List of glitches (Generation III)

This is a list of glitches that occur in the Generation III main series Pokémon games.

In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire

Berry glitch

Main article: Berry glitch

Dewford Gym glitch

In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, the wall behind the right-hand statue in Dewford Gym behaves like a statue: when approached, and the A-button is pressed, it says: "DEWFORD POKéMON GYM, BRAWLY'S CERTIFIED TRAINERS:". After Brawly is defeated, it will list the player as a certified Trainer. This was removed in Pokémon Emerald.

Ledge glitch

East of Mauville City there is an Aroma Lady that will battle the player. If the player stands right behind the ledge in her line of sight, she will see the player and walk onto the ledge and stay there until the player leaves the area. This does not occur in Emerald due to her not walking around. A similar glitch involves a Gentleman near Lilycove City.

Nightmare glitch

In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, if Nightmare is used on a sleeping Pokémon yet the sleeping Pokémon wakes up due to Shed Skin, the enemy Pokémon is still harmed by Nightmare even though it is not asleep.

Pay Day glitch

In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, the wrong amount of money received from Pay Day will be displayed if the Amulet Coin is held, leaving the impression that it does not affect Pay Day. Yet, upon checking the Trainer card, the player will discover that the money earned from Pay Day has been doubled and added to their total savings. This error was fixed in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen and all subsequent games.

Thunder glitch

In some copies of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, using Thunder or Thunderbolt may cause the game to freeze during the moves' animation sequences. This can be remedied by turning off the battle animations in the options menu. Also, in Pokémon FireRed, LeafGreen, and Emerald, the sound of Thunder or Thunderbolt may get stuck until the game resets.

Truck glitch

This glitch only occurs in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. At the start of the game, if the player saves inside the truck and reboots, upon exiting the truck the game tries to show "Littleroot Town" as if a new area had been entered, while it normally would not have been.

In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Poké Flute glitch

When the player plays the Poké Flute and while the melody is playing, if the Help Menu is activated and deactivated, the music will be muted until Snorlax wakes up.

Roaming Roar glitch

If a roaming Pokémon uses Roar to flee from battle, it will permanently disappear from the game.

In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed, and LeafGreen

Roaming IV glitch

Main article: Roaming IV glitch

The roaming IV glitch is a glitch in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed and LeafGreen that causes roaming Pokémon to have extremely low IVs. The glitch is not present in Pokémon Emerald.

In Generation III, the data for a Pokémon's IVs are stored in a 32-bit integer. However, when a roaming Pokémon is captured, only the last eight bits are transferred. While the HP IV is unaffected, the Pokémon can only have a maximum Attack IV of 7. The other IVs will always be 0.

In Pokémon Emerald

Battle Tower cloning glitch

Main article: Pokémon cloning#Generation III

Mirage Tower glitch

In Mirage Tower, on the second floor near the stairs there is no rock, but the player cannot walk there.

Pomeg glitch

Main article: Pomeg glitch

In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald

Dive glitch

Main article: Dive glitch

In all Generation III games

Focus Punch glitch

This glitch is triggered by selecting Focus Punch in a double battle on the first Pokémon, pressing the "B" button, then switching out the first Pokémon. When the battle is conducted, the first Pokémon will tighten its focus in preparation for Focus Punch, then switch out.

Sticky hold glitch

This glitch occurs when Thief or Covet is used to knock out a Pokémon holding an item that has the Sticky Hold ability. It causes the sprite of the defeated Pokémon to stay in a ghost-like form. This lasts until the screen is changed. Switching to the item list or Pokémon list will cause it to disappear.

If it is a battle against a team of six Pokémon, defeating the next Pokémon will cause that Pokémon's sprite to vanish normally, but the ghost-like sprite will remain. If the second Pokémon is defeated without leaving the battle screen, a third Pokémon will come out, but the second Pokémon's sprite will not remain. The original ghost-like sprite will remain and get recolored to match. This is because the game stores color palettes separately to the pictures themselves.

In the side games

In Pokémon Colosseum

Infinite ball glitch

The infinite ball glitch is a glitch in Pokémon Colosseum that enables the player to reuse any type of Poké Ball. It does not work in the Player's Choice version or in Pokémon XD.

The glitch is performed by selecting a Poké Ball with the player's first Pokémon's turn. Then, on the second Pokémon's turn, switching the location of the Poké Ball in the bag chosen with another Poké Ball in the bag (using the "Y" button). After the Ball is thrown, the Poké Ball pocket will still have the same amount of Poké Balls, as if the Ball just thrown had not been used.

Sometimes, if using a Master Ball, the game will freeze and bring the "An error occurred" message the Nintendo GameCube gives when it fails to properly read a game.

Also, if the second Pokémon is using a multiple-turn move that has been selected on a previous turn, the attack prevents the glitch from working, which causes the thrown Snag Ball to be used.

Purification glitch

Pokémon Colosseum only. In Agate Village, the cliffs directly to the left and right of the hill at the entrance are glitched. If the player walks downward while on these small cliffs, there are two specific points where the player will hit the edge and continue to walk, and the screen will start to shake. This will cause all Shadow Pokémon in the player's party to be purified at the same rate as if the player is walking around.

This glitch Pokémon article is part of Project GlitchDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on glitches in the Pokémon games.