Lecture Notes: The Culture of Hacking in Competitive Pokémon

Introduction

• Discourse about professional VGC (Video Game Championship) players hacking their teams.
• K Phonics (data miner) criticizes pros for hacking in Gen 8.
• Easy access to competitive team building raises questions about hacking's prevalence.

Historical Context

• Generations 4 and 5: Lack of accessibility features made team building time-consuming.
  • Players resorted to hacking to create competitive teams.
• Modern games (Gen 8 and beyond) offer easier ways to obtain good IV Pokémon and legendaries.

Project Overview

• Attempt to recreate the 2011 World Championship team in Pokémon White without hacking.
• Aim to get all Pokémon shiny and match original team specifications (nature, IVs, EVs).
• Minimize outside help from other games.
• Using a timer to track the total time taken for each task.

Task Breakdown

Initial Setup

• Power Items for EV Training:
  • Grind in Battle Subway to acquire power items (5 hours spent).
• Preparation for breeding and RNG manipulation.
• Acquire Dream World exclusive Pokémon (Chatot).

RNG Manipulation Explained

• Manipulation based on date/time when launching the game.
• IV RNG and Personality ID RNG are key components.
• Using Chatot's recorded chatter to control RNG.

EV Training Process

• Acquired PokeRus to double EVs.
• Obtained a 6IV Ditto for breeding.
• Total setup time: 6 hours 49 minutes.

Team Building Steps

1. Catching Legendary Pokémon:

   • Caught Cobalion and Terrakion, using similar methods and RNG manipulation.
   • Time spent: 7 hours 26 minutes total.

2. Breeding Pokémon:

   • Example: Timber - faced challenges with egg moves and nature.
   • Finalized with proper nature and moves (3 hours 34 minutes).
   • Each Pokémon took around 1-2 hours to breed with necessary moves.

3. **Catching Thundurus:

   • Difficult due to RNG and weather conditions (2 hours 37 minutes).

4. Total Time for Catching/Obtaining Pokémon:

   • 16 hours 43 minutes for all team members.**

EV Training and Leveling

• Explained EV training methods (vitamins, KO Pokémon).
• Total time for EV training: 1 hour 58 minutes.

Final Steps

• Leveling Up:

  • Used Lucky Egg and EXP Pass Power to maximize efficiency.
  • Total leveling time: 1 hour 44 minutes.

• PP Ups Acquisition:

  • Needed for maxing out move PP (72 required, grinding PP ups took 6 hours 32 minutes).

• Final Item Acquisition:

  • Gathering berries and Choice Scarf took another 1 hour 58 minutes.

Conclusion

• Total Time Spent: Approximately 28 hours and 58 minutes.
• Reflecting on Hacking Culture:
  • Hacking normalized due to past inefficiencies in team building.
  • Modern games have made team building easier but the culture persists.
• Expressed hope for future generations to improve accessibility further.

Closing Remarks

• Encouraged feedback for future team-building projects in different generations and metagames.
• Acknowledged channel members for their support.