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Is cloning cheating?

Is cloning cheating?

  • Yes, it is cheap in my opinion!

    Votes: 20 60.6%
  • No, it is a fully legitimate method!

    Votes: 13 39.4%

  • Total voters
    33

Cassiopeiia

Floating
79
Posts
10
Years
If you are using cloned Pokémon with perfectly legitimate stats and moves to battle with, would you, in the context of the battle, be cheating?
No you wouldn't, you would however be cheating if your Pokémon sported a move it should not be able to learn, for example.

In the context of in-game Pokémon collecting however, cloning is cheating because you are collecting your Pokémon by a use of methods not intended by Game Freak to be possible. They created the game and the rules, and by cloning, you are breaking them. Obviously it's cheating.

Whether it's an issue or not is a totally different question. Personally I don't think it's a problem more than using cheat codes in, say, the Sims is a problem. As long as those you trade with are aware it's a clone, and as long as you're not using your perfect IV clones to gain an upper hand in battle over honest breeders, there really is no problem at all. You're entitled to play the game the way you enjoy it the most as long as you don't interfere with others' experience. There's the GTS though, but oh well.
 

Treecko

the princess without voice
6,316
Posts
12
Years
My friends and I would to clone Pokemon in Gold and Silver all the time, and we saw nothing wrong with it. If your cloning a Pokemon is for a event like the ones that happen in the Trade Corner in PC and they have legit stats,moves, etc , then I'd say no, it isn't cheating. It makes distribution of the Pokemon that are hard to get easier. As long as the Pokemon has legit stats and moves it can actually learn, I'm find with it.
 
3,105
Posts
11
Years
  • Age 22
  • Seen May 23, 2023
I guess you could argue both sides to this question. In a way it is technically cheating. Game Freak, like mentioned before never wanted you to use this sort of method while playing the game. Also, what about if you threw on a Master Ball on the Pokemon you were going to clone? Not only would you get a duplicate copy, but you'd get another Master Ball, which is not supposed to happen as a Master Ball is crowned as the ultimate Pokeball and was intended for one time use. But I'm not sure, from videos I've seen it's possible to clone items that are on the Pokemon.

However in another way it isn't cheating. I mean as long as you're not tacking on items like Master Balls, it's perfectly fine. They're still legitimate Pokemon as long as they have moves that can be learnt by them etc. And even though I don't RNG and am not a person who is a frequent trader, I would certainly clone than RNG over and over for the same Pokemon. I mean it saves time and effort and in a way it shouldn't be classified as 'cheating'. But that's my opinion on this. XD
 

Anszkz.DkLt

The Semi-Newb
21
Posts
10
Years
Even if it isn't done by using external devices to interfere with the games normal execution (e.g. AR, GS) it's still considered an exploitation of a bug and therefore by cloning, you're not only cheating the game and the developers but you're also cheating YOURSELF...

Meh, that's just my 2cents...

But i'm not saying that I'm against cloning (though I deem it more ethical if done without external devices).. Heck i've already got a bunch of Shiny legendaries that I trade for other shiny legendaries that I level up to 100 if they aren't already then trade them for other shinies. Lather, rinse, repeat.
 
41,093
Posts
17
Years
Well, cloning wasn't intended to be a method for players to use in their games, so in a way it is cheating. But I don't consider it cheating as much as using an Action Replay is, especially if you're closing Pokemon you got legitimately. It's a bit of both so I can't word my answer without it being confusing, haha. :[
 
139
Posts
11
Years
Meanwhile the pokemon are legit, isn't cheating, because are exactly equal; besides, without the clones, hardly anyone would pokemon legendaryes and much less event.

And in most cases, the purpose of clone its for share, for other good or unique pokemons or even in giveaways, So I think that can not be considered cheating.
 
5,281
Posts
14
Years
  • Age 29
  • Seen yesterday
I assume this is just AR cloning right? Because that's definitely cheating, its hacking the game.

The Battle Tower cloning glitch on Emerald however, I'd argue that's fair game as it doesn't involve modifying the game in any way.
 

Sableye~

Back to PC~
4,016
Posts
11
Years
  • Seen Jan 4, 2018
I think it depends on your reason for cloning. If you get your EV-trained, flawless, level 100 and clone it for battling- then that's cheating. However, if you're cloning shinies, legendaries, etc. for trading, then I think it's fine.
 
32
Posts
10
Years
  • Age 28
  • Seen Jan 18, 2023
It depends really. If you were to clone your highest Level Pokemon to beat the Elite 4 faster, then yes. But lets say you found a shiny Pokemon on your Diamond, you want to send it over to your Black 2, but still keep it on Diamond; Or even trade to give one to a friend. That's where it's alright to clone, In my opinion.
 
57
Posts
11
Years
  • Seen Apr 1, 2020
Torn on this one, but I think you should at least tell the people you battle/trade that they're clones.

Something else: "hacked" doesn't necessarily mean "illegal moves and stats". Therefore, "no illegal moves and stats" doesn't necessarily mean "produced by legitimate methods".
 
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