If you're going to reset when you play your own game, you should try setting your DS region to something exotic like Singapore or Hawaii or Madagascar so you can get one of the extra rare Vivillon. You can change the region back after the game starts. I wish I had done that.
Note that this has practical benefits -- Vivillon are extremely good trade fodder. The pattern I have, Polar, is like the fourth most common but I still managed to get a bunch of version exclusives and starters with them. It's spectacular.
This is a good idea! But does Hawaii have a unique form?
Yeah, it has the Ocean Pattern. Check out this map:
http://imgur.com/a/0Qt5N/Judging just on what I've seen on the GTS during my Vivillon hunts, the patterns from approximately least common to most common are:
Elegant (purple)
Modern (red)
High Plains (orange)
Polar (dark blue with snow)
Continental (yellow and black)
Marine (cyan)
Garden (green)
River (tan and teal)
And then everything else is rare enough that I don't really have a handle on them. I've seen a few of each of them but they're all quite rare. I think the ones I've seen the least of are Archipelago and Sandstorm.
If you're up for experimentation, it might be interesting to set your location to far-flung places on the map where the pattern hasn't yet been confirmed, just to see what you receive. Power through the game and trade a Scatterbug to someone (like me!
) and see if you can discover new patterns!
I'm aiming to complete the 'dex, but the more I think the more I realise I'm going to have serious trouble with a lot of things. Gen 3 legendaries for a start might be pretty tough to get (I don't have a gen 3 game, at least not a pirated one) since anyone who can transfer Gen 3 legendaries over can get most of the gen 4 and gen 5 ones on the way as well. And don't even get me started on the event pokemon...
I suppose maybe if I do something like, attach an ability capsule, or try trading some BP intensive evolutions around, like a Porygon2 holding a Dubious Disk, I might just get somewhere, but otherwise, it'll probably come down to sweet talking people online, I suppose.
I have a copy of Emerald and a DS Lite to transfer up into Pearl, but Emerald is unfinished (I got it used after fourth gen) and the internal battery has run dry so I don't know how bad that is. I know it means clock-based events no longer trigger, I'm just not sure if that would hamper collection of the regis there.
But there is also a high probability of a gen III remake or sequel. Yeah unlike with original gen I and II games, it is possible to trade up from gen III all the way to V (and with Pokebank, to VI) but GBA cartridges are old and not everyone has access to the DS.
I think the main event pokemon I'm missing is Deoxys. There was an event for it a while back (in the summer) but I missed it because my DS Lite's wireless functionality is extremely weak and I'm not able to get it to find the mystery gift at EB Games anymore.