Cdtrjyty

Context:

I have been a contributor to GameFAQs for about a decade now, and have had semi-reliable access to online Pokémon play since the release of Pokémon X/Y (2013). I've also run a Pokémon-themed Discord server for about a year now. In that time, I have seen an absurd number of people asking for highly valuable Pokémon for free.

What Constitutes "Valuable" To You? Either completely-trained Pokémon in the competitive sense, Pokémon with six perfect IVs, Shiny Pokémon, or special limited-time Event Pokémon. Legendary Pokémon also apply, but less so than these. Basically any Pokémon with limited rarity, or a Pokémon that takes much effort to get.

• I have seen it in PSS feeds in Generation VI


• I have seen it on the GTS in these games (and a brief time in Generation IV when I was at a library back in like 2010)


• I have seen it on the GameFAQs forums


• I have seen it on the GameFAQs Answers sections


• I have seen it on a bunch of other forums in my brief forays through them (Serebii, Smogon, etc.)


• I have seen it literally in my own Discord server (typically some random newbie that is just hunting for them)


• I have gotten emails, and PMs on GameFAQs, from people I don't even know, asking me to trade with them, just because my name popped up in something Pokémon-related or whatever

Why Is It Absurd?:

I say this is absurd for several reasons:

• You might be annoying random people. Consider, for example, people have contacted me directly. Complete strangers. Why am I going to go through the effort to give you a free Pokémon, a valuable one at that? And why would you expect that of a random stranger? This applies even moreso for people who demand something, as opposed to at least asking nicely.




• GTS often doesn't allow it. I haven't played around with the online much in Generation VII or Let's Go, but at least in Generation VI you can't even trade most Event Pokémon. This is certainly a design flaw on Game Freak's part that I cannot understand how it hasn't been changed, but you'd think someone would notice that the GTS won't let you give Event Pokémon, so why would you be allowed to receive one? (This does touch on the question of how some Event Pokémon have been listed on the GTS though, but I imagine they're an extreme minority.)




• It's valuable, and you want it for free? Self-explanatory. You're asking someone to give you something that has a higher inherent value than whatever throwaway Pokémon you're giving.




• People often aren't asking in the right places. GameFAQs, for example, has trading boards for this, but I've seen (quite literally) thousands of people asking instead on the main board or in the Answers sections of the site (which are meant for game help, not arranging person-to-person interaction). Or perhaps my Discord server, which explicitly prohibits newbies from doing such, basically trying to leech off the server members for trades and such, yet it happens anyways. This in itself makes it far less likely you'd get a response. Certainly less likely to get a favorable response.

So, the big question:

With all of the above outlined, why do people do this anyways? Why do people try to get freebies in Pokémon, valuable ones in particular?

I have had some thoughts on this matter as outlined below, but I've never felt any of these, individually or in combination, results in a conclusive answer.

• The prevalence of hacking. One thought is that the prevalence of hacking Pokémon (e.g. PkHex), either through save editors or Action Replays or whatever the context demands, incites it. Since some people are able to hack, all Pokémon are essentially valueless for the hacker - just generate another! Having hacked Pokémon myself, I know it takes like 5 minutes, tops, to get a new one, however rare: shorter if you have some sort of template. But this results in further problems: namely, people who want legit Pokémon (not hacked), so this is not the sole answer. And of course, if the people asking cared so much, why not hack themselves?




• The target demographics of Pokémon. I'm, what, 20-something years old. So I might be expecting much out of Pokémon, whose main demographic are children and teens. Maybe younger people just simply are unaware of the value of Pokémon, or perhaps there's a sort of childish entitlement. But this feels too simple a solution, because I doubt it's only young people doing this.




• Sheer laziness and entitlement. I always end up coming back to this argument. Anonymity certainly enables it - you don't feel as guilty about effectively stealing from someone who you can't even put a face to. But it feels too simple as well, and I feel like the issue lies deeper than this. (Plus, on a personal level, an answer that ultimately amounts to just insulting the people in question just feels ... unfulfilling.)

My problem with each of these is that these all seem issues that would resolve over time, that eventually people would learn how to properly conduct themselves to ensure actually getting a desired result. Hacking in Pokémon seems less affected by the passing of time - indeed, it's more common now than before - but that should suggest less people getting greedy.

So in that light, I feel this explanation is incomplete, that there is some deeper reason I haven't touched on. Is there any other noteworthy motivator for people to do such strangely counterproductive behavior in Pokémon? Something I've overlooked, perhaps? I do feel like there won't be a singular, clear-cut answer, but additional perspective would certainly be nice.

About Other Games: I'm acutely aware that this isn't necessarily behavior limited to Pokémon. My primary interest is with Pokémon in this case, since it is the only place I really see this (I don't play much multiplayer), but any experiences with games with like phenomena might offer some useful insight as well.