Cheating: Difference between revisions

Devices such as [[GameShark]] and [[Action Replay]] can be easily used to directly alter the game's data<!-- not 'code', that's ROM hacking--> in many ways, such as automatically making Pokémon {{Shiny}}, giving them optimal {{IV}}s and [[Nature]]s, or even modifying their [[move]]s and [[statistic]]s to obtain otherwise impossible values. These Pokémon are frequently known as '''hacked Pokémon'''. The devices are also frequently used to obtain Pokémon or [[event item|items]] which would otherwise be only obtainable through a [[Nintendo]] [[List of Nintendo Pokémon promotional events|promotional events]]. For example, cheating may be used to obtain the [[GS Ball]] or [[Old Sea Map]] (in [[generation]]s {{gen|II}} and {{gen|III}} respectively), both of which were only distributed in Japan, or [[Azure Flute]], which was never distributed. They may also hack for events that they missed such as the Member Card in Platinum, or even to generate exact copies of Nintendo event Pokemon.

Some third party tools such as PKHeX also have a secondary function of validating the [[Appendix:Fan_terminology#Legitimate|legality]] of the Pokémon contained within a savefile, providing robust checks to ensure that Pokémon created or edited in the program, or obtained by the user elsewhere, adhere to what is possible for the games to generate naturally. Third party tools are often used by trading and battle communities to enforce legal/legitimate Pokémon are used for participants, and those interested in researching the games often use savefile editors to determine the how the game works and discover what can be legitimately achieved.

Not all players will use cheating devices to make the game easier. Examples of codes that can be used to make the game harder include using codes to trigger [[Pokémon Red and Green beta#Professor Oak battle|a battle with Professor Oak]], or codes that prevent the user's Pokémon from gaining any [[experience]]. Additionally, ProjectPokemon.org has a software developed where players can modify the PWT in Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 by overwriting official WiFi download tournament slots with player-made custom tournaments. Some players may desire this for a bigger challenge after even the Champions' tournament is bested.

A common justification for using cheating devices is that they can be used in moderation to obtain otherwise event-exclusive Pokémon. Due to the fact that Nintendo events, the only legitimate way to obtain such Pokémon, are often time-limited and region-exclusive, they can be impossible to obtain for some players solely due to their geographic location, and become altogether impossible after a certain date. It is a matter of opinion whether or not this is a valid excuse for cheating, although when kept for personal use is often criticized less than more drastic cheats. Additionally, some players like to edit the now-unused download tournaments in Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 for the purpose of creating their own tournaments with their own rules to play in. This type of play can be considered a valid justification for cheating in that it can be used to add extra challenges to the game, and can also be used as a way of using hacked Pokemon in battles where they cannot offend players who play legitimately.

Finally, if consent is given between the two parties that a hacked Pokemon will be involved in play, it essentially becomes a victimless crime, because most players grown upon it but the players who are actually involved enjoy the way they are playing and as such no party who is offended by this type of play is being directly involved.

**In earlier Japanese versions of Diamond and Pearl, as documented by Orcastraw (a speedrunner) due to an oversight it is possible to transfer some of the glitch Pokémon; including those with [[index number]]s 252-276. These do not become a Generation IV Pokémon, but the conversion ranges from {{p|Treecko}} to {{p|Taillow}}. The cause of this glitch may be an oversight related to the source code, which had reservations for these Pokémon.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZX41ANs26g YouTube video by ChickasaurusGL]</ref><ref>[https://twitter.com/orcastraw/status/1264283795202756614 Tweet by Orcastraw]</ref>.

*In {{g|HOME}}, in January of 2021<ref>https://projectpokemon.org/home/index/news/home-banwave-ongoing-r149/</ref>, there was a secondary banwave that targeted players who had shown one or more of the following indications of illicit activity:  

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