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The Culture of Hacking in Pokémon

May 13, 2025

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.