Nintendo vows to ban hacked Pokemon and cheaters

The first way to tell is if something is just too good to be true. If you’re getting a Pokemon that is rare, shiny and has perfect stats, yeah, there’s probably no reason someone just gave that out.

The one that I got that I showed previously, this one:

This one comes from a YouTuber who makes a living by using an obnoxious exploit to create a Dynamax den that guarantees a shiny. If you’ve ever noticed that, most of the time, when you’re trying to join a Dynamax raid you’ll find it locked or bizarrely canceled more often than actually being able to join it, it’s because of all the people using exploits completely destroying the system.

Be him doing this, it’s his way of begging for Twitch subscriptions, allowing people to join him in the exploited raids in exchange for access. It’s exploiting game data made by Nintendo for someone’s own personal profit. Something which, if you know even a quarter teaspoon about Nintendo, is something Nintendo absolutely does not honor.

So seeing a name that looks like a Twitch stream or a Website name is pretty much a promise that you should just delete it. I originally was thinking of tossing them to my seven-year-old but now that I know the ban is happening, it would be pretty cool if he wasn’t permanently banned from a game he loves before he’s old enough to understand why.

You can also check in other ways. For example, here’s my precious Zygarde.

This one was available via a special event in 2018 and a perfect example of what to look for. Certain Pokemon with certain abilities were only available through certain events. While these can be hacked, it’s still good to look to see if it has the special Trainer name, in this case “2018 Legends”. Also, special event Pokemon are always distributed in special “Cherish Balls” so you want to look for that bright red ball at the top of the screen.

If there was one that may have been something normally only available through Pokemon GO you can also see a special symbol in their summary. This shiny Umbreon was gained through Pokemon GO. It’s not one you could ONLY get through GO but I figured this is a good example. Check the bottom left.

See that little G coin? That’s the GO symbol to let you know where this thing was transferred from. There’s a whole series of symbols that let you know the actual origin. Unfortunately, this can be hacked as well but luckily most hackers don’t really care to cover their trail like that so, more often than not, they don’t bother.

Listen, I get that shinies and special Pokemon can be a chore to get. My shiny Incineroar hear involved me riding my bike in circles outside a Pokemon Nursery while listening to almost the entirety of the Neverwhere audiobook before I got the shiny.

But that’s part of what makes these Pokemon special. When I hatched that shiny Incineroar I was so excited. I liked that feeling. It was like panning for gold. Even the ones like the event Pokemon like my Zygarde. I remembered that feeling of going to a place (which is a really nice member after almost a full year of quarantine) and talking to other nerds like me as we got the code.

My Rapidash holds a special place in my heart. While it doesn’t sound particularly fun riding around in circles that time was spent talking to a good friend of mine who, unfortunately, passed away last year due to health issues. I was talking to them when I hatched the shiny and now, this shiny dork reminds me of my friend and the time I spent with them, gabbing while desperately trying to hatch virtual eggs.

And that’s part of what makes them special, the time put in and the experience that leads them there. When we all just start churning out special Pokemon effortlessly, they may as just well be Bidoofs. Respect your specials and remember what makes something special…special.