Hacking Pokemon X & Y: Now With 100% Chance of Shiny Pokemon?

As all the next-gen hullabaloo dies away, we check out what the Pokemon X and Y hacking community has been doing with Game Freak's baby.

Article by Cassandra Khaw Contributor

Updated on Jan. 22, 2014

This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.

It's not every day that we get new consoles. If it were, we'd be an impoverished demographic incapable of partaking in even the simplest of caffeinated pleasures. And while the arrival of the Xbox One and the Playstation 4 were indubitably exciting, they also distracted us from other things, things like the Pokemon community and what they've been doing with Pokemon X&Y's fiddly bits. So, in light of that, here's a quick and dirty recap of what has happened thus far.

We Know How Pokemon X & Y's Insides Work

About a month ago, Pokecheck owner Xfr and Pokecheck administrator Bond697 dumped and decrypted some of the new Pokemon files. Which, in simpler terms, means they mapped out the games' DNA sequence. It's all a spot of gibberish from a layman's perspective but it's interesting gibberish. Among other things, they found out that:

Box pkxs are now 232 bytes, as opposed to 136 previously.
Pkxs store the current owner + the original OT for a given Pokemon.
The encryption on the pkx files works slightly differently.
Hatched eggs save the moves they hatched with separately for the move relearner.

The exact details are located on the Project Pokemon Wiki.

We Know There's a PKX Editor and an Automatic PKX Dumper

Days after Xfr and Bond679 outlined Pokemon X and Y's genetic structure, another enterprising pair stepped up to bat. Codemonkey85 from Project Pokemon and a chap(ette) called Zaneris came together and made it possible to do more than just stare longingly at a wiki page. The PKX Editor that was released lets you tinker with variables like the Pokemon's IVs, EVs, moveset and so on. The Automatic PKX Dumper, on the other hand, provides the opportunity to pretend you're Xfr and Bond679. With it, users can migrate Pokemon data from the 3DS to the PC. Pretty neat, eh? Fortunately, performing the reverse appears to be impossible at the moment. Unless you're a 3DS whiz with a knack for reverse engineering, that is.

We Know There Are Unannounced Pokemon, Mega Evolutions and Old Legendaries

You've probably heard about this but we'll bring it up again just because. A hacker apparently rooted out evidence of Pokemon that Game Freak has yet to see fit to talk about. Maybe, because they're bad Pokemon and Game Freak is ashamed. Maybe, timing. Who knows? Game Freak probably will never tell. (I would even call "strategic attempt at hyping us even more" but I promised people I'd stop being such a conspiracy theorist.) While no one seems to have any idea as to when or if these critters will ever be allowed to see the light of day, images of these mysterious Pokemon remain available for public consumption.

For reference's sake, Diancie's purportedly a Rock/Fairy type, Hoopa Psychic/Ghost and Volcanion's a dichotomous Water/Fire. As for the divulged Mega Evolutions, these include Mega Latios and Mega Latias. The random Floette and Vivillions in the right? New colors and, well, something within spoiler territory. Sssh.

If you're wrinkling your nose at the sight of these new Pokemon, you might be happy to know that leaked images of Celebi, Kyurem, Lugia, Arceus and Mew(?!) were also found. Again, you probably shouldn't take this as an indication that these Pokemon are imminent. As far as we know, they could simply be abandoned ideas that the developers never got around to removing from the code repository.

We Know There's A 100% Chance of Rai - Er, Shiny Pokemon

Remember how shiny Pokemon used to be the bees' knees and how acquiring a shiny Pokemon was testament to either your determination or your incredible luck? Well, those days are over. Though not a hack, this "exploit" will probably still levitate eyebrows the same way. As the sub-header may have suggested to you, this section revolves around guaranteeing yourself a shiny Pokemon.

The idea behind all this is kind of neat and moderately tedious. First, you need to pick up the InstaCheck program. After that, you're going to want to figure out what your Trainer Shiny Value (it's a combination of your ID and your secret ID) is. Now, here's the deal. If you hatch an egg corresponding to your TSV, it will invariably come out as shiny as a Skritt's ancestral heirloom. Sounds pretty simple, right? It is. The problem was that previously, we didn't really have access to all the integral data or a network of people eager to become temporary surrogate parents. With the SVExchange subreddit, however, everything changed. Now, you can hunt down people with the TSV value you need, send them your egg and pray that they don't trundle off with a glittery new pet. It's not a foolproof system but it's arguably less damaging to your blood pressure.

We Know Game Freak Sees You When You're Cheating

They know when you've been bad. They know when you've been hacking so be good for goodness's sake. Or something. You get the picture. Jokes aside, here's something for those wanting to be vigilant against hacked Pokemon. The little blue pentagon that you see below your Pokemon's image is apparently confirmation of legitimacy. If it's absent, there's a chance that either something has gone terribly wrong with its programming or it's the result of a literal hack job. The bad news is that while it's possible to identify hacked Pokemon, there doesn't appear to be much you can do with that information.

Need more Pokemon help?

Check out these other USgamer Pokemon articles. We have tons of hints, tips and information on how to get the best out of your team – and become a Pokemon master.

More Starter Pokemon, Less Starting Pokemon: We Can Make Pokémon X & Y's Wonder TradeBetter!

Pokemon X and Y Multiplayer Guide: Tips & Tricks, Best Pokemon Teams, Competitive Meta

What are the Strongest, Most Competitive Pokemon That'll Help You Build the Best Team

How Do You Know If You Have the Best Pokemon X & Y Team?

Pokemon X and Y Post Game: What to Do After You've Beaten the Elite Four?

How to Get a Shiny Pokemon In Pokemon X and Y