Help Thread: Official Hack Checking Thread

Alicatsngel9315 said:
Ah well it does say celebis were always checked so I was being cautious
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Honestly, big props to you for actually reading the rules! But that one in particular was written when the only way a legitimate shiny Celebi could be obtained was by soft-resetting at full odds in Pokemon Crystal VC. Now that is has been released as a Serial Code in Sword and Shield and a special event Research Quest in Pokemon Go, I think it's safe to say that you can expect them to be legitimate if they come from either source (Serial Code is an event that will always have the same details as yours, PoGo Pokemon will have a mark to show it is from Pokemon Go).
 
I can read a 1000 page book in a day. Reading the rules just takes a few extra minutes of time. And it helps me know what's going on. How am I supposed to know how it works without reading lol.
 
Alicatsngel9315 said:
Are pokemon from pokemon.co hacked. Because I got one in a suprise trade
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It's very hard trying to find info on "pokemon.co" because searching it online takes you to the Pokemon Company's website, but in a different language. Trying to add a few more search terms didn't help in narrowing down a source. To me, it is most likely hacked, with the Pokemon having that OT to trick people who don't know better that it's a legitimate event Pokemon from the Pokemon Company (or "Pokemon Co."). There has been no event with that OT, but also without knowing more specifically about the Pokemon received, it's hard to say if they're hacked for certain.
 
Pokémon: Solgaleo
Shiny: Y
OT: Eclipse
ID: 100419
Level: 60
Region of Origin: Alola (FRE)
Nature: Brave
Ability: Full Metal Body
Ribbons: None
Location Met & Level Met: Alola, Fateful Encounter
Where/how you recieved it: GTS in HOME
Individual Values/Characteristic: 31 / 31 / 31 / 31 / 31 / 31

I initially considered that this was someone cloning their Gen 7 events then bringing them forward, as I keep seeing a few shiny Solgaleo. However the lack of a ribbon (the event should have the Classic Ribbon according to Bulbapedia), leads me to believe this is a hack.
 
Amore said:
Pokémon: Solgaleo
Shiny: Y
OT: Eclipse
ID: 100419
Level: 60
Region of Origin: Alola (FRE)
Nature: Brave
Ability: Full Metal Body
Ribbons: None
Location Met & Level Met: Alola, Fateful Encounter
Where/how you recieved it: GTS in HOME
Individual Values/Characteristic: 31 / 31 / 31 / 31 / 31 / 31

I initially considered that this was someone cloning their Gen 7 events then bringing them forward, as I keep seeing a few shiny Solgaleo. However the lack of a ribbon (the event should have the Classic Ribbon according to Bulbapedia), leads me to believe this is a hack.
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Your hunch is correct! Event Pokemon cannot be put on GTS or Wonder Trade, unless, as happened in your case, the event ribbon was forcibly removed.
 
Firebolt said:
Your hunch is correct! Event Pokemon cannot be put on GTS or Wonder Trade, unless, as happened in your case, the event ribbon was forcibly removed.
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Oh well. I didn't give away anything too valuable for it (which was actually the main red flag hence my assumption about cloning), and it got me one step closer to the OC Magearna! Gorgeous too, one of my favourite shinies.
 
Pokémon: Zeraora
Shiny: No
OT: フウラシティ
ID: 180713
Level: 50
Region of Origin: Alola
Nature: Gentle
Ability: Volt Absorb
Ribbons: Wishing Ribbon
Location Met & Level Met: Fateful encounter in the Alola region on 02/16/2020
Where/how you recieved it: I think it was from a giveaway
Individual Values/Characteristic: 4 Best, 2 Decent
Effort Values: (In gen 7, go on the Summary page and press Y): HP 163, Attack 132, Defense 85, Speed 163, Sp. Def 93, Sp. Att 108

On Serebii, it's stated that the start date and end date is 13 July 2018 - 30 September 2018. If the encounter was in 2020, could this be fake?
 
Quarter said:
On Serebii, it's stated that the start date and end date is 13 July 2018 - 30 September 2018. If the encounter was in 2020, could this be fake?
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I'm not an expert so there could be other indicators, but I wouldn't discount it just based on that. They could have been manipulating the clock on their console for grinding - do it long enough and you'll end up years ahead!
 
Got a couple of my own here that's questionable. I'm hoping just cloned!

Magikarp
Shiny
OT: (Chinese, kinda looks like N and then T)
ID: 672121
Level 1
Galar
Jolly
Swift Swim
Jolly
Egg hatched Route 5, Egg received in link trade
GTS Wonder Trade
Perfect IVs
Lure Ball

Skeptical that anyone bred so many shiny Magikarp they give a perfect Jolly one away on Wonder Trade...

Politoed
Shiny
OT: ASH
ID: 35372
Lv. 50
...travelled across space and time...Kanto
Timid
Water Absorb
Champion Ribbon (Hoenn), Effort Ribbon, Artist Ribbon, Contest Memory Ribbon x20, Battle Memory Ribbon x2
GTS Trade
31 / Ft / 31 / Ft / 31 / Ft
Max SpA, Spe

I think this is legit due to the ribbons. 3 IVs would be very difficult to do in Gen III, but not impossible. I think its their pride and joy so they've had it cloned a lot, then put it up for trade. But still, GTS shinies are dodgy (got an obviously hacked Chandelure, as well as that Solgaleo that was most likely legit before its ribbon was removed).

Swablu
Shiny
OT: Japanese, kinda like a reverse C or an M thats slanting to the left, then two squares
ID: 62148
Lv. 1
Unova
Impish
Natural Cure
Fateful Encounter
GTS Trade
PG / PG / PG / D / D / D

I think this is possibly a cloned Year of the Dragon Egg Pokémon - they were JPN-exclusive, Fateful Encounter but no ribbons, in an ordinary Poké Ball.

Obstagoon
Shiny
OT: Shiny24.com
ID: 784810
Lv. 100
Galar
Adamant
Defiant
Pokémon Den
GTS Trade
31 / Ft / 31 / 31 / 31 / 31

The website claims their Pokémon are legit, normally I'd dismiss it out of hand but normally GTS is pretty good on hacks, particularly made in the current generation...and it says it was at a Pokémon Den so maybe it was just resets?
 
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Quarter said:
Pokémon: Zeraora
Shiny: No
OT: フウラシティ
ID: 180713
Level: 50
Region of Origin: Alola
Nature: Gentle
Ability: Volt Absorb
Ribbons: Wishing Ribbon
Location Met & Level Met: Fateful encounter in the Alola region on 02/16/2020
Where/how you recieved it: I think it was from a giveaway
Individual Values/Characteristic: 4 Best, 2 Decent
Effort Values: (In gen 7, go on the Summary page and press Y): HP 163, Attack 132, Defense 85, Speed 163, Sp. Def 93, Sp. Att 108

On Serebii, it's stated that the start date and end date is 13 July 2018 - 30 September 2018. If the encounter was in 2020, could this be fake?
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There's a few reasons it could have that date:
  1. It could have been picked up at a much later date. The date received in gen 7 is tied to the day you pick it up from the mail man, but theoretically it can sit there for years and years.
  2. As Amore mentioned, it just happened that the date on the 3DS was set to a different time for whatever reason.
  3. It's hacked. The OT probably figured out how to inject Wonder Cards some years after the event and did so to get the event.

Based on the OT given, this was the Zeraora event that was distributed in-person at the movie theaters in Japan for a few months. If the Pokemon has an English name, then it's very likely that it was injected through hacks (the event may be Japanese but the Pokemon's name will always change to the region of the 3DS; hard to believe that an English player was in Japan to pick up the event and then gave away the Pokemon).
 
Amore said:
Got a couple of my own here that's questionable. I'm hoping just cloned!

Magikarp
Shiny
OT: (Chinese, kinda looks like N and then T)
ID: 672121
Level 1
Galar
Jolly
Swift Swim
Jolly
Egg hatched Route 5, Egg received in link trade
GTS Wonder Trade
Perfect IVs
Lure Ball

Skeptical that anyone bred so many shiny Magikarp they give a perfect Jolly one away on Wonder Trade...
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It's suspicious, there's nothing that definitely gives it away. Cloning however is a pain in the Arceus if you don't have a Missingno, and if you went through the effort to clone it otherwise just to give away on the GTS...it was probably just hacked it.

Amore said:
Politoed
Shiny
OT: ASH
ID: 35372
Lv. 50
...travelled across space and time...Kanto
Timid
Water Absorb
Champion Ribbon (Hoenn), Effort Ribbon, Artist Ribbon, Contest Memory Ribbon x20, Battle Memory Ribbon x2
GTS Trade
31 / Ft / 31 / Ft / 31 / Ft
Max SpA, Spe

I think this is legit due to the ribbons. 3 IVs would be very difficult to do in Gen III, but not impossible. I think its their pride and joy so they've had it cloned a lot, then put it up for trade. But still, GTS shinies are dodgy (got an obviously hacked Chandelure, as well as that Solgaleo that was most likely legit before its ribbon was removed).
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Honestly, the remaining IVs are somewhat important. If it's all 31s and 30s, then you know it's hacked. They just kept the 30s in to get the Hidden Power of their choice (back when it still existed, Hidden Power is a move that changed types based on IVs). If the IVs are 30, then it's probably not good eugenics that got it its IVs.

Amore said:
Swablu
Shiny
OT: Japanese, kinda like a reverse C or an M thats slanting to the left, then two squares
ID: 62148
Lv. 1
Unova
Impish
Natural Cure
Fateful Encounter
GTS Trade
PG / PG / PG / D / D / D

I think this is possibly a cloned Year of the Dragon Egg Pokémon - they were JPN-exclusive, Fateful Encounter but no ribbons, in an ordinary Poké Ball.
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Biggest indicator here is the name and met date. If the Swablu's name is in English and/or the met date doesn't exactly line-up (i.e. it's past 2017), then it's most likely obtained from the DNS exploit. Not technically hacked, but not considered legitimate in the circles that care about that.

Amore said:
Obstagoon
Shiny
OT: Shiny24.com
ID: 784810
Lv. 100
Galar
Adamant
Defiant
Pokémon Den
GTS Trade
31 / Ft / 31 / 31 / 31 / 31

The website claims their Pokémon are legit, normally I'd dismiss it out of hand but normally GTS is pretty good on hacks, particularly made in the current generation...and it says it was at a Pokémon Den so maybe it was just resets?
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I had a look at the site and I find it hilarious that in the FAQ section, they specifically avoided the word legitimate;
Spoiler:

Italics mine. Basically, it's still very possible to hack a Raid and change IVs/shininess however you like and host that raid, so long as that species is usually available as a raid mon (that's basically all GF did in their crackdown, was to remove illegal species). But they did opt to not go for 31 in Atk, it's main offensive stat. Who knows, there's a small chance it could be real.
 
Firebolt said:
Spoiler:
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Ah well, I already have a legit-seeming one anyway!

Ft = Fantastic = 30 so yeah I'm going hack :(

Swablu's name is also in Japanese, but AFAIK you can't get a met date from sonething that came from Bank in-game? So it says "Fateful Encounter on 9/25/22" but my shiny Gyarados I brought forward from HeartGold says met 10/4/22 - that's when it was transferred forward 8 generations. Although looking at all my other events, they have kept their dates...but none are from Gen V or earlier I don't believe, except some that are DNS Exploit. So do Fateful Encounter ones keep the met dates when brought forward?

God, that one actually requires thinking about. Still, it makes me certain my shiny Gardevoir is legit as Bulbapedia says anything transferred from XD will have 'Fateful Encounter' as their met!

Regarding Obstagoon, I don't see anyone making money off this going fully legit, I released it. Sadly that means my shiny Flygon is questionable - pretty sure I got in a raid hosted by DadShinies or something like that.

EDIT: Ooh, I got one more that might warrant thinking over. I am learning from your checks though, I dismissed a few things found through my GTS obsession out of hand.

Ditto
Shiny
OT: Solal (FRE)
ID: 199949
Lv. 100
Sinnoh
Hardy (Relaxed Mint)
Imposter
GTS Trade
31 / 31 / 31 / 31 / 31 / 31
252 HP / 252 Def
Infectious PKRUS

I traded an Enamorus for it (the Enamorus was definitely cloned)
 
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Amore said:
Ah well, I already have a legit-seeming one anyway!

Ft = Fantastic = 30 so yeah I'm going hack :(

Swablu's name is also in Japanese, but AFAIK you can't get a met date from sonething that came from Bank in-game? So it says "Fateful Encounter on 9/25/22" but my shiny Gyarados I brought forward from HeartGold says met 10/4/22 - that's when it was transferred forward 8 generations. Although looking at all my other events, they have kept their dates...but none are from Gen V or earlier I don't believe, except some that are DNS Exploit. So do Fateful Encounter ones keep the met dates when brought forward?

God, that one actually requires thinking about. Still, it makes me certain my shiny Gardevoir is legit as Bulbapedia says anything transferred from XD will have 'Fateful Encounter' as their met!

Regarding Obstagoon, I don't see anyone making money off this going fully legit, I released it. Sadly that means my shiny Flygon is questionable - pretty sure I got in a raid hosted by DadShinies or something like that.

EDIT: Ooh, I got one more that might warrant thinking over. I am learning from your checks though, I dismissed a few things found through my GTS obsession out of hand.

Ditto
Shiny
OT: Solal (FRE)
ID: 199949
Lv. 100
Sinnoh
Hardy (Relaxed Mint)
Imposter
GTS Trade
31 / 31 / 31 / 31 / 31 / 31
252 HP / 252 Def
Infectious PKRUS

I traded an Enamorus for it (the Enamorus was definitely cloned)
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Sorry if my brain is a little slow today, but I'm not understanding the first sentence about Swablu. One thing I know that may clear up confusion though is that met dates before Gen 5 are useless. Why so? Because Game Freak decided to rework how Pokemon data works a little, and basically the met date for anything before Gen 5 will match the date of the transfer to Gen 5, not the actual date it was originally met. This is why it's also hard to tell if a Gen 4 event was obtained through the DNS exploit, but it's pretty easy to tell with Gen 5 as they'll have their actual met date, and it'll usually be after the exploit became mainstream (2017-ish). Only people who have the tools (hackers) or foresight (switch DS time) to also fix this date will be able to fool you otherwise. So Unova Swablu met in 2022 is sketchy, but HeartGold-Johto Gyarados met in the same year is fine. Fateful Encounter, to my knowledge, has no impact on the date.

Raid legitimacy is a complex issue sadly. While there are definitely hacked Raids out there, there's also the fact that even I could hunt for a shiny Raid, and then endlessly host it for other people by rewinding my clock every day before it ticks over midnight. I can also endlessly hunt for Raids by moving my clock days and days and days forward until I get the Raid I want (if you see a future date on a Raid mon you get, this is very likely what has happened). There are Discord servers full of people who will host the latter, but unfortunately, just like a DNS exploited event with its date changed, it's impossible to tell if it's hacked unless you receive the event or host the Raid yourself.

Finally, the Ditto! The 6-digit ID makes me think it's BDSP Ditto and not DPPt. From what I can tell, RNGing in the area that Ditto spawns in is super unreliable. It also has PKRUS, so it's 99.99% likely hacked. But no one cares about hacked Dittos so feel free to use it as you like 😜
 
Firebolt said:
Sorry if my brain is a little slow today, but I'm not understanding the first sentence about Swablu. One thing I know that may clear up confusion though is that met dates before Gen 5 are useless. Why so? Because Game Freak decided to rework how Pokemon data works a little, and basically the met date for anything before Gen 5 will match the date of the transfer to Gen 5, not the actual date it was originally met. This is why it's also hard to tell if a Gen 4 event was obtained through the DNS exploit, but it's pretty easy to tell with Gen 5 as they'll have their actual met date, and it'll usually be after the exploit became mainstream (2017-ish). Only people who have the tools (hackers) or foresight (switch DS time) to also fix this date will be able to fool you otherwise. So Unova Swablu met in 2022 is sketchy, but HeartGold-Johto Gyarados met in the same year is fine. Fateful Encounter, to my knowledge, has no impact on the date.

Raid legitimacy is a complex issue sadly. While there are definitely hacked Raids out there, there's also the fact that even I could hunt for a shiny Raid, and then endlessly host it for other people by rewinding my clock every day before it ticks over midnight. I can also endlessly hunt for Raids by moving my clock days and days and days forward until I get the Raid I want (if you see a future date on a Raid mon you get, this is very likely what has happened). There are Discord servers full of people who will host the latter, but unfortunately, just like a DNS exploited event with its date changed, it's impossible to tell if it's hacked unless you receive the event or host the Raid yourself.

Finally, the Ditto! The 6-digit ID makes me think it's BDSP Ditto and not DPPt. From what I can tell, RNGing in the area that Ditto spawns in is super unreliable. It also has PKRUS, so it's 99.99% likely hacked. But no one cares about hacked Dittos so feel free to use it as you like 😜
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Ah ok, I was confused as a lot of the Pokémon I was looking at for reference went Gen IV-Gen VIII in about 1 hour haha. So Swablu is definitely hacked :(

Yeah raids are weird. Pretty sure my shiny Milcery x2 and Alcremie caught in-game myself are like that as they have identical IVs and nature, caught over the span of a few days. Ah well.

Yeah definitely BDSP origin mark. Might be quitting my GTS habit the way this is going!

EDIT: It has every Sinnoh ribbon I believe, plus the Master Rank ribbon (24 in total) so somebody was clearly very proud of their hack
 
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Amore said:
Yeah raids are weird. Pretty sure my shiny Milcery x2 and Alcremie caught in-game myself are like that as they have identical IVs and nature, caught over the span of a few days. Ah well.
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Just thought I'd clarify that unless this Raid is hacked, the worst that these Milcery would be considered is cloned (though I wouldn't count them as that, as they're all separate instances that can co-exist on Home if they're ever moved there). It's how I'm getting all those shiny Alcremie forms for my shiny living dex!
 
Pokémon: Wattrel
Ball: Level
Shiny: Yes
OT: DoushéCanoe
ID: 856605
Level: 1
Region of Origin: Paldea
Nature: Gentle
Ability: Wind Power
Ribbons: None
Location Met & Level Met: Egg hatched 03/13/23 in Los Platos, Egg received via Link Trade on 03/13/23 [ugh, can't Pokémon localise into real English dates aka what the rest of the world uses in their languages?]
Where/how you recieved it: Reddit giveaway (giving away 40 hatched / caught shinies, appears to do this monthly)
Individual Values/Characteristic: 31 / 31 / 31 / 31 / 31 / 31
Effort Values: None

My only concern is the egg trade - I've seen at a glance some things where you use a hacked Switch to generate the Eggs, then trade them to an untouched save on another console to make them considered legit. Not really sure what I can do here. Might use it anyway, at least for the 2nd half of my playthrough (although I have 2 legit shiny Electric-types I can sub instead, a self-caught Voltorb and traded Pawmi hehe)
 
Spiritomb
Master ball
Shiny
OT May
63771
67
Hoenn
Serious
Pressure
No ribbons
Seems to be first met in the hoenn region on 01/19/2041
First met Sky Pillar
IV/EV

Nasty plot
Memento
Dark pulse
Pain split
 
Avecha said:
Spiritomb
Master ball
Shiny
OT May
63771
67
Hoenn
Serious
Pressure
No ribbons
Seems to be first met in the hoenn region on 01/19/2041
First met Sky Pillar
IV/EV

Nasty plot
Memento
Dark pulse
Pain split
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Just my two cents - a Pokémon hatched in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire will have its original hatch location as the "First Met" location in Pokemon Home. I have migrated said hatchlings.

The issue is your Spiritomb is in a Master Ball, which cannot be inherited via breeding. As I don't see Spiritomb as one of the potential encounters in Sky Pillar, this appears to be an illegal Pokémon.
https://www.serebii.net/pokearth/hoenn/skypillar.shtml
 
Yeah, that was the conclusion I came to. Just wanted confirmation. I appreciate the help.

Not allowed to quote your post yet.
 
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