Pokemon Sword and Shield Players Get Unreleased Pokemon in Surprise Trades

Pokemon Sword and Shield players are discovering unreleased Pokemon randomly popping up in [...]

By Christian Hoffer

Pokemon Sword and Shield players are discovering unreleased Pokemon randomly popping up in Surprise Trades. Multiple players have reported getting Pokemon that shouldn't be available in the game, such as Litten or Squirtle, in Surprise Trades. While these Pokemon are coded into the game (and will likely be added via giveaways or events), they are currently unavailable to catch or obtain through "legal" means. The Pokemon ultimately come from a hack that allows players to freely set up Max Raid Battles for any Pokemon coded in the game, including those that aren't yet available. Once a player catches the hacked Pokemon in a Max Raid Battle, they then breed the Pokemon (likely to obtain either a Pokemon with perfect IVs or to get a Shiny version) and then send the extra Pokemon into the ether via Surprise Trades.

Players who obtain a Pokemon like Litten from a Surprise Trade probably don't need to fear any sort of repercussion, as there's no way to differentiate a Pokemon that was bred from a hacked Pokemon from a Pokemon obtained from other means outside of its catch date. Players should keep in mind that these Pokemon ultimately come from a hacked source, and obviously these Pokemon can't be used in any sort of competitive play.

For players who aren't lucky enough to receive one of these Pokemon through Surprise Trade, there will still be other opportunities to get them soon enough. The Pokemon Company will release its Pokemon Home app later this month, which will allow players to transfer Pokemon from older games into a new cloud-based service. It's likely that Pokemon Sword and Shield will let players transfer some of their old favorites (such as the Kanto Starter Pokemon) either after Pokemon Home is released or when the Pokemon Sword and Shield DLC is released later this summer.

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