Berry glitch

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The Berry glitch is a glitch only found in the coding of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire which seems to stop the game's day counter. The reason for its name is because the first thing the player will notice is that all Berries that have been planted but have not been harvested have ceased growing. The glitch typically occurs after about a year of owning either game, or to games that have been played over 100 hours.

The glitch results in problems very similar to what happens when the game cartridge's CR1616 internal battery runs down, which stops the game's clock. However, in games afflicted by a dead battery, there is a message just after the title screen: "The internal battery has run dry. The game can be played. However, clock-based events will no longer occur." In contrast, games being affected by the glitch will not have that message.

Other affected areas

As the Berry glitch affects the game's day counter and timer, other areas of the game are affected by the glitch. These can also be signs that the game has contracted the Berry glitch.

• Trainers stop wanting to re-battle
• Lilycove Dept. Store never has any sales
• Lilycove Dept. Store stops allowing the player to draw a Lotto Ticket
• The Mauville Game Corner never has any service days
• The Energy Guru never sells vitamins cheap
• The tide in Shoal Cave never changes
• The man who gives out TM27 (Return) and TM21 (Frustration) in Pacifidlog Town stops giving out TMs
• Those that hand out free Berries stop handing them out
• Mirage Island's random number is the same
• Eevee will only be able to evolve into one of Espeon or Umbreon

Fixing the glitch

The glitch can be fixed by downloading a patch from Pokémon FireRed, LeafGreen, Emerald, Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon XD, Pokémon Channel, Pokémon Box Ruby & Sapphire, the e-Reader, a specific interactive demo disc, or by sending the affected game to Nintendo.

Pokémon FireRed, LeafGreen and Emerald patch

1. Load FireRed, LeafGreen, or Emerald until the title screen is displayed.
2. Press the Select and B buttons. After the new screen loads, press A.
3. Insert the Link Cable so that the system that the FireRed, LeafGreen or Emerald game is connected to the Player 1 cable port and the Ruby or Sapphire game is connected to the Player 2 port. Once this is done, press A.
4. Turn on the device with Ruby or Sapphire while holding the Start and Select buttons.
5. Refer to the FireRed, LeafGreen or Emerald game display for further instructions. The patch should be transferred at this time.

Pokémon Colosseum and XD patch

Linking an affected game to Colosseum or Pokémon XD for trading or battling will automatically download the patch. In addition, the Bonus Disc that came with pre-orders of Colosseum can be used to download Jirachi into a game; when this happens, the patch is downloaded as well.

Pokémon Channel patch

Downloading Jirachi from a PAL version of Pokémon Channel will automatically download the patch.

Pokémon Box patch

Linking an affected game to Pokémon Box Ruby & Sapphire, accessing the Go To Adventure mode, and then saving the game whilst playing will also automatically fix this glitch, with the message "The Berry Program was updated" appearing with the save confirmation. (Note that this option is not available for Japanese versions.)

e-Reader patch

For Japanese versions, a special set of e-Reader cards (ID# 16-A001 & 16-A002) were distributed with Pokémon Scoop's Winter 2004 issue to allow players to fix this glitch by using e-Readers.

Interactive demo patch

Specially-marked demo discs were released to selected stores across U.S. and Japan, so players can visit these stores and download the patch from the disc. By downloading the patch from a demo disc, player will also receive a Shiny Zigzagoon as a bonus. However, since the program does not block fixed games, players can receive multiple Zigzagoon by downloading to the same cartridge again.

Sending cartridge to Nintendo

If the player has no opportunity to download the patch, the game can be sent to Nintendo to have it fixed.

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