Game Design Issues: Cheating in Pokemon

How to detect cheating in Pokémon:

Now you have to wonder, how does one detect cheating in Pokémon? Well, it isn’t easy, but you can research this information on some fan sites. I will go over some of the things you need to know when looking at a Pokémon you get from a stranger in an online trade, to know if you have a hacked Pokémon. It is harder to detect this in a battle, but not impossible.

• The Pokeball it is caught in:

The first red flag is looking at the Pokeball the Pokémon is caught in. Some Pokémon cannot be caught in certain Pokeballs. Keep in mind that Pokeballs can be inherited by breeding, so a Pokémon in a weird Pokeball but doesn’t seem to be catchable in the wild with that type of Pokeball could have inherited the Pokeball from its parent. Here’s some notes about Pokeballs:

• The dream ball is only possible for Pokémon that could be caught in the dream world, which means only Pokémon that could be found in the dream world in the old Black, White, Black 2, and White 2 games could be in dream balls. They can have their hidden abilities, and this ball can be inherited. Any Pokémon introduced in X, Y, Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon cannot be in a dream ball.
• Apricorn Pokeballs, which includes the fast ball, friend ball, heavy ball, level ball, love ball, lure ball, and moon ball can only exist on Pokémon that can be caught in the wild in the games Heart Gold, Soul Silver, Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, or Ultra Moon. If these Pokémon can only be caught with these balls in Heart Gold or Soul Silver, they cannot be in these balls and have their hidden abilities.
• The sport ball is from Heart Gold or Soul Silver, and can only be on Pokémon found in the bug catching contest. There are no hidden abilities here either.
• A Pokémon found in Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Fire Red, Leaf Green, Colosseum, or XD: Gale of Darkness cannot be in dusk balls, quick balls, or heal balls. These Pokémon can’t have their hidden abilities either.
• The safari ball only applies to Pokémon found in the Safari Zone from the games Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Fire Red, Leaf Green, Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum versions. They cannot have their hidden ability.
• Only Pokémon that can be caught in Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, or Ultra Moon can be in a beast ball. If it can’t be found wild in these games, then they can’t be in a beast ball.
• The master ball and cherish balls cannot be inherited, so if the status screen says they were hatched in this game, and they are in one of these balls, that Pokémon is hacked.
• Pokémon in cherish balls are distributed via download events only. Some Pokémon cannot be in any other ball. Some Pokémon in a cherish ball come with their hidden ability in this way only, but their offspring can only be in a Pokeball. These Pokémon can only be in one of these two ball types.
• Gift Pokémon from characters in a game are always found in Pokeballs!

This is one way to detect hacking, and can be seen in battle against opponents, but you have to remember what balls a Pokémon can be caught in, and under which circumstances. This information goes by quickly, so you have to pay very close attention to spot this form of hacking. It is easier to check a Pokémon found in a trade.

• Location caught or hatched in:

This one is pretty simple. The stat screen shows where a Pokémon is caught or hatched in. A Pokémon can hatch anywhere, unless it is legendary, but each Pokémon can be caught only in certain places. Most towns don’t have a place to capture wild Pokémon, so a Pokémon caught in certain towns are hacked, for example.

• Games found in, and special markings:

So some Pokémon can be found only in certain games. This impacts the location the Pokémon is supposedly from.

• Any Pokémon found in a game older than X and Y versions lack a marking that identifies the game they are from. There are some moves Pokémon can only get from these older games. Some of these Pokémon cannot have their hidden abilities.
• Any Pokémon from X, Y, Omega Ruby, or Alpha Sapphire have a pentagon mark in the status screen. There are only a handful of moves exclusive to these games, if any.
• Pokémon from Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, or Ultra Moon have a black clover mark in the status screen (I personally think the mark looks more like a “+” sign). These Pokémon cannot have moves exclusive to older games.
• Pokémon from the virtual console Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, or Crystal versions have a marking that looks like a Game Boy. These Pokémon always have their hidden abilities, have at least 3 max IVs, and are in Pokeballs. Some moves are exclusive to these games as well. They are transferred directly to Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, or Ultra Moon, and cannot gain moves exclusive to games older than Sun and Moon.

So there are some move combinations that are impossible, based on what game the Pokémon is from.

• Impossible Stats:

This is a rare form of hacking. If the Pokémon’s stats screen shows a stat with an impossible number, or if it seems the Pokémon has more than 510 EVs (such as all stats being at the highest possible value, which is impossible in the current system), that Pokémon is hacked. This requires a lot of research and experience to detect. In battle, it requires you to know if a Pokémon takes too little damage, dishes out too much damage, or out speeds a Pokémon that it shouldn’t. Keep in mind that the Pokémon’s held item, as well as battle effects may change this.

• Impossible moves:

There are some moves certain Pokémon can’t learn. If an opponent uses such a move, they are cheating!

• Impossible abilities:

If a Pokémon has an ability that it normally doesn’t, that Pokémon is hacked. This includes unreleased hidden abilities.

• Impossible typing:

If a Pokémon’s type isn’t what it usually is (such as a fire type Pikachu), that Pokémon is hacked.

• Impossible shiny Pokémon:

Some Pokémon, particularly legendary Pokémon, cannot be in their alternate “shiny” coloration. These Pokémon can be distributed through downloads, so this means they have to be in a cherish ball if they are shiny. Pay close attention to their location, as it will usually say “a fateful encounter”.

• Suspicious, but not impossible:

Here are a few things that are very improbable, but not impossible:

• An entire team of shiny Pokémon. Shiny Pokémon appear at best 1 in 512 encounters or egg hatches. The amount of time required to get this alone is pretty unlikely for one Pokémon, let alone six. It is even more unlikely that they have their hidden ability, ideal nature, and six max IVs without hyper training while shiny. Most players won’t invest this much time, and still have enough time to become good at the game.
• A Pokémon is in a Pokeball that is really bad at catching the Pokémon in question. Some examples includes the beast ball, which is bad at catching any Pokémon that isn’t an ultra beast, or any other Pokeball that has an ultra beast in it. The apricorn Pokeballs are rare in the Sun and Moon games (there’s only 1 of each per save file), and are bad at catching most Pokémon, so most Pokémon in these balls might be hacked. Keep in mind that any Pokeball has a chance of working at any time, so it isn’t impossible. Once caught, though, these Pokeballs can be inherited to more of the same Pokémon, so they may be more common than you would expect.

Go to page 5 for how developers can limit cheating, and for the conclusion.