Bond697
Dies, died, will die.
Good lord, no. Saving outside of the shop means you'd have to deal with all of the NPCs in-town on top of however many ones are in the shop. Saving right in front of the delivery man is best, and still won't affect the nature you get. As for NPCs in HGSS stores, at least Azalea and Ecruteak only have one each if you're early in the game, and at least Fuchsia has no moving NPCs at all if you're later on.
If it's still the same Nature and Ability, then you used the wrong ID/SID when you searched for the seed. If not, then HGSS pulled a bait-and-switch on you, as it sometimes does when it comes to shiny eggs.
Oh God, I just realized. I run 2 save games, 1 for breeding and stuff and one for the story, etc. I searched for shinies using the wrong S/ID combo. I feel pretty dumb. Thanks!