Gen 5 RNG Manip Introduction

What even is RNG Manipulation?

RNG Manipulation in Pokémon is making use of the knowledge of how these games simulate randomness using a Random Number Generator (or RNG for short) to get basically whatever you want that is randomized by the game.

This can be something as simple as a rare 1% encounter on a Route, something rarer like your favorite shiny Pokémon or something near impossible to get without hacking such as a perfect IV competitive Pokémon.

But we can do it without hacking! Instead of changing values in our games data to fit what we want, we use years of research people made and maths to predict what exactly we have to do ingame to get these rare things to occur in a fraction of the time it would otherwise take!

Some cool people have made RNG programs such as "PokeFinder" to help us with this, so we don't have to all do the complex maths ourselves. All you need to do is to just give the program specific information that you can observe in your game and it'll spit out instructions on what needs to happen for you to get your e.g. shiny quickly.

These instructions generally include what date and time to set your DS console to and start the Gen 5 game on, what buttons to hold down whilst the game is starting and then what to do once you're loaded into the game.

How does it work in Generation 5?

Generation 5 is one of the easiest Generations to RNG Manipulate in. This is due to how Gen 5 determines the initial seed which decides everything random that happens in the game such as which Pokemon you encounter, what IVs and nature it has and whether it is shiny or not.

The initial seed is a 64 bit hexadecimal number (so a 16 digit long hex number e.g. 6A513E0B204DA507) that is determined when you boot up your Gen 5 game by a combination of the date and time your console is set to down to the second, any buttons that are being pressed whilst the game is starting up, your consoles MAC address and 4 additional values called the "VCount", "Timer0", "GxStat" and "Vframe".

This may sound like a lot on first glance, and I agree that Gen 5 RNG is a bit more complex to get into at first compared to Generations 3 or 4 for example, however once you've set everything up and done your first Gen 5 RNG, most others after will be pretty quick and easy, as Gen 5 only has very few difficult RNGs.

In all prior and future Generations you have to hit at least one, sometimes multiple, fairly precise timing windows of 1/30th or 1/60th of a second at some point during most RNG methods, however Gen 5 only has the full second you need to hit for your target seed, which is 30-60 times larger of a time window, making it SIGNIFICANTLY easier.

On top of that Gen 5 introduced over 150 new Pokemon, which, combined with all the old Pokemon available within Gen 5 and those you can transfer up from prior Gens and breed, makes it so you can RNG manipulate 622 out of the 649 Pokemon that were available up until Gen 5¹.

The only Generation that rivals Gen 5 in this regard would be Gen 7, however Gen 5 RNG is easier and faster than Gen 7 RNG.

Personally I can do a quick BW1 RNG within 10 minutes and 75% of that is just finding a good initial seed to target and setting up the program.

With RNG Manip I've for example gotten all the Gift and Stationary Pokemon that you can get in my German White 2 as shinies with 5 or 6 perfect IVs (excluding the select few shiny locked encounters such as Reshiram or the Gift Eevee which just have 5 or 6 Perfect IVs).

I've also been working on a shiny national living dex in my White 2 (am about halfway done as of May 2025) but that project is currently on hold since I'm prioritizing other things such as making Gen 5 RNG guides.

These guides will teach you how to RNG Manipulate in Gen 5, so you too can get your favorite shinies or perfect competitive Pokemon quickly and without any glitches or hacking.

If you're ready, start with the BW/BW2 Calibration Guide, as Calibration is a MANDATORY requirement for any Gen 5 RNG.

Out of these Lugia, Ho-Oh, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina can be obtained and RNG'd via the 3DS eShop exclusive game Pokemon Dream Radar (shiny locked however).