In-Depth Explanation of Pokémon Home Trackers

The Pokémon Home Tracker (or simply "Home Tracker") was introduced with the later generations of the Pokémon games, particularly during Generation 9, to maintain a unique ID across Pokémon transferred between games and the Pokémon Home service. This unique ID is used to track Pokémon throughout its lifecycle across different platforms, allowing the Pokémon Company and Game Freak to maintain consistent records of each Pokémon's journey.

Understanding the Role of the Home Tracker

1. Purpose of the Home Tracker:

   • The Home Tracker functions as a unique identifier for each Pokémon once it’s imported into Pokémon Home.
   • It ensures that there’s only one instance of any individual Pokémon across multiple games and the Home app.
   • By design, each tracker ID is unique to prevent duplications and maintain the integrity of each Pokémon’s transfer history.

2. Components of the Tracker:

   • The Home Tracker is a secure, encrypted identifier that may include hidden metadata.
   • While the exact contents of this encrypted ID are proprietary to Pokémon Home and Game Freak, it’s logical to assume that it may contain some traceable metadata. This could include information about the origin device, account details, and transfer timestamps.

3. Potential for Personal Identification:

   • The unique nature of Home Trackers suggests that they may be used to associate a Pokémon with a specific user account or transfer history.
   • Pokémon imported into Pokémon Home from mobile versions are likely associated with the mobile account, which could have identifying information like Nintendo account details.
   • If the same Home Tracker ID appears on multiple Pokémon (indicating duplicates), this could raise flags as a possible breach of terms of service and may potentially lead to account suspension or other penalties.

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Risks of Duplicating Pokémon with the Same Home Tracker

Given your situation, where two identical Pokémon have the same Home Tracker ID but differ only by the tracker itself, your assumption that the Home Tracker acts as a unique, traceable identifier appears correct. Here’s why duplicating it could be risky:

1. Unique Tracker ID Across Pokémon:

   • Pokémon Home’s system is designed with the assumption that each Pokémon’s tracker ID will be unique. Duplicating or sharing Pokémon with identical Home Trackers may flag those Pokémon as altered or duplicated, especially if they are distributed to other players.

2. Potential Penalties:

   • If the Pokémon Company detects duplicate Pokémon with the same Home Tracker ID, they could theoretically trace this back to the original account holder.
   • While it’s not publicly confirmed, the Home Tracker likely has enough embedded metadata to associate a Pokémon back to the initial account that created or transferred it.
   • This means that repeated distribution of a Pokémon with an identical Home Tracker could lead to potential disciplinary actions, including bans, if it’s deemed a breach of Pokémon Home's terms of service.

3. Clearing the Home Tracker:

   • Clearing or resetting the Home Tracker allows the Pokémon to remain in Generation 9 games but would prevent it from being re-imported into Pokémon Home, effectively severing its “traceable” history.
   • This would eliminate the risk of being flagged by Pokémon Home, as the Pokémon would no longer carry a unique Home Tracker identifier that links back to your account.
   • However, this approach confines the Pokémon to the Generation 9 games and could reduce its trading or transfer potential.

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Recommendations

Should You Clear the Home Tracker?

To minimize risks of tracking and enforcement, it’s advisable to clear the Home Tracker if your goal is to distribute the Pokémon without linking it back to your account. This will:

• Prevent the Pokémon from being tracked back to the original source, as it loses its unique Pokémon Home metadata.
• Allow safer distribution, as it eliminates the embedded ID that could tie the Pokémon back to your account.

Summary

Here’s a concise recommendation based on your situation:

If you intend to distribute Pokémon while minimizing the risk of being tracked, it’s safest to clear the Pokémon Home Tracker. This prevents Pokémon from being associated back to your Pokémon Home account.

While this method confines the Pokémon to the Generation 9 games (preventing future imports into Pokémon Home), it also reduces the chances of triggering duplicate ID flags or potential penalties related to distributed copies. Always consider Nintendo’s and Game Freak’s terms of service when distributing Pokémon to avoid any potential enforcement actions.

Example

• 
• These are technically two different Shiny Meloetta - (The reason why Meloetta is a concern is because of the need for the Mobile App - Linking it to your phone.
• One of these are from XIEON the other is from DarthVader (at least Xieon obtained it from DarthVader). The encryption constant are the same on both Pokemon as is everything else, except, the home tracker.
• I have blocked out all but the last few characters of the tracker for extra protection - you can see they are clearly different. Xieon's Gaming Corner recommends that you ZERO out the Home Tracker for Shiny Meloetta, and only use it within SV - it will be stuck there - but if you really need to move it to ZA in the future you can just obtain 2 - one with a zero'd and one with a tracker - but I wouldn't advise it.

UPDATES/EXPLOITS:

Patched Exploits

These exploits were once working in regards to the Home Tracker, and legality, however, have since been patched/no longer working/yield illegal/unfavorable results. If you've used one of these in the past, or gotten any Pokemon from XGC that involve these - you can always contact XGC staff via a [Support Ticket] in our Community Discord Server

• Patched Home Tracker Exploit #1