Pokemon Violet Leads To Arrest Of 36-Year-Old Man

If you’ve never played Pokemon Violet, rest assured that it plays like most of the other games in the popular Game Freak series of titles. The setting is a bit different, but everything still boils down to taking your trainer out into the world and using the Pokemon you have to capture and evolve various creatures. Getting the rarest of these digital creatures typically requires extensive gameplay, though you can still trade Pokemon with other players as a way to more quickly build your collection.

In this case, the unnamed 36-year-old man allegedly took the idea of Pokemon Violet shortcuts to an extreme (and extremely illegal) level. He had access to special tools that he could use to modify the video game’s save data, and this allowed him to sell rare Pokemon to customers who didn’t want to earn them the old-fashioned way. They’d allegedly pay him some cold, hard cash and he’d hook them up with powerful Pokemon they didn’t already have.

Apparently, the way he went about allegedly selling the Pokemon Violet modified data was quite sophisticated. He had access to a website designed to sell various video game digital assets, and he’d make as much as $84 from a single transaction in alleged crimes that spanned from December 2022 to March 2023. He’d also offer bundle prices, allowing users to buy six Pokemon for about $30.

Unfortunately, things are looking pretty grim for the man in question: he has already admitted to the crime that he is accused of. He did offer a kind of economic justification, pointing out to the authorities that he was trying to make a living by doing this. It’s possible that the court will show leniency toward him, but it’s also possible they end up throwing the book at him.

If things don’t go his way, just how bad might things get for this Pokemon Violet thief? At worst, he could end up spending a cool five years in prison. Whether or not he ultimately sees any jail time, he could also end up paying over $32,600 in fines.

Those who are fans of the franchise know that the only thing making this Pokemon Violet crime an outlier is that it involves one of the video games rather than the popular Pokemon card game. Back in 2021, a would-be thief was ready to descend six stories and steal some cards in a robbery that would have been at home in a Mission: Impossible movie. Meanwhile, Tokyo in 2022 saw a number of burglaries where the criminals in question successfully made off with $60,000 worth of Pokemon cards.

As for the alleged Pokemon Violet thief, time will tell how bad his own legal fate will be. Right now, his main saving grace is that Nintendo hasn’t found a way to bring their own considerable legal weight into the matter. If they do, though, the 36-year-old in question may have to worry about the gaming giant going “Pokemon Violent” on his attempt to profit from changing save data.

Source: IGN