Help Thread: Official Hack Checking Thread

[Haileo]

Yes, obtained date is determined by when it is received from the guy in the PC. Most event traders do not care about date, as long as it is within the distribution period. Most also prefer the Pokemon not to have the date of the first day of the event, as most Powersaved events have Wonder Cards for those dates. (This was more easily tracked in 6th Gen when the Pokemon had the same date as their WC date, but now those are split so I'm not sure how valid it is. Would still recommend not receiving stuff on the first day even if you can, UNLESS you have some way to provide full proof of the Pokemon's legitimacy.)


Good question, and luckily I have a solid answer! Thanks to combined efforts with HaxAras, a trader on here that does a lot of 3rd Gen event collection, we have determined that, when transferred to higher gens, 3rd Gen Event Pokemon should not have the "fateful encounter" tag. I'm pretty sure this extends to ALL 3rd Gen events, whether they were IRL distributions such as PCNY or 10th Anniversary, or game distributions such as Wishmaker Jirachi.

We checked the data of the Pokemon as displayed in 3rd Gen, and what it literally says is "Met at fateful encounter." So, it'S MET location is set to "(in) a fateful encounter" rather than having any sort of tag. (Pretty sure "fateful encounter" tag came in 4th Gen, since so far I haven't heard any word of any of the 3rd Gen events having it, just that as the met location.) Bulbapedia and Serebii actually reflect this information; on Bulbapedia they are listed as "Met in a fateful encounter when at Lv XX." and on Serebii it lists "Event. Met at Lv. XX."

tl;dr All 3rd Gen events should have the first listing. If it has the "fateful encounter" tag, it is a hack.

That doesn't make sense. I know for a fact PCNY Wish are supposed to have Fateful Encounter flags turned on. The 62296 ASH PCNY Wish Exeggcute has a fateful encounter flag, and this Exeggcute can be tracked down to the source. Same for the 36204 METS PCNY Wish Farfetch'd. As opposed to the popular 12991 Grayson PCNY Wish Kangaskhan going around, which has no fateful encounter flag and no reliable source, therefore I can say with certainty that it's hacked.

 

[Road]

That doesn't make sense. I know for a fact PCNY Wish are supposed to have Fateful Encounter flags turned on. The 62296 ASH PCNY Wish Exeggcute has a fateful encounter flag, and this Exeggcute can be tracked down to the source. Same for the 36204 METS PCNY Wish Farfetch'd. As opposed to the popular 12991 Grayson PCNY Wish Kangaskhan going around, which has no fateful encounter flag and no reliable source, therefore I can say with certainty that it's hacked.

Actually glad you brought this up as it prompted me to look back through my PMs and realize I reported the data wrong. @@ So I'm just gonna report what we know so far.

Some months ago I started trading for 10th Anniv events again, and most of them I got from HaxAras. He is part of a Event Pokemon preservation project on another site and has worked with some serious collectors to get a good lot of older events. Because of that, I asked him to check what had "Fateful Encounter" and what didn't (or if it had it at all). Initially he told me that they should all have the tag and left it at that. Then later he brought it up again and we talked about them specifically in the higher gens.

Here is the PM convo about his findings.
The link to the summaries of the 10th Anniv Pokemon (as seen in 3rd Gen)

So there IS a "fateful encounter" tag (Bulbapedia actually mentions it being on Deoxys and Mew events, both in game and from outside events) as well as a listing of a Pokemon's met location as "fateful encounter", and they seem to be two separate things. Again, he notes in the PM that all of his 3rd Gen events should be legit, and yet we have Events from the same line which have them and others that don't. He did say previously that most had "met at Fateful Encounter" and only some had "Fateful Encounter at Fateful Encounter."

What distinguishes them is where I have basically no data, BUT I have a working theory that, maybe with some more research, can help us decide.

Maybe it has to do with which game the Pokemon was generated in. FRLG (and Emerald) are newer games, so it would make sense that they would program newer information into it. As such, this would mean that anything generated in FRLGE would have "Fateful Encounter at Fateful Encounter", whereas stuff from RS would only have "Met at Fateful Encounter."
Some evidence for this:
a) Bulbapedia specifically mentions Deoxys/Mew having the "fateful encounter" tag for both the ones caught in game and the ones from outside events. Since they are only caught wildly in FRLGE, it would make sense. (The event ones I will get to in an afternote.)
b) It would explain why the PCNY Wish eggs have the tag on them, since they were only available for FRLG games, and yet why the rest of the PCNY Pokemon do not, as they were only available for RS games.
With this in mind, it would further explain why events available in both games, such as the 10th Anniversary events, have a variation in the tag: those received in RS would not have it, while those received in FRLGE would.

Good news is, I think we can test this. HaxAras has the distribution cart for some of the 10th events, and if I can get a hold of him I can try and ask him if he can generate some in one game and some in the other, then see if they have the difference in the tag. For now, I'll put a pin in this, then ask him about it and see if we can get a definitive answer once and for all.

 

[Flan]

Maybe it has to do with which game the Pokemon was generated in. FRLG (and Emerald) are newer games, so it would make sense that they would program newer information into it. As such, this would mean that anything generated in FRLGE would have "Fateful Encounter at Fateful Encounter", whereas stuff from RS would only have "Met at Fateful Encounter."
Some evidence for this:
a) Bulbapedia specifically mentions Deoxys/Mew having the "fateful encounter" tag for both the ones caught in game and the ones from outside events. Since they are only caught wildly in FRLGE, it would make sense. (The event ones I will get to in an afternote.)
b) It would explain why the PCNY Wish eggs have the tag on them, since they were only available for FRLG games, and yet why the rest of the PCNY Pokemon do not, as they were only available for RS games.
With this in mind, it would further explain why events available in both games, such as the 10th Anniversary events, have a variation in the tag: those received in RS would not have it, while those received in FRLGE would.

Good news is, I think we can test this. HaxAras has the distribution cart for some of the 10th events, and if I can get a hold of him I can try and ask him if he can generate some in one game and some in the other, then see if they have the difference in the tag. For now, I'll put a pin in this, then ask him about it and see if we can get a definitive answer once and for all.

This explains why my MYSTRY Mew has this fateful encounter tag. I thought I deleted it forever for good on my Emerald but it turned out that I at least had a backup on my Black version, phew. There was no way that I hacked that as like, a 9 year old lol. When I finish Colosseum, I'll definitely test this with Mattle Ho-Oh and FR/LG/E to see if they have the tag compared with my R/S games, at least. This may also mean that my Space Center Deoxys could be legitimate...

 

[Road]

This explains why my MYSTRY Mew has this fateful encounter tag. I thought I deleted it forever for good on my Emerald but it turned out that I at least had a backup on my Black version, phew. There was no way that I hacked that as like, a 9 year old lol. When I finish Colosseum, I'll definitely test this with Mattle Ho-Oh and FR/LG/E to see if they have the tag compared with my R/S games, at least. This may also mean that my Space Center Deoxys could be legitimate...

Oh excellent! And actually, now that I think about it with that info, this should all be easily checkable based on the transferred location, since that also is based on where the Pokemon was generated. Thus, in higher gens, we should be getting "fateful encounter" tags on Events from Kanto, and either ones with or without from Hoenn (since RS and E are both Hoenn and there's not much way to tell which game they came from). I'll cross-reference this with my stuff when I get home.

I'm not sure that game events like that would actually have the tag, but then again Hayley's Trades from Pokemon Ranch to Gen IV games had the tag so I don't see why they wouldn't have programmed it in previously. In that case I'll also test it with my Japanese copy of Pokemon Box, as I planned to get the events anyway and I have both RS and LG to transfer to.

Might have to enlist more people to help if we can't seem to get an answer. Anyone with events on 3rd Gen games would help a ton. @@

 

[MechaMoth]

Might have to enlist more people to help if we can't seem to get an answer. Anyone with events on 3rd Gen games would help a ton. @@

I think it will be especially helpful to have a list of 3rd gen events and what each one should say in each Gen, or at least Gen VII. This could be featured with Soapyyy's work in the Trade Corner's Hack Checking thread. As long as we have a definitive list, that will help event collectors like us have a better cross reference for legitimacy.

I may have a friend who's part of a preservation project, but I'm not sure if the project is for events, shinies, or high IVs. (We talked on facebook about it nearly a year ago). Everyone be on the lookout for people with 3rd gen carts with events. I didn't play 3rd gen at the time of release, so I can only help with searching for someone.

 

[Road]

I think it will be especially helpful to have a list of 3rd gen events and what each one should say in each Gen, or at least Gen VII. This could be featured with Soapyyy's work in the Trade Corner's Hack Checking thread. As long as we have a definitive list, that will help event collectors like us have a better cross reference for legitimacy.

I may have a friend who's part of a preservation project, but I'm not sure if the project is for events, shinies, or high IVs. (We talked on facebook about it nearly a year ago). Everyone be on the lookout for people with 3rd gen carts with events. I didn't play 3rd gen at the time of release, so I can only help with searching for someone.

Like literally a whole list of all the events from Gen III and what each of them should say? Sounds like a lot of work when we could just provide guidelines for people to follow. If the theory is correct, a person could look up what games the event could be received on (Serebii and Bulbapedia both list this), check the summary of the Pokemon, and see if it matches. People should already be doing this work with every event they receive, just this includes checking guidelines.
(If you really want a list, I guess we can recruit people to check their stuff and report back. Would rather not be doing this all by our lonesome. >>)

Anyway, I did a little research with the 3rd Gen events I have and documented my findings in this spreadsheet. So far everything seems to be lining up, but I don't actually have anything from Kanto to support the Kanto tagged part of the theory. I also haven't listed stuff I have in 7th, but I'll work on that in the next few days.

 

[drizku]

I believe i was traded a hacked pokemon, how can i tell?

I have been traded a few pokemon in the past in multiple ways (wonder,GTS). I have reason to believe that at least one of them are hacked but I'm not sure because I would assume that hacked pokemon cant be traded. I haven't tried battling with them yet. Is there a way someone can tell if their pokemon is hacked or fake in some way? Or can a hacked pokemon function normally, but can be detected by events people only? which may result in embarrassment or other headaches if one cant find out for themselves ahead of time. Yes I'm aware of some original trainer ID's that are used in events, I'm not seeing a trainer ID as poopoo and thinking its real. Heres a side question to go along with the detection question. Is it possible to get a shiny legendary or event pokemon? the reason why I ask is even if they are real, the chances are so low that ive definitely not encountered a known legit one myself. I would imagine the chances are astronomical compared to regular shiny pokemon because you have the chance to catch more than one regular pokemon in a game, but not a legendary. Thanks to all who reply :) have a great week.

 

[Spyro]

I have been traded a few pokemon in the past in multiple ways (wonder,GTS). I have reason to believe that at least one of them are hacked but I'm not sure because I would assume that hacked pokemon cant be traded. I haven't tried battling with them yet. Is there a way someone can tell if their pokemon is hacked or fake in some way? Or can a hacked pokemon function normally, but can be detected by events people only? which may result in embarrassment or other headaches if one cant find out for themselves ahead of time. Yes I'm aware of some original trainer ID's that are used in events, I'm not seeing a trainer ID as poopoo and thinking its real. Heres a side question to go along with the detection question. Is it possible to get a shiny legendary or event pokemon? the reason why I ask is even if they are real, the chances are so low that ive definitely not encountered a known legit one myself. I would imagine the chances are astronomical compared to regular shiny pokemon because you have the chance to catch more than one regular pokemon in a game, but not a legendary. Thanks to all who reply :) have a great week.

Hi! I moved your thread into the Official Hack checking thread! :)
To answer your many questions:
- Hacked Pok?mon can be traded and used normally; most of them are not detected as a hack in-game, sadly.
- Event Pok?mon cannot be sent via GTS or Wonder Trade, if you received one and it isn't from a direct Link Trade, it is hacked.
- A lot of things can be used to determine if a Pok?mon was hacked; normally if you put all of the info of the Pok?mon here in this thread, an experienced hack-checked will get back to you, normally within a day, to tell you and explain why the Pok?mon is hacked or not.
- Shiny Legendaries are possible yes, but there are Shiny-Locked legends in-game that cannot be Shiny. For exemple, Lunala and Solgaleo are Shiny-locked and no events for them was released. Hence all Shiny Lunala and Solgaleo are hacked.
- Some event cannot be Shiny, while other have the same chance as any other Pok?mon to be Shiny, and also some are always Shiny. For exemple, Melemele's Tapu Koko event is always Shiny.

 

[Flan]

Like literally a whole list of all the events from Gen III and what each of them should say? Sounds like a lot of work when we could just provide guidelines for people to follow. If the theory is correct, a person could look up what games the event could be received on (Serebii and Bulbapedia both list this), check the summary of the Pokemon, and see if it matches. People should already be doing this work with every event they receive, just this includes checking guidelines.
(If you really want a list, I guess we can recruit people to check their stuff and report back. Would rather not be doing this all by our lonesome. >>)

Anyway, I did a little research with the 3rd Gen events I have and documented my findings in this spreadsheet. So far everything seems to be lining up, but I don't actually have anything from Kanto to support the Kanto tagged part of the theory. I also haven't listed stuff I have in 7th, but I'll work on that in the next few days.

This is very thorough, Road! Thank you so much for your contribution on this matter. (: Though it only applies to Wishmaker Jirachi and Colosseum Mattle Ho-Oh in R/S/E/FR/LG as opposed to a larger list of events like yours, I'll be working on these Colosseum events sometime this weekend. (I'm actually sick right now and not feeling too up to it lately, though I thankfully already received my Jirachi Bonus Disc in the mail lol!)

I think this theory definitely holds a lot of water and is likely the most logical reason for certain "fateful encounter" tags. I will post soon with my updates!

 

[MechaMoth]

Like literally a whole list of all the events from Gen III and what each of them should say? Sounds like a lot of work when we could just provide guidelines for people to follow. If the theory is correct, a person could look up what games the event could be received on (Serebii and Bulbapedia both list this), check the summary of the Pokemon, and see if it matches. People should already be doing this work with every event they receive, just this includes checking guidelines.
(If you really want a list, I guess we can recruit people to check their stuff and report back. Would rather not be doing this all by our lonesome. >>)

Anyway, I did a little research with the 3rd Gen events I have and documented my findings in this spreadsheet. So far everything seems to be lining up, but I don't actually have anything from Kanto to support the Kanto tagged part of the theory. I also haven't listed stuff I have in 7th, but I'll work on that in the next few days.

As much as I'd love a comprehensive list, a set of hard guidelines about legitimacy and fateful encounter is great. Your link definitely helps narrow it all down.

This is very thorough, Road! Thank you so much for your contribution on this matter. (: Though it only applies to Wishmaker Jirachi and Colosseum Mattle Ho-Oh in R/S/E/FR/LG as opposed to a larger list of events like yours, I'll be working on these Colosseum events sometime this weekend. (I'm actually sick right now and not feeling too up to it lately, though I thankfully already received my Jirachi Bonus Disc in the mail lol!)

I think this theory definitely holds a lot of water and is likely the most logical reason for certain "fateful encounter" tags. I will post soon with my updates!

Hope you feel better! Your work with those two will definitely help the cause!

 

[drizku]

Hi! I moved your thread into the Official Hack checking thread! :)
To answer your many questions:
- Hacked Pok?mon can be traded and used normally; most of them are not detected as a hack in-game, sadly.
- Event Pok?mon cannot be sent via GTS or Wonder Trade, if you received one and it isn't from a direct Link Trade, it is hacked.
- A lot of things can be used to determine if a Pok?mon was hacked; normally if you put all of the info of the Pok?mon here in this thread, an experienced hack-checked will get back to you, normally within a day, to tell you and explain why the Pok?mon is hacked or not.
- Shiny Legendaries are possible yes, but there are Shiny-Locked legends in-game that cannot be Shiny. For exemple, Lunala and Solgaleo are Shiny-locked and no events for them was released. Hence all Shiny Lunala and Solgaleo are hacked.
- Some event cannot be Shiny, while other have the same chance as any other Pok?mon to be Shiny, and also some are always Shiny. For exemple, Melemele's Tapu Koko event is always Shiny.

Thank you very much for the information you have provided. I am certain that I have accidently acquired atleast one hacked pokemon now. I will have to be more careful next time.

 

[screen]

I received a shiny 6IV ditto OT: ~RNC~ it came from the unova region

I checked and it is currently being given away as part of a give away from destinedjagold

he posted that all ditto's are cloned
Region: Japan
•Origin: Japanese Gen5 game (forgot which)
•Shiny?: Yes
•OT: ~RNC~
•Level: 100
•Item: Destiny Knot
•Nature: Careful

 

[Mikazuki]

I received a shiny 6IV ditto OT: ~RNC~ it came from the unova region

I checked and it is currently being given away as part of a give away from destinedjagold

he posted that all ditto's are cloned
Region: Japan
•Origin: Japanese Gen5 game (forgot which)
•Shiny?: Yes
•OT: ~RNC~
•Level: 100
•Item: Destiny Knot
•Nature: Careful

This is well known and permitted for the growth of the trade/breeding community. It is meant to be used as a tool for breeders in order to increase the likelihood of better pokemon for trade to increase peoples involvement in the community and traffgic through the TC.

 

[screen]

Okay so I can safely use it for breeding

thanks for the info

 

[Haileo]

I feel the need to say this here as opposed to telling the people individually.

I have seen a Naive Shiny WISHMKR Jirachi in a few people's lists here. Shiny WISHMKR Jirachi's can have only one out of 9 natures; and Naive is not one of them. Any and all legit Shiny WISHMKR Jirachi's should be:

Serious, Naughty, Lonely, Jolly, Hasty, Docile, Careful, Timid, Bashful

If the nature of your Shiny WISHMKR Jirachi is not in this list, it is automatically a hack. Project Pokemon did this research back in 2011.

That said, even if the nature is in this list, it could still be a hack. Project Pokemon hosts all 9 files for the legit Shiny WISHMKR Jirachi. I, myself, have a legit Docile one that I obtained before PP started hosting it.

 

[Spyro]

I feel the need to say this here as opposed to telling the people individually.

I have seen a Naive Shiny WISHMKR Jirachi in a few people's lists here. Shiny WISHMKR Jirachi's can have only one out of 9 natures; and Naive is not one of them. Any and all legit Shiny WISHMKR Jirachi's should be:

Serious, Naughty, Lonely, Jolly, Hasty, Docile, Careful, Timid, Bashful

If the nature of your Shiny WISHMKR Jirachi is not in this list, it is automatically a hack. Project Pokemon did this research back in 2011.

That said, even if the nature is in this list, it could still be a hack. Project Pokemon hosts all 9 files for the legit Shiny WISHMKR Jirachi. I, myself, have a legit Docile one that I obtained before PP started hosting it.

Hi! Thank you for this, I'll try to add that info to my hwck checking guide ASAP. Feel free to contact people directly for this, Shop owners may not all check every post here, and they are happy to get hacks pointed out!

 

[Road]

This is very thorough, Road! Thank you so much for your contribution on this matter. (: Though it only applies to Wishmaker Jirachi and Colosseum Mattle Ho-Oh in R/S/E/FR/LG as opposed to a larger list of events like yours, I'll be working on these Colosseum events sometime this weekend. (I'm actually sick right now and not feeling too up to it lately, though I thankfully already received my Jirachi Bonus Disc in the mail lol!)

I think this theory definitely holds a lot of water and is likely the most logical reason for certain "fateful encounter" tags. I will post soon with my updates!

Yeah, it's the least I can do! I wish I had more older stuff, or at least stuff from different regions to prove it better, but alas. Like I mentioned I'll also work on Pokemon Box stuff, though that will likely be delayed until I can get my GC to GBA cable from my place in the states (maybe three months away). In the meantime I'll look at alternatives.
Don't work too hard! Health is the most important, so take care! c:

As much as I'd love a comprehensive list, a set of hard guidelines about legitimacy and fateful encounter is great. Your link definitely helps narrow it all down.

WHEW okay, guidelines are definitely easier. I've got a working list of exceptions (like the Trade and Battle Day Pokemon I mentioned in my spreadsheet) and I'll keep an eye out for others. I've got people on other sites with older events so I could get some more from them to keep cataloging until it seems the theory is proven or disproven.

Side note, I managed to get in touch with HaxAras, but unfortunately he does not actually have his 10th distribution cart yet so that test will be put on hold. I might see if he can check what the events he already has says (he has like a million 10th events as it is).

OTHER UPDATE: I was doing research on the Moncolle issue that came up in Soaps' thread a bit ago, and yesterday my Charizard Moncolle came in so I can FINALLY test that. Once I do, I'll post my full report here, then provide some guidelines that we can add to the page!

 

[MechaMoth]

WHEW okay, guidelines are definitely easier. I've got a working list of exceptions (like the Trade and Battle Day Pokemon I mentioned in my spreadsheet) and I'll keep an eye out for others. I've got people on other sites with older events so I could get some more from them to keep cataloging until it seems the theory is proven or disproven.

Side note, I managed to get in touch with HaxAras, but unfortunately he does not actually have his 10th distribution cart yet so that test will be put on hold. I might see if he can check what the events he already has says (he has like a million 10th events as it is).

OTHER UPDATE: I was doing research on the Moncolle issue that came up in Soaps' thread a bit ago, and yesterday my Charizard Moncolle came in so I can FINALLY test that. Once I do, I'll post my full report here, then provide some guidelines that we can add to the page!

As much as I am a completionist, I understand the ridiculousness of an undertaking cataloging EVERY Gen III event would be. Some are just too rare.

I contacted my friend who's part of the preservation project. Sounds like they can test injecting events in Gen III or IV, but that's not really what we're after. They're mostly collecting legit flawless pokes rather than events. He's putting some requests out to see if anyone's got a legit cart.

Wish I could help more, but I wasn't around for Gen III since I took a break between II and IV.

 

[Road]

As much as I am a completionist, I understand the ridiculousness of an undertaking cataloging EVERY Gen III event would be. Some are just too rare.

I contacted my friend who's part of the preservation project. Sounds like they can test injecting events in Gen III or IV, but that's not really what we're after. They're mostly collecting legit flawless pokes rather than events. He's putting some requests out to see if anyone's got a legit cart.

Wish I could help more, but I wasn't around for Gen III since I took a break between II and IV.

So I've heard. Course now that the stuff is 20 years old it seems like there's chances of finding the actual distribution stuff for sale, so maybe there's a glimmer of hope. And at least we're all connected haha.

Tbh we could probably even simulate it if we had emulators and a way to inject events into them, but I'm not sure how legit the community at large would think that. I heard that's one method that some preservation project people get Events into their main games, maybe.

Ehh, I was big into that gen but never went to any events (not sure why, I was too young to know I guess? Also lived on the west coast so no NYC stuff for me haha). There's enough events that seem legit enough to make some conclusions from the current gens, so that's a start!

 

[Haileo]

Ehh, I was big into that gen but never went to any events (not sure why, I was too young to know I guess? Also lived on the west coast so no NYC stuff for me haha). There's enough events that seem legit enough to make some conclusions from the current gens, so that's a start!

Tell me about it. I live just outside of NYC and was really excited to go to the Bryant Park 10 Anniversary tour on August 8, 2006, but since I was only 11 at the time, my parents didn't want to take me (not even on the bus) because it was too far. ;-;

And don't even get me started on the PCNYs because those happened when I was 8 years old XD.