Lead Ability & DexRec

Understanding Pokémon ability influences and Pokédex recommendations to boost spawn rates.

This section explains advanced techniques involving the use of lead abilities and the using Pokédex recommendation feature. These methods are used to influence the following:

This table provides information about each of the lead abilities and their use cases:

Ability Overworld Effect
Synchronize The nature of the Synchronize Pokémon will be applied to any encountered overworld Pokémon. The Synchronize Pokémon can be swapped into the lead after the Pokémon has been spawned.
Cute Charm If your lead Pokémon has this ability, increase the chance of that Pokémon having the opposite gender.
Magnet Pull If there are STEEL TYPE Pokémon in the encounter table, increase the chance of spawning those Pokémon. Otherwise, do nothing.
Lightning Rod & Static If there are ELECTRIC TYPE Pokémon in the encounter table, increase the chance of spawning those Pokémon. Otherwise, do nothing.
Flash Fire If there are FIRE TYPE Pokémon in the encounter table, increase the chance of spawning those Pokémon. Otherwise, do nothing.
Storm Drain If there are WATER TYPE Pokémon in the encounter table, increase the chance of spawning those Pokémon. Otherwise, do nothing.
Harvest If there are GRASS TYPE Pokémon in the encounter table, increase the chance of spawning those Pokémon. Otherwise, do nothing.
Compound Eyes & Super Luck If the Pokémon can be spawned holding a random held item, increase the likelihood of this occurring. Otherwise, do nothing.
Arena Trap, Illuminate & No Guard INCREASE the chance of spawning a hidden encounter. These abilities are important to use when manipulating hidden encounters.
Quick Feet, Stench, White Smoke & Infiltrator DECREASE the chance of spawning a hidden encounter. In most cases, these abilities should be avoided on your lead Pokémon.
Information - Synchronize is an exception in that it can be activated after the Pokémon has been spawned, all other abilities are activated before the Pokémon spawns. This means that if you plan to use Synchronize, you can spawn your target Pokémon and switch your party lead to a Pokémon with Syncronize to force a specific nature.

Pokédex Recommendations

It is recommended to complete your Pokédex before using this boosting method.

Upon opening the Pokédex, you should see up to 4 Pokémon at a specific location on the map. These Pokémon have an increased spawn rate anywhere in the world as long as they are in the current encounter table. The order they are listed on the bottom right of the screen is from #1-#4 for the purpose of RNG manipulation. This feature is commonly referred to as "Pokédex Recommendations" or "DexRec".

If you have not yet looked at your Pokédex or the date has rolled over (either naturally or with date skipping) since the last time the Pokédex was opened, the current DexRec is considered inactive until you look at the Pokédex again.

Important - For incomplete Pokédexes, the recommendations you will see will prioritize Pokémon that you have not yet captured. Completing the Pokédex will cause the game to boost random Pokémon. It is recommended to have a complete Pokédex.

Figure 1 - DexRec Overview

dex-rec-1
DexRec Overview
DexRec Species Control

In the above example, NidoranF (#1), Sinistea (#2), Heatmor (#3) and Magby (#4) are the currently boosted Pokémon. Although the DexRec was triggered in Old Cemetery, these Pokémon will have their spawn rate boosted globally regardless of the current area, as long as the boosted Pokémon is present within the encounter table.

Only the first form ID of a particular Pokémon will be boosted. For example, if our currently boosted Pokémon is Sinistea the spawn rate boost will only apply to the Phony form (the first form ID for Sinistea). This means that Antique Sinistea cannot have an encounter rate boost from DexRec at all.

For Pokémon can only be found in specific weather conditions, you will first need to find the location of your desired Pokémon, then set the weather condition in that area to match the required weather needed to spawn the Pokémon prior to opening the Pokédex (example below). Owoow's Encounter Lookup feature can be used to quickly find details about a particular Pokémon.

Example - If your desired DexRec is Drampa, which is found in the Lake of Outrage in Thunderstorm weather, you will need to change the current weather condition in the Lake of Outrage to Thunderstorm.

About Date Skipping

DexRec is cleared after a day advances. You can change the date freely as long as you don't do the actual advance, but for obvious reasons, you cannot combine DexRec boosting and date skipping advancements.

If you are not using date skipping, roll your desired DexRec and save the game. Take note of the date the game has been saved on to avoid unintentionally erasing the current recommendations due to natural time progression.


Important - DexRec rolling is deterministic. If you roll 100 days, then reset and roll another 100 days, you will see the same results both times. You should save after you have finished rolling even if you did not get your desired DexRec. Never reset the game back to before the date skipping occurred!

Figure 2 - Rolling For DexRec

dex-rec-2
DexRec Rolling

You can roll your DexRec manually or automate the process using owoow, the above image demonstrates the automated method. Before deciding which method to use you will need to find a suitable weather condition. As mentioned above, the weather condition in the area needs to be capable of spawning your desired Pokémon.

Weather Setup
  1. Open the Encounter Lookup tab on owoow and search for your desired Pokémon.
  2. Take note of the location and weather condition of your desired target, then open the map and check the current weather in your target area.
  3. Use LegoFigure11's SwSh Weather Finder to find a date that produces your desired weather in the area of your target Pokémon.
  4. Leave the page open or make note of the required date in a notepad document or similar.
Manual DexRec Rolling
  1. Set the date to the one you noted earlier using the System Settings.
  2. View the Pokédex to activate your daily Pokémon Recommendations. If you do not see what you want, exit to the overworld.
  3. Use date skipping to reset daily events and the Pokémon Recommendations. Make sure your weather conditions are correct again, then view the Pokédex to generate new recommendations.
  4. Repeat until you have achieved your desired DexRec.
Automated DexRec Rolling
  1. Connect to owoow, then set your desired date using the CFW Tools section of the main window.
    • This can be done by entering the required number of days inside the Skip: field, then clicking Days-.
  2. Press the shift key and left-click the Refresh button under the Pokédex Recommendation section of the main window to open a sub-window.
  3. In the sub-window, select your desired species and exclude any maps you do not want to include in your DexRec search.
    • The main use case for excluding maps is to avoid boosting multiple spawns in a given encounter table. Due to the way DexRec boosts are applied it can be detrimental to boost multiple Pokémon in the same area.
    • If you do not care about min-maxxing your encounter rates for a specific Pokémon you do not need to exclude any maps.
  4. If you want to your DexRec to be in a specific slot, select the Specific Slot checkbox and pick your desired slot.
  5. If you want to hold onto your current date during the skipping process, select the Keep same date checkbox (highly recommended).
  6. Hover over the Pokédex icon in the pause menu, then back out into the overworld. The tool assumes that you are hovered over the Pokédex icon.
  7. Disconnect any controllers then click the Search button and wait until a desired DexRec is found.

After finding your desired DexRec it is recommended to reset the game. The program saves the game in a state where performing a date skip once then opening the Pokédex will activate your chosen DexRec whenever needed. You can then reset for a desirable seed, advance close to your target frame, then activate the DexRec.

Before resetting for your seed, ensure that the Pokémon from your target DexRec have been entered into the main window correctly, and keep in mind that at least one date skip is required to reach the correct DexRec.