List of glitches in Generation IV

This is a list of glitches that occur in the Generation IV Pokémon games.

Arceus Plate glitch
While in Pal Park or Great Marsh, if the player has an holding a Plate in the front of their party, and initiates a battle, the game will freeze.

Barry Underground glitch
If the player goes underground while is not present at the Fight Area on the spot where he would appear, then comes up on the weekend, the player will be on top of Barry.

Broken escalator oversight
This is one of two glitches in the games to be officially acknowledged by Nintendo, with the other being the surf glitch. In early copies of the Japanese versions, after entering the Union Room on the second floor of the building, which shares the layout with the second floor of any regular Pokémon Center, the player will end up in a wall and not be able to return.

In the case the player has not saved the game while trapped, it is possible to work around the bug:


 * 1) Reboot the game to load the previous save file.
 * 2) Go to the Super Contest Hall in Hearthome City.
 * 3) Speak to the leftmost attendant (there is no need to actually participate in a Super Contest).
 * 4) Save the game and restart.

Just like the surf glitch, in case the player saves the game after exploiting this bug, the effect can be corrected with a patch released by Nintendo, which allows the player to resume the game in front of their house in Twinleaf Town.

Dress-up Hiker glitch
When talking to the at Jubilife TV who allows  to be dressed up, if a button on the D-pad is pressed so that the player is facing away from the Hiker just before the screen to select which Pokémon will be dressed up opens, the player will not walk on the set path; this can lead to walking through walls or the Hiker, or canceling the action altogether.

Egg determination glitch
This glitch requires a and an  in the same spot of adjacent boxes on the Pokémon Storage System. By having the cursor on the Pokémon in one box, pressing the L or R buttons to switch boxes as the display is rolling over to the next piece of data will allow the player to see the held item (always none), Nature, Ability, or type of the Pokémon inside an Egg.

GTS cloning
This cloning method is reminiscent of the methods from the first two generations and involves the GTS.

If the is deposited in the GTS and the connection is interrupted at the right time, the Pokémon in question would be in the player's party or Pokémon Storage System box and in the GTS, requiring the player only to withdraw the Pokémon from the GTS to obtain the clone.

Poké Mart text glitch
This occurs whenever the player uses or Honey in a Poké Mart. Talking to the clerk and selecting the "BUY" menu will yield blank text for the names or descriptions for any of the items in stock. Accessing the "SELL" menu will correct the glitch.

Protection bypass glitch
If an attack is given perfect accuracy through the effect of a move (/), the weather ( in rain, or in ), a Micle Berry, or an Ability, it has a chance to hit through  and  equal to. OHKO moves are unaffected, and will never hit through Protect or Detect.

Pursuit Choice glitch
In the Japanese versions, when a holding a  uses  and the target Pokémon switches out, the Pokémon holding the item is allowed to change its move on the next turn.

Silent Route 214 glitch
If the player goes onto Spring Path off, the music changes. When viewing the details of a TM or HM in the Bag, if the Bag is closed and the player returns to Route 214, there will be no music. Sound effects such as collision sounds still occur and encountering a wild Pokémon will still play Battle! (Wild Pokémon) as expected. The same glitch can also be activated by changing the music using the bicycle.

Tower Tycoon event skipping
If the player achieves a 20 streak in the  and battles   by choosing the option "REST" and then the option "NO" instead of choosing the option "KEEP GOING", a normal  will appear instead; with the same roster of the Tower Tycoon. This corrupted Trainer data also yields the otherwise unused dialogue "Now come! Show me, the Tower Tycoon, what you're really made of!" Defeating the Trainer will grant the player 1 BP instead of the normal 20 BP.

Transform held item glitch
In Japanese versions, if a holding an item uses  and has its item stolen, as long as it does not faint before the end of the battle, both the transforming Pokémon and the thief will retain the item after the battle.

U-turn Choice glitch
If is used to change to a  holding a  that also knows the move U-turn, that Pokémon will be forced to use U-turn despite not having used a move.

Ace Trainer Deanna oversight
In the Japanese versions, it is possible to become engaged in non-stop consecutive s with Deanna on  until the player blacks out.

Black Belt speech error
Due to consecutive spaces, Eddie in Sinnoh's  will say "Done in" with every letter on an alternating line.

GTS level display oversight
In early releases of the American version, when seeking on the GTS, the game will not display the level range of the wanted Pokémon. This can result in confusion as offers are blocked so even if a player has the right Pokémon to offer but it is not at the right level, it will not able to be selected.

This glitch is not present the original Japanese versions or in other localized releases, indicating that it was a minor error made in the development of the American version. Nintendo offered a patch for the problem by sending in an affected game.

Member Card name error
If the player receives the Member Card from the man in the Poké Mart that delivers event Pokémon or event items, the name will be displayed as "Member's Card" as opposed to "Member Card".

Route 227 Underground glitch
Going underground on between  and the horizontal row with the first patch of tall grass, then coming back up will cause the player to be partly in the ground. Leaving this area causes the player to return to normal.

Trapping Ability flee glitch
If the player is in a Double Battle (which, at the time, was only possible when traveling with one of the Stat Trainers) and the left-side wild Pokémon has  or, attempting to flee will bring up the message that the user cannot flee from the right side wild Pokémon rather than the left side wild Pokémon. This also applies if the left-side wild Pokémon has if the player's active Pokémon is.

This occurs even if the right side wild Pokémon was knocked out, resulting in the message "The wild Bad Egg prevents escape with Arena Trap!" etc.

While this glitch is a bug in the game's code, there is no known normal way to activate it without using another glitch to create a Pokémon with both a trapping Ability and, such as the Mimic Transform Rage variation of the Rage glitch.

Unusable Explorer Kit glitch
The Explorer Kit is not usable when the player stands two tiles to the right of the at the western entrance of Eterna City. Instead the message "Rowan's words echoed... ! There's a time and place for everything! But not now." will appear.

Cheryl overworld glitch
At the entrance of the Eterna Forest, sometimes a non-player character will walk on top of Cheryl.

Disappearing PC Pokémon glitch
Sometimes, Pokémon placed in the PC may disappear completely.

HM05 Defog error
appears as a HM rather than a  one.

Pal Park manipulation
This allows the player to migrate any number of Pokémon via Pal Park by overcoming the "six per 24 hours" restriction.

Underground item duplication glitch
This glitch occurs in the Underground and makes it possible to "clone" a Goods item between two players. There is a chance of losing the item if both players do not follow directions properly.

To clone a goods item, one player must always give the item, and the other must always receive. This cloning glitch can be repeated indefinitely. To clone, one player must give the other an item. The player who gave the item turns the game off without saving, but the receiver should save the game. If the cloning was successful, both players should have the item. However, there is a chance that the cloning will not work and the item will be lost.

Another variation on this glitch can be used to "clone" traps. By having one player place a trap(s) and having the other player pick up the traps and saving, if the first player resets his game without saving both players will have the trap(s).

Ace Trainer Kate oversight
When starting a battle with Kate on, she will only  the player if he or she walks straight down the path. If the player walks to either side of her, she will apologize as she would after the player has defeated her. If the player walks down the path towards her after talking to her on the side she will see them while facing the wrong way and then battle. If the player talks to her at the side, then goes directly above her, talks to her again from above and goes up, she will see the player while they are moving up, walk up, and end up on the same tile as the player's walking Pokémon.

Additional Boulder error
In the Japanese versions, a boulder in the Slowpoke Well can be off land into water. The boulder will still act as if it was on dry land. It was removed in the localizations.

Buena's Password glitch
If the player saves the game as soon as they have stepped through a doorway or stairway and their first has not appeared, then Buena will not give a new password the following day or any thereafter unless the player re-saves in a new location that allows the primary Pokémon to leave its Poké Ball.

Cianwood Gym walking Pokémon glitch
In Cianwood Gym, if the player stands in the center of the Gym behind the waterfall with a large Pokémon at the front of their party so that they have no walking Pokémon, then changes their lead Pokémon to a Pokémon that can walk inside the Gym, it will appear as a walking Pokémon on the next tier down. After moving a few steps away from the waterfall, the Pokémon is automatically jumped up onto the same tier as the player.

Floating walking Pokémon glitch
The player must have a Pokémon following them around and it must be ed. If the Pokémon walks off a ledge at the same time as it survives the poisoning, then the Pokémon will end up levitating in the air as if it is still jumping off of a ledge. The Pokémon will continue to levitate in the air until the player chooses to jump off another ledge, go into a building, get on the bicycle, or use either or. If the player switches walking Pokémon, the Pokémon will still be seen floating until the player exits the party menu.

GB Sounds muting glitch
If the player turns on the GB Sounds while ing on, then turns the GB Sounds off while still surfing in the water of either Cinnabar Island or Route 20, the music will be muted until it is changed.

This glitch will not work if the player encounters a wild Pokémon while the GB Sounds is active.

Haircut brothers glitch
If the player tries to get another haircut on the same day from the Haircut brothers by changing the clock of the handheld, exiting the Goldenrod Tunnel, and entering it again will cause the other brother to be present but he will treat the player as if their have already been given a haircut. Once the day properly changes, the other brother will be present but not give the player's Pokémon a haircut, acting like the player has already gotten one.

Indigo Plateau guard glitch
If the player attempts to enter the GS Cup in the Indigo Plateau Wireless Club and checks the list of special, the guard blocking the entrance to Will's room will not move until the player reenters the building.

Invisible grass oversight
Three tiles on and four tiles in the Swamp area of the  appear to be empty but when the player or the walking Pokémon is standing on the tiles, tall grass will appear underfoot. This grass appears between the top of the grass and the water on Route 44, and between the rightmost lake and the grass in the Safari Zone. Wild Pokémon may be encountered in this grass and Safari Zone objects may not be placed on it.

Pokéwalker data cloning
When a is successfully transferred to the Pokéwalker but the game is turned off before saving, the Pokémon would appear in both the Pokéwalker and the Pokémon Storage System box it was in prior to the transfer. However, attempting to bring the Pokémon in the Pokéwalker back into the game would cause it to be into the, even if the original Pokémon data had already been deleted or moved, such as being traded or released. This is because the data of the Pokémon that was transferred was not saved onto the game, thus the game will not recognize the Pokémon that is on the Pokéwalker, therefore it releases it. The game only recognizes Pokémon caught from the Pokéwalker and the Pokémon's data that is stored in the game after the transfer. This is to prevent external or third-party devices from transferring Pokémon data onto the game.

Walking Pokémon position glitch
If the menu is opened while the walking Pokémon jumps off a ledge and the player checks the status screen of any in the party, the Pokémon will get a little bit higher up, so viewing the stats of a Pokémon continuously will result in the Pokémon going off-screen.

Waterfall glitch
If, before going down on a Waterfall, left or right is pressed on the D pad just before down is also pressed, the player will descend the Waterfall facing left or right instead of down.

Poké Mart sign position glitch
Sometimes Poké Mart signs will appear as though they were built on the roots of trees, there is no known way to try getting this glitch to forcefully occur.

Battle Tower overflow
If the player surpasses a streak of 1792 (256 rounds of 7) in the, the opponents that appear are as if the player's streak were its actual value 1792.

will appear as the opponent for battle number 1813 (1792 + 21) with his Silver Print team. However, he will be introduced like a normal Trainer and has no pre-battle dialogue, also the player only earns 7 BP for that streak of 7.

Giratina form change glitch
If has its held item changed to or from the Griseous Orb in the PC (i.e. using the "Move Pokémon" or "Move Items" option), it will change form, but its stats will not change to reflect its new form. It will retain these stats even after saving or being traded and uses these stats during link battles. Its stats will be changed to those of the correct form if it has its held item changed outside of the PC. Its stats are recalculated when leveled up, but since these changes are considered to be as a result of the level up, leveling up a Giratina affected by this glitch can cause negative stat growths.

Graphics corruption
Standing in certain places of areas such as the Great Marsh, Ribbon Syndicate, or the Fight Area in, or in  may cause the foliage or walls to bend and merge into other graphics near them.

Wi-Fi Plaza glitch
If the player goes to the Wi-Fi Plaza, runs in the direction of another player, and reaches him or her about a second before he or she warps out, the two players will merge into each other until the second one warps out.

Corrupted save file cloning
Occasionally, when the save file gets corrupted, the data is kept. When this happens, the game can still be saved, but the save file will be unable to be loaded. With the assistance of another handheld and another game, the Pokémon can be traded from the game with the corrupted save file. After the trade is completed, if the game is rebooted, the Pokémon traded from the corrupted save file will be in both games but the other traded Pokémon will be lost.

Fire Fang Wonder Guard glitch
is able to hit through, even if the target does not have a weakness to moves. This does not apply to, , or any other Fire-type moves. Presumably the glitch went unnoticed as the only that naturally has Wonder Guard,, is weak to Fire-type moves anyway.

GTS morphing glitch
There have been somewhat numerous reports of a glitch that happened in the GTS that causes a player's offered to become "morphed". The Pokémon's sprite will change into that of a different Pokémon and the gender might be swapped as well. The game will also say it is the same species it used to be (e.g.: a morphed would still be recognized as such) and it will be holding a, an unused item. There is no confirmed way to reproduce this glitch; however in many of the reports, people have claimed that the glitch happened right after the GTS came up with no searches for any of the Pokémon but did not send out a Communication Error. After it stops blocking all access to other Pokémon, it is believed that is when the glitch is most likely to happen. Trying to withdraw the glitch Pokémon may result in a Communication Error but when the game lets a player withdraw the Pokémon, it returns to normal.

A similar glitch occurred where the Pokémon in the GTS is morphed into the wanted Pokémon (as shown in the photo). Instead of its name being the same as before, its name is now that of the wanted Pokémon, but still the same species as the Pokémon originally offered. There's also the possibility of the morphed Pokémon holding a Seal Bag. Most of the time, trying to trade for it will either cause a Communication Error or say that the Pokémon has been traded. In addition, sometimes these glitched Pokémon will be the only that appear when searching for Pokémon of a certain level.

GTS trade evolution oversight
There is a glitch in the GTS that allows to evolve by being traded, but without actually trading them.

Players must first place a (with the correct held item, like Metal Coat for  or Electirizer for ) onto the GTS. To prevent the deposited Pokémon from being traded away, players should request an impossible trade, such as a level 9 and under. The player must then search for a Pokémon on the GTS and trade for it. After this has been done, returning to the Pokémon that was placed on the GTS by the player and taking it back will cause it to evolve.

The risk of not being able to reacquire a Pokémon while trying to evolve it through trade evolution over the GTS is very great and this could have been a planned countermeasure. The requirement (a trade) must still be met in order for the Pokémon to evolve, but this system would prevent a player from potentially losing the Pokémon they wanted to evolve.

GTS vanishing glitch
There have also been instances of a "vanishing" glitch on the GTS. After uploading a to the server and checking its summary without changing the Pokémon, the "SUMMARY" button is sometimes replaced with "DEPOSIT", suggesting that the Pokémon has been traded. Selecting "DEPOSIT" will cause a Communication Error, and the player will return to the front desk. Logging on to the server again will cause the Pokémon to reappear, with no noticeable changes.

Kadabra Everstone glitch
If a is traded while holding an Everstone, it will still evolve into.

Invisible status condition glitch
If a Pokémon has a non-volatile status condition, if its or  is cured by  or, the status condition icon will disappear from the HP bar while that Pokémon is in battle. The status condition icon is still displayed in the party menu; if the Pokémon is switched out, the status condition icon will appear again when it is switched back in.

The status condition remains entirely in effect, maintaining its effects and preventing the Pokémon from being afflicted by another status condition. This bug is only a display error.

Pal Park name encoding glitch
In Western versions of the games, if a has a non-English or non-Japanese character (except a vowel with an  or a type of, such as double s) in either its nickname or original Trainer name and it is sent through Pal Park, those characters will be converted into their corresponding characters in the Japanese character encoding.

This occurs because Pal Park uses the Japanese encoding for all characters, except quotation marks (which use the appropriate quotation marks for the language) and using characters in Western games. While this means all nicknames and Trainer names the player can enter are handled correctly (due to the limited characters that can be input for these names in Generation III), there are a few in-game trades in the Spanish games which have non-English characters in either their original Trainer name or nickname, and a few preset names in the Spanish games also contain non-English characters. All applicable cases are listed below.
 * In-game trade nicknames


 * In-game trade original Trainers


 * Default names

Sprite translation glitch
Each time a Pokémon performs the animation for or, its sprite will be translated after the animation is completed. If a Pokémon performs the animation for Facade its sprite will be translated up one pixel, whereas if it performs the animation for Strength its sprite will be translated right one pixel.

While difficult to notice after only a few uses, after repeated uses the change becomes apparent. If a Pokémon performs Facade's animation enough times, it will reach the bottom of its sprite and a gap between the bottom of its sprite and the bottom of the window will appear. These sprite translations can be combined if the Pokémon performs both moves.

Trade cloning
If a player is trading and one of the handhelds is turned off at a certain time, the Pokémon that was traded to the game that was not turned off will appear in both player's parties. However, this glitch is very difficult to perform and quite commonly corrupts the save file.

Arceus glitch
If the player uses to pass a  on to an  holding a Plate, it will appear invisible after coming out. If the same Arceus then uses an attack which does not deal damage, the game will freeze after the animation has finished.

Collisional errors
Occasionally, when a uses a certain move on another Pokémon, part of its modeling will go straight through the other Pokémon. For example, when an uses  on a, part of its head will go through Metang.

Life Orb glitch
The animation for activates after the Life Orb recoil rather than before it. This means that if a used Heat Wave with at most 10% of its  left, it would faint and the Heat Wave animation would seemingly come out of nowhere.

Mystery Gift exploit
Although only one Mystery Gift is intended to be received by the player through its 300 seconds of transmission, there is nothing to stop a player with another handheld and a different game cartridge from receiving the same gift. For example, when purchasing a Salac Berry for 19,200 Poké Coupons and receiving it on one game cartridge, another player with a different handheld and game can quickly receive a copy of the same Salac Berry for free, provided that the 300-second period haven't expired.