Angela B. Games 04.14.2024 22:Apr PM EDT

Hacker Faces Arrest After Illegally Modifying Pokémon Violet Monsters

Anyone who pays attention can tell you that Pokémon is a well-protected intellectual property. It is one of the most popular franchises in the world and continues to be a money-maker for those who own it. It would be a mistake top perform any infringing or tampering acts against the franchise, and a man knows that well enough after being arrested for it.

Hacker Arrested for Modifying Pokémon

Part of the Pokémon games that players have to go through is the grind. You have to catch and raise monsters to be the best Pokémon there is. However, some people want to fast-track their progress, or even make a few cosmetic changes to their liking.

A 36-year-old hacker and interior designer Yoshihiro Yamakawa is allegedly the guy to call when you want these modifications made. He is said to be tampering with Pokémon Violet saves and selling them based on how much of it is tampered with.

He is said to be selling them for 13,000 yen or about $84 each, wherein the monsters that are hard to raise will be easier to manage, as reported by Kotaku. He can even change the colors of the Pokémon if the players are not happy with it.

Reports say he even offered deals where buyers could get six modified Pokémon Violet monsters for just 4,000 yen, which is equivalent to $30. The racket went on between December 2022 to March 2023, although it wasn't until recently that he was arrested for it.

Yamakawa was booked after a "police cyber patrol" operation found evidence of the hacker using a specialized tool to make such modifications to saved data. By the end of it, Yamakawa confessed to the crime.

He said that he did it to "earn a living." The situation is still under investigation, and the police even found that the specialized tool used for the tampering can be downloaded online for free. Should the hacker be found guilty, he might face harsher consequences.

In Japan, there is a specific law called the Unfair Competition Prevention Act of 2019, which specifically bans editing and selling protected data online or in person. The punishment Yamakawa faces could be up to five years of imprisonment or five million yen in penalties.

Nintendo Against PokeZoo

Nintendo is one of the joint owners of the intellectual property Pokémon, and it's a well-known fact that it is very protective of the franchise. While there is nothing it can do against Palworld, it can take down other game titles that are obviously derivative of the original.

A trading card game called PokeZoo could not escape The Pokémon Company's lawsuit-happy team since it shows too much of a resemblance with the IP. The title of the game even used the font that Pokémon has with its own logo, as shown by Games Radar.

The blatant infringement made it easier for the company giant to go after PokeZoo, especially since it copies Pokémon characters exactly such as Gengar. Even links that lead to the sale of PokeZoo gift cards (which go for $25 at the minimum) is labeled "Pokemon Elite Trainer Boxes."