Over 5,000 Players Banned for Hacking Pokémon

by

According to Serebii.net, The Pokémon Company has announced that 5,954 Pokémon Sun & Moon players have been banned for “altered save data”. Although normally nothing to worry about for people who do not try to hack their games, there are a number of legitimately obtained Pokémon/move combinations that can erroneously trigger the system. No cases of false positives ending in a complete system ban have been reported, but it is something to keep an eye out for.

Players will know that they have been banned if the error code 090-0212 appears when they try to connect to online functions. It prohibits participation in Rating Battles, competitions, and Global Missions, as well as use of Game Sync.

Hopefully this will not cause any issues for players bringing in many new Pokémon and movesets from older games via Bank.

Supporters

Nick F

Smearg

Foil Island

Conglome NERD

alcremie sundae

Radiant Blutle

Zachery

Dragoniteo

Austin John Plays

Help support our work by becoming a Patron on Patreon! Swadloon Platoon members and above will be added to our site supporters list!

1,252 thoughts on “Over 5,000 Players Banned for Hacking Pokémon”

  2. Yeah some of their hack checks were preeeeettty sketchy. It was pretty evident during the Bank transition during Gen 5-6 where a lot of legit events were not getting through; and when that VGC player with the Dream Ball Aegislash was just let through just fine…

    Reply

  3. Oh yeah, you should all be careful of evolving things Poketransported from Gen 1 that have later gen evos… I’ve heard reports there’s problems with Blisseys, Eeveelutions and the like…

    Reply

  4. today’s episode was interesting
    So Bewear is definitely holding them hostage
    They’re still in contact with Team Rocket
    James catches a Mareanie…..which has a…..crush on him
    And apparently Mimikyu’s disguise can be removed and its shadow body can move freely underwater (don’t know if it needs to breathe)
    And the terrors of the sea are….Pink

    Reply

    • If it wasn’t for bewear this would be their most capable team yet. Really hope they try to catch it but I don’t see that happening as it would make them to OP. Also that Mimikyu has issues….

      Reply

  6. “there are a number of legitimately obtained Pokémon/move combinations that can erroneously trigger the system”

    Could you be more precise? Which combinations are those?
    I am afraid now to use any Bank pokemon with complicated egg move chains :/

    Reply

    • Well, I can’t think of a bannable combination, but here’s a somewhat-related example.

      In Emerald, you could get Mew from Faraway Island and catch it in whatever Ball you wanted. In RBY, you could catch it via a perfectly legal glitch, also in any Ball you wanted. However, every other method to obtain Mew is from an event, in which case it comes to you in a Cherish Ball.

      From what I understand, Pokemon Bank is doing the Cherish Ball check on Mew, which would make any Mew obtained from the aforementioned examples “problematic” and unable to be sent to Pokemon Bank.

      I don’t think it can get you banned, but that combination is pretty much along the lines of what you were asking. I doubt you would get banned for egg moves, though. Hopefully that helps.

      Reply

      • also to add certain legit Pokemon like a shiny jirachi which is possible to get if its the jirachi from the extra CD that came with Pokemon box I think. Also the special 10 anniversary pikachu with fly can’t be traded either

        Reply

  7. Is it going to be triggered by hacked but “legitimate” Pokemon? Like, say, you used action replay to change the nature of a Pokemon?

    I’m all for banning people who have Pokemon with illegal move pools, but let’s be real here. There’s no difference, aside from time spent getting it, between a Pokemon that has been hacked to perfection and one that has been bred to perfection in the exact same way.

    Reply

    • Technically Pokémon hacked into the game can cause files to become corrupted. Especially when done incorrectly, or with malicious intent (to purposefully corrupt people’s files), so I also understand it from that point of view. Especially if these Pokemon are allowed to be traded e.t.c…

      Reply

      • Save data corruption from edited or genned mons is nearly impossible in Gen 7 games. The game can interpret a pokemon’s data values (even if they’re impossible to achieve through normal play) without problems because, unlike previous gens, these values are standalone and aren’t used to calculate anything other than that single pokemon’s stats, moves, level, etc. This means that your save file would have to be edited with something other than powersaves or pkhex (e.g. editing the game data’s code/text or changing values that aren’t accessible through pkhex/PS) in order for a chance of “corruption” to occur. Even so, pokemon are hack checked for legality before they can even be put into the GTS or wifi traded.

        Reply

  11. With Fake Out on Salandit now available I have bred a competitive female one just today… should’ve been yesterday but I didn’t realize that there’s a breeding chain involved…

    Reply

  15. Aonuma apparently confirmed that BotW has multiple/alternate endings if certain in-game requirements are met. This will split the timeline even more ffs

    Reply

    • Ehhh its not so so bad, the real struggle is NidoranM with its hidden ability with everything but attack

      Funny story how I actually got mine, long ago there was this guy who went by Maple, and during the time we were frivals since we shared a love for Mamoswine, but one night he was stressing and thinking about leaving the site for good until he got his life on track, so I decided to sing him Landslide by Steavie Nicks, and during the time I was hatching Nidorans but at the very end of the song, I hatched a Male Timid Nidoran with Hustle and everything but Atk. He felt better and I had my Nidoran which has been a staple in my Earthen Warriors

      Reply

  18. Huh, I wonder what region Lillie’s from? Her diary makes it exceptionally clear that she’s not from Alola and hints that she’s from a region with gym leaders and an elite four (which Alola didn’t have when Lillie arrived)

    Sinnoh Sinnoh Sinnoh

    Reply

  20. So since work is hella slow why not bang out a Fakemon
    So I need to start thinking about Gym leaders, Team Quake Admins and elite four and champion
    And the Champion of Eyanu is Freya, a naturalist and environmentalist, who truly loves nature and the life blooming in Eyanu region (a real flower child)
    Which inspired her strongest Pokemon line

    Beannik
    The Seedling Pkm (originally the Do-Nothing Pkm)
    Grass
    Chlorophyll/Natural Cure
    A very simple Bean shaped Pokemon with chibi eyes and a large leaf sprouting out of its head, tiny leafs at its base to use as either hands or feet
    “Beannik do nothing but sway and bounce in the sunlight and breezes, Their leaves produce an aroma that creates a sense of euphoria”

    Next into
    Flowyrchid (needs some work maybe Florchid)
    The blossoming Pkm
    Grass
    Chlorophyll/Natural Cure
    This Plant Pokemon resembles a young child, pale green body with long gold and green hair of grass, it has numerous flowers on its head, no visible legs but it has a grass skirt that “floats” with a bright cheery face with long eyelashes
    “Positive and upbeat, they spend their days collecting plants and scattering seeds, it dances happily at sundown

    And finally
    Fleurmonious
    The Spiritual Pkm
    Grass/Psychic
    Chlorophyll/Natural Cure HA: Serenity Aura (prevents all Pokemon from being afflicted with status effects)
    A tall vibrant humanoid Pokemon with extremely long hair of grass reaching the ground filled with tiny white flowers, a wisely flowing gown of green plant matter and delicate hands, it has a ring of flowers around its head and neck, deep soulful eyes and lastly a pair of leaves on its back that can be used as wings
    “Fleurmonious revere nature at all costs, they feel pain whenever the environment is damaged in any way, they gather in large groups to breathe life into forests to protect them

    Reply

  21. I realize 6,000 is kind of a drop in the ocean compared to the number of people who actually play Pokemon, but I gotta say I’m a little nervous now……I have 2 hacked Pokemon that I know of. The first was a shiny Shaymin I made back in gen 5 so I could complete the national dex just by touch at the very least. The second is AZ’s Floette which I got just out of curiosity and just wanted to see her in action. Both of which I would never use online for any reason in general due to them being hacked. Shaymin might be ok as I was able to not only bring it up from gen 5, but also put into Bank without it even noticing. That much hasn’t changed. Floette I’ve never moved from my Y so I suppose that should be ok too……What I’m afraid of is if I’ll get banned simply for having them period. I’m not very competitive, but I’d like to be able to at some point if the mood strikes my fancy. I’d never cheat, but this has me nervous. I really hope that since 6, 000 is such a small number com[pared to the number of actual players I won’t be one of the unlucky ones……also the fear of any of my legit Pokemon looking like a fake is also scary. they need to fix that at the very least…….

    Reply

  23. So I had a friend trade me a shiny Buzzwole which was obviously hacked since they don’t exist and I knew it at the time, but stupidly made the trade anyway and didn’t think much of it. To avoid the trouble should I just release it? Thanks guys.

    Reply

  24. So again is it just HAVING hacked Pokemon that gets you banned or is it the act of trying to use said hacked Pokemon that gets you banned……I really don’t want to get banned simply due to be having a single on in my Bank somewhere……..

    Reply

    • Yeah they aren’t really being clear on that point (or maybe im just not understanding?) But I think it’s trying to use hack that gets you the ban

      Reply

      • I would hope it’s actually trying to use them that gets you banned. Just having them shouldn’t be a crime lol If it’s just having them then many more innocent people could get banned when they aren’t even doing anything to cheat…..

        Reply

    • I mean it says edited save data….because I technically have 3 6IV Dittos from that event thingy and I don’t want to get canned just because of that

      Reply

Leave a Comment