List of glitches in Generation III

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

In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire

256× item selling glitch

When selling 256 or more of an item, even though the Poké Mart states the correct price, for every 256 the total price is actually counted as $0 and the player loses $2560 for every multiple of 256. For example, selling 999 Berries gives $2310 (0 for 768, +2310 for 231). This is normally only possible with Berries because they are the only items that the player can hold more than 99 of, although through cheating the glitch can be performed with other items as well. This bug was fixed in Pokémon Emerald and is impossible in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen where player is allowed only to sell up to 99 of an item.

By ChickasaurusGL

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Berry glitch

Main article: Berry glitch

Dewford Gym glitch

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.

By Wooggle

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HP drain glitch

If in battle, the user's Pokémon deals over 33,037 damage, the opponent's Pokémon will faint without its HP bar being drained. If the user's Pokémon deals exactly 33,037 damage, the HP bar falls to 0 instantly without any delay.

By ChickasaurusGL

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Nightmare glitch

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.

By NaiJPC

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Pay Day glitch

The wrong amount of money received from Pay Day will be displayed if the Amulet Coin is held by a Pokémon, 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.

By ChickasaurusGL

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Sootopolis rock wall glitch

In Sootopolis City, to the left of the staircase leading to the house of the old lady who talks about Mt. Pyre is a rock wall that the player can walk in. The player can only go one step in, however.

By Wooggle

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

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 all Generation III games, the sound of Thunder or Thunderbolt may get stuck until the game resets.

Trainer approach glitch

There are three NPCs who may move on top of an obstacle. This does not occur in Emerald, as none of these Trainers move. This does not occur in Spanish versions of Ruby and Sapphire, either.

If the player stands in Route 118's Aroma Lady Rose, Route 121's Gentleman Walter, or Abandoned Ship's Tuber Charlie's line of sight while directly behind the ledge, gate, or wall, the Trainer will see the player and walk onto the ledge, gate, or wall to battle.

By Wooggle

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Truck glitch

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.

By Wooggle

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In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Infinite Nugget glitch

If the player loses to the Rocket Grunt at the end of Nugget Bridge, the player has a chance to fight him again. Each time he is re-fought, he will give the player a Nugget, so one can purposely lose to obtain Nuggets repeatedly.

More due to lazy scripting than actually being a glitch, this is caused by an unset flag before the battle begins, making the script endlessly repeat itself.

Contrary to popular belief, this glitch does not work in Generation I, because the player has only one chance to fight the Grunt, which is due to the flag that was set before the battle is initiated.

By Wooggle

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

Pokédex species glitch

The Pokédex only displays the first word of two-word species names. Internal game data lists species names the same as in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and other games. For example, while Beedrill's species is the "Poison Bee Pokémon", it is listed as the Poison Pokémon.

This is likely due to the game reading the space as a terminator. This was corrected in the Player's Choice releases of the games.

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 the Pokémon wakes up.

Roaming Roar glitch

If a roaming Pokémon uses Roar to flee from battle, it will permanently disappear from the game. Most notably, this means that if the Raikou or Entei player encounters during the post-game uses Roar before it is caught, it cannot be encountered again, unless the game is reset to the state which it was in before the encounter.

In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed, and LeafGreen

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: Cloning glitches#Generation III

Mirage Tower glitch

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

By Wooggle

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

Pomeg glitch

Main article: Pomeg glitch

By Werster

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In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald

Dive glitch

Main article: Dive glitch

Poké Mart worker glitch

The Poké Mart worker at Oldale Town normally gives the player a Potion. However, if the player has a full Bag when this happens, the Potion won't be handed out. If the player enters Route 103 and then immediately returns to Oldale Town, the worker will be near the Poké Mart, but will behave as if he was at original position. Talking to the worker again will lead the player into a tree; however, the player can get out, because they are only one tile into the trees.

By Wooggle

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Route 134 current glitch

In the south-east corner of the island in the south-east corner of Route 134, there is a current tile that does not behave as a water tile. The player cannot Surf on it, but can walk on it. Walking on it will simply push the player back onto the island to the left.

By Wooggle

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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. This is due to charging turn having a priority of +8, and therefore being executed before switch out.

This does not occur in Pokémon Colosseum or XD, nor in later generations.

By Wooggle

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

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.

By NaiJPC

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

Vital Throw accuracy display glitch

	This glitch is in need of research. Reason: Does it happen in Orre games? You can discuss this on the talk page.

Status showing 100% accuracy

On the status screen of Pokémon, the move Vital Throw is shown to have 100% accuracy. However, in the actual game, it hits regardless of accuracy and evasion.

In the side games

In Pokémon Colosseum

Experience glitch

	This glitch is in need of research. Reason: Do volatile status ailments like confusion, Leech Seed, and Curse cause this too? You can discuss this on the talk page.

This glitch occurs when an opponent's last Pokémon is defeated by a burn or poison while the player's Pokémon are under the effect of Perish Song. When this occurs, the player's Pokémon will gain experience immediately after the Pokémon faints, then once again each time one of the player's Pokémon's perish count drops. This allows Pokémon to gain the experience for defeating the Pokémon up to three times.

By Andrew42143

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

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 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.

By Gligar13Vids

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

Purification glitch

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 can also be done in Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness under different conditions.

Shiny Shadow Pokémon glitch

Like in the core series games, in Pokémon Colosseum there is a 1/8192 chance of a Shadow Pokémon being Shiny, but it will most likely lose its Shiny status when captured by the player; conversely, there is a 1/8192 chance that a Shadow Pokémon may spontaneously become Shiny when captured by the player.

This glitch occurs because when the player captures a Shadow Pokemon, their Trainer ID number overwrites the original Trainer's ID number (unlike with traded Pokémon); because the Trainer ID number is a factor in Shiny calculation, this may cause the Pokemon to acquire (or lose) Shiny status. This is similar to the oddity of a hatched Pokémon Egg changing from normal to Shiny (or vice versa) if it was traded to another player before hatching.

This glitch was corrected in Pokémon XD: when Pokemon XD calculates a personality value for a Shadow Pokémon, it checks it against the player's and opponent's ID numbers and if either one would result in a Shiny Pokémon, it generates a new personality value for that Pokémon (repeating if necessary). As a direct result, in Pokémon XD Shadow Pokémon can never be Shiny (though other Pokemon, such as those appearing in Poké Spots, can be).

Glitches in the Pokémon games Multiple generations Transform glitches • Glitch Trainers • Cloning glitches • Error messages • Arbitrary code execution Generation I Glitches • Battle glitches • Overworld glitches -- • 0 ERROR • Broken hidden items • Cable Club escape glitch • Dual-type damage misinformation Experience underflow glitch • Fight Safari Zone Pokémon trick • Glitch City • Item duplication glitch • Item underflow Mew glitch • Old man glitch • Pewter Gym skip glitch • Pokémon merge glitch • Rhydon glitch • Rival twins glitch Select glitches (dokokashira door glitch, second type glitch) • Super Glitch Time Capsule exploit • Walking through walls • ZZAZZ glitch Generation II Glitches • Battle glitches Bug-Catching Contest glitch • Celebi Egg glitch • Coin Case glitches • Experience underflow glitch Glitch dimension • Glitch Egg • Teru-sama • Time Capsule exploit • Trainer House glitches • GS Ball mail glitch Generation III Glitches • Battle glitches • Overworld glitches Berry glitch • Dive glitch • Pomeg glitch • Glitzer Popping Generation IV Glitches • Battle glitches • Overworld glitches Acid rain • GTS glitches • Pomeg glitch • Rage glitch Surf glitch • Tweaking • Pal Park Retire glitch Generation V Glitches • Battle glitches • Overworld glitches Charge Beam additional effect chance glitch • Charge move replacement glitch • Choice item lock glitch Frozen Zoroark glitch • Sky Drop glitch Generation VI Glitches • Battle glitches • Overworld glitches Charge Beam additional effect chance glitch • Charge move replacement glitch • Choice item lock glitch Lumiose City save glitch • Symbiosis Eject Button glitch • Toxic sure-hit glitch Generation VII Glitches • Battle glitches • Overworld glitches Charge Beam additional effect chance glitch • Charge move replacement glitch • Choice item lock glitch Toxic sure-hit glitch • Rollout storage glitch Generation VIII Glitches Charge Beam additional effect chance glitch • Charge move replacement glitch • Choice item lock glitch Toxic sure-hit glitch • Rollout storage glitch • Party item offset glitch Generation IX Glitches Glitch effects Game freeze • Glitch battle • Glitch song Gen I only: Glitch screen • TMTRAINER effect • Inverted sprite Gen II only: Glitch dimension Lists Glitches (GO • Mystery Dungeon • TCG GB • Spin-off) Glitch Pokémon (Gen I • Gen II • Gen III • Gen IV • Gen V • Gen VI • Gen VII • Gen VIII) Glitch moves (Gen I) • Glitch types (Gen I • Gen II)

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