A friend of mine recently got an AR and used a code that enabled him to catch Pokemon of the Elite Four. He wanted to catch Cynthia's Pokemon (of which I know are all at 31 IV's) and is asking me if it's okay for him to use the Pokemon against others since they have legit moves and stats (outside of the stats being comparably better than other people's typical Pokemon).

Now I told him it's slightly wrong because he didn't work for the Pokemon and they will be superior to equivalent clones of the Pokemon that just won't have the stat power his has. At the same time, they're not powered up past the rules of the games.

So I ask you all this moral question: if someone catches an in-game trainer's Pokemon using a hacking device (i.e. Action Replay), are those Pokemon considered legit for battles with other people in online battles?

Please discuss your views on this. I'm very curious what responses I'll get.

Well of course I think its unfair to get perfect IVs and a high level pokemon right off the bat without training, but I don't really have anything against it because I can win anyways~! Ahahaha! *shot*

but uh yea. If someones gonna mess around with an AR or ******* it should only before in-game use, unless the opponent allows it.

DON'T CATCH FLINTS INFERNAPE IT GIVES YOU A BAD EGG. I would know I have one from that reason.

Surely not! Even if they are with legit boundaries, if a persontries to upload the battle video, the GTS won't allow this, thus the person will know that the foe's team was hacked and then will go on flaming at that foe. Also, in other forums, you can report about this and the hacker would get infracted or banned from any online competitive battling forums.

Muk no.

As Yoshi said, muk no.

If AR is on, it's cheating. Period. And it's hard to find legits on the GTS these days.

Alright. I think I'm finding a resounding no on using them (with Yoshi's response being the best).

You guys are right. Any Pokemon that was received through an AR shouldn't be allowed to be used against others.

I'm be showing my friend some of this lol.

Hacking to make all Pokemon shiny = Fine.
Hacking to get insane EVs, Stats or IVs = No.
Hacking to learn all TMs/Any move = No.

Anything that changes the Pokemon in a way that it is somehow stronger then it is supposed to be is wrong.

It will never be legal to hack and thn actually use them.
If it's just for fun, then it's alright.
If you cath an e4's Pokemon and actually use them for legit battles and related, it's just cheating and that shouldn't be allowed.

Hacking is not legal or fine within the game. It gives him an unfair advantage and all of us a disadvantage. Your friend won't be trusted with Events or any legal battles anymore.

I have a legit shiny palkia (yes it's possible) And btw It's morally wrong because the makers of the games gave the in game players different types of pokemon. So it would be a disadvantage to the person who was battling these in game pokemon.

While yes, they aren't hard to get, you still forced a variable, you still cheated. If you used a hack, then the poke should be banned.

Nah league rule says you're allowed hacks as long as it doesn't modify the stats and such. This is league, so you can make your own rules for your friends, but in tourneys, hacked shinies or getting unobtainables are fine as long as stats are legit.