Modded Pokemon causing Pokemon Sword and Shield to crash

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Using Surprise Trade could get you a nasty surprise

(Image credit: Game Freak)

Players using Surprise Trade in Pokemon Sword and Shield are getting more than they bargained for, as hackers are creating harmful Pokemon that cause the game to crash.

With the recent launch of Pokemon Home, players now have an extra 35 pokemon to add to their Sword and Shield collection. Unfortunately, thanks to hackers, players hoping to use Surprise Trade to effortlessly acquire the extra pocket critters, are at risk of game crashes and connectivity issues.

Hackers are maliciously crafting pokemon to cause crashes through the Surprise Trade feature, once the player receives the bugged-type Pokemon, the game shuts down and gives an error message, when loading the game back up, the player will have issues accessing online features.

Pokemon modder thecommondude shared a video of the Pokemon crash after receiving one of the hacked monsters.

Unfortunately, if you’ve already had this happen to you, you’ll need to either start a new save file, or wait for Game Freak to release a patch.

In an interview with Eurogamer, thecommondude had this to say:

"When you surprise trade someone, it shows trade complete at the bottom of the screen; pressing Y then initiates the animation for surprise trade. It will continue to initiate the animation until you have seen it fully (even after restarting the game)."

"However since we crash as soon as the animation starts, the game does not register that as having seen the trade animation. So the game crashes and when you reopen the game, you still have the message 'trade complete' and pressing Y causes the crash again".

Just started in Pokemon Sword and Shield? Check out our list of best Pokemon in Sword and Shield

Liam Bartlett
Freelance Writer