Setting game to different region? Masuda Breeding?

Question

So this is a question I can't seem to find an answer to, but basically the purpose of this is to create my own perfectly ideal scenario for Masuda breeding.

I have:
1 of each gen6-7 game
1 3ds I use for main play
1 2ds I use to trade with myself and things like that
All 3 gen1 games on the 3ds

What I want to do is use Sun (since Moon is my main in gen7) to collect high IV Ditto on route 10 using the normal SOS methods, but I want my region to be set somewhere outside the USA, so that way when I move them over to Moon, it will count as a Masuda method Ditto. I have read that simply choosing a different language upon starting a new game will be enough, but then the whole game would be in a language I can't read, making the process take much longer. So what I would prefer, is if I could somehow (maybe by messing with the 2ds) set it up so anything I get in Sun is counted as Canadian, or something like that to keep it all in english. That way, I can have 4-5 IV ditto to breed whatever I want, without sacrificing the Masuda factor, or spend days trying to trade for a good ditto on trade forums.

Another approach I wanted to look into is maybe rigging it so my gen1 games give stuff that is regionally different to me when I transfer stuff out of the bank, since 3 IV dittos are so easy to round up in gen1, but again I could never find an answer one way or the other on that.

Comments

You could just learn another language.

Answer 1

Unfortunately there is no way to get a compatible Pokemon for Masuda method using only English as the language. Masuda method is not based on location at all, it's based entirely on the language identifier associated with the Pokemon, which is based on the language of the game it was obtained in. For clarity, this image shows a Charmander and Goomy that are foreign, as they have the grey box near their name indicating their supposed nationality. The key is that this nationality is only assumed -- nothing is to say that somebody from North America didn't play their game in Japanese and therefore get the Japanese identifier on their Pokemon. I also know from experience that location plays no part here -- being from Australia and playing the game in English, my Pokemon are marked with ENG on the GTS, not AUS as a location identifier might suggest. So even if you're "counted" as being Canadian, you'd have achieved nothing because Masuda method only concerns the language.

So your two solutions are the ones you've already mentioned: you'd either have to play one of your games in a different language up to Route 10, or you'd have to negotiate a trade of some sort. If you choose to get a foreign Ditto yourself, I'd recommend a language like Italian that has similar words and syntax to English -- you should at least be able to tell what to do given context and prior experience with the game. If you opt for a trade, /r/pokemontrades is probably the destination -- if you're able to offer something of value, someone might be able to trade you a foreign Ditto with decent IVs. Just note they have pretty stringent policies regarding the legitimacy of Pokemon, so if that doesn't work for you, you may have to look elsewhere.

I also can't find any info on the nationality of Pokemon transferred from Gen I, though I'd wager they just adopt the language of the game they were transferred into, making them quite unhelpful -- that and only 3 perfect IVs would be unproductive in a breeding context.