Can I shiny hunt a starter in Heartgold on a 2DS XL if my left bumper is broken?

Question

The best method to shiny hunt starters is soft resetting, but I can’t soft reset since the left bumper is broken. Can I reset by pressing the home button instead? I noticed the Pokémon’s ID does not change when I do this. Any information is welcome. Thanks

Comments

a soft reset is resetting your game without deleting anything. a power down or closing the game will count as a soft-reset method; it'll just take longer. Powering down or closing the game works just as well as the button mapped reset.
If it's too annoying, you could always get your L button repaired; it shouldn't be too hard or expensive.

> I noticed the Pokémon’s ID does not change when I do this.
What do you mean by this? the Trainer ID won't change since you're the trainer; it'll be the same for all pokemon you get.  That's just to say you're the trainer and generally has no indication if it can be shiny or not.

Answer 1

People soft reset simply because it's the fastest way to reload a save file. If you can't soft reset, you can still shiny hunt, but each reset will be slower.
information about soft resetting