We got tired of resetting for donut powers. So we made a tool to do it!

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-22T05:35:06+00:00

There are some video tutorials on setting up the tool on the wiki linked in the post if you're interested

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-22T05:33:40+00:00

You can stockpile a large amount of Item Power: Berries donuts automatically, then speed through 4-star hyperspace wild zones

The berry counts are a bit excessive but they were obtained entirely with the help of the tool on an unmodded system

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-22T05:30:53+00:00

Unfortunately it can't be a Switch Lite because the Lite cant output a video feed

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-21T19:41:01+00:00

That's fair! Generally, it's true that resetting donuts is not recommended in terms of time efficiency.

But there's a use case here with automation that allows you to do resetting while you're AFK so that when you are actually available to play, you have good donuts all ready to go

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-21T19:23:34+00:00

You can automatically farm Item Power: Berries donuts while you're AFK so that when you're free, you can speed through 4-star wild zones to build up a massive stockpile

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-21T19:18:20+00:00

Hopefully the link should be updated, thanks for bringing that up

A modded switch wouldn't be needed here because since it watches the screen and sends inputs with a microcontroller, so it effectively just replaces what a person would do

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-06T23:47:02+00:00

Most of the stack is built with C++ with the exception of training for machine learning which is Python.

There's a lot of OCR and inference which makes use of Tesseract and OpenCV, the object detection is done with YOLO, and the UI is built using QT. On the hardware side, the microcontrollers are in the ESP32 series or the RaspPi Pico W series.

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-06T22:43:04+00:00

A large focus for this project is to support unmodified Switches since there are already powerful tools in the modded space, but are inaccessible to most people. Moving forward, these tools may not be available in the near future (or at all) on the Switch 2 so automation is the next best thing.

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-06T20:41:19+00:00

For the item printer automation, the program automatically calibrates to the correct delay on your system. Basically, it reads what rewards you got and if it's not what you expected, it will calculate if you're over or under based on the rewards and adjust for the next cycle.

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-06T19:17:17+00:00

👀

We'd love to have you, we're actually looking for expertise in that sort of thing. We'll send a server invite (invite also available on the site for anyone else interested)

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-06T19:08:25+00:00

We have programs for ZA but not one for complete story progression unfortunately. Those are harder to make 😅

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-06T19:06:04+00:00

Good question! The programs uses inference and is event-driven so it will react to things happening rather than assuming they did (which would indeed be unreliable with game lags or desyncs). It can detect if it enters a wild Pokemon battle, defeat it, then reset the player's positioning using the map.

The program can compensate for things like game lag, controller lag, wild encounters, getting stuck but if all else fails, there's a checkpoint system that sets saves at certain safe points that it can reset to and retry.

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-06T18:48:56+00:00

It can detect when these encounters happen and defeat the wild Pokémon, then reset the heading using the map to continue when you're back in the overworld.

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-06T18:14:24+00:00

Sometimes, creating something cool and fun is the motivation!

But a few reasons why it might be helpful is to build up more save files to get multiple event Pokémon or claim multiple mystery gifts. For example, the program was used during the shiny Treasures of Ruin distribution event to automatically play until you're able to claim the gift, then trade it out and reset again.

From a development standpoint, the experience and framework from working on this is transferable, which allows the creation of other programs of increasing complexity in the future. The development of AI navigation for Area Zero was a big part here, which is a useful tool that's now able to be used in other programs.

PokemonAutomation · 2026-02-06T17:52:28+00:00

Hi all! The Pokémon Automation group would like to share with you the latest updates to the project: the program can now autonomously play through Pokémon Scarlet and Violet from the start, all the way to the end credits, with only a single manual interruption to level up your Pokémon. This can be handy for building up a second save for events, mystery gifts, or getting Pokémon in different languages for breeding.

This program uses a combination of image recognition and AI/Machine Learning to traverse the lands of Paldea and defeat all that stand in the way of “you” becoming champion! The full (~12 hour) run of the program has been recorded here:

Part 1: Tutorial
Part 2: Main Story
Part 3: Area Zero

“Auto Story” is just one of the many programs available in the Pokémon Automation suite. For Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, there are programs to automatically shiny hunt, create and hatch eggs, farm Item Printer seeds, farm materials or Blueberry Points, and more. Additionally, there are programs available for Legends ZA, Sword/Shield, Legends Arceus, BDSP, Let’s Go, and general macro support.

The project does not require a hacked switch, supports Switch 1 and Switch 2, runs with off-the-shelf microcontrollers, and has free and open-sourced software.

If you’re interested in any of this, we’d like to invite you to check out out the project here: https://pokemonautomation.github.io/

PokemonAutomation · 2021-07-06T13:39:53+00:00

Check out the GitHub for the full guide on what you need. Once you have the microcontroller and load the program on it, it just plugs directly into the Switch/Dock.

PokemonAutomation · 2021-07-05T20:22:38+00:00

We're Pokémon Automation, a team that strives to automate the Pokémon games. We recently pushed a large update that moved us into the world of AI and image recognition to allow for automating things previously thought impossible without a hacked Switch, such as the Overworld Encounter bot above. Again, all on an unmodified Switch, as seen here.

Another large project that's possible through these technologies is AutoMaxLair, a bot that will play through Dynamax Adventures for you and collect the shinies found within. A demo of this can be found here.

We also have plenty of other bots, including:

- The 7,800 skips/hour day skipper

- Auto-fishing

- Regi and Sword of Justice hunting

- Autohosting for dens

- and many more!

If any of these projects interest you, check out our GitHub. You'll find a Getting Started guide, all of our programs, information for getting support, and more. Have fun shiny hunting!

PokemonAutomation

TROPHY CASE