Pokemon fan makes bank on Legendary trades after tricking other players with Rotom

The Pokemon games have a habit of adding rare species that are mistaken for Legendary catches, and a fan has recently shared a tricky trade that exchanges dozens of Rotom for boxes of the real deal.

Pokemon gamers are likely familiar with the long list of Legendary and Mythical species that have been introduced over the past several decades. From the adorable Kantonian Mew to the recently revealed Scarlet & Violet mascots Koraidon and Miraidon, many players make catching the powerful rares a primary goal of gameplay.

However, a number of non-Legendary Pokemon have cropped up over the years that have been confused for true Legendary and Mythical species. These “Pseudo-Legendary” Pokemon, as dubbed by the fanbase, consist of extremely rare or hard to raise species like Salamance, Garchomp, Metagross and many others.

For some players, it can even take a while to realize there is a duck in the hen house. Players often wander across Absol or Riolu, thinking they have found a Legendary lurking in the wild, only to realize years down the road the Pokemon was rare, but by no means a treasure.

Pseudo-Legendary Pokemon can be tricky to spot

In a recent Twitter post shared by Touyarokii, the Pokemon gamer points out the difficulties of spotting fake Legendary species. The post reads “Pokemon tricked some of us as kids into thinking these are legendaries”, followed by an image spotlighting Lucario, Absol, Volcarona, and Zoroark.

In the comments, many players share their stories with these tricky Pokemon, but one in particular posted by DNS_pyromidz highlights the dangers of mistaken identity in the main series games.

The reply reads, “Funny story, I was the only one at my school who figured out that Rotom isn’t a legendary Pokemon So I caught a Ditto and started breeding Rotom, leveled them up to level 15 or above and traded them for Legendary Pokemon at my school Still have some of them”.

The player then goes on to clarify that a number of the rare catches stored in the Pokemon Home boxes weren’t part of the trades, but the concept is both alarming and clever.

Unfortunately, Legendary Pokemon aren’t the only tricky trades players must look out for when playing the games. Online trading is bogged down with hacked Pokemon that can create problems for online competitive players as well.

While these sorts of tricks both in the games and in the community can be frustrating, those unsure of what they are about to trade for can always double-check the Pokemon online. If the trade seems suspicious, it may be worth doing a little digging before giving away a hard-caught companion for a “super rare” trophy.