South Korean Pokémon Scarlet/Violet tournament finalists banned indefinitely for "illegally modified" Pokémon use

Earlier this week, a Pokémon Scarlet/Violet tournament in South Korea was cancelled when event organizers learned that the finalists had planned to stage a protest through their gameplay.

The Pokémon Trainers Cup finals would have seen four different finalists square off in Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, but the quartet had conversed prior to the event to stage a protest. All four players were going to use Pokémon that knew the move Metronome, and that was the only move they’d be using during the battle.

For those who don’t know, Metronome will pick a random move for your Pokémon, and it pulls from just about every/any move in Pokémon history. This would have led to a completely random battle between the finalists, which Pokémon Korea claimed would be a ‘prohibited act.’ When Pokémon Korea learned of the plans, they cancelled the tournament.

NashVGC, one of the finalists in the tournament, took to Twitter to detail how the final four were planning to use Metronome as a way of protest for how Pokémon Korea handled the lead-up to the tournament. NashVGC, and the rest of the finalists, felt that players weren’t respected during the earlier brackets in the tournament, and the event was mishandled in numerous ways.

Following that situation, event organizers have now said that the four finalists were actually going to use “illegally modified Pokémon” in the tournament. With this being the case, the league has banned these four players from Korean competitive play “indefinitely.” In response, NashVGC has said that this “is a penalty for the protest and for making a fuss. It also sets a precedent, discouraging players in the future to stand up.”