by Doc – Owner, Founder, Moonlights as a black market Pokemon Professor
At the time of this writing the most recent Pokemon game was the Indigo Disk update to Scarlet and Violet. Information in this post may change as Generation 10 approaches.
Imagine for a second that you have a spare Necrozma from your playthrough of Pokemon Scarlet, and you want to see what you can get for it. You place it into Pokemon Home, go to your mobile phone’s Home app and boot up the GTS system to see what people are offering for your Necrozma. As you scroll, you get the funny feeling that the legions of shiny Pokemon offered in return for Necrozma are probably not shinies that people actually caught. In other words, through some sort of game modification or “hack”, they’re made illegitimately. How do you know which Pokemon can you safely trade for?
There is rarely a way to conclusively prove that a Pokemon is hacked into the game or legitimate, as Pokemon Home is pretty good at filtering out the illegal Pokemon that could obviously never be legit (i.e. a Squirtle with Flamethrower) but can be tricked with Pokemon that could be legit. As a result most of what gets through could theoretically have been legitimate, like finding a shiny 6IV legendary. Such a legendary could theoretically exist, but there’s a one in a billion chance of that Pokemon existing. We couldn’t say with certainty that it’s hacked, but it almost certainly is. Bear in mind that this guide can’t encompass all the ways of cheating Pokemon given the limited info Pokemon Home gives us, and that technically speaking, people could hack just about any Pokemon and we wouldn’t know for sure: there’s always the possibility that the level 2 Pidgey you just traded for isn’t legitimate, but it’s far more likely that hacked Pokemon will be high-value Pokemon instead of low-value Pokemon.
I have traded at least several thousand Pokemon through the Wonder Trade and GTS systems over the last two years in an effort to amass a collection of shinies and to finally put that Economics degree to use. This is the condensation of my observations and lessons on how to determine whether a Pokemon on the GTS is actually legitimate.
Analyzing the Information on the GTS to Determine Legitimacy at a Glance
This is a pretty typical example of a listing on the GTS. This person is offering a shiny Korean Metagross for Gouging Fire (referred to in Spanish as Flamariete). Let’s examine each visible piece of information to determine whether this Pokemon is legitimate or not at a glance.
You can also view more information about the Pokemon by tapping on it; I don’t usually consult this information and don’t find it helpful.
Ball Caught & Level
These two factors are the most important pieces of information to consider when determining the legitimacy of a Pokemon because hacked Pokemon are usually in regular Poke Balls and at level 100 (or in some cases, 98 or 99). This is because generators and Action Replay hacks from the 3DS era tend to default to producing a Pokemon at level 100 in a regular Poke Ball, while generators from the modern era are much wiser, and tend to default to whichever Poke Ball the Pokemon could be caught in (still most frequently the regular Poke Ball) and to level 100.
As a general rule, if a Pokemon is level 100 it’s hacked. I have yet to see a level 100 Pokemon offered on the GTS that I didn’t learn was illegitimate after trading for it. Additionally, as a general rule if a Pokemon is offered in a regular Poke Ball it is likely hacked unless it’s at a low level and was likely caught in the early part of its game. Keeping these two rules at the top of mind when conducting your trades will already protect you from the majority of the hacked Pokemon on the GTS.
Example
- Shiny Pawmi at level 11 in Poke Ball
- It’s probably legitimate, as the Pokemon was probably caught early in the game. The trainer would only have had Poke Balls available to them, and the lowest level for a hacked Tera raid is level 12.
- Shiny Pawmot at level 98, 99 or 100 in Poke Ball
- Almost certainly not legitimate. Nobody with the resources to encounter a Pawmot and train it that high would only have Poke Balls on hand to catch a shiny. Nor would anyone who encountered a shiny Pawmi or Pawmo in the early game feel the need to grind it to such a high level before trading it away.
Levels are another key indicator for another form of shiny hacking: shiny Tera Raid hosts. There are many livestreams online that host Tera Raids that are guaranteed to have shiny pokemon, and these Pokemon end up on the GTS. Pokemon that are shiny, featured in a Tera Raid, from Scarlet and Violet (check the “Game of Import”) and are level 12, 20, 35, 45, 75 or 100 are probably created from one of these shiny raids. Trainers differ on whether shiny Tera Raids are legitimate or not, so make the decision for yourself.
Cherish Balls often make your decision easy – if it’s in a Cherish, it’s probably fake. However, Pokemon can be traded in Cherish Balls if their Ribbons pass the Cherish Ball-specific hack checks. I tend to avoid Pokemon in Cherish Balls to be on the safe side, because you can’t check its Ribbons until after you’ve already traded for the Pokemon.
The “Games of Import”
The game a Pokemon is imported from is the second most important factor in determining if a Pokemon is legitimate. The Game of Import can sometimes be a proof positive as to the legitimacy of the Pokemon.
Home IDs
It’s important to know that if a Pokemon has been imported into Pokemon Home at any point it will receive a unique Home ID. The Home ID is attached to the Pokemon the first time it is placed into Home and stays with it forever. Pokemon who have never been placed into Home and only traded between games will not have a Home ID. Any Pokemon who cannot originate in that game but is available to be used in that game must have a Home ID (such as Diancie, who is only available by trade from Bank into Home or from Go into Home) to be legitimate.
Most free Pokemon generators will not add a Pokemon Home ID to the genned Pokemon, and can’t be made to do so. Therefore if you see a Pokemon that shows it’s imported from a game it couldn’t have originated from it is probably legitimate enough to have obtained a Home ID before being placed into that game. That doesn’t necessarily prove its legitimacy, but it does suggest that it has been used by the person in multiple games which is rare for knowingly hacked Pokemon.
Pokemon Go
At the time of this writing there is no publicly available way to “gen” Pokemon in Pokemon Go or to otherwise obtain Pokemon from anything besides the normal workings of the game. Every Pokemon encountered in Go is therefore produced naturally by the game through intended means. It may be encountered through unintended means (see: GPS spoofing) but the spoofed Pokemon is at least still legitimate.
As a hard and fast rule, every shiny that indicates it is from Go in its “Game of Origin” icon is legitimate. Most Home traders prioritize Go shinies over others, as do I, because of this guaranteed legitimacy.
Pokemon Home
A few Pokemon may be generated in Pokemon Home. These are all legitimate and have not been placed into a game yet, but aren’t particularly rare. To my knowledge no shiny Pokemon have ever been given away by Pokemon Home, although a Magearna in the Original forme can be given out by Home.
Pokemon Bank
Pokemon Bank Pokemon were brought up from the 3DS era of Pokemon games, which is an era notorious for its ubiquitous hacking. Fortunately most Pokemon Bank Pokemon are also in a Poke Ball and are level 100, so one can easily remove them from consideration. Most of the time when I trade for a Pokemon Bank Pokemon that wasn’t in a Poke Ball and level 100 it turned out to be reasonably legitimate.
Sword and Shield versus Scarlet and Violet
In my experience, Sword and Shield have almost no Home ID system. Scarlet and Violet have a very thorough Home ID system.
This creates a problem. Generators in Sword and Shield are capable of producing a Diancie with a Go origin stamp that possesses no Home ID. For some reason, Home doesn’t filter out Diancie with Go Origin Stamps and no Home ID when there is no legitimate way to have a Diancie without a Home ID. In my experience Pokemon from Sword and Shield turn out to be hacked more often than any other game because of this loosened system.
Scarlet and Violet is the most popular game at the moment for legitimate players and hackers, but Generation 9 is unique in that it is drastically easier to obtain legitimate shinies in Scarlet and Violet than any other game. As a result I’ve found that most SV shinies that don’t otherwise follow the Poke Ball or leveling patterns as described previously are legitimate. Either way, be wary when trading from both games.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus
Legends Arceus’ legendaries are often genned, but otherwise there’s not a lot of hacked Pokemon coming out of this game as most of the hackers have moved to Scarlet and Violet.
Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee
Generators for LGPE are functional, but I rarely see hacked Pokemon from LGPE. People just don’t seem to use them, instead preferring to hack through other games. I typically trust shinies from LGPE so long as they aren’t level 100.
BDSP
BDSP is just as susceptible to hacking as Sword and Shield with minor restrictions, but notably has a limit on Home transfers: you can only transfer 1 regular and 1 shiny version of each legendary in the game per save file. Hackers and genners prefer hacking in other games as a result. Most BDSP shinies in my experience are legitimate.
The game of origin is never a conclusive determination as to the legitimacy of the Pokemon (save for Pokemon Go). It’s just a factor weighing in favor or against legitimacy.
Origin Stamp
Origin stamps rarely contribute to determining whether a Pokemon is legitimate and aren’t viewable until you already own the Pokemon. I don’t pay them any mind. It’s useful to know that Origin Stamps do not change, but can be faked in Generation 8 without being caught by the filter. The Mythical Pokemon available in Sword and Shield (i.e. Diancie, Volcanion, Zeraora) can all be genned while making it appear they’re from past generations.
Nicknames
Funny Pokemon nicknames are rare, but I have yet to see one that didn’t turn out legitimate. Seeing something like a Gholdengo named “Golden Guy” is very suggestive of legitimacy in my experience. Hackers and genners don’t usually bother to nickname their Pokemon, let alone come up with something clever.
IVs
You can’t see what IVs the Pokemon has until you’ve already traded for it. It is still useful to know that 6IV Pokemon are rarely legitimate, and 6IV shinies are almost never legitimate. That’s not to say they don’t exist (I have personally egg shiny hunted for two 6IV shinies in BDSP), but the likelihood that someone would bother raising a 6IV shiny when IVs no longer contribute to competitive Pokemon and also trade it for whatever you’re offering is slim. I assume that if I’ve traded for a shiny Pokemon that has perfect IVs it isn’t legitimate.
Analyzing the Metagross from Earlier
Let’s go back to the Metagross from earlier to exercise our new knowledge. Here it is again:
At first glance, it’s not from Pokemon Go. We know already it may not be legitimate. Now our first question is whether it’s level 100. It’s not! It’s level 45. That’s good, right?
Not necessarily – remember that level 45 is one of the levels that shiny Tera Raid Pokemon can be caught at, and notice that it’s from Scarlet. That’s suspicious. So then we check the ball it was caught in, which is a regular Poke Ball. Uh oh – nobody in their right mind is going to catch a Beldum in a regular Poke Ball, especially not a shiny one. Not to mention that Beldums only spawn in the Terrarium at a way higher level than this.
It looks to me like this is a Metagross that was caught from a rigged shiny Tera Raid in a regular Poke Ball. I can’t think of a much more likely way that this Pokemon would have entered the game.
How to Analyze Whether a Pokemon is Legit
- Is its Imported From icon from Pokemon Go?
If yes, it’s legitimate
If no, continue - Is it level 100?
If yes, it’s almost certainly hacked.
If no, continue - Is it level 12, 20, 35, 45, 75 and from Scarlet or Violet?
If yes, it’s almost certainly from a hacked Tera Raid.
If no, continue - Is it in a Poke Ball?
If yes, it may be hacked. Examine its level and other factors to come to your conclusion.
If no, continue. - Is it likely that someone would be offering you this Pokemon?
Think about it like this – given the difficulty of getting this Pokemon, why would someone get rid of it? Shinies are rare and take concentrated effort in most Pokemon games, and even in Scarlet and Violet often require Herba Mystica needed to hunt them. Shinies can always be obtained by chance, but most of them are encountered by sandwich hunts. Shiny legendaries take even more concentrated effort, as they require sometimes dozens of hours of soft resetting or Gen 8 raids to obtain. Given the high level of effort required, it’s unlikely that a shiny legendary would really be legitimate.
If it’s likely they’d be offering that, then decide whether to trade it or not.
If not, then don’t trade it.
In Conclusion
You can actually obtain legitimate shinies on the GTS, and there’s a lot more of them than you think. You’ve just got to be smart about it, and remember the basics as described above.
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