A few days after the game's release, hackers found methods to inject "shiny" Pokemon, and they soon appeared on eBay.
Selling Pokemon for money is not new - it has occurred in other games in the series, including Pokemon GO, but the volume of current transactions is staggering. In the three weeks since release, more than 1200 sales of "shiny" Pokemon have been registered on eBay. The listings include both individual Pokemon and sets - up to a complete PokeDex.
The average price for starter Pokemon or popular ones like Eevee and Pikachu is about $8. Gardevoir, Garchomp, or Heracross cost about $7. Sets are priced at $20-100, and a complete set of "shiny" Pokemon can cost up to $299.
The author notes that buying such Pokemon is pointless: the whole interest is in finding them. The real pleasure is in spending hours hunting and eventually catching that rare Pokemon, rather than getting it through hackers and websites.