Hidden Encounter Spawn Mechanics

Hidden encounters are NOT guaranteed to produce the same species every time, the species is instead derived from the encounterslot value (0-99), the Pokémon that occupy encounterslots will vary depending on weather and location.

Spawning a hidden encounter is down to chance, the game essentially checks to see if it is possible to spawn a patch of shaking grass per step taken in long grass. For this reason hidden encounter RNG as a whole is inconsistent.

Having spawned wild Pokemon in the overworld (which will be present in most cases) will add another layer of inconsistency, as this causes random frame advancements. Pick a different encounter type whenever possible, such as static or symbol.

Dex Recommendations & Ability Boosts

Dex recommendations can be found by opening the Pokedex, when a Pokémon is recommended the encounterslot value for that specific Pokémon is boosted. Storm Drain, Lightning Rod & Harvest abilities will also boost the encounterslot value of Pokémon of the corrisponding type (e.g Harvest boosts grass types).

Neither of these boosting methods are supported in the RNG tool at this point in time, avoid using them as this will produce inaccurate results.

1. Open SWSH_OWRNG_Generator_GUI, then type your 5 digit TID/SID into the correct fields of the main window (for shiny Pokémon only).
2. Open the Encounter Lookup sub window, then type the species name of the Pokémon you plan to RNG abuse, select an appealing hidden encounter.
3. Confirm that the filters have been set properly inside the Main Window, encounter filters can be found on the left-hand side.
4. Set your search filters inside the middle portion of the Main Window. You can filter for specific Marks, IVs, Shininess, etc.

Example - Encounter Lookup specifies Glimwood Tangle in any weather for Sinistea-Antique, this information has been automatically filled inside the main window. The search filters were also manually configured to search for a Shiny with any mark.

For Hidden encounters, stand directly next to a grass patch in the area, the smaller the grass patch, the better.

The location in the above image is ideal: Minimal NPCs, no extra spawned Pokémon, and standing directly next to (within 1 step of) a patch of grass. Depending on the chosen location, you may be forced to stand in an area where Symbol encounters are in the grass.

Glimwood Tangle is notably "quiet" and has no overworld weather. Remember, advancement speed (aka noise) depends on location, NPC count, and weather. There are also no overworld spawns in the grass patches in this area, which will provide more stability.

If you can't find a good spot, knock out any static spawns blocking your path. They will remain despawned until you return to the area after a date change.

After identifying seeds using the Retail Seed Finder, a Shiny Sinistea can be found on advance 3451-3453. Target frames can often appear in clusters, which are multiple frames in a row (or close to each other) that produce the same end result.

Due to having multiple frames that can potentially produce your desired Pokemon, searching for clusters is ideal. You may wish to keep searching for target frames until a cluster appears.

Undesirable result?

1. Save in the correct position, then close and re-open the game to refresh the seed.
2. Identify the seed again using the Retail Seed Finder feature.
3. Search for a new target frame, repeat this process until a desirable result has been found.

Keep the game paused after finding a desirable target frame to avoid any unwanted advancements, as this may cause you to overshoot your target frame depending on location.

If you have been following along you should now be stood in the correct position in-game, have calibrated your NPC count, and know your current seed.

Step-by-step:

1. Re-identify the current seed if you have lost track. Click the Update States button on the main window after doing so.
2. Open the Menu Close Advances Viewer sub window, type the number of NPCs into the NPCs field, then search. Take note of the amount of frames that will be consumed from closing the pause menu (inside the Jump column).
3. Unpause the game, then run into the grass patch, if a hidden encounter spawns within 1-3 steps, encounter and capture it. Then use an IV calculator to determine the IVs.
4. If the Pokémon encountered does not match your target species, use the Encounter Lookup to fill in the details of the Pokémon you encountered.
5. Find the advance that generated the Pokémon in the search results, then subtract the amount of frames that were consumed from the pause menu. This will be the delay for this encounter.

Example - If the Pokémon was generated on frame 10, and 7 frames were consumed from closing the pause menu, this means the delay for this encounter is 3.

Step-by-step tutorial:

• Advance towards your target frame using any method listed inside the advancement table on the main page. Consider date-skipping for long distance-advancements.
• Return to the correct position in-game once you are within a few thousand advances of the target frame. This will ensure that you do not overshoot when doing quick advancements.

If the weather condition does not match the conditions to spawn your Pokemon, change the date on your console BACKWARDS until the correct weather is displayed on the map. Changing the date backwards will avoid unwanted advancements.

• Pause the game and re-identify your current seed, then click the Update States button to reflect the new RNG state inside the main window and search for your target again.

• Subtract the delay from the actual target frame (e.g 1000 (target) - 3 (delay) = 997) this will set the new target frame and this will be the frame to spawn the Pokémon on.
• Open the Menu Close Advances Viewer tab, and enter the number of NPCs calculated earlier into the NPCs field, then click Search.

If you can see your target frame(s) within the Menu Close Advances Viewer search results, great! This means menu close prediction can be used to hit your target frame with no extra issues and the next two steps can be skipped.

• If you do not see your target frame in the search results, increment the number inside the Init Adv. field by 1, repeat until the target frame is visible.
• Perform some animation advancements according to the number inside the Init Adv. field. For example, do 5 advancements if the number inside the field is 5.

In extreme cases you will not be able to reach your target frame using menu close prediction. To counter this, aim to get as close as possible to your target using menu close prediction, then use player movement advances to hit your target frame.

• Open and close the pause menu until a single menu close lands you onto the target frame (do any required movement advancements here if you do not land directly onto the target frame).
• Unpause the game, then run into the grass and attempt to spawn a hidden encounter, if a grass patch spawns within 3 steps, initiate the encounter to confirm the result matches what is expected.

As mentioned above, spawning a hidden encounter is subject to random chance. If it takes > 3 steps to spawn an encounter you have likely missed your target frame and need to restart from the beginning.