Hi! long time Pokemon player trying to get back into things full force

[dreamxtheater]

I've played almost all the pokemon games minus a few newer ones. I stopped playing after a  difficult separation and lost my love for the games. I started playing Pokemon Go during my pregnancy during the pandemic and the love was back, I bought sword and shield, jumped right back in like I never left and I'd love to be part of a community of people who love Pokemon too. I used to clone and gen Pokemon but have no idea how to do it now. Downloading PKhex is what brought me here and hopefully I can learn how to do everything again! 

So, Hi everyone! 

[Hide]

Hey, hope you have a great time playing the game. The contributors of this community are true experts at this, you came to the right place!

Laying your hands on PKHEX is the first step indeed, but you must be aware you have to prepare your system to extract saved-game files from your device, which might require you to tamper with your (switch) handheld.

There are several technical details involved with modifying Pokémon, important things have changed from one generation to another.

I have two suggestions for you:

Download and edit saved-game files from the internet (e.g. Sword/Shield SAVs), to learn about using PKHEX and making legit Pokémon in the current generation. This will be a good start regardless of having a modified handled or not.

Or, if you want to get acquainted with PXHEX using your own devices and data, I suggest you start with older handhelds and older games; it is easier to “modify” and older console than a newer one, including moving files from your PC to your device.

The older games do not rely that much in web-based services, so you can reduce the risk of getting banned and ruining your account/game.

[dreamxtheater]

Thank you so much for the information! I very much want to stay away from messing with my switch, but wanted to prep my 3dsxl. I used to clone and make pokemon but that was back using python and the old GTS now I feel like a fish out of water haha. 

I've been getting a hang of making legit mons which feels nice, the Met location was difficult for me at first.

is there any guides you can recommend for modding a 3ds and getting it ready to use with PKHeX? That is pretty much the step I'm at now, I've already made sure my DS doesn't have anything currently done to it so I'm good to go.... Hopefully I don't royally mess it up xD 

[Hide]

Sure, check your inbox. For the matter of extracting/dumping saved games, check this post:
https://projectpokemon.org/home/tutorials/save-editing/managing-3ds-saves/