Pokémon Legality

Definition

• Legal (Valid) Pokémon are able to exist naturally in the game without the use of external devices.
• Illegal Pokémon are not able to exist naturally in the game without the use of external devices.
• Legitimate (Legit) Pokémon are created without the use of external devices. Because all of these Pokémon are also able to exist naturally in the game, legitimate Pokémon are a subset of legal Pokémon.

Although illegal Pokémon can only be created with the use of an external device (they simply cannot exist without the intervention of such a device), legal Pokémon can be created either naturally or through the intervention of an external device. Legitimate Pokémon, however, are always created naturally. Because of the nature of these definitions, it is possible to check for the legality of the Pokémon, but impossible to check for legitimacy. Therefore, there is no objective way to tell whether a Pokémon is truly legitimate or not. Programs such as Legality Checker and pAC can only check for legality, not legitimacy.

Examples:

• A Torterra, originating as a starter Pokémon in the game and raised only in the game is legitimate.
• A Spiritomb with Wonder Guard is illegal because Spiritomb cannot naturally have Wonder Guard as an ability.
• The perfect 31 IVs, shiny, docile, Umbreon from the PKM Database is legal because it was created with the use of external devices, however could have naturally occured or existed in the game without the use of an external device. Although it would be extremely rare to encounter such a Pokémon, all aspects of its underlying data could have been generated by the game naturally.

Making a legal Pokémon

Preparation

First, in order to create a Legal Pokémon, the user will need:

• Pokesav
• Legality Checker
• SCV's PID/IV Program
• Trash Byte Normalizer

And will also need a way of transferring Pokémon into your game.

Beginning

1. Open Pokesav
2. Open your .sav file
3. Go into the Storage menu on the bottom right corner of the main Pokesav screen and select an available spot in any of your boxes and click Edit
4. At this point, select a Pokémon and the enter desired Trainer ID, Secret ID, Level, Happiness, Name, Held Item, and OT Name.
5. Enter in the correct ability of the chosen Pokémon.
6. Select a valid moveset.
7. Enter desired EVs, but make sure that the sum does not exceed 510
8. Contest Stats can be anything desired.
9. Marking can be anything desired.

Hatched Pokémon

1. Region/Version, choose either Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum
2. Ball Caught With to Pokéball
3. Egg Hatched at to DayCareCouple
4. Met Level to 0
5. Met at Place to a location that is in the game, where an egg may hatch. Common locations include Route 209.

Wild/Caught Pokémon

1. Region/Version, choose either Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum
2. Ball Caught With to any Pokéball that can be purchased at a PokéMart. It is not recommended to use a Master Ball.
3. The Pokémon may not know any moves which can only be learned from hatching.
4. Met at Place to the location where the desired Pokémon can be caught.
5. Met Level and choose a valid level depending on the Met at Place. Consult a Pokédex for this information.
6. Hidden Hex Values section, change 85h according to the method of encounter:

02 – Tall Grass

04 – Dialga/Palkia

05 – Cave/Hall of Origin

07 – Caught in the Water

09 – Catught in Building

0A – Great Marsh

0C – Starters/Fossils

PalParked Pokémon

1. Region/Version, choose the GBA Pokémon Game or Colosseum/XD from where the Pokémon may be caught from.
2. Ball Caught With to any Pokéball that can be purchased at a PokéMart. It is not recommended to use a Master Ball.
3. Met at Place to 55 (Pal Park).
4. Met at Level needs to be the level at which the Pokémon migrated. This should not be lower than the level it can be obtained at.

Trash Bytes

1. In POKESAV, click on Save in the Storage menu.
2. Name the file and save it somewhere accessible.
3. Drag the saved file (extension is .pkm) over the Trash Byte Normalizer.
4. The program will ask you to press Enter to exit.
5. Click on Load in POKESAV from the Storage menu to import the normalized Pokémon.

PID/IV

Individual values (IVs) are stat values given at random to Pokémon when they are encountered in the wild. Pokémon which have been bred have a higher predisposition to the individual values of their parents.

Both the PID/IV Generator in POKESAV and SCV’s PID/IV Generator will generate a Personality Value (PID) for a given set of IVs.

• Normal NDS or GBA

This type is the most common and will be seen on wild/legend encountered Pokémon in :NDS/GBA games.

• Wild NDS or GBA

This type is less common and will be seen on wild encountered Pokémon in NDS/ GBA :games. It is unclear whether GBA legends will be seen with this type.

• Uncommon GBA

This type is seen uncommonly by wild encountered Pokémon in GBA games.

• Rare GBA

This type is seen rarely by wild encountered Pokémon in GBA games.

• Very Rare GBA

This type is seen in less than 1% of wild encountered Pokémon in GBA games.

• Ultra Rare GBA

This type is seen in less than 0.01% of wild encountered Pokémon in GBA games.

• Common GBA Event (Restricted)

This type is seen with particular promotional GBA Pokémon.

• Common GBA Event (Unrestricted)

This type is seen with particular promotional GBA Pokémon.

Note: For more information on Algorithms, check the readme.txt with the Legality download.

Using POKESAV

1. Choose the desired IVs and click on PID/IV in POKESAV.
2. Click Generate, look at the algorithms and find the one that matches the Pokémon being created.
   1. eg. A wild Starly will be Normal or Wild NDS.
3. The corresponding natures are displayed to the right of the algorithms.

Using SCV's IV/PID Generator

1. Open SCV’s PID/IV Generator and select the appropriate option.
2. The program will guide ask various questions relating to the Pokémon.
3. After answering the questions, the program will output legal PIDs.
4. Copy the first one to POKESAV.

TIP: Some natures may not yield desired results. Try changing one of the IVs slightly. This will radically alther the given PIDs.

Testing the Pokémon

1. In POKESAV, click on Save from the Storage menu
2. Name the file and save it somewhere accessible.
3. Drag the saved file (extension is .pkm file) over the Legality Checker.
4. Make sure nothing says Invalid.
5. The last line, Type should correspond to the algorithm used during the PID/IV stage.

Congratulations! The Pokémon is legal and ready to be used!

Frequently Asked Questions

Will a legal Pokémon work on Pokémon Battle Revolution?

• A: Yes, if the Pokémon is legal, it will work on PBR.

How does a person make a shiny legal Pokémon?

• A: Select the option for a shiny Pokémon in SCV’s PID/IV Generator.

Exporting the Pokémon as an Action-Replay code does not work?

• A: Due to translation limitations, a second program was created, POKESAVARDSOutput.exe. Load the Pokémon using this version of POKESAV.

Will editing an existing Pokémon still be legal?

• A: Yes, as long as it follows this article.

Credits

• SCV - IV/PID Program
• Sabresite - Legality Checker and Trash Byte Normalizer
• coolhbo3K - Definition section
• Greencat - Creating this article for the guide.