A newbie's questions

[Eggs]

Hi, almost completely new to save editing here. I wanted to use PkHeX to "bring" back some mons I had in the older gens that I couldn't quite transfer out of and into the latest games. I've done some research and just wanted to ask a few questions before moving forward.

• What are the pros and cons of getting a discord bot to trade you your genned mons? One such con to this I can think of is that you can't use your genned mons in games like Legends Arceus.
• Apart from resorting to the trade bots, is there really no other way for me to edit my save files without having to void the warranty on my Switch by installing homebrew?
• Say I create 3 different Gen 3 mons and have to alter their TID, SID etc. to make them shiny or have whatever IVs, and then I make their OTs all 'Eggs', will having different TIDs on each mons have any noticeable impact?
• Would it be practical to buy a second-hand Switch (say, only the tablet/screen) for the express purpose of using it to gen my mons and then trading them to my 'main' Switch?
• If so, then any chance a Switch bought in '23/'24 is able to successfully be hacked?

Thank you in advance for your answers!

Edited December 26, 2023 by Eggs

[SkyLink98]

46 minutes ago, Eggs said:

What are the pros and cons of getting a discord bot to trade you your genned mons? One such con to this I can think of is that you can't use your genned mons in games like Legends Arceus.

Spoofing a transfer with PKHeX or SysBots would most likely invalidate its tracker, meaning you can not transfer that mon to Home (and consequentially to any other game, without the use of PKHeX or SysBot for those games).

46 minutes ago, Eggs said:

Apart from resorting to the trade bots, is there really no other way for me to edit my save files without having to void the warranty on my Switch by installing homebrew?

Using homebrews on your Switch does not invalidate the console warrenty. You'll have no traces on the console since all the software runs "on the fly". Once the console is shut down, nothing remains of the unauthorized software. This, unless you install pirated games (which keeps tracks on nand even if you uninstall them). Which is against our rules either way.

46 minutes ago, Eggs said:

Say I create 3 different Gen 3 mons and have to alter their TID, SID etc. to make them shiny or have whatever IVs, and then I make their OTs all 'Eggs', will having different TIDs on each mons have any noticeable impact?

No, until said mons remains on the game you received it on. Let's say you obtained the Gen 3 mon with a SV SysBot, you can keep it on SV. If you edit any immutable value from a mon that has been through Home, its tracker will be invalidated and can not be deposited into Home anymore.

46 minutes ago, Eggs said:

Would it be practical to buy a second-hand Switch (say, only the tablet/screen) for the express purpose of using it to gen my mons and then trading them to my 'main' Switch?

Not really needed, as SysNand CFW can't be detected until you do piracy or cheating during online competitive games.

46 minutes ago, Eggs said:

If so, then any chance a Switch bought in '23/'24 is able to successfully be hacked?

Only 2017 and early 2018 v1 Switch can be soft-hacked. Newer consoles require an hardmod (chip soldering on the console mainboard).

[Eggs]

14 hours ago, SkyLink98 said:

Only 2017 and early 2018 v1 Switch can be soft-hacked. Newer consoles require an hardmod (chip soldering on the console mainboard).

Ah, I see. Unfortunately my own Switch doesn't meet the cutoff.  Looks like I'll have to actually get a second Switch like the one you specified above since chip soldering is out of my element, and I don't believe I have the guts to try manually downgrading its firmware (not that I can anyways, since I only own a mac currently).

That being said, sorry I didn't manage to clarify what I actually wanted to do to bring my old mons into the current gen. I found a Gamefaq post that's somewhat similar to what I'm doing. I don't have any real way of transferring them up to SV so I was wondering if I could manually recreate them in HeX (albeit not perfectly, the only stuff I want to keep are the origin game, OT name, nickname, ball caught in, and whether or not they're shiny) and then port them over SV before sending them to Home. I understand this isn't possible due to the Home Tracker ID issue, so is there any workaround to this?

Edited December 27, 2023 by Eggs

[SkyLink98]

6 hours ago, Eggs said:

I understand this isn't possible due to the Home Tracker ID issue, so is there any workaround to this?

There is no workaround. If you generate an old gen Pokemon into Scarlet and Violet, Home expects server side data for old generations to exists (and be valid). If the server side data does not exist and/or is not linked to a valid tracker, and/or there's mismatch between the server side data and the core data in the Pokemon you're depositing, the Pokemon can not be deposited.

 

[Eggs]

6 hours ago, SkyLink98 said:

There is no workaround. l

Ah, I see. I guess I'll just never transfer them through Home and instead keep them on my game and on my laptop as files, so I guess they'll always be with me in that sense/spirit. I have heard that a group is working on a homebrew version of Home that allows you to transfer up illegitimate mons, is that true and if so, when can we expect it to be done? Also, if I were to use these 'illegal' mons in online play, would the game block me from doing so despite everything else being legal? Again, thank you for your help!

[SkyLink98]

6 hours ago, Eggs said:

I have heard that a group is working on a homebrew version of Home that allows you to transfer up illegitimate mons

No one can craft Home server side data and Home trackers. Just use PKHeX at that point. I doubt any homebrew application will handle the transfers better than PKHeX.

6 hours ago, Eggs said:

if I were to use these 'illegal' mons in online play, would the game block me from doing so despite everything else being legal? Again, thank you for your help!

The games don't block invalid Home mons, but TPCi showed they can check for Home trackers when they care. A bunch of partecipants have been disqualified in official competitions due to the lack of a valid Home tracker in their team members.