Pokemon Sword and Shield Player Learns the Disappointing Side of Surprise Trades

Shiny Pokemon can be incredibly hard to come by in Pokemon Sword and Shield on Nintendo Switch, but sometimes players just happen to luck into them. That seemed to be the case for Reddit user Pagpie, who got their first Shiny ever through a Surprise Trade. A player decided to gift them with a Shiny Cinderace, which would be very cool in most circumstances. The final evolved form of the Galar starter Scorbunny, Cinderace is an awesome Pokemon to get as a Shiny. The Pokemon's normal white coloration has been swapped out for a sleek grey color, and it really makes the Fire-type stand out. Unfortunately, the whole thing proved too good to be true!

After sharing their tale of good fortune on Reddit, several posters pointed out that the Pokemon may have been hacked. After checking the Pokemon's original trainer, Pagpie was disheartened to discover that the Shiny Cinderace actually came from a website that sends out hacked Pokemon. The original Reddit post can be found embedded below.

Pagpie's story is a good cautionary tale for fans of Pokemon Sword and Shield! Oftentimes, hacked Pokemon are sent out to unsuspecting players in the game. This has happened to me, but my traded Pokemon had a website address as the nickname, as opposed to the name of the original trainer. Players can get banned for using Pokemon that have been hacked, regardless of whether or not it was received in a trade. When getting a great trade in the game, players always want to check these details to prevent themselves from dealing with future issues.

While Pagpie's story is discouraging, it does have a happy ending. Pagpie ended up with some legitimate Shiny Pokemon from their fellow posters as a gift for their troubles. It just goes to show the real kindness and passion of the Pokemon community. At the end of the day, the Shiny Pokemon Pagpie received from their fellow posters just might end up being more meaningful than that Cinderace ever would have!

Pokemon Sword and Shield is available now, exclusively on Nintendo Switch. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the game right here.

Are you a fan of Pokemon Sword and Shield? Have you ever gotten a hacked Pokemon in the game? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!