That didn’t take long

Pokémon Shuffleisn’t Nintendo’s initial foray into the seedy underworld of free-to-play with microtransactions.Rusty’s Real Deal Baseballdid it first, butShuffleis the first example that drew ire from Nintendo’s faithful fans.

But, as they are wont to do, those outraged byPokémon Shuffle‘s structure found a way to bypass all paid-for elements of the game. By taking advantage of the sameexploitthat made Game Boy Color ROMs playable, users have effectively reduced the cost of all in-game items to gratis — a nifty little trick that grants unlimited hearts and gems without a wait to keep playing.

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The hack works by placing new code into the memory of a game via the 3DS browser. Because it uses an updated browser, the New 3DS safeguards against this sort of loophole; it had to be done on a system using firmware between versions 9.0 and 9.5.

While it was just recently discovered, it seems as if the exploit has possibly already been patched up by Nintendo. Someusers have replicated it, while others that chimed in later had no such luck. However, those that got in right away can hunt Pokémon to their hearts’ content without pesky waits to sully the good times.

3DS games for sale

QR Code for Pokémon Shuffle avalilable for max lives and coins[reddit viaEurogamer]

3DS and Wii U credit

Nintendo Switch StreetPass

StreetPass

3DS and Wii U

The Netflix Wii U app

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Pokémon Bank, Transporter and Home logos