Back in 2019, Pokemon Sword & Shield’s excellent Surprise Trade function was quickly hijacked by hackers from all over the world. What was typically used to send fledgling players newly hatched perfect IV starters and pseudo-Legendary babies instantly became flooded with genned shinies and brazen website domains. As is the case with most nice things in the world, it was good until idiots made it bad.

There are obviously a wide variety of reasons as to why using Surprise Trade in this way is detrimental to the game. Unless you’re in the know, you could easily and accidentally use a hacked Pokemon in a ranked battle and pick up a ban. Even more insidious, kids can look at a shiny Cinderace and end up searching for the associated website on Google - $5 for a full lineup of shiny Legendaries? Five-year-old Adam down the road is fishing for his mam’s credit card as if it’s a gold Magikarp. People who abuse Pokemon’s thoughtful and benevolent trading system in this way should be ashamed of themselves.

Related: Pokemon Gold & Silver Had The Best Pokedex By A Long Shot

Fortunately, this whole fiasco seemed to be under control earlier this year. In January, Nintendo itself issued a statement warning all hackers that modifying game data - which includes genning artificial Pokemon - could result in bans across various in-game functions. The warning even extended to permanent suspensions from Pokemon Home in specific circumstances. For a while, Surprise Trade became usable again. After recently receiving some hacked ‘mons myself though, I decided to do some digging, and according to over ten players I’ve spoken to, the issue has returned.

Many people have taken to Reddit in order to air their grievances. For example, one Reddit user who goes by the name Zer0_Wolf was able to obtain a full team of hacked Pokemon in under two hours just a couple of months ago. They tell me that while they were aware of hacked ‘mons being in circulation, they never expected for the quantities to be so high.

“I was trying to complete my Dex using Surprise Trading,” Zer0_Wolf explains. “After seeing the amount of hacked ‘mons I got in just a few minutes, I decided to run my experiment. It happens a lot, but it happens in intervals. During my test I had hours in which I found a lot, but then a pause during which I encountered none.” Zer0_Wolf has since released all of the genned Pokemon they received and is hoping Nintendo does something to rectify the issue in next month’s Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl.

This is fairly typical, although it’s also worth pointing to another player who received a genned Eevee less than two weeks ago and was completely unaware it was hacked. If you’re reading this article, there’s a relatively high chance that you already know what’s up with Surprise Trading. It’s worth remembering that you are in the minority here and that the vast majority of regular players either do not consider this to be a problem or even recognise it as one in the first place. When people find out, they understandably panic - while The Pokemon Company isn’t going to ban innocent players for something out of their control, there’s a certain fear inherent to involuntarily participating in a practice Nintendo has specifically labeled as a bannable offense.

I reached out to a bunch of other people affected by the hacks to see what exactly went down. One Reddit user named Pagpie tells me they had no idea genned Pokemon were a thing, stating they “didn’t recognise the names as anything funky.” On top of being disappointed after finding out - they excitedly posted about getting a surprise shiny on Reddit before the situation was explained to them - they were afraid of being banned. They don’t trade anymore.

“This happens frequently,” a Redditor named Calaquinn tells me. “There is that initial feeling of ‘omg someone sent me a shiny, what!?’ For someone who doesn't play competitive it might be cool, but as someone who does play ranked you kinda just roll your eyes. It's wrong purely because the game is still being played competitively. With BDSP and Legends both not being competitive games, SwSh is going to be the main competitive experience for a while. And as long as it is, hacked mons will always be illegal.”

Another player, shunshine-in-a-bag, says they knew the shiny level 100 Dracovish they got on their second day playing the game was way too good to be true. “I usually Surprise Trade when I’m bored,” they explain. “I give some of my good ‘mons I don’t need away hoping it goes to someone just starting the game.” This is the proper function of Surprise Trading, which has been bastardised by genning.

It’s had the opposite effect on other people. In general, the reason these Pokemon exist in Surprise Trade in the first place is to advertise the commercial genning sites behind them. A Redditor who goes by a_unique___username makes the important point of stating they never would have known about hacked Pokemon or the economy behind them if they didn’t encounter it while trading. They’re ashamed to admit that they ended up visiting one of the sites they encountered to buy a genned Mew - this is exactly what the hackers want.

Why I’m Waiting To Catch Mew In Pokemon Go
Why I’m Waiting To Catch Mew In Pokemon Go

It’s a relatively new phenomenon, too. While hacking has been around for donkey’s years, it has never been monetised to this extent. “I [already] knew about hacked Pokemon,” a Redditor named quanturnleap explains. “Back when I played X, I voice-chatted with a couple players who'd hand them out like candy and I could infer that people were selling them, but until SwSh, I never had the experience of hacking services being advertised to me through Surprise Trade.”

This issue is further exacerbated by the fact people have publicly been arrested for modifying data in Pokemon games. Back in 2019, a Japanese businessman was caught selling modified game data as a side gig and convicted for it. Another case specifically tied to genning shinies happened as recently as this February.

The fear, then, is understandable, although it’s not necessarily unanimous. With issues like this, any acknowledgement of or participation in the practice only perpetuates it. Some players have - bafflingly - consciously admitted to using Pokemon they know are a) fake and b) illegal to con kids out of their legitimate Legendaries. While the genners themselves are the real perpetrators, anyone who continues to Surprise Trade - or worse, Link Trade - using these Pokemon is an inextricable accomplice to the crime.

“I've heard of many players who've been more confused,” quanturnleap says. “You see a lot of people asking ‘is this hacked?’ about hacked ad Pokemon in the SwSh subreddits. And it's easy for some people, especially kids, to get duped into thinking the Pokemon are legitimate and maybe buying some from the advertiser.

“All the advertisers are bad, but by far the worst offender is Machamps.com. I've heard - though this is secondhand info, so grain of salt - they've been dodging PayPal fees and scrutiny by asking for ‘friends and family’ payments for hacked Pokemon.”

machamps com

Clearly, the only way to properly deal with the issue is to release the illegal Pokemon you’ve been sent. Given that they’re usually carrying a valuable item, most people tend to take the Master Ball or Focus Sash or whatever else they’re holding before getting rid of the Pokemon, which is purportedly fine and risk-free. Others use the perfect IV ‘mon to breed, which many people consider to be okay given that there is no increased chance for it to be shiny and obtaining perfect IVs legitimately isn’t too taxing anyway. I’m not one to judge as long as people don’t put them back into trade circulation, although I do feel obliged to remind you of the issue from February 2020 where an illegal Pokemon broke several people’s games.

It’s worth expanding on the items I mentioned above, too. Prior to Nintendo’s statement earlier this year, all genned Pokemon were identifiable via a range of near-certainties.

  • They were all shiny
  • They were all level 1 or 100
  • They all had perfect IVs
  • They were all in a novelty Poke Ball
  • They all had website domains as their original trainer name
  • They were all holding a Master Ball

While most of these conditions still hold true today, it’s worth noting that the last two have changed slightly. Popular domain names that regularly appear in Surprise Trade include Pokeflash.co, VenuLair.com, Eevee.vip, PokeGen.club, Machamps.com, and many more. That last one is what we want to look at here.

Pokemon Shiny Greninja Preparing For A Battle

Machamp’s Gym is a popular genning group that has come under fire in the past for selling hacked Pokemon and claiming that it isn’t illegal. At the time of writing, it has over 55,000 members on Facebook, indicating that the community is still booming even after Nintendo’s anti-hacking statement. While this is disappointing, we can notice certain measures being put in place that imply something good is happening behind the scenes.

Many Machamps.com Pokemon are now listed as Machamps.org in Surprise Trade, meaning that the group has consciously reworked its naming procedures. This is likely a result of Nintendo sweeping for dot com domain names - while hackers are currently getting around said sweeps, the fact they’re being conducted at all is a net win. More evidence of this can be found in the fact that genned Pokemon rarely carry Master Balls anymore, likely for the same reason. While algorithms can’t catch every illegal Pokemon that goes through Surprise Trade, the fact they’re catching any at all is progress.

Hacking is still extremely prevalent in Pokemon Sword & Shield, which is disappointing when you consider they’ve been around for almost two years and thousands of genned Pokemon are still in active trade circulation. That being said, there are minor signs appearing that seem to imply Nintendo is making an effort to crack down on it. As it stands, I’d say at least one in ten of the Surprise Trades I do result in me receiving a hacked ‘mon, although if domain names and held items are changing to avoid sweeping systems, we could be on the way to a trading platform that isn’t riddled with scams and illegality.

If you’re unsure about whether or not a Pokemon has been genned, always check the trainer name and whether or not it’s shiny. Also, be sure to consult the full list of impossible shinies so you can instantly spot an illegal one. Given that some Pokemon are still shiny-locked, meaning their shiny variants can’t be encountered by legitimate methods, the only way to obtain them is via hacking.

For now, all we can do is be vigilant in reporting the issue and hoping that Nintendo finds a way of effectively putting an end to commercial Pokemon genning that is predatory towards kids and spoils one of the most fundamental parts of the game’s online component. If you receive a Pokemon from Machamps.com, be sure to release it and post about it online to spread awareness.

Next: Three Years On, Red Dead Redemption 2 Is Still The Most Impressive Game Ever