For other glitches in this generation, seeList of glitches in Generation V

This is alist ofPokémon battle glitches inGeneration V games.

Pokémon Black, White, Black 2, and White 2

Triple Battle softlock

If the player's current Pokémon on the field is unable to hit the last remaining Pokémon, and the player only has one other available Pokémon to send out, the game will not allow the player to send out the Pokémon, softlocking the game.

0 damage glitch

If amove'sdamage calculation yields 0 before applying the${\displaystyle other}$ factor (which is automatically raised to 1), then${\displaystyle other}$ is lower than 1, the move deals 0 damage.

This glitch exists because the routine to prevent 0 HP damage is erroneously performed before applying the${\displaystyle other}$ factor.

Baton Pass Own Tempo glitch

If a Pokémon withOwn Tempo is confused due to obtaining it fromBaton Pass, it will not be cured of confusion until after a Pokémon takes its turn (uses a move, switches out, etc.).

This glitch is present in thecore seriesGenerationV,VI,VII, andVIII games.

Charge Beam additional effect chance glitch

Main article:Charge Beam additional effect chance glitch

If the user hasSerene Grace and usesCharge Beam while its side is under the effect of the rainbow from the combination ofFire Pledge andWater Pledge, the additional effect chance for Charge Beam will overflow and become 24%.^[1]

This glitch is present in thecore seriesGenerationV,VI,VII, andVIII games.

Choice item lock glitch

Main article:Choice item lock glitch

If a Pokémon is already locked into a move due to a Choice item (theChoice Band,Choice Specs, orChoice Scarf), if the held Choice item is removed while the effect of the Pokémon's held item is negated (byKlutz,Embargo, orMagic Room), the Pokémon will remain locked into the move.

When the Pokémon's held item regains its effect (e.g. Magic Room wears off), regardless of the Pokémon's held item (even if it has none), it cannot select moves other than the one it is locked into; if it attempts to select another move, the message "The <HELD ITEM> allows the use of only <MOVE>!" will be displayed.

Confusion item activation glitch

If a Pokémon hurts itself inconfusion, items that activate when itsHP drops below a specific threshold will not activate. These items instead activate after the next time it loses HP (other than by hurting itself confused). Affected items include theSitrus Berry,Figy Berry,Liechi Berry, andBerry Juice.

For example, if a Pokémon holding aBerry Juice hurts itself in confusion so that its HP drops below 50% of its maximum HP, its held Berry Juice will not be activated.

This glitch is present in thecore seriesGenerationV,VI, andVII games.

HP display glitch

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: check what would happen if False Swipe was used

Sometimes, when the player's Pokémon has gained enough HP EVs during a battle to increase its HP stat, the battle and team summary screen may display different values. This can also occur when the game recalculates the HP of a Pokémon on the last Pokémon of a Trainer battle or at the conclusion of a Wild Battle.

Fainted Pokémon glitch

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: checking if it occurs in B2W2; confirm the Double Battle glitch Pokémon occurs; check if this can occur with 2 HP or more

This glitch can occur in Pokémon Black or White as a side effect of the HP display glitch. If a Pokémon gains enough HP EVs that would allow it survive a would-be one-hit KO with oneHP left that it would not have be able to do prior to the gain, that Pokémon will stillfaint. This occurs more often with low-level Pokémon due to them being more likely to gain a level while benefiting from the EVs, in addition to having stats that would originally lead to a one-hit KO prior to leveling up.

In aSingle Battle, this prevents the player from switching out Pokémon or attack. Due to this, the only way out is to reset the game.

In aRotation Battle, the Pokémon can still be rotated out to a different Pokémon.

Impossible move selection glitch

If aTriple Battle against an in-game trainer proceeds so that the opponent is down to two Pokémon left, both in opposite corners, while the player is down to one Pokémon left that's also in a corner, one of the opponent's Pokémon will be left without any adjacent targets. If that Pokémon doesn't have any available moves that can target non-adjacent opponents, its AI evaluation routine will assign scores to each of its moves which are so dismissive that they're on par with the signaling value that a move is never supposed to be selected, such as because it has no PP left. The Pokémon will then choose between its moves randomly for as long as it remains with no targets in range, and if some (but not all) of its moves are out of PP, it is still prone to its random selection choosing one of those moves, which will then fail with the message"But there was no PP left for the move!"

During the taping of a film atPokéstar Studios, opponents select moves according to a predefined script, and can also invoke this glitch if the script orders them to use a move that's already out of PP.

Moves that are blocked by any ofDisable,Taunt,Imprison,Heal Block, orGravity are prone to be chosen in this circumstance, and will be prevented with the appropriate message for the respective effect and without PP being deducted. Moves that should be blocked byTorment or aChoice item can also be chosen and, for self-targeting moves or other moves that aren't hampered by the lack of any targets in range, they can be used successfully.

If all of the Pokémon's moves are rendered inaccessible on the same turn due to any combination of these factors, the opponent will correctly acknowledge this and useStruggle as usual.

Low HP cry oversight

While Pokémon with a yellow HP bar have a distortedcry to match their lowHP, Pokémon with a red HP bar have the same cry as Pokémon with a green HP bar.

Prize money display oversight

If the player wins a battle with anAmulet Coin and aPrize Money Power ↑, ↑↑ or ↑↑↑, so that the resultingprize money is an amount greater than$99,999, it will be displayed with a question mark before the last four digits. This happens because the game is only designed to display up to five digits of the prize money.

Shed Shell glitch

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Specifics on when it occurs

Sometimes in in-game battles, if the player's lead Pokémon holds aShed Shell, it will be unable to switch out. This glitch does not occur in link battles.

Sky Drop glitch

Main article:Sky Drop glitch

Due to this glitch, the move Sky Drop was banned in Wi-Fi Random Matches starting November 10, 2010.

This glitch can only occur inDouble andTriple Battles. It is activated when Gravity is used while two Pokémon are in the semi-invulnerable state after Sky Drop is used. Gravity will bring the user of Sky Drop down, while the target will be stuck in the semi-invulnerable state, unable to move until it is knocked out.

Sprite clipping

When encountering a wildSandile, its lower jaw will clip through the terrain it is standing on the first time it opens its mouth.

When zooming in on an enemy's Conkeldurr for any reason, the bottom portion of Conkeldurr's pillars will disappear underneath its platform. After zooming back into regular zoom though, the missing portion of Conkeldurr's pillars will return. This also happens when Conkeldurr faints while its cry is playing.

Trick Room oversight

If a Pokémon has an effectiveSpeed stat of at least 1809, it will ignore the effects ofTrick Room, and act before slower Pokémon. This glitch is also present inGeneration VI,VII andVIII games.

Ability storage glitch

When battling an in-game opponent Pokémon; if the player sends out a Pokémon that has an ability such asLevitate,Water Absorb,Motor Drive, orFlash Fire, the opposing Pokémon will act as if all Pokémon sent out after that have that ability until a new Ability shows up on screen. This causes the opposing Pokémon to never use moves that would be able to hit the player's Pokémon if they switched back into a Pokémon that doesn't have an onscreen indicator for their Ability activating.

Pokémon Black and White

All languages

Gym Leader music oversight

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: checking if it occurs in B2W2

If the player is in the middle of a move that inflicts damage over several turns consecutively (such asRollout), and theGym Leader sends out their last Pokémon, the battle music will not change until after the duration of the move ends. This is because the Gym Leader does not come out to speak, which is what cues the music change.

Japanese language

Wellspring Cave all-fainted party

In Japanese versions of Black and White only, the Multi Battle with Cheren against Team Plasma grunts in Wellspring Cave does not automatically heal the player's team afterwards, as most Multi Battles do. If all of the player's Pokémon faint in that battle, but Cheren successfully finishes off the opponents, the player will thus be left with zero healthy Pokémon afterward. They can continue playing at that point, but if they engage in a battle (be it against a wild Pokémon or a Trainer) before either healing or withdrawing a healthy Pokémon from the PC, they will black out and lose money as soon as the battle begins. The Pokémon will then be healed and the game can continue as normal.

If the player had only one Pokémon in their party at the time and they manage to leave the cave with no further encounters, it is then possible to give that Pokémon to the nearbyDay Care and be left with a completely empty party. At that point, rather than blacking out immediately at the start of a battle, the game will crash from doing so. It will also crash from attempting to view the Pokémon menu, or by selecting a Bag item and attempting to use it on, or give it to, one of the player's Pokémon (which likewise brings up that menu). However, if one side of the Pokémon status screens has been registered to the Y menu beforehand, that screen can be accessed that way, displaying a sequence of empty data and a nickname that appears as a string of at least fourteen question marks before it runs off the edge of the screen. Effectively this is theGeneration V ----- glitch Pokémon, making this glitch the only known way to see one withoutexternal modification or a cheating device. Retrieving the Pokémon from Day Care, withdrawing one from the PC, or receiving thegift elemental monkey (if it had not already been received) will then return the game to normal.

If the player had also received an Egg via a trade (or theoreticallyMystery Gift, such asone of the Wi-Fi Mystery Eggs, as these are the only two possible ways to obtain an Egg this early in the game), then like thePomeg glitch from previous generations, it is possible to view the contents of the Egg, by swapping it into the first slot before a battle, or by depositing the fainted Pokémon into Day Care so the Egg becomes the only party member.

If an Egg is sent out in battle, it will play the cry of the Pokémon inside, and the player will not black out immediately; instead, they may select one of the Egg's moves, or use an item, and will only black out after that action, or an opponent's move, has occurred. Even if the player's lone action in this case is to throw a Poké Ball, and it successfully catches the Pokémon, they will still black out and not be able to keep the caught Pokémon, as the blackout check happens before the new Pokémon can be added to the player's party as a healthy team member. However, if a Revive is used on that first action to heal one of the player's fainted Pokémon, that will prevent blacking out, and the Egg can remain in battle until it's switched out or brought to 0 HP. The Egg can gain experience this way, level up, and learn new moves, as in the Pomeg glitch. Unlike that glitch, though, Eggs will not attempt to evolve no matter how often they level up, and when they hatch, they will retain any experience and levels already received, instead of reverting to the usual hatching level.

Pokémon Black 2 and White 2

Challenge Mode stat glitch

Due to a coding error, if the game is inChallenge Mode (hence the common name for this glitch) orEasy Mode, the stats of NPC-owned Pokémon are calculated according to the level in Normal Mode instead of the correct level.

Multi Battle victory jingle oversight

Defeating a pair ofwild Pokémon while the player has a partner will play the Trainer defeated jingle, rather than the wild Pokémon defeated jingle.

Pokéstar Studios trainer name oversight

When watching a movie at Pokéstar Studios, if the player's Pokémon usesVolt Switch orU-turn with at least one healthy Pokémon to switch to, no trainer name will be displayed. Instead, it will say that the Pokémon "went back to !"

Rough Skin Substitute glitch

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Further research (experiments with Iron Barbs and using Substitute while behind the fake one); checking if it occurs in BW

If a Pokémon behind asubstitute faints fromRough Skin orRocky Helmet, the sprite of the Pokémon that was attacked will be replaced by a substitute. This does not confer the effects of a substitute, and the Pokémon can act as normal.

References

Related articles

This glitch Pokémon article is part ofProject GlitchDex, aBulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on glitches in the Pokémon games.

• Articles with accompanying video
• Articles needing more information
• Glitches
• Glitches by game