FRLG Magikarp Salesman Oddity

[gamecubefan74]

So I decided to transfer a Magikarp obtained from the Salesman in Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen to HOME. In my Gen 3 save file, the Magikarp says it is a wild encounter caught with the Old Rod on Route 4. But when I transfer it to the newer generations, it says it is a static encounter obtained from Route 4 (Pokemon Center). What is the reason for this discrepancy in PKHex?

[Kaphotics]

Not able to replicate; I generated 12 from the encounter database with randomized IVs and it showed the same origin (via Static Encounter in Route 4) in both Gen3 as well as when transferred to Gen4.

Generally, when you transfer from Gen3->Gen4, you lose the original met location. PKHeX still has to iterate through every possible encounter until it finds a suitable match; without met location, the matching is one feature less strict (no met location check), so it sometimes it gives a compatible encounter from earlier in the iteration of all encounters.

If you upload your Gen3 Magikarp I can take a look and explain why. If it's a Method 4 Magikarp, then it's not legal.

[gamecubefan74]

I got this Magikarp from the Magikarp Salesman in the Route 4 Pokemon Center in Pokemon LeafGreen. No hacks, editing or RNG used. Obtained on an authentic North American Pokemon LeafGreen cartridge on an original GameBoy Advance system, but with an IPS aftermarket screen installed. Transferred to my PC using a BennVenn Joey Jr. GameBoy cartridge reader and the current stable release of PKHex

In fact, I actually searched through various FireRed and LeafGreen save files on here, and all of the Route 4 Magikarp on those save files showed Wild Encounter with Old Rod.

My Magikarp and all the other Route 4 Magikarp I've searched are all Method 1 Wild Old Rod with regular Route 4 being the location.

 

EDIT: Just to be safe, I received a different Salesman Magikarp on a different Pokemon LeafGreen cartridge (also authentic). This time though I used an unmodded authentic DS Lite to play on. Same transfer process and PKHex version. Got another Wild Encounter Old Rod on Route 4.

0129 - MAGIKARP - DA58CC622857.pk3

0129 - MAGIKARP - 692811DB8350.pk3

Edited January 30 by gamecubefan74
Received 2nd Magikarp on different cartridge and system with same results.

[Kaphotics]

Maybe the logic was improved since the last release; it has been 2+ months and I've added a a good amount of improvements in the detection (as evident by the hover text differences in our images!)

On the latest development build, your attached pk3's show up as Static Encounters in Gen3.

Generally, you shouldn't have to worry about a "misidentification" -- it could technically be a fishing slot as well, as there aren't any exclusive features. Just is whatever the program finds first.

[gamecubefan74]

19 minutes ago, Kaphotics said:

Maybe the logic was improved since the last release; it has been 2+ months and I've added a a good amount of improvements in the detection (as evident by the hover text differences in our images!)

On the latest development build, your attached pk3's show up as Static Encounters in Gen3.

Generally, you shouldn't have to worry about a "misidentification" -- it could technically be a fishing slot as well, as there aren't any exclusive features. Just is whatever the program finds first.

Awesome! What about the met location? Do my Magikarps still show up as Route 4 for the met location or do they now show up as Route 4 (Pokemon Center)?

Edit: Just out of curiosity, I tried the newest development build, and it still shows Wild Encounter via Old Rod on Route 4.

Edited January 30 by gamecubefan74

[Kaphotics]

Oops, it's been a long day. I re-checked and indeed you are correct; your "real" Magikarp do show as Route 4.

I verified on my own copy by obtaining a Magikarp, and they have the Met Location of [104], that of Route 4, not [99] for the Pokémon Center. I have pushed a fix so that the encounter is tagged with the correct met location ID. https://github.com/kwsch/PKHeX/commit/538374b33fb640f127628ee1dd0c1be82ac534b3

The program currently searches through the static encounters first; in Gen4 it's not comparing the met location (since it was changed), so it matched the static encounter first. In Gen3, it was comparing the met location to the template's 99, which didn't match, and it eventually landed on the encounter slot as the "first" adequate match. With the ^ fix, Gen3 will now recognize it as a static encounter.

Conversely, what if you caught it via Old Rod Fishing? Well, it matches the details of the gift too, and the gift is checked first, so that would be why the reverse would have the "unexpected" result.