokemon always leaving it with 1HP. This makes catching pokemon easy so you should definitely bring one or two on your hunt. The False Swiper will also be in charge of KOing the pokemon you don't want to catch so other traits this pokemon should have to be more effective is a high Attack stat, access to status moves and strong attacking moves with high PP.

False Swiper Example

Breloom Level 100
Ability: Technician or Poison Heal
Nature: Adamant or Jolly
Moves: Mach Punch, Bullet Seed, False Swipe, Spore/StunSpore
Item: Leftovers or Toxic Orb
Note: Mach Punch and Bullet Seed have high PP and hit hard if you have Technician as ability. Spore is a 100% accurate sleep inducing move that will help you increase your catch rate but it wears off so Stun Spore is also a good option to induce paralysis which doesn't wear off. Poison Heal is an useful ability in conjuction with Toxic Orb that way Breloom is immune to status and heals by itself. Technician boosts the power of False Swipe so I prefer to use that ability. Bullet Seed can OHKO Sturdy pokemon like magnemite making it very useful

Bisharp Level 100
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Adamant or Jolly
Moves: Iron Head, Night Slash, False Swipe, Thunder Wave
Item: Leftovers
Note: Bisharp is another option with different STAB moves in case the pokemon you want resists Breloom's moves. It can be used as a secondary false swiper in case you run out of PP restoring moves or you get bored of using Breloom.

Smeargle Level 100
Ability: Technician
Nature: Adamant
Moves: Soak, False Swipe, Glare/Spore, Crunch/Shadow Claw
Item: Leftovers
Note: Smeargle can capture Ghost-types thanks to it being able to use Soak to remove the their immunity to Normal-type moves and False Swipe. A Dark/Ghost move is used to KO the Ghost you don't want to capture.

If you don't have a Smeargle and do not want to use a Status move Mega Pinsir can use a Flying-type False Swipe to hit Ghosts.

2.3 Time

If you are planning on DexNav chaining a pokemon in search of a shiny or a competitive Pokemon you will need to reserve some time for this. There is no set time for you to get what you are looking for as it depends on luck(RNG). That being said you not only need time but patience as there are a lot of little things that can be annoying while chaining and it can also be very boring and monotonous so find something you like to do while you chain, preferably something that doesn't require your full attention.

If you just want a female with Hidden ability or you are looking for a rare egg move it should only take 15 mins or so.

 

[vzxt]

3 Chaining

Now that you have everything you will need, it is time to DexNav chain. Go to the location of the pokemon you want to capture and open up the DexNav app.

3.1 How to Chain

The principle of chaining is very simple.

Select the pokemon you want to chain.
Press the "Search" button. A chain builds every time the player captures or defeats a hidden Pokémon of any species.



3.2 Actions that break a Chain
3.3 Actions that don't break a Chain

 

[vzxt]

4 Pro Tips

This section is for useful tips that will make DexNav chaining easier or at least less annoying.

4.1 Check your progress

If you are chaining in search for a competitive pokemon it is hard to tell when to stop. Maybe you have chained 500 pokemon and captured lots of 3star pokemon but is that enough? Did you get what you were looking for? Well, if you have access to a Wi-Fi connection there's an easy way to check the pokemon you have caught without breaking your chain.

As I covered in the chaining section none of the online features of the game can break a chain as the overworld is "paused" when you are navigating or using the PSS. With that in mind you can use either the GTS or Wonder Trade to browse your boxes and check the IVs, nature and egg moves of the pokemon you have caught. If you were lucky and caught something good maybe you can call it a day or you might want to switch synchronizers and try to catch another one with a different nature since you already invested some time in building a chain.

tl;dr You can use Wonder Trade or GTS to check your boxes without breaking your chain.

4.2 Optimal positioning

When you get to the location of your next DexNav chain one of the first questions you might ask yourself is "Where do I start?". Well in every location there is a good position you can use as your base from where you can chain that gives you a good view of the searchable area and minimizes the amount of failed searches.

In most pokemon games the camera is angled slightly up, making it is easier to see what is north of you than what is south of you. With this in mind you might want to position yourself South of the grass patch you want to search in. This will give you good visibilty of the grass making it easier to the spot hidden pokemon. If the grass is not accesibly from the south try the southernmost eastern/western location. If you can only access the grass from the north you might want to dexnav chain inside the grass.

Considering the DexNav doesn't give you hints on the location of the pokemon other than "There seems to be a Pokemon somewhere..." starting from a northern location makes things really difficult as you will waste time trying to figure out the exact location of the pokemon and if you are not quick enough it might run away.


4.3 Search and Dash

This tip is for those that want to build a chain rather quickly and are 100% focused on the task. Basically once you battle a pokemon and either KO or catch it immediately hit the search button and run back to the optimal position. I know it's pretty simple but you have to practice this so that you get the timing right and don't break your chain accidentally. With this method you can power through the first cycle and start getting more starred pokemon.

4.4 Avoid Corners

While the Gen 6 graphics might impress you the pokemon world is as blocky as ever, those round bushes and curved rocky corners you might see around the game are all but lies and they can be your worst enemy when chaining if you are not careful. This apparent round objects are actually blocks with sharp invisible edges that extend far from their supposed bodies. If you bump against this invisible walls at max sneaking speed your sneaking motion might break and you can scare away the hidden pokemon.

Gen 6 introduced diagonal movement let's hope we get actual round objects in Gen 7.

 

[vzxt]

5 FAQ

 

[vzxt]

Reserve


This is still a work in progress

 

[NoCheese]

Feel that you are close to being finished, vzxt?

 

[vzxt]

Feel that you are close to being finished, vzxt?

The easy parts are done what's left is the chaining part and explaining how it works. I'll get it done by the end of the month hopefully. Feel free to move this to the article section if you want, maybe some feedback will motivate me :P

 

[Dreamox]

Great so far, look forward to the chaining guide. Got a rough estimate on when it'll be finished?

 

[vzxt]

Great so far, look forward to the chaining guide. Got a rough estimate on when it'll be finished?

Hi I finally got some time in my hands so I'll start writing that up this week. If you have any doubts let me know.

 

[Bice]

Hey, you should add that, if you're dexnaving a Ghost-type (such as Sableye), then you should probably have a Soak user on you, because Ghost-types are immune to False Swipe.

 

[CTNC]

Hey, you should add that, if you're dexnaving a Ghost-type (such as Sableye), then you should probably have a Soak user on you, because Ghost-types are immune to False Swipe.

False Swipe is a Normal Type move? Mega Pinsir begs to differ. He also says that Mega Evolving is quicker than using an extra move.

 

[Bice]

False Swipe is a Normal Type move? Mega Pinsir begs to differ. He also says that Mega Evolving is quicker than using an extra move.

Oh, didn't see that, sorry.

 

[vzxt]

False Swipe is a Normal Type move? Mega Pinsir begs to differ. He also says that Mega Evolving is quicker than using an extra move.

Wow I have never thought of using Mega Pinsir like that. I'll replace the Bisharp set I have with it and maybe add a capturing Smeargle set.

 

[CTNC]

Oh, didn't see that, sorry.

It's okay, I didn't think of that ether. I just remembered someone else saying that they used it.

Wow I have never thought of using Mega Pinsir like that. I'll replace the Bisharp set I have with it and maybe add a capturing Smeargle set.

I wouldn't replace the Bisharp set. Some people, like me, dislike having to use the sleep move again when the Pokemon wakes up.

If you really want a False Swipe Pokemon that can hit Ghosts and use a Status Move, you can use Mega Altaria who can use Sing, but can only know False Swipe if it hatched from the Swablu egg Gen 3's Pokemon Box gives you. Hopefully, there's someone willing to give out clones of that Swablu.

When checking if there were any other Pokemon that could hit ghosts with False Swipe, I found that Pangoro gets it and has Scrappy as a Hidden ability, but doesn't have any status moves.

So if you want a False Swipe user that can hit Ghosts, I'd say use Pangoro if you can get one with its Hidden Ability, use Altaria instead if you can get one with False Swipe and really want your False Swipe to know a status move, or use Pinsir if you can get neither.

 

[vzxt]

It's okay, I didn't think of that ether. I just remembered someone else saying that they used it.

I wouldn't replace the Bisharp set. Some people, like me, dislike having to use the sleep move again when the Pokemon wakes up.

If you really want a False Swipe Pokemon that can hit Ghosts and use a Status Move, you can use Mega Altaria who can use Sing, but can only know False Swipe if it hatched from the Swablu egg Gen 3's Pokemon Box gives you. Hopefully, there's someone willing to give out clones of that Swablu.

When checking if there were any other Pokemon that could hit ghosts with False Swipe, I found that Pangoro gets it and has Scrappy as a Hidden ability, but doesn't have any status moves.

So if you want a False Swipe user that can hit Ghosts, I'd say use Pangoro if you can get one with its Hidden Ability, use Altaria instead if you can get one with False Swipe and really want your False Swipe to know a status move, or use Pinsir if you can get neither.

Having so many options for this case is a bad idea, so I will just put a Smeargle set that has moves useful for capturing pokemon. In the Wi-Fi forum people give out Smeargles with useful moves for SRing Legendaries so the fact that it is easily available makes it a better choice for the guide even if you have to use Soak. I'll still mention the pokemon you suggested in a note at the end of that section tho. Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Dreamox]

Hi I finally got some time in my hands so I'll start writing that up this week. If you have any doubts let me know.

Sorry to bug you but I'm really looking forward to it, got an ETA lol?

 

[vzxt]

Sorry to bug you but I'm really looking forward to it, got an ETA lol?

Sorry between a new work and trying to get my Masters degree I couldn't keep my word of finishing the chaining section. As you can see from the recent edits and interactions in this thread I'm working more consistently on this. I can't give you an ETA since I can't guarantee it. As I said to NoCheese the only promise I can make atm is that I will work more often on this :) Once I finish section 1.5 I will start working on the chaining section. Hopefully you will see an update to that section next week, don't expect anything big though.

 

[Sceptilian70]

I have a tip you may want to add, if you're looking for Shinies specifically but really for anything.

Try using Horde Encounters to increase the Search Level. This only works for naturally occuring Pokemon, not DexNav exclusive. This is easiest with a Sweet Scent Pokemon, as Honey is hard to obtain. Just wander around and initiate a lot of Hordes to increase the Level by 5 each time. Use this for Pokemon like Zigzagoon, who already has a high Search Level by the end of the game because of Trainers, so using this can get the Search Level very high. I used this to get from about 95 Zigzagoon encounters to 260, or thereabouts, and from there all the way to 999.

You may want to use this for Shiny Hunting, however this only really works for common Hordes, as Pokemon like Ralts don't appear, like, ever. Out of all of those encounters, not counting many Lotad encounters, not one was a Ralts Horde.