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Yeah, I've cheated. Especially in Generation I, since glitches are my primary interest in those games.
Breaking the game can be a very fun experience; so long as it's just for your own amusement.
I used to back on my Pearl game! I bought an AR because I wanted an Arceus so badly and there was no other way to obtain one :( I no longer use cheating devices though as I want every one of my Pokemon to be completely legitimate. The only time I hack anything is if I am playing on an emulator and need a trade evo :)
Every time you started a new file? That sounds like some serious damage done by the device to some other underlying component of the game (i.e., not necessarily just the save files, unless they made the save files unstable). Were you able to get the cartridge working again in the absence of external devices, or is it permanently shot?