Japanese man arrested for selling copies of Pokémon Sun with hacked-in exclusive Pokémon

A yet unnamed 32-year-old man has been arrested in Saitama Prefecture in Japan on suspicion of tampering with the save data and selling physical copies of Pokémon Sun. The man, who identified himself as self-employed, is suspected of listing hacked Pokémon Sun copies for sale online and subsequently selling one to a man in Ishikawa Prefecture in May of 2024. Modifying save data and providing services that circumvent technological limitations of certain hardware are acts that are illegal in Japan under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.

Saitama Prefectural Police investigators became suspicious of sale listings that advertised the game copies as containing over 800 Pokémon, including exclusive ones that could only be legitimately obtained in-person at movie theaters or stores. The suspect was selling copies of Pokémon Sun at ¥5,200 (about $34 USD) each, and 37 copies were seized from his home along with some hardware. Police had Nintendo confirm that the copies had been tampered with, and the suspect admitted to violating the act during questioning. The investigation is currently ongoing, as police believe he may have committed additional crimes.

Another man was arrested in Japan this year for violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Act in relation to Pokémon, in that case taking custom orders for rare Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet.