Hacking Pokemon Sun/Moon removes Global Link with region emulation.

[BesuBesu]

I've had my Global Link account since the games release. Today when I signed in to the Pokemon Global Link website after using my Japanese 3DS with US region emulation on a legit US cartridge for Ranked online play via the latest Luma 3DS, linked to a US Global Link account, I received this message on the website:

It appears there is a low level check of the consoles region that it associates actively with your save file when using consoles of different regions. I believe this was also the case for the previous 3DS Pokemon games but I don't think it completely affected Global Link in this way as long as when you first created the Game Sync ID it was on a US 3DS (Otherwise it would create a Japanese Game Sync ID even though the game would be in English). I would really like to know if there is anyway to bypass this region check.

 

[proflayton123]

You have a japanese sysNAND and you was using with USA EmuNAND?

 

[Sketchy1]

Its honestly not really a surprise to me, cause when you register a game it records the code provided which can probably tell it's region of origin. Wouldn't exactly be too hard to tell if it was being run on a JPN console if its registered english :/

 

[BesuBesu]

I wasn't sure this would be excess information, I supposed I'd better clarify. I have a Japanese Sysnand running A9LH Luma. I actually have two 3DS consoles, a US n3DS and a JP n3DS. I created the Game Sync ID on my US 3DS as I wanted to be able to use the US Pokemon Global Link service / website and I also play on both consoles. If you create a Game Sync ID on a JP 3DS, even if it has region emulation through Luma/NTR, it creates Japanese Game Sync ID, forcing you to create a Japanese account etc.

I was hoping there might be other users with out of region consoles who might have found a way around this problem. I recall some others having some similar issues with Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, though I was able to get around this previously myself by just creating the Game Sync ID on my US 3DS as mentioned.

I suppose using a US 3DS Emunand on my JP console could potentially get around this, though I'm not 100% on the safety and limitations of doing so. AFAIK a main side effect is loss of things like eShop and Miiverse access, though this isn't a huge concern if that would be the only problem and this is my only option.

Would it be possible to safely create a second US Emunand just for this purpose?

 

[Sketchy1]

I wasn't sure this would be excess information, I supposed I'd better clarify. I have a Japanese Sysnand running A9LH Luma. I actually have two 3DS consoles, a US n3DS and a JP n3DS. I created the Game Sync ID on my US 3DS as I wanted to be able to use the US Pokemon Global Link service / website and I also play on both consoles. If you create a Game Sync ID on a JP 3DS, even if it has region emulation through Luma/NTR, it creates Japanese Game Sync ID, forcing you to create a Japanese account etc.

I was hoping there might be other users with out of region consoles who might have found a way around this problem. I recall some others having some similar issues with Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, though I was able to get around this previously myself by just creating the Game Sync ID on my US 3DS as mentioned.

Can you simply not play on the US console, or create a region changed USA emunand?

 

[BesuBesu]

Can you simply not play on the US console, or create a region changed USA emunand?

There are a few reasons I'd like to be able to play on both preferably. A US Emunand could be an option, I kind of edited that in when you posted.

Sorry to ask to be spoon fed, but is it actually as simple as copying/switching the region on my Emunand as a second NAND/boot option? Is there a good resource on doing this? I haven't exactly been "on the scene" since I switched to A9LH and before that time doing something like that was fairly complicated and risky.

Also, thanks for your interest and help already guys. I thought this community would be a the best place to turn to for something like this and it seems that was very much the case

 

[YourHero]

It's weird they would bother with this as I believe pokemon games are region free. FBI shows my physical cart is region free.

 

[Cuphat]

It's weird they would bother with this as I believe pokemon games are region free. FBI shows my physical cart is region free.

The carts aren't region free, actually. They still contain the same game code, but they are locked to the region they are made for.

 

[MassExplosion213]

The carts aren't region free, actually. They still contain the same game code, but they are locked to the region they are made for.

The only region lock on them is the update partition. They are actually "region free" other than that.

 

[Cuphat]

The only region lock on them is the update partition. They are actually "region free" other than that.

That's enough to region lock the cart, though. If you tried to use the cart on an unmodified system from a region that doesn't match the cart, it will not work.

 

[WBW]

Basically they expect that the game is not playable between regions.

Because Japan has a different account system for Global Link from the rest of the world, a change in the country to a Japanese locale (or vice-versa) and then syncing will cause Global Link to pick up on it and reject you. It's been that way since X and Y. I don't think it cares if you insert it between European or American ones since they both use Pokémon Trainer Club accounts — but Japan, nada.

The games are digitally identical but will identify differently depending on the region of the 3DS. So the Global Link does detect what region the 3DS is, regardless of what console the game was started on or what region is stored on the save file.

 

[Sketchy1]

There are a few reasons I'd like to be able to play on both preferably. A US Emunand could be an option, I kind of edited that in when you posted.

Sorry to ask to be spoon fed, but is it actually as simple as copying/switching the region on my Emunand as a second NAND/boot option? Is there a good resource on doing this? I haven't exactly been "on the scene" since I switched to A9LH and before that time doing something like that was fairly complicated and risky.

Also, thanks for your interest and help already guys. I thought this community would be a the best place to turn to for something like this and it seems that was very much the case

Multiemuformat tool (or something like that) can format multiple emunands on one SD card, the once you have the emunand you can region change it to USA following the region change guide like normal

 

[Deleted-19228]

I've had my Global Link account since the games release. Today when I signed in to the Pokemon Global Link website after using my Japanese 3DS with US region emulation on a legit US cartridge for Ranked online play via the latest Luma 3DS, linked to a US Global Link account, I received this message on the website:

It appears there is a low level check of the consoles region that it associates actively with your save file when using consoles of different regions. I believe this was also the case for the previous 3DS Pokemon games but I don't think it completely affected Global Link in this way as long as when you first created the Game Sync ID it was on a US 3DS (Otherwise it would create a Japanese Game Sync ID even though the game would be in English). I would really like to know if there is anyway to bypass this region check.

The save stores the system's region.

 

[Sketchy1]

The save stores the system's region.

Which again, dosent surprise me.
But IMO, it dosent really matter, considering we can cross region play anyway. Even going into Pokémon GL ranked, you could be linked to someone in Korea or Japan despite your system being from cananda

 

[Deleted-19228]

Be glad they didn't permban you lol

 

[BesuBesu]

A permaban would've been very unfortunate, yes. I know those were doled out for those who used pirated copies online before the game release. I actually had to do a double take and feared that they had issued an actual ban. I do believe all the Pokemon games are region free though or at least that was the case with X/Y and ORAS, so this scenario can happen with or without CFW/region emulation. Even if the updates are region locked there has not been a title update yet for Sun/Moon.

Hoping that creating a USA emunand will make this a non-issue regardless. I'll report back once I've sorted all that out and I think I've found all the information that I need to make this happen with my setup.

If anyone has already tried using a different region emunand and tested this prior to me completing this please let me know your results. Thanks again for your insight/ideas everyone.

 

[Sketchy1]

Be glad they didn't permban you lol

A permaban would've been very unfortunate, yes. I know those were doled out for those who used pirated copies online before the game release. I actually had to do a double take and feared that they had issued an actual ban. I do believe all the Pokemon games are region free though or at least that was the case with X/Y and ORAS, so this scenario can happen with or without CFW/region emulation. Even if the updates are region locked there has not been a title update yet for Sun/Moon.

Hoping that creating a USA emunand will make this a non-issue regardless. I'll report back once I've sorted all that out and I think I've found all the information that I need to make this happen with my setup.

If anyone has already tried using a different region emunand and tested this prior to me completing this please let me know your results. Thanks again for your insight/ideas everyone.

Sounds kinda funky to me though.its just how it sounds. "The pokemon company and gamefreak decided to ban my console for having a legitimate copy of their game, despite it being practically region less"

 

[Deleted-19228]

While the game itself IS region-free. You still cannot launch a US game in a JP console without using at least HBC.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

A permaban would've been very unfortunate, yes. I know those were doled out for those who used pirated copies online before the game release. I actually had to do a double take and feared that they had issued an actual ban. I do believe all the Pokemon games are region free though or at least that was the case with X/Y and ORAS, so this scenario can happen with or without CFW/region emulation. Even if the updates are region locked there has not been a title update yet for Sun/Moon.

Hoping that creating a USA emunand will make this a non-issue regardless. I'll report back once I've sorted all that out and I think I've found all the information that I need to make this happen with my setup.

If anyone has already tried using a different region emunand and tested this prior to me completing this please let me know your results. Thanks again for your insight/ideas everyone.

No reason to go through all that. Just edit your save file so it's from Japan instead of the US so the contents match.

 

[BesuBesu]

No reason to go through all that. Just edit your save file so it's from Japan instead of the US so the contents match.

I've actually already sorted out that the save region is not static. That is to say when I save the game in my US console the save region is set to US and when I use it in the JP console the save is set to Japan. Since the game will pretty much always save when doing a Game Sync this won't work out. If the save region was static, the fact that I started the game and created the Game Sync ID on my US console would have gotten around this issue, which was my hope originally. As long as making a second US Emunand on the JP console ends up working I'm happy with doing it. I'd just like to be able to play my game in both systems without any conflicts.

Edit: Doing a region change on the NAND seems to have resolved this issue as I was able to Game Sync and not receive the PGL removal message. Also, checked the save info and the save region appears to have stayed NA. Problem solved! Thanks again guys.