Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum Wi-fi Trade Cloning
Guide by ShadowDarkraiThis guide will tell you how to clone through wi-fi trading. This is NOT GTS cloning. This method uses DS to DS wi-fi trading. It works for Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.
Before I start, I would like to give huge thanks to my good friend Red for helping me test this. Had it not been for him, I would not have been able to find all this out. So thanks.
What you need:
- Wi-fi
- At least a little bit of lag in the wi-fi connection, the more the better (this must be the only time lag is a good thing)
- A pokemon you want to clone
- A friend who you can trade with
- The friend must have a pokemon they don't want, as it will be lost
- Patience
OR, if you have 2 DSs, and 2 D/P/Pt games, you can do it all yourself. (but remember, it only works through wi-fi, not the direct DS to DS through Union Room)
Things to note:
- There is a dial in the bottom-right corner of the top screen at certain times. (when saving, communicating, ect.) The timing used for this method is measured in rotations of this dial. One full rotation, returning to the top, counts as 1. Since the dial makes rotations in 8 movements instead of a continuous movement, these movements will also have a fraction. (for example, a normal save is 2 3/8 rotations)
- There are 2 DSs, one with the pokemon you wish to clone, and one with the pokemon to be lost. The DS with the pokemon you wish to clone will be referred to as "DS 1" and the other DS, "DS 2". Remember this, or you'll end up cloning the wrong pokemon, and losing the one you want to clone.
- "Disconnect" will be shortened to "d/c".
How to do it
- Have the pokemon you need, and have both games log onto wi-fi.
- DS 2 must invite to trade. Have DS 1 join.
- Trade the pokemon you wish to clone for the pokemon that is to be deleted.
- Right after the trade is completed, there is a message saying: "Communicating. Please standby...." During part of this time, the games save. Turn DS 1 (the game trading the pokemon to be cloned and receiving the one to be deleted) off at the right time. How to find what the right time is will be shown in the next section.
- Check if it worked. Both DSs should have the pokemon you wished to clone. If it didn't, reconnect, trade back the pokemon (if the trade went through, but nothing got cloned) and return to step 3.
How to find out when to turn DS 1 off
First, I'll start by explaining how this works. The DSs are constantly checking if the other is still there. If it can't find the other, it stops what it is doing completely and waits until it finds the other again. If it cannot find the other after a few seconds, it goes ahead and gives a Communication Error. However, with enough lag, if you turn one game (DS 1) off right before both are done saving, then the other will finish saving before it realizes the other game d/cd. Because of this, the pokemon you wished to clone will be on the save file of both games. The other one is lost. (everything comes at a price)
Now, in order to turn the game off at the right time, you need to find out how long it takes with this connection to finish saving. The save is in about the first 2/3 of the "Communicating. Please standby..." message after the trade animation finishes. By trying at different times, you can eventually narrow down the possible time. Wherever the window in which this works is, it is incredibly small. There is about 1/5 to 1/2 of a second in which you can make this method work, maybe more, depending on the amount of lag. This may seem impossible, but after you can narrow down the possible places in which the save ends to 1/8 of a rotation of the dial, it becomes fairly easy to successfully clone.
Now, here is how you narrow down the possible times into 1/8 of a rotation:
1. First, I would try turning DS 1 off after 4 complete rotations, after the trade animation. When you turn the game back on, you can tell by a few signs if this was too soon, or too late:
- If no "The save file is corrupted." message appears before you load your save file, then the trade has gone through completely, and you were too late. You'll need to have the pokemon you want to clone traded back to you before trying again.
- If you get the "The save file is corrupted." message before loading your save file, then you turned it off either at some point too soon, or successfully cloned. (if you haven't seen that before, nothing is wrong with your game, it is supposed to happen) You'll need to check what pokemon DS 2 has. If DS 2 still has the pokemon that was to be deleted, then this timing was too soon. If DS 2 has the pokemon you were trying to clone, as well as DS 1, then, congratulations, you have cloned the pokemon.
- Sometimes, you'll get the corrupted save message, even though the trade goes through. Trade back and try again.
2. After this, depending on the results you get, move the time you turn DS 1 off by 1/2 a rotation. (if the trade was completed, try 3 1/2 half this time; if the save was corrupted but nothing happened, go to 3 1/2) By going through this a few times, you can figure out which 1/2 rotation the save finishes in. Then, turn DS 1 off right in the middle of this 1/2 rotation you've found that the save ends in, and see how it comes out. If the save was corrupted, but nothing happened, the correct time is somewhere in/around the last 1/2 of this 1/2 (so, it’s narrowed down to 1/8 of a rotation, the best you can narrow it down). If the trade went through and the save wasn't corrupted, the correct time is in the first 1/2 of this 1/2 rotation.
After you've found about where the save ends, just keep trying until it works! Yes, it can get frustrating, but just keep trying.
The Purpose
Ok, I'm going to be as simple as this. This method is (for the most part) inferior to GTS cloning. However, this method can do one thing GTS cloning can't. That is cloning event pokemon. Because of the Classic Ribbon, the recent event pokemon can't be deposited on GTS, and therefore can't be cloned through it. However, they can be traded directly to someone through wi-fi.
