Pokémon Sword & Shield: Is Your Pokémon Hacked?

gameranx.com:

Online Pokémon trading is simultaneously the best and worst feature in the mainline Pokémon games. Starting with Generation 6 on the 3DS, Pokémon introduced us to the world of randomized trading. Previously called the Wonder Trade, Sword and Shield continues the tradition with Surprise Trades.

But with better online interactions, Pokémon opens itself up to hacking. There are a handful of websites that offer Pokémon hacking services and they constantly “advertise” through Surprise Trades. Needless to say, please don’t use these.

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However, some hacks aren’t that obvious. Fake Pokémon can be hacked or generated. Generally, the difference between the two is that hacked Pokémon are created outside of the game and then ported in, while generated Pokémon are manipulated from the source file.

Hacks are getting so much better, but you can still weed them out from legit Pokémon. While completing the game will help you figure out if a Pokémon is hacked, it’s not necessary.

This is the big question. Why should hacked or generated Pokémon matter to you? Anyone who competes or wants to compete in the competitive online battles knows that hacked Pokémon are banned. So to get the most out of your Pokémon, you breed them. The great thing about Surprise Trades is that you can save yourself some breeding time. Many players are IV breeding, so you have a good chance of getting a Pokémon with 4 or 5 perfect IVs to start your breeding with.

The biggest issue is that if you get a hacked Pokémon that looks legit and you use that hacked Pokémon as a breeder, then it’ll