Is cloning cheating?

So I've recently obtained a few cloned shinies through trading, and while they were clearly not hacked, I started to wonder about the legitimacy of this practice. Sure it's just an exact copy for someone else to have, but cloning is putting far more shinies out there, and making the need to soft-reset/RNG far smaller. What do you think, is it cheating/cheap?

This is a debatable question. If it's an Event, many do not see it as cheating, but even in those cases some still think it is. Some will meanwhile clone Events but nothing else, because Events are Events (meant for everyone) and not everyone can get them (geographical region), so clones are a common practice. This is also the case with legendaries, even in-game ones that are game-exclusive.

Whether it's considered cheating is really a matter for an individual to decide.

Cyclone

Just throwing this over to Pokemon Gaming Central because Fifth Generation pertains to questions which are specific to those games. This is a broad question, thus fits here! n_n

I think it's cheating. You're duping the system into thinking that that Pokemon should exist more than once, when it shouldn't. It also dumbs down the rarity of certain event Pokemon, shiny Pokemon, high-IV Pokemon, etc. and if you will, it hurts the game's "economy."

It's like doubling an item in an MMORPG. Normally that's a ban-able offense for understandable reasons.

In my opinion it is not cheating, cloning only makes an Exactduplicate of the poke you are trading, so how does that make it cheating? You are not changing any thing about the pokemon itself, I mean if some one changed the moves or nature or any thing like that I would consider that cheating but not cloning ever.

I would say yes, since you're doing an exact replica of a Pokemon that you already have instead of using the game's legit system to try and get the same Pokemon you're just cloning the Pokemon. The game itself doesn't talk about teaching you or even mention cloning at all, so it's basically cheating. It also make rare Pokemon less rare since no one is losing anything out of cloning.

As long as the Pokemon you're cloning was obtained legitimately, then it's fine. I don't care. I ain't about to RNG the same Pokemon over and over just to trade them to other people for them to use. I ain't about that life. If you don't like clones and don't think it's a good practice, don't go to the Trade Corner.

I think it's ok if you do it using a glitch, and not a gameshark or an action replay. Ya, I understand lots of people don't like it and I understand why, but I consider it cheating only if you use an external device.

When I learned about the duplicating glitch in emerald, I cloned my shiny azumarril a bunch. So if anyone happens to have an orange azumarril with the OT Max, well now you know where it came from ;)

Yes, I do think cloning is cheating instead of raising it you have to clone it to others. :/

Every one is going to have their own opinion on this, some think it's cheating and others do not, this will be a never ending discussion about this question.

I have to agree with Sydian about cloning, I'm definitely not going keep RNGing the same Pokemon over and over again to offer in my shop. As for events, it really helps for people who can't get certain events. It would be near impossible to build up a substantial collection AND have events to trade to other people. As for making rare Pokemon less rare, yes, it does put more into circulation. However, unlike online MMOs, they have no virtual currency value. In addition, it helps out the people who cannot obtain the Pokemon themselves. A much better alternative to hacking and importing wondercards no?

Hi tabor62 ^-^

IMO YES!! and YES it is and forever will be!

I am like I got it and can offer it weather it be a clone or not I am helping out a some one who needs what I have but still keeping it for myself.

Ehhh... it's hard to say, I guess. I think if you're an avid collector pretty much the only way you're going to be able to get a large collection of rare pokemon is if you're open to clones. I can see why people would think it's cheap or cheating, though, but I don't mind clones myself.

The only time I really clone is if I'm transferring a Pokemon from one generation to the next (III to IV, IV to V), just so I don't have to get rid of it from my original game. I don't see it as cheating, though, since clones are likely just of legitimate Pokemon, which I'd much rather have than a hacked individual.

Most definitely, there is no way to clone without using either a cheating device or abusing an exploit/glitch within the game.

Good question. I think that Cloning shinies is perfectly acceptable and not cheating because there isn't much different in terms of the Pokemon's battling capabilities, as long as its moves and abilities remain the same. However, if we were cloning event Pokemon (Like for example, a Pikachu with the move Fly) then I think it would be cheating if we were cloning things like that.

I fail to see any difference between cloning shinies and event Pokemon. You might say it's because of special event moves that they may have. But let's consider Pokemon like these. (Ignore the random Flying Pikachu mixed in with them :P) Completely normal other than being an event no?

As far as i'm concerned, there is nothing wrong with cloning. It allows someone to be able to offer a great pokemon of theirs for anything that they might possibly need and not have to worry about having to get rid of that pokemon.