#crosswalk method

I know I totally disproved this in an earlier post. So I'm going to take my own advice and try to prove the CW method in order to disprove it (I know freaking crazy).

In order to show that your walk cycle does not influence the amount of shinies you find, I used three possible methods in the friend safari and encountered for 20 minutes, switched methods by going into another safari.

My encounter rate was roughly the same, and I made sure to follow it to a T. I tried my best to remove bias from this experiment, and I made sure the rough encounter were equal. It was slightly less in cross walk, since walking encounters less and I have to pause to make sure I was 'doing it right'.

First 20 Minutes:

Method used: Circle pad (Random movement) + Bicycle

Safari: Normal (Lilipup, Minccino, Eevee)

Shinies found: 1 (Encounter 34- Lillipup)

Second twenty minutes:

Method used: Cross walk

Safari: Fire (Charmeleon, Growlithe)

Shinies found: 0

Third Twenty minutes:

Method used: Crosswalk

Safari: Water (Gyarados, Krabby, Frogadier) 

Shines: 0

Fourth twenty minutes:

Method used: Random walking

Safari: Dark (I apologize, I can't remember which ones were in it :/)

Shines: 0

Fifth twenty minutes:

Method used: Bike random movement (I made sure there was no pattern)

Safari: Dragon (Gabite, Dragonair, Sliggoo) 

Shines: 1 (Encounter 3, Shiny Gabite)

Hey guys!

Before I say anything, I'd just like to say that this is not meant to be rude to the person who invented this method, nor the people who believed it. I totally thought it was cool, and I totally say that if it feels right, then do it. However, I want to share this.

Basically I'll be telling you that the cross-walk method will not increase shiny chance. All you're doing in encountering, and paying more attention instead of a randomized mindless approach.

Fact 1: Grass

Each tile of grass in the friend safari has the exact rate throughout (assumed to be around 512 based on empirical evidence). This means that every pokemon you encounter has a 1/512 chance of being shiny. Basically, you can never encounter your shiny or get it in one encounter. With that said- that means that each piece of grass is individual and is not correlated. This works the exact same way as every pokemon game ever made including fan-games.

*Note that the shining charm does not work in the FS.

Fact 2: Exploiting Algorithms 

For those of you who are unaware of what RNG abuse is, it is the exploitation of the random number generator in generations 3-5 using predictable algorithms. With that said, the RNG in X and Y is fairly different and is non-abusable, but still a similar concept. When you enter the game, you are given a seed based on various factors such as the time you enter in the game etc. This means that when you get a shiny is virtually pre-determined based on the RNG of the 3ds. Though we're unable to abuse this, it still is the same. The only way to manipulate this is to use the pokeradar- which is unable to be used within the premises of the safari.

"But it worked for me!" - Explaination

When I was a kid, there was a really cool concept that if you held 'a' when throwing a pokeball it would act as a masterball. Back then, it totally worked! But when I did it, I thought it was my fault that I didn't press 'a' long enough, or let go too early. 

Basically, this is a case of classical conditioning:

- When you do the method and get a shiny, you believe it works.

- When you do it and you don't, you believe you messed up somewhere/you're unlucky

- When you do get your shiny, you are re-inforced that it 'works'- getting conditioned to complete the same task to believe it works. This constant conditioning is falsely making you believe that this task will reward you, when in reality, the 'reward' of the shiny is from generally walking around.

Also... I'm someone who walked into a safari and got a shiny. There was no 'crosswalk'. It was random.

The crosswalk method 'works' because you are raking up random encounters in a high shiny rate zone. It also gives you a sense of security that you can possibly manipulate the frequency of the shiny. I promise you, unless a producer states otherwise, it's just urban legend.

Where to go from here:

- A lot of us take these (Including me) and go about it the wrong way. Your goal isn't to prove that it works. All I see is people posting pictures of shinies saying that it worked for them- when you should be trying to disprove it. If you think it works, try to disprove it. Trying to prove it isn't doing you any favors- if it cannot be disproved, then it's real.

- Don't stop doing it just because it's not an actual method. Just don't go around saying it increases shiny rate- because it is impossible. It's okay to have pokemon rituals! I press [b] + [a] each time I throw a pokeball for good luck, though I know it does nothing.

- My suggestion is have something up like youtube or a tv with your 3ds volume up, encountering randomly. Using this method requires brain power, so this is more mindless and as effective. 

I really hope that didn't come across as harsh. I wanted to let you guys know that this is the truth, as disappointing as it is. I really wish it were real, but it can't be at all. There will always be things like this in the community, but make sure it is 100% true with impherical evidence for and against with averages, proving and trying to disprove it.

I really hope I didn't just read a few odd articles and misinterpreted it- because I read exactly that this 'increases the shinies you encounter'. 

I hope this helped! If anyone needs help filling their pokedex, please let me know. If you're desperate to get your charm, I will be happy to help as much as I can.