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ORIGIN HEARTGOLDENGLISH TRANSLATION PATCH

Known issues

These are suspected bugs in the original Chinese hack, found by reading its game files. The translation keeps the hack’s behaviour exactly as it is, so they are reported here, not fixed. A number of them are fixed in the English patch; their entries say from which version. Entries marked “Fixed in rc8” no longer happen in v1.0.0-rc8 and later; they stay listed so that players on an older release know what to expect. Most haven’t been confirmed in game yet; the entries that were tested in an emulator say so.

Each entry says what you would do in game, what goes wrong, and how to avoid it or recover. Most entries are about a missed item, scene or battle. A few can freeze the game (a lost battle in Rock Tunnel or with the Pokémon Tower Magcargo, entering Goldenrod City in one unusual story state; the Department Store’s Double Battle with only one Pokémon was fixed in rc8), and two scenes write past the end of the game’s story records into your Pokédex data (see Out-of-range story records).

Check these first

Section titled “Check these first”

These entries can freeze the game, cost you something, or close a quest or battle for good. Everything else on this page is cosmetic, in your favour, or can’t happen in normal play.

Pallet Town to Pewter City

Section titled “Pallet Town to Pewter City”

Quests on this page

Mankey thief quest and Blue’s Viridian scene

Section titled “Mankey thief quest and Blue’s Viridian scene”

Blue’s scene in Viridian City could end the Mankey thief quest, but in practice it can’t. If Blue’s farewell scene in Viridian City played while the Mankey quest was still open, the Mankey would vanish and the Fast Ball would be lost. In normal play Blue’s scene always comes first: it blocks the only way north from the Route 1 gatehouse, before you can reach the street-light keeper. The Route 1 tutorial has also already closed the same step, so nothing changes. Harmless. Tested in an emulator (English build): you can’t walk around Blue, because the way round is a pond, and stepping on the spot plays his scene.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 739 script 14 (block L3274, SetFlag 1330 at @3339). Step trigger at ≈1023–1026,266 (var 0x4075 == 0) across the only path north from the Route 1 gatehouse; the keeper stands at ≈1019,255. The quest’s other flags (1335/1336) aren’t touched by the scene. Path read from the map’s collision data (ledges and HM obstacles not modelled). Emulator (work/build/harness/guide-review-20261006/ch01/mankey_blue_en/): the walk around Blue’s objects (≈1027–1028,266) stops at the pond; the trigger plays 445#13/14/16/69/17.

Unused thief-quest version

Section titled “Unused thief-quest version”

The game holds an unused version of the thief quest. In it the Pikachu or Mankey runs off, and on Route 22 an angry man wants to kill the Mankey (“Stop him?”). No player can see it. One of its unused scenes even plays Arcanine’s cry for the Mankey, with a “Meowth: Meo-!” line. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 739 scripts 27 (Pikachu runs off, flag 1336) and 30 (Mankey runs off; PlayCry 59 Arcanine with msg 59 “Meowth: Meo-!”, then msg 63), and file 212 scripts 9, 10 (Route 22 chase, msg 59 “Stop him?”, msg 41/43). No object, coord trigger or map-script header uses them (Viridian header runs only script 9; Route 22 header only script 2). Corrected: the old list also named 739 scripts 26 and 31, which are unused weekday copies (clear flag 638 on Wednesday/Friday), not part of the quest.

Pidgeot loan returns a different Pidgeot

Section titled “Pidgeot loan returns a different Pidgeot”

The Viridian Forest Pidgeot loan gives you back a different Pidgeot. The flower keeper borrows your Pidgeot. When she returns it, you get a fixed Lv. 20 Pidgeot instead of your own, although she says she’s giving yours back. Lend her a Pidgeot you don’t mind losing (see Viridian Forest: lend her a Pidgeot). Tested in an emulator: the returned Pidgeot is Lv. 20 with no item, a blank OT and ID No. 04336.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 115 L4827 (party selection), L5794 (return: GiveLoanMon 6, 20, 75, trade record 6); D-1392.

Pidgeotto or Pidgeot request

Section titled “Pidgeotto or Pidgeot request”

In the Chinese hack, the same request names a Pidgeotto, then a Pidgeot. The flower keeper first says she needs a Pidgeotto, then asks for a Pidgeot, and only a Pidgeot is accepted. This English translation asks for a Pidgeot both times. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

bank 0130#149 (比比鸟 Pidgeotto, then 比雕 Pidgeot); file 115 L4877 accepts only species 18 (Pidgeot), else msg 153. English fixed with user approval (D-0540, D-1496).

Poliwag nickname prompt says Poliwhirl

Section titled “Poliwag nickname prompt says Poliwhirl”

In the Chinese hack, the game asks “Give Poliwhirl a nickname?” after you receive Poliwag. You do get a Poliwag. The English patch asks “Give Poliwag a nickname?” from rc6 on; rc5 and earlier name Poliwhirl, as the Chinese does. Cosmetic. A separate Poliwhirl gift in the same house can’t be reached.

Technical source (script files and flags)

bank 0537#87; file 842 L6375 (GiveMon 60 then msg 87); the Poliwhirl gift is script 9, unreachable. English fixed with user approval in rc6 (D-2282, D-1496).

Unused Route 2 eavesdropping scene

Section titled “Unused Route 2 eavesdropping scene”

An unused Route 2 scene would end the Viridian Forest flower quest. The files hold a scene where Jessie, James and Meowth eavesdrop on you. It would mark the flower quest’s Spearow step as done, closing the quest (and its 2 Honey) unplayed. Jessie and James never appear on Route 2, so the scene can’t start. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 169 script 4 (L354–L674) is the talk script of Route 2 objects 14/15 (Jessie/James sprites), whose hide flag is 1366 (the hack’s always-set scratch flag; cleared only for a moment in cutscenes); nothing shows objects 14/15. It ends with SetFlag 1062, which the flower keeper (file 115 L622) treats as quest done; the real quest sets 1062 at file 115 @2800 after giving 2 Honey (item 94).

Yellow’s and Cynthia’s dates skip the partner check

Section titled “Yellow’s and Cynthia’s dates skip the partner check”

Yellow’s and Cynthia’s dates don’t check who you confessed to. They only check that you confessed to someone and that their own route isn’t locked. This doesn’t matter in practice: every Dream World ending locks every partner except the one you picked.

Technical source (script files and flags)

files 739 L2297, 859 L715 check the global confession flag 1645 and their own lock flag; Dream World locks in file 898 L2046–L2638.

The two rescued Charmanders

Section titled “The two rescued Charmanders”

The two rescued Charmanders share one switch, but it does no harm. The Route 2 Charmander that later waits in the Pewter Pokémon Center and the Route 3 “letter” Charmander use the same on/off switch. The Route 3 one can never appear anyway (see Pewter City to Vermilion City), and taking the Pokémon Center one removes it for good, as intended. If you don’t take it, it stays in the Pokémon Center after the Cascade Badge.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1360 is the hide flag of Pewter Pokémon Center object 13 (file 751 script 11, HidePerson 13 when taken). Cleared by the Route 2 East rescue (file 170 @2290, @3013), set by file 170 @2630 and by the unreachable Route 3 letter scene (file 175 @2266); file 115 sets it in the Viridian Forest setup (@5712/@5763/@6977). The Cascade Badge (file 758 @3887, after GiveBadge 1) sets flag 1367, which hides only the Route 2 East field Charmander (zone 414 object 3) and the Pewter Pokémon Center Trainer (object 12).

Route 22 grunt and Victory Road Blue share a record

Section titled “Route 22 grunt and Victory Road Blue share a record”

Beating the Route 22 grunt and helping Blue correctly on Victory Road are stored as one thing. No visible effect was found: the grunt leaves Route 22 when you go through Viridian Forest, and Brock’s Badge scene resets the record long before Victory Road, which sets it again either way. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1521: set by the Route 22 grunt win (file 212 script 8, @705, trainer 172; his hide flag 1235 is cleared on Route 1, file 168 @650, and set in the Viridian Forest scene, file 115 @5616), cleared by Brock’s Badge scene (file 750 @651, after TM80), set or cleared by the Victory Road Blue scene (file 109 @4273 / @10996). Blue’s confession (file 109 L1025) needs it set.

Friend Ball never taken

Section titled “Friend Ball never taken”

The Apricorn Ball maker never takes the Friend Ball he asks for. You only need to have one in your Bag, and you keep it. Tested in an emulator: after “Give him a Friend Ball?” → Yes and the whole Nidoran♀ scene, the Friend Ball is still in the Bag.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 170 L165 HasItem 497 (Friend Ball) with no TakeItem anywhere in the file; D-1399. Emulator: emu_harness.py hackbugs --case friendball (both ROMs).

Moving in with your partner

Section titled “Moving in with your partner”

Moving in with your partner looks impossible for everyone. At the stage where you check the Mailbox on the PC upstairs at home, the game stops for every player who has picked a starter, which is everyone, before it looks at your partner. So the love letter and the move-in scenes after it never play. For the same reason, Mom’s visit at each partner’s fifth stage always plays Cynthia’s version. Tested in an emulator with Yellow as the partner: Cynthia comes to the house, and the PC upstairs does nothing at the move-in stage.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 843 script 1 (2F PC, zone 64): at var 0x40B5 = 6 it jumps to L363, which checks flag 106 (got a starter; set at file 738 @3946/@4080 and file 840 @238, never cleared) and goes to End at L4292. Stage 7 is only set inside the partner branches after that check (file 843 @1668/@1911/@2159/@2400), so the stage-8 scene (file 843 script 4, frame table 0x40B5 = 8; it would also test 106 first and play Cynthia’s version, L1041) can’t be reached. Each partner’s stage-5 Mom visit (file 736 script 4, frame table 0x40B5 = 5) also tests 106 first and plays Cynthia’s version (L559) (D-1391). Emulator: emu_harness.py guide0107 --case mom_visit,living (with 106 cleared as a control, Yellow’s visit and the love letter play).

Romance Mail mismatches

Section titled “Romance Mail mismatches”

The romance Mail requests don’t match what is taken. If moving in could be reached, some partners would ask for one Mail and take another, and two of those Mails can’t be obtained anywhere. Red has no love-letter scene at all. Only matters if moving in is ever reachable (see the entry above). Fixed in rc8 for Cynthia’s scenes in the Pallet Town house: she now takes the Snow Mail she asks for and her “I’m busy” reply shows her own line. Cynthia’s “Rest in my room” has its own entry in Ilex Forest and Goldenrod City.

Technical source (script files and flags)

2F PC love letter (file 843 L363 branches): Yellow checks and takes Heart Mail (143, L1345/@2836); Green checks and takes Grass Mail (137, L1372/@3234); Misty checks Grass Mail (137, L1399) but takes Bubble Mail (139, @3637); Cynthia checks Snow Mail (144, L1318) but takes Heart Mail (143, @2438). 1F “Rest in my room” (file 842 script 15): Yellow 143/143, Green 137/137, Misty 139/139, Cynthia checks 144 (L7063) but takes 139 (@8417). Red has no love-letter branch, and his script-13 menu has no “Rest in my room” option (537#210 unreachable). Bubble Mail and Snow Mail have no source in the game (site/src/data/items.json: no sources) (D-1398, D-1343).

Virtue trial and the four-leaf clover

Section titled “Virtue trial and the four-leaf clover”

Yellow’s Virtue trial shares a switch with the Five Island four-leaf clover story. Talking to the Virtue trial examiner at the Viridian Gym door, before you’ve helped Yellow, hides the sick Trainer on Five Island and stops the clover hunter’s scene. It comes back after the scene with the old monk in the house by the One Island ferry (see Five Island: the four-leaf clover). If you meet the examiner again after that scene, before helping Yellow and before the clover scene, the sick Trainer is gone again. To be safe, help Yellow straight after talking to the examiner, or finish the Five Island clover scene before you go to the Viridian Gym. In the other direction, the clover scene can make Yellow ask for help in Viridian City even if you never met the examiner. Not confirmed in game.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1228 is the hide flag of the Five Island sick Trainer (file 58 object 23) and gates the hunter’s scene (file 58 script 15, L543/L571: set → L2051, line 70 or 69). Set by the Virtue examiner on every talk while flag 1695 (Yellow not yet helped) is set (file 741 @1226), by the clover scene (file 58 @4421) and its ending (@7736); cleared by the ferry-house monk scene (file 737 @3408, runs while flag 1604 is clear). Yellow (file 739 script 11, L621) offers “Help her out?” while 1228 is set. Corrected: the old entry said the flag hid a Union Cave B2F object; no Union Cave object uses 1228.

Pokémon Academy resets after the Apricorn quest

Section titled “Pokémon Academy resets after the Apricorn quest”

Finishing the Apricorn Ball maker’s quest turns the Pokémon Academy back to its early state. For Pikachu starters, who have no Apricorn quest, the Viridian Forest Team Rocket scene does the same. Afterwards, the teacher (Earl) goes back to asking you to beat the two exchange students, although Steven and Cynthia have left (so players who never did that challenge can’t finish it now), and two pupils go back to their lines from before Cynthia left. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1057 is both the “Parcel + Route 22 done” flag (set by file 738 @1651 / file 212 @1931 / file 739 @985, together with the students’ hide flag 1244) and the Apricorn man’s hide flag (Pewter Northeast house, file 754 object 3). His quest clears it on either outcome (file 170 @3782 refusal, @4355 success), and so does the Pikachu-starter branch of the Viridian Forest scene (file 115 L5748 → L6969, @6973). The Academy (file 859) checks 1057: script 1 L111 (set → lessons menu; clear → exchange-student challenge, students hidden by 1244 which stays set), script 4 L222 and script 8 L455 (pupils’ lines).

Pewter City to Vermilion City

Section titled “Pewter City to Vermilion City”

Quests on this page

Route 3 letter Charmander

Section titled “Route 3 letter Charmander”

The Route 3 “letter” Charmander never appears. Its wild battle (Lv. 15) and its letter can’t be reached. The Ralts version of the same scene works. Side effect: the Pewter Pokémon Center Charmander isn’t removed by it (see Pallet Town to Pewter City).

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 175 object 4 (script 7, L2160) is hidden by flag 1366, the scratch flag the hack keeps set and only clears for a moment in cutscenes. Nothing shows object 4. The Ralts copy (object 3, flag 1361) works.

Unused Route 3 roadblock scene

Section titled “Unused Route 3 roadblock scene”

An unused Route 3 scene would have been a second way past the Mt. Moon roadblock. In it Steven would join the roadblock group straight from Route 3. Nothing in the game starts it, so beating Steven in the Pewter Museum and then talking to him inside Mt. Moon is the only way. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 175 script 14 (same lines as Steven’s inner-cave talk, file 133) would set 1312, clear 1358 (Steven at the roadblock) and hide objects 26/27; no object, coord trigger (Route 3 has only script 17) or map script runs it. The working path: Pewter Museum win clears 1312 (file 753 @4110), the Mt. Moon inner-cave talk sets 1312 and clears 1358 (file 133 @1598/@1602).

Bruno’s Pewter City challenge

Section titled “Bruno’s Pewter City challenge”

Losing to Bruno in Pewter City still counts as done. He never offers the challenge again, win or lose, and he leaves Pewter City for good after the Mt. Moon roadblock. Save before you talk to him. Possibly intended (a one-shot challenge).

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 751 L616 sets the challenge flag 1328 before the battle (script 8, L323 → L601 praise). 1328 is cleared again by the Ruins of Alph Molly scene (file 51 @4281), but Bruno and his Pupitar (Pewter Pokémon Center objects 10/11) are hidden by flag 1311, set at the end of the Mt. Moon roadblock (file 7 @2938, file 9 @5498) and never cleared, so the challenge can’t return.

Pikachu starters’ Charmander quest

Section titled “Pikachu starters’ Charmander quest”

Pikachu starters can miss their Charmander quest without warning. Winning the Cascade Badge removes the Trainer in the Pewter Pokémon Center who starts it. Do that quest before Misty’s Gym (see Pallet Town to Pewter City).

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 758 L3887 sets flag 1367.

Route 9 mushroom picker for Pikachu starters

Section titled “Route 9 mushroom picker for Pikachu starters”

Pikachu starters never meet the Route 9 mushroom picker. Players with other starters find him from the start. For Pikachu players he is removed in the Mt. Moon Square scene and nothing brings him back.

Technical source (script files and flags)

his hide flag 2274 is set by the Mt. Moon Rocket battles (file 7 @2056), cleared at the end of the roadblock (file 7 @2930) and set again for Pikachu starters only in the Mt. Moon Square scene (file 9 @5969). Nothing clears it after that.

Mt. Moon battle records reused

Section titled “Mt. Moon battle records reused”

Two Mt. Moon battle records are reused later. One is reused by the Magnet that a Vermilion City resident gives you after the construction-site clash. Getting it before Mt. Moon is impossible, because Vermilion City can’t be reached before the Mt. Moon roadblock is cleared. The other is reused by Lt. Surge’s gift scene after the Thunder Badge, and it is also what makes the runaway Teddiursa appear in the S.S. Anne kitchen during the party. If you could leave the ship after Teddiursa runs off and win the Thunder Badge before fetching it, Teddiursa would vanish. Fetch Teddiursa as soon as it runs off. Not confirmed in game.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 774 L1545/@4127 (Vermilion City resident, needs the construction clash flag 1056; gives item 242 Magnet) uses 2271 as its “given” flag. Lt. Surge’s post-badge scene (file 776, L1351 → @1518; gives item 236 Light Ball, or 83 Thunder Stone for Pikachu starters, plus his number) sets 2272. Both are cleared at the end of the roadblock (file 7 @2918/@2922). 2272 is also the hide flag of the S.S. Anne B1F kitchen Teddiursa (file 162 object 14, script 5; set when you talk to it, @1646), cleared when it runs off at the party (file 156 @1726). Corrected: the Magnet is not Lt. Surge’s gift.

Cerulean burglary deadline

Section titled “Cerulean burglary deadline”

The Cerulean burglary can’t be finished after Sabrina’s scene in Pokémon Tower. If you haven’t beaten the Team Rocket grunt on Route 24 by then, the TM Case and TM28 ×5 are lost. If you beat him but didn’t go back to the officer, only the 2 Cheri Berries are lost. Finish the burglary before you make Sabrina laugh in Pokémon Tower.

Technical source (script files and flags)

the takeover scene sets 1024 (“case closed”, file 17 @12111) and hides the grunt (1033, @12115). The dizzy man (file 756 script 16) checks 1039 and 1024 first, so the only code that brings the grunt back (756 @2131, ClearFlag 1033) is never reached again.

Route 5 shelter raid

Section titled “Route 5 shelter raid”

The Route 5 shelter raid can be walked around, and it closes at the same Sabrina scene. The raid starts when you cross one spot about 11 steps north of the shelter’s door; walking down either side lane skips it. It can only start after Misty’s Cascade Badge. If the raid hasn’t happened by Sabrina’s scene in Pokémon Tower, it’s lost: the Bulbasaur and Growlithe on Route 5 disappear and there’s no reward.

Technical source (script files and flags)

Route 5 coord trigger script 3 at x 1297–1302, z 160 (var 0x409E == 0), 11 steps north of the Route 5 House door (1297,171); side lanes x 1291–1293 and x 1306–1308; from the north the middle path drops down a ledge (z 159) onto the trigger row (collision re-checked 2026-10-06). The Mt. Moon Square scene sets 0x409E = 1 (file 9 @5616) and the Cascade Badge scene sets it back to 0 (file 758 L8030, @8044), so the trigger is armed only after the badge. At the takeover, file 17 L12165 tests 0x409E ≠ 1, then sets 1043, clears 1045 and 305, sets 0x409E = 1 and sets 1037/1038 (the Bulbasaur and Growlithe, Route 5 objects 0/3).

Misty’s Cerulean Cape photo

Section titled “Misty’s Cerulean Cape photo”

Misty’s Cerulean Cape photo can never appear for players who didn’t confess to her. After your final Hall of Fame entry, Misty is meant to stand at the tip of Cerulean Cape on Route 25 for a friendly photo if you never confessed to anyone or her romance is closed. The game seems to allow her only during one hour of the afternoon, but the check is written so that she is hidden at every hour. Nothing else brings her there. Players on Misty’s romance route get her date photo as normal. Tested in an emulator: at 12:00, 14:00 and 15:00 she isn’t there.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 216 map script (header on-load scripts 4/9 → L3164): after flag 2261, if flag 1645 is clear or 2142 is set it goes to L8294: ScrCmd_522 → CompareVarToValue 0x4000, 14 → GoToIf ≠ L8288 (SetFlag 598), then the same for 15, so 598 (hide flag of Route 25 object 35, Misty, script 41 → L7584 friendly photo, CameronPhoto 84) is always set. ScrCmd_522 is read as the hour: file 172 (script 13) compares it with every value 0–23. Only file 758 @6735 clears 598 (Misty’s date start), and the map script sets it again on entry (D-1441).

Pewter City sign

Section titled “Pewter City sign”

The Pewter City town sign says “If you want to learn it, come back anytime.” The hack points the sign at a line of the Metal Claw tutor’s instead of the sign’s own text. Cosmetic; the Chinese does the same.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1354; file 748 script 4 DirectionSignpost msg 20 = bank 0453#20 (the tutor’s line, also NPCMsg 20 in script 31). The string is shared, so it can’t be changed for the sign alone.

Vermilion City to Celadon City

Section titled “Vermilion City to Celadon City”

Quests on this page

Vermilion Fan Club: Green and Red

Section titled “Vermilion Fan Club: Green and Red”

Green and Red never appear in the Vermilion Fan Club. Their two lines (one per player gender) and the Ivysaur standing with them can’t be seen. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 780 objects 6 (Green/Red, script 12, GenderMsgBox 22, 23) and 7 (Ivysaur, script 11) are hidden by flag 1366, the scratch flag the hack keeps set; nothing on this map clears it.

S.S. Anne TM price

Section titled “S.S. Anne TM price”

The S.S. Anne ship shop’s TM checks for $400 but takes $4,000. With $400–$3,999 you can still buy it, and your money drops to $0 (tested in an emulator: $1,000 → $0, $5,000 → $1,000). The menu says “TM63” (the Chinese too), but you get TM21 Frustration. Fixed in rc8: the shop now refuses you below $4,000. On rc7 and earlier, have at least $4,000 before buying.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 156 L4328 HasEnoughMoneyImmediate 400, L4349 SubMoneyImmediate 4000; bank 252#31 (“Frustration TM63, $4000”); item 348.

S.S. Anne party never starts

Section titled “S.S. Anne party never starts”

On the S.S. Anne, giving the girl her Honey too early, or talking to Blue first, leaves you stuck on the ship. The party is announced only if you give the girl the Honey after battling the old man in the main hall (“this old boy”). If you give it before that battle, or talk to Blue in the hall before giving it (he starts a battle at once), the party never starts, the hijack never comes, and you can’t leave: the sailor at the exit doesn’t move and losing a battle sends you back to the hall. Save before you board, battle the old man first, and leave Blue until the party is announced. The Captain doesn’t give HM01 on this voyage at all; the new captain of the S.S. Anne gives it later (after Sabrina’s Badge), and Cut isn’t needed before then. Tested in an emulator. See S.S. Anne: Teddiursa’s honey and the salt.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1549. The ship’s “before the party” record (flag 1440) is never set before the hijack (only 156 @6350); with it clear the old boy’s and Blue’s party branches (156 L4604 / L4502) set the records the girl’s Honey script checks (1424 “met the Captain” → announcement at 161 L1535; 1423 “Honey given” → only her thanks). Emulator: emu_harness.py vqueue --case ssanne_story (variants oldboy_first, honey_first, blue_first), CN ROM and EN build.

Archie’s Walrein cry

Section titled “Archie’s Walrein cry”

Archie says “Walrein”, but you hear Wailord’s cry. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 157 L853/L1392, PlayCry 321 (Wailord).

S.S. Anne records reused

Section titled “S.S. Anne records reused”

Several S.S. Anne records are reused elsewhere, harmlessly. They are reset when the S.S. Anne party starts, and the other places that use them come later in the story, so nothing you’d notice was found. The Raticate gentleman’s party battle also keeps the Flareon Trainer and his Flareon on Route 7 out of sight until Misty’s sparring match there, which is the intended order. The grandfather’s Water Stone gift and that battle both happen on the ship before you can leave it, so they can’t come after the Route 7 scene.

Technical source (script files and flags)

1516 is the grandfather’s Water Stone flag (file 161 L1235–L1269, item 84) and Gentleman Norris’s battle flag (file 156 script 31, L1816/L1866, trainer 156); it is cleared when the party starts (file 157 L582, file 161 L1933) and by the Route 7 scene (file 186 L1799), and it is also the hide flag of Route 7 objects 6/7 (Flareon man and Flareon, scripts 5/7). 1421–1425 are cleared at the party start (157 L562–L578, 161 L1913–L1929) and reused by Victory Road 3F (file 110 L5256/L5260), the Indigo Plateau maps that use the vanilla Goldenrod Dept. Store 5F and Ecruteak Southwest House slots (files 900, 923; 1421/1422 are hide flags there); 1423 also by Celadon City (file 783, hide flag of Green and Ivysaur, objects 35/36) and Victory Road (file 109 L201); 1424 also by the Saffron takeover (file 17 L12081), Route 8 gatehouse (file 189 L107), Saffron City (file 824 L6985, hide flag of object 3) and Silph Co. (file 834 L6052); 1425 (bomb defused, file 162 L2154) is read by the Ilex Forest Celebi scene (file 52 L4247). The grandfather (file 161 object 0, hide flag 534) is hidden from the party start on (157 @546, 161 @1897; 534 is never cleared); Norris (156 object 35, hide flag 1440) from the hijack on (156 @6350; 1440 is cleared only at the party start). The waiter (156 script 30, L1602–L1661) needs 1423, 1424 and 1516–1519, so Norris’s party battle is required and 1516 stays set until the Route 7 scene (186 L1799).

Unused Regice scene copy

Section titled “Unused Regice scene copy”

The game holds an unused copy of the Rock Tunnel Regice scene. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 129 script 23 duplicates script 22 (Regice, GiveMon 378, 90); only script 22 has a sign event (zone 342, bg at 18,115); nothing uses script 23.

Unreachable Dark Cave copy

Section titled “Unreachable Dark Cave copy”

An unreachable copy of Dark Cave holds leftover scenes. Nothing leads into it. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 964 (Dark Cave, Route 31 side, map/zone 176). No warp in any map’s event data leads to 176, and its script refers to message ids up to 114 in a 49-string bank (338, shared with the Power Plant, file 196); the file is a duplicate of Route 41’s file 960 (vanilla HeartGold’s Route 41 file was 964) and its ids fit Route 41’s bank 735.

Mushroom picker keeps your Repel

Section titled “Mushroom picker keeps your Repel”

The Route 9 mushroom picker never takes your Repel. He asks for a Repel, but tries to take Oak’s Parcel instead, so you keep the Repel and get the Zinc for free. (Pikachu starters never meet him; see Pewter City to Vermilion City.)

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 190 checks item 79 (Repel) but runs TakeItem 484 (Oak’s Parcel) at L5333.

Marisa’s Badge check

Section titled “Marisa’s Badge check”

Marisa on Route 11 asks for seven Badges but only checks for the Marsh Badge. She only appears after the Radio Tower Observation Deck scene in Goldenrod City, long after you’ve earned the Marsh Badge, so it changes nothing.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 197 script 13 L840 CheckBadge 4 only (badge 4 = Marsh Badge, given by Sabrina in file 826 GiveBadge 4); refusal msg 97 (“at least seven Badges”). Her hide flag 759 is cleared only by the Radio Tower Observation Deck scene (file 34 L6136, zone 190) and set at new game (file 842 L4984).

Veteran Dawn’s Badge check

Section titled “Veteran Dawn’s Badge check”

Veteran Dawn on Route 9 only needs the Marsh Badge. She tells you to come back once you’ve “collected a few more” Badges, but the only Badge she checks is the Marsh Badge. Possibly intended. Low priority. Tested in an emulator: with the Marsh Badge alone she accepts; with every other Badge but that one she refuses.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 190 script 20 L1252 CheckBadge 4 (badge 4 = Marsh Badge, file 826 GiveBadge 4) → L3929; refusal msg 137; battle TrainerBattle 977 at L5932 (Doubles 977 ×2 at L5992). Object 33 has no hide flag (D-1444).

Pokémon Tower Magcargo loss

Section titled “Pokémon Tower Magcargo loss”

Losing to the Magcargo in Pokémon Tower freezes the game. The battle doesn’t send you to a Pokémon Center: the game tries to start the fight again without returning to the map, and the screen stays black. Heal and save before you challenge it, and make sure you can win. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build).

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 17 L2529 WildBattle 219; on a loss L2546 jumps back to L2519. Observed (emu_harness.py guide0813 --case magcargo, Splash-only party): after the loss the script runs L2519 TouchscreenMenuShow again and never reaches the second PlayCry/WildBattle; the field doesn’t come back, the screen stays black for 3,000 frames with A/B/START presses (CPU looping at 0x01FF8030). Same mechanism as the Rock Tunnel corner kid (D-1548): a lost scripted battle doesn’t restore the field (D-1560).

Pokémon Tower Magcargo is missable

Section titled “Pokémon Tower Magcargo is missable”

The Pokémon Tower Magcargo is easy to miss. Knocking it out, catching it or running away removes it for good, and so does leaving the floor by any staircase before you deal with it. Answering No to “Catch it?” is safe while you stay on the floor. The prompt doesn’t warn you. Catch it on your first try.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 17: the Team Magma scene that reveals it (script 31 branch, L2459–L2517) sets its hide flag 1155 at L2493 without hiding it (it has been visible since Mr. Fuji’s Cubone scene cleared 1155, file 769 L2399), so any reload hides it; the Magcargo is object 8 (script 10, catch prompt L671 → L2519). A knockout, catch or flee sets 1155 again and hides it (L2553); only a loss restarts the fight. 1155 is otherwise only set by the Rock Tunnel rescue (file 129 L1109) and cleared by Mr. Fuji’s house (file 769 L2399), both earlier.

Skipped Pokémon Tower Trainers vanish

Section titled “Skipped Pokémon Tower Trainers vanish”

Pokémon Tower Trainers you haven’t battled disappear once you beat the two illusion grunts. Medium Colette (on Blue’s floor) and the illusion “Prof. Oak”, “Archie” and “Petrel” are gone the next time a floor loads, for example after a staircase, and their battles are lost. None of them has an item. Battle them on the way up. “Mom” blocks the way, so you’ve always beaten her by then. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build).

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1155 is the hide flag of tower objects 3 (Colette, trainer 220), 5 (“Prof. Oak”, 232), 9 (“Mom”, 207), 10, 12 (“Archie”, 231) and 13 (“Petrel”, 230), and of the Magcargo; the illusion grunts’ scene sets it at file 17 L2493 (see the entry above). Emulator: work/build/harness/guide-review-20261006/pass2-B/tower_{cn,en}_set (objects 3, 5, 9, 10, 12, 13 hidden, 11 shown) and tower_en_clear (all shown).

Romance and Pokémon Tower counter

Section titled “Romance and Pokémon Tower counter”

The romance date counter is also the Pokémon Tower story counter, harmlessly. Beating Blue in Pokémon Tower is required: the Team Rocket HQ scene only starts after it. The same counter later drives the Route 25 scene and the post-game dates, which come long after, and the tower scene can’t replay.

Technical source (script files and flags)

beating Blue in the tower sets var 0x40B5 = 1 (file 17 L3796); the Rocket HQ B3F coord trigger (file 91, script 1 at 38,23) needs 0x40B5 == 1, and script 22 sets 2 (L2562). Route 25 sets 3 (file 216 L12222); the date scripts (739, 758, 859, 228, 809, 843, 842, 736) use 3–11 and need the final Hall of Fame (e.g. 739 L2286, flag 2261). Never reset to 0. Side note: the Safari Zone Gate still has the vanilla Pal Park coord trigger on 0x40B5 == 0 (file 809, script 4), which can’t fire once the tower is done.

Sabrina’s tower task record reset

Section titled “Sabrina’s tower task record reset”

Two later scenes reset the record of Sabrina’s Pokémon Tower task, probably harmlessly. Answering No to Sabrina’s plan on Route 8 during the Team Rocket takeover, and the post-game Route 25 scene with Misty, Brock and Curtis, both reset it. By the time either can happen Sabrina has left the tower, so the task is over, and her own scene in the Saffron Gym after Saffron is freed resets it anyway.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1504 is set when she gives the task (file 17 L7426) and checked by her and the tower Ghosts (L1372, L1487, L1563, L1612). It is cleared on Route 8 (file 188 script 16, both “No” answers → L1957; with 1504 clear her next talk only repeats the question, L626 → L1792, and Yes still proceeds), on Route 25 (file 216 script 41 L11142, set again at L11203; there the flag is reused as the Curtis record, file 216 L2497, L2533, L2603), in the Saffron Gym (file 826 L920) and in file 912 L3775 (zone 228, Cerulean Cave). The takeover hides the tower Sabrina (file 17 L12069, object 38, hide flag 1100).

Route 11 girl and Swablu

Section titled “Route 11 girl and Swablu”

The Route 11 girl may mourn a Swablu you never saw taken. If you skipped the Route 5 shelter raid, she cries “Little Swablu got taken away!”, although that scene never played. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 17 L12165–L12204 (takeover fallback when var 0x409E ≠ 1) clears 1045 but leaves Swablu’s hide flag 1160 set (set for everyone in the Mt. Moon Square scene, file 9 @5578; only the raid clears it, file 179 L1538). The girl (file 197 script 8, object 1) then goes L684 → L1755 → 1160 set → L3111 (msg 88).

Unused Zapdos and Lum Berry scenes

Section titled “Unused Zapdos and Lum Berry scenes”

Two unused scenes are left in the files. A wild Zapdos (Lv. 50) on Route 10 and a Lum Berry from the Route 9 Squirtle for non-Pikachu players can’t be reached; the Squirtle only appears for Pikachu starters. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

Route 10 (file 191) script 4 (WildBattle 145, 50) isn’t used by any object or sign. Route 9 (file 190) script 6 L656 → L3284 gives item 157 only when flag 1288 (Pikachu starter, set in file 738 L3891) is clear, but the Squirtle (object 10, hide flag 1096, set by Mt. Moon Square file 9 @5550) is only shown by the Pikachu-only trap scene (script 3, L164/L230) and its follow-up (coord script 5, the Team Rocket rescue, L4060 → L4624; it only fires after the trap scene resets var 0x40B0 to 0, L2459).

Early Lavender curse

Section titled “Early Lavender curse”

Reaching Lavender Town before Prof. Hale’s Rock Tunnel scene would start the Lavender curse early. Every exit on foot would pull you back (“A mysterious force pulled you closer!”), as in the curse side quest, but without its normal setup. Fly still gets you out. It can’t happen in normal play: before that scene the only way into Lavender Town is through Rock Tunnel. The sleeping Snorlax closes Route 12, Saffron City’s gates are shut, and you can’t reach Celadon City or Route 8 yet.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 765 script 10 coord triggers (north, west and south exits) fire on var 0x40BA == 0, its value from new game. The Rock Tunnel rescue sets it to 1 (file 129 L1189); the fortune-teller’s reading sets it back to 0 to start the curse (file 771 L1082/L1386) and lifting the curse sets 1 (file 771 L1208). With 10 Cleanse Tags bought (flag 2003) the trap still pulls you back (765 L547–L592). The curse quest is described in 03-vermilion-to-celadon.md. Reachability (read from scripts and map collision, not tried in game): the Route 5/6 gates (files 182, 185, coord script 2) block while var 0x409F == 0, set to 1 only by the Route 8 gate pass (189 L97); the Route 7 gate (187) blocks while 0x40B9 == 0 (set only by 795 L960); the Route 8 gate (189 script 2) is reached only from Route 8; the Route 12 Snorlax group (hide flag 1158, set only at 199 L1464) seals the Route 11 gatehouse exit (collision flood fill); Route 10 north and south join only through Rock Tunnel or by water, and Surf needs the Rainbow Badge (D-1428).

Misty’s Gyarados and the Viridian Gym trials

Section titled “Misty’s Gyarados and the Viridian Gym trials”

Misty’s Gyarados is lost if you finished the early Viridian Gym trials. Misty’s Gyarados gift is for male players who chose Bulbasaur. If such a player met Giovanni at the end of those trials, he never gets the Gyarados. Misty’s goodbye still says “Keep that Gyarados of mine”, and it says so to anyone who finished the trials. The same mix-up also blocks a trade on One Island (see Sevii Islands and Indigo Plateau).

Technical source (script files and flags)

the gift (file 172 script 28, L2415–L2513: needs flag 1289 = Bulbasaur starter, male player, and 1081 clear; GiveLoanMon 8, 20, 101) sets 1081, which file 741 script 7 L511 (Giovanni’s virtue check) also sets; goodbye at file 853 L3484 (1081 set → msg 106 “Keep that Gyarados of mine”, else msg 85). File 845 (One Island) also uses 1081.

Auction room and Blastoise

Section titled “Auction room and Blastoise”

The auction room calls a lone Blastoise “common as stray dogs”. If Blastoise is your only Pokémon from the Kanto starter lines, the “sell” check misses it. The other Kanto starter-line Pokémon work. Use a different one.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 798 L590–L742: species 1–8 each branch to L791, but L742 PlayerHasSpecies 9 has no compare or branch after it and falls into msg 9.

Celadon street photographer

Section titled “Celadon street photographer”

The Celadon street photographer never appears. He would need the day to be Tuesday and Friday at once. The photographer on Department Store 2F (Fridays) works.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 783 L1984 clears flag 638 only if the weekday is 2 and 5 at once (two “≠” jumps to L4250), so it stays set (638 is the shared hide flag of every photo-spot man, object 13 here). The Department Store 2F copy (file 788 L442, weekday 5 only) works.

Celadon Gym sneak-in friend

Section titled “Celadon Gym sneak-in friend”

On your first try to sneak into Celadon Gym, the friend at the door is always Misty, even for Charmander starters. Charmander players see Green only after a failed attempt. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

both branches on Department Store 5F clear Misty’s hide flag 1174 (file 791 script 7: L983 → L1546 for flag 1287 = Charmander, else L994), and Green’s hide flag 1423 is still set from the S.S. Anne party battle with Blue (file 156 @4524; required by the waiter, 156 L1602). After a failed attempt file 783 L8258 clears 1423 for Charmander players instead (L8277); L7414 also clears it.

Waiter Grant’s Gloom leads

Section titled “Waiter Grant’s Gloom leads”

Waiter Grant needs both Gloom leads, not just one. Collect both before you talk to him.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 797 script 3 L91–L231: 1479 set → L212 needs 1480; 1480 set → L227 needs 1479; only then L311. An earlier note said “1479 or 1480”.

Eviolite man’s thanks

Section titled “Eviolite man’s thanks”

The Eviolite man thanks you for driving out Team Rocket even if you haven’t yet. He hands over his 5 Eviolites at any time. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 783 script 4 (object 8, no hide flag) only checks his own flag 1523 before giving item 110 ×5 (Eviolite).

Gloom-lead records reused

Section titled “Gloom-lead records reused”

Some Gloom-lead records are reused by later scenes, probably harmlessly. All of those scenes come after the Celadon City story, when Waiter Grant no longer checks them.

Technical source (script files and flags)

1479 is set by the eating contest (file 803 L271) and by Bugsy’s Gym (file 866 L4372); 1480 by file 787 L157 and the post-game Cerulean Cape scene (file 216 L11158); 1481 by Celadon (file 783 L6068), Cerulean Cape (216 L11154) and Ilex Forest (file 92 L6595, cleared L5797). Victory Road 3F clears all three (file 110 L5422–L5430). Grant skips the checks once flag 1702 is set (file 797 L73).

Lt. Surge’s thank-you line

Section titled “Lt. Surge’s thank-you line”

Lt. Surge never says his thank-you line for siding with the law. Players who sided with Blue at the construction clash hear the townsfolk line too. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

the side choice in the Vermilion Pokémon Center sets 1064 (Blue, file 777 L614) or 1065 (Green, L651). Surge’s post-badge line checks 1064 (file 776 @917 → msg 18), but the construction clash (file 774 script 44, L2664/L2668 and L4909/L4913) clears both before the battle, and only 1065 is set again (L9403), so 478#18 is unreachable (D-1393).

Brock in Diglett’s Cave

Section titled “Brock in Diglett’s Cave”

Brock never appears in Diglett’s Cave. He would need the hour to be 17, 18 and 19 at once. Tested in an emulator at 17:30, 18:30 and 19:30 after the final Hall of Fame: he isn’t there.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 5 L608 clears his hide flag 610 (object 7) only if ScrCmd_522 returns 17 and 18 and 19 (three “≠” jumps to L711) (D-1394). ScrCmd_522 returns the current hour (observed in an emulator at 0, 6, 7, 12, 18, 19 and 23 o’clock, emu_harness.py guide0107 --case monday); across the ROM it is only compared with values 3–22.

Rock Tunnel Signal Beam tutor

Section titled “Rock Tunnel Signal Beam tutor”

The Rock Tunnel tutor who asks for a Dusk Ball teaches Pollen Puff, and the English now says so. He’s the Trainer who thought Signal Beam lights up caves (that joke is unchanged). In the Chinese hack every line still says Signal Beam, but your Pokémon learns Pollen Puff (a Bug-type special move, 90 power). In this translation his offer, the learn, thanks, forget and give-up lines all name Pollen Puff, so the text matches what you get. This is a deliberate, user-approved change from the Chinese dialogue. He takes one Dusk Ball either way. Tested in an emulator on the Chinese ROM: with three moves and with four, the Pokémon learned Pollen Puff, and one Dusk Ball was taken.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 129 script 25 (object 33): MonHasMove/SetMonMove use move 676 (Pollen Puff) at L4277, L5194 and L5360; the Chinese text (142#133–#146) says 信号光线 (Signal Beam, move 324); TakeItem 13 (Dusk Ball) at L5241 and L5484 (D-1338, D-2361, D-2386; emu_harness.py hackbugs --case tutor).

Rock Tunnel corner kid loss

Section titled “Rock Tunnel corner kid loss”

Losing to the corner kid in Rock Tunnel freezes the game. His battle doesn’t send you to a Pokémon Center: the game goes on with the disguised “Pikachu” kid’s dialogue before the field has come back, and the screen stays black. Save before you talk to him and make sure you can win. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build).

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 129 script 18 (object 17, → L2872): Youngster Willy (trainer 606, L2879); on a loss L2897 jumps to L3782 (Poké Kid Ernie’s “Don’t throw Poké Balls at people!” menu, trainer 194). Yes → L4368, Yes → L5166 sets Ernie’s flag 1554 without a battle; Willy’s flag 1966 stays clear (D-1395). Observed instead: the TrainerBattle 606 0 0 0 loss doesn’t restore the field before L3782, msg 46 is never printed and the CPU ends up running in heap memory (black screen). Controls: TrainerBattle 606 0 1 0 returns to Rock Tunnel; with WhiteOut after it the player wakes in the Pokémon Center. emu_harness.py guide0107 --case corner_kid; D-1548.

Switching sides at the construction clash

Section titled “Switching sides at the construction clash”

Switching sides after losing the Vermilion construction clash locks out both partners. Every loss sends you to a Pokémon Center and lets you choose a side again, but the romance lock from your first choice stays. If you then pick the other side, both partners tied to the clash are locked. Only the wish in Island Forest on Six Island can undo it (see Saffron City to Cinnabar Island). Stick with your first choice. Partly confirmed in an emulator: the restart and the double lock were seen; the lost battle itself wasn’t played (D-1555).

Technical source (script files and flags)

the choice is made in the Vermilion Pokémon Center (file 777 script 11): Blue’s side sets 1064 + 2141 (L614), Green’s side sets 1065 + 2153 (L651); neither clears the other lock. A lost clash whites out (file 774 L6321) and the clash restart (774 L2623) shows Green and Blue again (clears 1058), so switching sets both (D-1397). Undo: file 55 L3017–L3075.

Celadon City, Fuchsia City and Saffron City

Section titled “Celadon City, Fuchsia City and Saffron City”

Quests on this page

Swimmer Marina and the Dragonair delivery

Section titled “Swimmer Marina and the Dragonair delivery”

Beating Swimmer Marina on Route 41 before the Secret Potion delivery kills the Dragonair. The Cycling Road “too late” check looks at whether you’ve beaten Marina, probably by mistake, instead of a Cycling Road biker. If you have beaten her, the delivery fails. Route 41 is in Johto, so this only matters if you leave the delivery open that long. Do the Secret Potion delivery before you battle her.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 211 L530 checks flag 1689 (trainer 329, Swimmer Marina, Route 41), not a Cycling Road biker (1674–1682, 1687, 1692, 1693).

Secret Potion hand-over check

Section titled “Secret Potion hand-over check”

The Secret Potion hand-over doesn’t check that you carry one. Safari Zone Warden Baoba “takes” the Secret Potion at the Cycling Road gate without checking that you have it. Harmless in normal play: the scene only starts while you’re on the delivery, and you can’t get rid of the potion.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 211 script 5 (Cycling Road gate, zone 423): TakeItem 464 at L289/L391/L460 with no HasItem before it. The same script also sets flag 1207 (L201), which hides Cynthia and Steven in Fuchsia City (see below).

Sound Designer’s Badge check

Section titled “Sound Designer’s Badge check”

The Game Freak Club Sound Designer asks for all eight Kanto Badges but only checks for the Earth Badge. He gives you GB Sounds as soon as you have Giovanni’s Earth Badge, whatever other Badges you hold. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 796 L476 CheckBadge 7 (Earth Badge, given by Giovanni at file 741 L2863), then GB Sounds (item 502) at L865; refusal msg 7.

Losing on the Celadon roof

Section titled “Losing on the Celadon roof”

Losing to Jessie & James on the Celadon roof still completes Tony and Mary’s grooming quest. You’re sent to a Pokémon Center and miss the ending, but the scene doesn’t replay, and Suzie’s massage is free from then on. Only losing to the Beedrill first replays the scene. Save before the roof if you want to see the ending.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 792 sets var 0x40D0 = 2 (@1530), sets flags 1544/1545 and clears 1535 (L1933–L1945) before TrainerBattle 460 461; a loss whites you out (L2849). The roof scene is a coord trigger at 4,5 on var 0x40D0 == 0 (script 21); Suzie (file 794 L758) gives the free massage at value 2. Beedrill is trainer 462; losing to it leaves the var at 0, so the scene replays.

Celadon roof scene before Route 7

Section titled “Celadon roof scene before Route 7”

You might reach the Celadon roof scene before its Route 7 scene, but only in a short window. The roof scene is meant to come after the Route 7 scene and Suzie’s free massage, but nothing stops it from playing earlier if you reach the roof first. The Underground Path lets you skip the Route 7 scene, but its doors are only open from the Mt. Moon roadblock until Prof. Hale’s Rock Tunnel rescue (when you can’t reach Route 8 yet), and again from Team Rocket’s Saffron takeover. If it happens, the later Route 7 scene and Suzie’s massage set the roof scene up again, so it may try to replay with Tony and Mary already gone. Other ways to the roof weren’t checked. Not confirmed in game.

Technical source (script files and flags)

the roof’s coord trigger (file 792 script 21, at 4,5, var 0x40D0 == 0) can fire while the var is still at its starting value 0. The Route 7 scene sets it to 1 (file 186 L1819, coord trigger at x 1271), Suzie’s massage sets it back to 0 (file 794 L1402, only while flag 1535 is set), the roof sets 2 (file 792 @1530). The Underground Path exit on Route 7 (warp at 1261,247) lies west of the Route 7 trigger, but a blocker object stands in every Underground Path doorway while flag 1226 is clear (its hide flag: Route 5 object 22, Route 6 objects 10/20, Route 7 object 22 at 1261,248, Route 8 object 9). 1226 is set (doors open) by the Mt. Moon roadblock scene (file 9 @5598) and the Saffron takeover (file 17 @12023), and cleared (doors shut) by the Rock Tunnel rescue (file 129 @1141). Route 8 can’t be reached before the rescue (see Early Lavender curse). Emulator (Chinese ROM): on Route 7 with 1226 clear the player stops below the blocker; with it set the same walk enters the gatehouse (work/build/harness/guide-review-20261006/known-issues/C/). Erika’s perfume scene in Celadon (file 783 L4521–L4612) closes the quest: it hides Tony and Mary (1544/1545), clears 1535 and sets the var to 1 unless it is already 2.

Sitrus Berries and the eating contest

Section titled “Sitrus Berries and the eating contest”

Holding ten or more Sitrus Berries silently blocks the eating-contest prize. The rule is only hinted at (“eat all the Sitrus Berries you win”). Store extra Sitrus Berries in the PC first.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 803 L444 HasItem 158 ×10 → L828 (rules msg 13) instead of the prize at L465.

Grandma’s treats deadlines

Section titled “Grandma’s treats deadlines”

Grandma’s treats for Shota have deadlines nobody mentions. The delivery closes when Team Rocket takes over Saffron City, because Shota disappears. Grandma’s reward (the Master Ball, or 2 Rare Candies if you keep the truth from her) is lost if you haven’t reported back to her before Saffron is freed. Do both right away.

Technical source (script files and flags)

Shota (file 762 object 6) is hidden by flag 1226 (set at the takeover, file 17 @12023; also set by the Mt. Moon roadblock scene, file 9 @5598, and cleared by the Rock Tunnel rescue, file 129 @1141, so he stands there from the rescue until the takeover). Grandma is file 794 script 13: at var 0x40CF = 2 her menu gives the Master Ball (item 1, L1108) or 2 Rare Candies (item 50, L948). The liberation (file 834 @5994) sets the var to 5, which only gives a closing line (L861).

Lass Eve’s incense

Section titled “Lass Eve’s incense”

Lass Eve on Route 13 offers “incense”, then gives a Miracle Seed. The Chinese says incense too. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

bank 343#32 (熏香); file 201 L1818 gives item 239 (Miracle Seed).

Lara’s Heart Scales

Section titled “Lara’s Heart Scales”

Lara on Route 14 promises “these Heart Scales” but gives one Heart Scale. The Chinese says the same. Cosmetic. Tested in an emulator: exactly one Heart Scale arrives.

Technical source (script files and flags)

bank 344#62 (这几个漂亮鳞片); file 202 L3529 gives item 93 (Heart Scale) ×1 (D-1502; emu_harness.py hackbugs --case lara).

Cynthia and Steven in Fuchsia City

Section titled “Cynthia and Steven in Fuchsia City”

Cynthia and Steven leave Fuchsia City when Team Rocket takes over Saffron City, and in the usual order they don’t come back. They appear when you get the Soul Badge, and the takeover removes them. Only the Soul Badge scene brings them back, so if you already have the badge when the takeover starts (the usual order), they’re gone for good. Battle them before Sabrina’s call in Pokémon Tower.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1207 hides both (Cynthia: file 804 object 34; Steven: file 119 object 8, Safari Zone entrance building). It’s set at file 17 L12127 (takeover), file 9 L5586 (Mt. Moon) and file 211 @201 (Secret Potion hand-over, part of Fuchsia’s one-time setup, Route 18 gatehouse coord script 5 on var 0x40D4 == 0, which always runs before your first visit to Fuchsia and so before the Soul Badge), and its only clear is Koga’s Soul Badge scene (file 806 @1981; the badge is GiveBadge 5 at L407).

Unreachable second Silph Co. ending

Section titled “Unreachable second Silph Co. ending”

A second Silph Co. ending with extra rewards can’t be reached. In it Lance would give you an Exp. Share and 10 Rare Candies. You get the Vs. Recorder instead. In normal play it can’t start: during the takeover you only enter the president’s office as part of the finale, which marks it done before you can move again.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 795 script 7 (coord trigger at 9,11–13 in the president’s office, zone 377, on var 0x40A6 == 0; Rocket Boss trainer 402 at L1530, then item 216 ×1 and item 50 ×10 at L2549/L2565). During the takeover the office door (Silph Co. HQ warp at 1,41) is blocked by Ariana (object 22, hide flag 1208, cleared at the takeover, file 17 L11991). Her battle (file 834 L1401) warps you into the office inside the finale script, which sets 0x40A6 = 1 (L5074/L5215) before the warp to the Pokémon Center. Before the takeover the door is open (1208 set at file 9 L5590) and 0x40A6 is 1 (file 9 L5634); the S.S. Anne B1F honey trade sets it to 0 (file 162 @1658), but the B1F coord trigger next to it (script 6, 29–31,4–6, var == 0) sets it back to 1 (@459), as do Archie’s party start (file 156 @426) and file 157 @1512. While it is 0, invisible barriers also block Saffron’s gates on Routes 5, 7 and 8 (file 179 script 18, 186 script 16, 188 script 20). The takeover itself sets it to 0 (file 17 @12045). Not traced: leaving B1F right after the honey trade without stepping on that trigger, then going through Route 6.

Sub. Doll not checked

Section titled “Sub. Doll not checked”

The Saffron finale never checks that you carry the Sub. Doll. Harmless: the scene plays the same way with or without it.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 834 L6010 TakeItem 451 with no HasItem. The doll comes from the man in the house next to the one Sabrina teleports you into (file 830 script 2, L410; he hands one out whenever you talk to him during the takeover). Sabrina’s Route 8 teleport also runs TakeItem 451 (file 188 L2775).

Fuchsia “Surf TM” man

Section titled “Fuchsia “Surf TM” man”

In the Chinese, the man in the Fuchsia City southwest house asks about the “Surf TM” but checks for HM04 Strength. His line also talks about moving the big boulder in his house, which is Strength’s job, so the English patch says “Strength HM”. Only his line changes; nothing is given. Cosmetic. Tested in an emulator: with HM04 in the Bag he says the HM line; without it, the pond line.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 810 script 3 @98 HasItem item 423 (HM04) → L334 (line 509#6, 冲浪技能机); otherwise msg 5. No item is given on either path. His door is ≈1222,435 (Fuchsia Southwest house), not the rangers’ room (D-1403; emu_harness.py hackbugs --case hm04). English corrected with the user’s approval (D-1496, D-1572).

Route 17 Shiny Stone

Section titled “Route 17 Shiny Stone”

The Shiny Stone on Route 17 never appears. Its item ball is removed during the Mt. Moon roadblock scene, long before you can reach Route 17, and nothing brings it back. Tested in an emulator: with the mark the Mt. Moon scene leaves, the ball isn’t there; without it, the ball is there and gives the Shiny Stone. That the Mt. Moon scene sets the mark is read from its script.

Technical source (script files and flags)

object 21 at 1143,402 (file 209 script 4, item 107) is hidden by flag 1890, which the Mt. Moon roadblock scene sets (file 9 @5522) and nothing clears (D-1400; emu_harness.py hackbugs --case shinystone).

Colette and the Cycling Road record

Section titled “Colette and the Cycling Road record”

The people who show up after the Cycling Road gang leaves share a record with Medium Colette in Pokémon Tower. These are the Route 16 Quick Ball kid, the Route 18 Air Slash tutor and the ordinary Route 17 cyclists. If you haven’t beaten Colette, they already stand there before the gang is driven off. If you beat her later, they disappear, and they come back when the gang is driven off or after Sabrina’s Marsh Badge. In the usual order (Colette first) it works as intended. If they’re there and you haven’t beaten Colette yet, talk to them first. If Colette has vanished unbeaten (see Skipped Pokémon Tower Trainers vanish), the record is never set, so these people simply stay. Low impact.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1580 is trainer 220’s (Colette’s) defeat flag (Pokémon Tower object 3, script 3219) and the hide flag of Route 16 object 0, Route 17 objects 22–27 and Route 18 object 3 (D-1401). Colette (tower object 3) is also hidden by flag 1155 once the illusion grunts are beaten, so an unbeaten Colette never sets 1580. It is cleared by beating Roughneck Paxton (file 210 L1625), by the Saffron Gym (file 826 L1003/L1406) and by the leftover Route 38 test character (file 248 L204/L277).

Misty missing from Cerulean Gym

Section titled “Misty missing from Cerulean Gym”

Winning Misty’s Resort Zone date leaves her missing from Cerulean Gym, and her romance stalls. Starting the date removes Misty from the Gym. After a win the date ends in the Gym, but she doesn’t reappear there or at Cerulean Cape, so her next date (“I want you to meet my mom”), which only she can offer in the Gym, never starts. Every other scene that brings her back to the Gym is part of the main story, which is over before the dates unlock after your final Hall of Fame entry, so nothing found undoes this. If you lose one of the date’s battles instead, Misty waits at the tip of Cerulean Cape: take her photo there, the Cape date plays again, and she’s back in the Gym (Resort Zone: Misty’s date). Save before the date. Suspected hack bug. Tested in an emulator: after the date’s ending Misty is neither in the Gym, also after leaving and coming back, nor at the Cape.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1402. Misty’s hide flag 595 is set when the Resort Zone date starts (file 758 @7636). The win ending (file 809 L4324–L4360) warps you to the Gym and sets var 0x40B5 = 4 but never clears 595; the Gym’s var-4 step is her “meet my mom” talk (758 @3687 → L6462), and the Gym’s on-load clear (758 @6412, after the final Hall of Fame) only runs when flag 1645 is clear or 2142 (Misty’s lock) is set (at hours 14–15 it sets 595 instead, 758 L7038). The Cape needs var 0x40B5 = 3 and 595 set (216 @3197–@3221), so after a win she isn’t there either. A loss in any of the date’s four Multi Battles whites you out (809 L4885) with 0x40B5 still 3 (set when the date starts, 809 @592), and the Cape date’s end clears 595 (216 @12236). The other clears of 595 are one-time story scenes before the final Hall of Fame: Radio Tower Observation Deck (file 34 @3795), Seafoam Islands Blue Orb scene (file 195 script 12 @1850, needs var 0x408C = 14 from Misty’s Gym send-off, 758 @6372), Sea Cottage virus battle (file 217 @1398), Silph Co. aftermath (files 795 @2860, 834 @5956), Celadon Rocket base aftermath (file 853 @3778), Cerulean Cave / Prof. Oak (file 912 @3767) and Blue’s Champion battle before the Hall of Fame (file 821 script 1, Blue’s object, hidden by flag 1496 from the Hall of Fame on, file 822 @86; → @2513). The Seafoam scene can’t be pending after the final Hall of Fame: the League HQ round-2 report needs var 0x408C = 15 (file 31 @2039), which only that scene sets (195 @1854).

Pal Park Fixed Catch show never ends

Section titled “Pal Park Fixed Catch show never ends”

A Fixed Catch show at the Pal Park never ends with a score or a prize. You pay $10,000, the countdown starts and you can catch the park’s wild Pokémon, but the show only counts the six Pokémon stocked from a Game Boy Advance game, so “caught all six” never happens however many you catch. The score and the Berry prize (one of them the Nanab Berry, for 3,300–3,499 points) are only given in the normal show, which needs six Pokémon migrated from a GBA game. Keep what you catch and leave the park when you’re done. Suspected hack bug. Tested in an emulator: six catches in Fixed Catch mode changed nothing; with six stocked Pokémon written into the save the normal show ended after the sixth catch, scored and gave a Berry.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1570. File 809 L6431–L6574 (Fixed Catch entry), file 12 script 2 (countdown, PalParkAction 0) and script 3 (the “caught the stocked Pokémon” scene), file 809 script 2 (score) and L4435 (prize tiers: under 3,000 / 3,300 / 3,500 / 10,000 points; Nanab Berry 166 in the 3,300–3,499 list, L5171). The caught flags (arm9 0x021D3214 +0x30) are set only by 0x02054C38 for the entry the show’s step encounter picked (0x02054B8C), which needs stocked Pokémon (save array 28, loaded by 0x02054A70). emu_harness.py open --case palpark.

Safari Zone Double Battle freeze

Section titled “Safari Zone Double Battle freeze”

Fixed in the English patch from rc6: Safari Zone wild encounters are always single battles. In the Chinese hack, and in English patches up to rc5, about one in four wild encounters in the Safari Zone can turn into a broken Double Battle that freezes the game. If you have two or more Pokémon that can battle, the game may set up a wild Double Battle, but the Safari Zone only creates one wild Pokémon: the second one is invisible garbage and the game freezes at the command menu. On rc5 or earlier, enter the Safari Zone with only one Pokémon that can battle (deposit the rest or carry fainted ones). Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build) and reported by players; the fix was tested in DeSmuME and melonDS.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1535. ov2 0x022470C4: the wild Double Battle roll (rand % 4 with 2+ usable Pokémon) runs before the Safari check, and the Safari branch (0x0224718C → 0x02248204) creates only one wild Pokémon. The Bug-Catching Contest goes through the same code (read from the code only); you enter it with one Pokémon, so it needs no warning. Fix: work/patches/safari-no-wild-double (D-2289), a user-approved exception to D-1337.

Saffron City to Cinnabar Island

Section titled “Saffron City to Cinnabar Island”

Quests on this page

Lightning Whip lesson teaches Charge

Section titled “Lightning Whip lesson teaches Charge”

Fixed in rc8: Ma Baoguo’s “Lightning Whip” lesson at the Saffron Fighting Dojo now always teaches Volt Switch. On rc7 and earlier it taught Charge to a Pokémon with a free move slot, and only a Pokémon that already knew four moves (and forgot one) learned Volt Switch. Either way he says it learned the Lightning Whip and takes $10,000; on those versions, teach it to a Pokémon that knows four moves. Tested in an emulator: a Pikachu with three moves learned Charge, one with four moves learned Volt Switch; $10,000 was taken both times.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 829 L4309: CountMonMoves ≤ 3 → L6363 SetMonMove move 268 (Charge, the move’s old v3 number); four moves → @4437 move 521 (Volt Switch); the retry path (L6641, @6748) also uses 268 (D-1347; emu_harness.py hackbugs --case tutor).

TM14 Blizzard

Section titled “TM14 Blizzard”

TM14 Blizzard can be missed. The only TM14 comes from Articuno’s no-Poké-Ball battle in the Seafoam Islands: beat it, choose to catch it, and the researcher stops you and gives you TM14. The post-game Team Rocket scene there (Lawrence and Archie) removes Articuno until Lance visits your home after the final Hall of Fame, and after that only the catch battle is left. Get TM14 before that Team Rocket scene. Before it, Articuno is there for everyone.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1422. File 195 @957 hides Articuno with HidePerson (object 2, hide flag 1368); file 842 @2177 clears 1368 (needs flag 2261). Articuno’s script (195 script 10) runs the no-Poké-Ball battle (trainer 505) only while 2261 is clear; after 2261 it offers only “Catch Articuno?” (L2249; the catch battle sets 1368 at L2696). The researcher’s TM14 (item 341) is at L2960, flag 1483. The Route 3 painter’s Ralts scene that also sets 1368 (file 175 script 16, L1145) is never triggered (D-1423), and file 115 L5744 is the early Viridian Forest Eevee rescue.

Moltres and the S.S. Anne guest

Section titled “Moltres and the S.S. Anne guest”

An S.S. Anne guest’s battle shares a record with the post-game Moltres, harmlessly. Moltres can only be challenged after your first final Hall of Fame entry, which resets that record. Later Hall of Fame entries don’t, so a caught, defeated or fled-from Moltres is gone for good. If you never battled that guest, Moltres already stands at the volcano before then, but you can’t reach it.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1517 is Moltres’s hide flag (file 812 object 8) and the S.S. Anne party guest’s battle flag (trainer 157; files 156 L1932, 158 L305). The lava-edge spots (812 script 6) need flag 2261; the same one-time block of the final Hall of Fame that sets 2261 clears 1517 (file 822 L2458/L2474; later entries take the flag-2404 branch). Moltres sets 1517 after the battle (812 L7914).

Route 21 Lairon called Onix

Section titled “Route 21 Lairon called Onix”

The Route 21 Trainer’s Lairon is called Onix once, and you hear Onix’s cry. You don’t battle him; his Lairon stands next to him trying to break Mr. Mime’s barrier. The Chinese says Onix in that line too. Cosmetic. In rc8 the two lines where he sends the Lairon in say Lairon, as the Chinese does (earlier English patches said Onix there); his later remark and the cry are still Onix, as in the hack.

Technical source (script files and flags)

bank 0732#18/#19 say Lairon (可多拉) and #21 says Onix (大岩蛇); the cry is species 95 (Onix) (file 957 L260/L610; D-0691).

Unused Cinnabar riddle menu

Section titled “Unused Cinnabar riddle menu”

An unused riddle menu in Cinnabar Island shows the wrong lines. Its answer options are Amber’s lines. Nothing leads to it. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 812 script 7 (L919): menu items 9–12 are Amber’s messages; no object or sign on the map uses script 7.

Seafoam Islands ice (not a bug)

Section titled “Seafoam Islands ice (not a bug)”

The ice in the Seafoam Islands does not come back after the Team Rocket scene. This isn’t a bug: an earlier note said the ice returns after Lawrence’s Moltres melts it, but removing the ice blocks in that scene marks them as melted for good, the same as melting them with your own Magcargo or Moltres.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 195 L797–L825 hides the ice objects 4–6 with HidePerson; their hide flag is 1500, and HidePerson sets an object’s hide flag permanently (engine note in work/notes/guide_errata.md). The lead-Pokémon paths set 1500 explicitly (L2086, L2207, L2645).

Mismatched Pokémon cries

Section titled “Mismatched Pokémon cries”

Some Pokémon cries don’t match the Pokémon. You hear Ursaring for “Zangoose: Zaaaa-go!” and Flygon for “Shiftry” in Island Forest, Spinda for “Butterfree” on Two Island and Poliwhirl for “Manaphy”. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 55 script 7 (Ursaring cry, bank 0084#20); file 55 script 12 (Flygon cry, 0084#61); file 734 script 17 (Spinda cry, 0440#73); file 965 script 10 (species 61 Poliwhirl, 0393#76).

Island Forest wish

Section titled “Island Forest wish”

The Island Forest wish undoes romance choices that other scenes treat as final. Wishing “I want to be more attractive” reopens every partner, including Blue’s Victory Road lock and the Vermilion construction-site locks, as long as you haven’t talked to the Dream World old man or fought Will or Karen there, and haven’t entered the dream at MooMoo Farm without the fortune-teller’s “near future” love reading. It works once. It may be an intended second chance.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 55 L3017–L3075 clears 2141–2145 and 2153–2157, unless flag 2300 is set (set by the old man on your first talk, file 898 @59, by the Will/Karen battle ending, 898 @2325, and by MooMoo Farm’s dream entry when flag 1619 is clear, file 251 @1283; cleared only by that entry when 1619 is set, 251 @872). Any wish sets flag 0x892 (2194) at L3094, so it works once.

Crystal Onix

Section titled “Crystal Onix”

The Crystal Onix is only Lv. 40, and you get one try. Every Trainer on its island is Lv. 62 or higher, so the level looks like a leftover. Whatever happens in the battle (caught, knocked out, run away or you lose), the Onix is gone afterwards. Bring Poké Balls and save first.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 24 L88 (WildBattle 2143 = Onix form 1, level 0xff28 = 40); flag 2912 (the Onix’s hide flag) is set before the battle (L84), and a loss whites you out (L972).

Manaphy at Lv. 1

Section titled “Manaphy at Lv. 1”

Manaphy is given at Lv. 1. Most legendary gifts are Lv. 80–95 (Jirachi is Lv. 5). Possibly intended (“just hatched”).

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 965 L543 GiveMon 490, 1. Other gifts: Regis 90 (file 129), Latias/Latios 80 (file 239), Shaymin/Celebi 90 (file 52), Mew 90 (file 58), Ho-Oh 95 (file 21), Jirachi 5 (file 81 L1259).

Cinnabar graffiti couple

Section titled “Cinnabar graffiti couple”

Losing to the Cinnabar graffiti couple counts as letting them carve their names. You can’t retry. Save before the battle. Tested in an emulator: after the loss you wake up in the Pokémon Center, and the couple then only say their names are carved into the rock.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1742 is set before the Double Battle (file 812 @3390, trainers 982/983) and only cleared on a win (L3453); a loss whites you out (L4661) and the couple then take the “carved” branch (L1394 → L3216) (D-1420; emu_harness.py hackbugs --case graffiti, both ROMs).

Choice-item merchant’s goodbye

Section titled “Choice-item merchant’s goodbye”

“Nothing, thanks” at the Saffron Choice-item merchant shows a menu label instead of his goodbye. You see “The Pokémon League’s reforms” instead of “If you’re interested, come back next time!” The same happens if you back out of the menu. Cosmetic. Tested in an emulator.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 824 L2989 shows 521#40 instead of 521#23 after menu item 22 (D-1421; emu_harness.py hackbugs --case merchant).

Sevii Islands and Indigo Plateau

Section titled “Sevii Islands and Indigo Plateau”

Quests on this page

Pilgrimage skips Six Island

Section titled “Pilgrimage skips Six Island”

You can finish the island pilgrimage without doing the Six Island trial. That also skips the Deoxys theft. Seven Island’s final trial never checks Six Island; every other island’s trial is checked.

Technical source (script files and flags)

Seven Island’s final-trial gate (file 870 L1364) tests 0x40a2 >= 3, which is always true once the pilgrimage has started (it needs 0x40a2 >= 19). Every other island has its own check (0x40b2, 2346, 0x40b3, 0x409e, 2175). It was probably meant to be the Six Island var 0x40b4 (≥ 3) or flag 2195.

TM86 Grass Knot

Section titled “TM86 Grass Knot”

TM86 Grass Knot can be lost. The Roserade woman on One Island, its only source, acts as if you’ve already traded if you got Misty’s Gyarados (male Bulbasaur players) or finished the early Viridian Gym trials. She then only explains how Grass Knot works and never offers the trade. Nothing can undo this.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 845 script 6 (L331 CheckFlag 1081 → L1205, msg 12; the trade at L1223–L1318 takes item 239 Miracle Seed, gives item 413 TM86 and sets 1081). The same flag is set by Misty’s Gyarados gift (file 172 script 28 L2507, needs flag 1289 = Bulbasaur starter and a male player; also L11039) and the early Viridian Gym trials (file 741 L511). Nothing clears 1081. items.json lists the One Island gift as TM86’s only source.

Six Island Shell Bell price

Section titled “Six Island Shell Bell price”

The Six Island Shell Bell costs $200, not the $5,000 the menu says. In your favour.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 943 L3288 checks and L3314 takes $200; menu bank 625#48.

Losing to Deoxys

Section titled “Losing to Deoxys”

Losing to Deoxys on Six Island loses Deoxys and the whole Lucky Meowth God story after it. The Fallen Red Star vanishes for good the moment the post-game Deoxys battle starts. If you lose, you white out, and the chief’s claim, Jessie, James and Meowth at the One Island restaurant, the Lucky Meowth God and the Island Forest change never happen. Running away or knocking Deoxys out also loses Deoxys, but the story then goes on as normal. Save before you check the Red Star, and reload if you lose (see Six Island: Deoxys and the Lucky Meowth God). Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build): after a loss the Red Star is gone, and the switch that brings Jessie, James and Meowth to the restaurant is still off.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 943 script 11: HidePerson 4 (L3623) sets the Red Star’s hide flag 2188 before WildBattle 386 (Lv. 95, L5002); CheckBattleWon false (a loss) → L3755 WhiteOut, skipping the chief’s scene (L5026–L6407), which holds the only reachable clear of flag 1331 (L6397), the hide flag of Jessie, James and Meowth in the One Island restaurant. 2188 is cleared only by Lance’s one-time visit home (file 842 L2205). Emulator: work/build/harness/guide-review-20261006/ch06/deoxys_{cn,en} (2188 set at battle start and after the white-out, 1331 still set, Red Star gone on return).

Four Island chief’s Doubles

Section titled “Four Island chief’s Doubles”

Choosing “Doubles” against the Four Island chief makes you fight Gentleman Bernard’s team (as a Double Battle) instead of the chief’s. “Singles” gives the right battle. Pick Singles if you want to fight the chief.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 861 L1985 → L2429 starts TrainerBattle 378, 378 (Bernard) instead of 845 (the chief, Tian, used by Singles at L2496).

Seven Island Kecleon

Section titled “Seven Island Kecleon”

The Seven Island Kecleon scene wants an Alomomola in the lead, but plays Noctowl’s cry. After the tourist complains that her snacks keep vanishing, the invisible blocker only reacts if the first healthy Pokémon in your party is an Alomomola. You then hear Noctowl’s cry with your Alomomola’s name and a “Nooo-tow!” line. It was probably meant to be Noctowl, but only an Alomomola works, so put one first. Tested in an emulator: with an Alomomola the scene and the Kecleon battle play; with a Noctowl nothing happens.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 870 script 9 (tourist, sets 2197), script 12 (blocker, Seven Island object 16, hide flag 2198) → L1038–L1054 (GetPartyLeadAlive, CompareVarToValue species 594, Alomomola in this ROM) → L1500, PlayCry 164 (Noctowl) ×3 with msg 34 “{lead}: Nooo-tow!”; Kecleon WildBattle 352 at L1703, then item 42 (Lava Cookie).

Unused One Island biker scene

Section titled “Unused One Island biker scene”

An unused restaurant scene duplicates the One Island biker request. The working one is in the One Island Pokémon Center. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 894 script 16 (sets 2021) is not used by any object, sign or trigger in its map (zone 205); the working copy is file 889 script 6 (One Island Pokémon Center, object 9, sets 2021 at L442).

Bikers’ red envelope and Big Sis

Section titled “Bikers’ red envelope and Big Sis”

Taking the bikers’ red envelope even once means Big Sis never switches sides. In the Shipyard Ruins on Three Island, the Chief offers you a red envelope ($200,000). If you accept, a League inspector later fines you on One Island, and after that Paxton’s final battle always treats Big Sis as untaught: even if you taught her to ride, she fights against you. She has already left her house by then, so you can’t teach her again. If you want her on your side, choose “I’ll teach you to ride a bike” with Big Sis and refuse the envelope. This may be intended as a penalty for taking the bribe, rather than a bug. Not confirmed in game.

Technical source (script files and flags)

Big Sis (file 782 script 20, object 19 in the Three Island house, hide flag 2019): “I’ll teach you to ride a bike” sets var 0x4097 = 5 (L2893); every real choice ends at L5861 SetFlag 2019 + HidePerson 19, and nothing clears 2019 after that (only the earlier “send the bikers to Alto Mare” choice, file 826 L983). Bribe: file 879 msg 17 Yes → L1490, $200,000 (4 × AddMoney 50000), var 0x4097 = 6 (L1915); the Shipyard Ruins bikers stay (hide flag 1663 is only set by the gauntlet’s end, L2420), so the scene can be replayed. One Island coord trigger (file 845 script 20, 146,160, var 0x4097 == 6) → fine 8 × SubMoneyImmediate 50000 (L1533–L1575), then L1612 SetVar 0x4097, 1. The switch check at file 879 L1283 (0x4097 == 5 → L1931, msg 52) then always fails. Edge case: a player who takes the bribe before ever visiting Big Sis can still set 5 with her afterwards (the inspector then doesn’t trigger). Matches guide chapter 06 “Shipyard Ruins” Notes.

Azure Flute after the Hall of Fame

Section titled “Azure Flute after the Hall of Fame”

The Azure Flute can’t be obtained after the Hall of Fame. The Seven Island shrine keeper only ever says to keep it safe. Without it the Ruins of Alph replay and the Sinjoh Ruins stay locked (see Lake of Rage, Blackthorn City and beyond). The keeper’s check was tested in an emulator: after the League HQ report she only says to keep it safe, and one story step earlier she lends it. That the report always comes first is read from the scripts.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 942 script 4 (L104/L110): the “keep it safe” branch fires on 0x40b7 >= 4, but League HQ (file 31 L3316) already sets 0x40b7 = 4 before the Hall of Fame, so the post-game offer at L263, the only place that gives item 536 and sets 0x40b7 = 5 (L539), can’t be reached. Locks file 49 L694 and file 131. The check probably should be >= 5.

Victory Road guard’s Badge check

Section titled “Victory Road guard’s Badge check”

The Victory Road guard asks for eight Badges but only checks for the Earth Badge. With the Earth Badge he lets you through, however many other Badges you have.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 763 script 3, L361 CheckBadge 7 (Earth Badge, given at file 741 L2863); the same single check repeats at L2761, L2839, L2917; refusal msg 22 (“eight or more Badges”).

Two Janine reveals

Section titled “Two Janine reveals”

Two disguised staff members can both reveal themselves as Janine. This only happens for a male Charmander player who sided with the environmentalist on Route 11 and let the S.S. Anne sink: Ruin Maniac Axel and Aroma Lady Wendy on Victory Road both give the reveal. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 110 script 36: male players go to L8952 (Axel, trainer 569) and L9087 (Wendy, trainer 567). With flag 1287 (Charmander starter, file 738 L4031) set, 1610 clear (didn’t side with the grass-cutter, file 197 L2390), 1895 set (sided with the environmentalist, file 197 L2640) and 1093 set (S.S. Anne sank, file 157 L2852; also set in Rock Tunnel at file 129 L1212), both branches reach the Janine reveal (L10000 → L10147 and L9177 → L10147, msg 3).

Pokémon League, Mt. Silver and New Bark Town

Section titled “Pokémon League, Mt. Silver and New Bark Town”

Quests on this page

Yellow’s Champion room Singles

Section titled “Yellow’s Champion room Singles”

Yellow’s “Singles” in the Champion’s room is a Double Battle. When you call Yellow to the Champion’s room with “Call a Trainer”, both options give the same Double Battle. Yellow’s Singles on Mt. Silver is correct. Tested in an emulator: “Singles” sends out two of her Pokémon at once.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1447. File 821 L3742 and L3791: both menu choices start TrainerBattle 951, 951. Blue and Gold use x, 0 for singles, and on Mt. Silver (file 107 L6518) Yellow’s singles uses 951, 0.

Luxio and Luxray

Section titled “Luxio and Luxray”

In the Chinese, the Sinnoh traveller calls her Pokémon “Luxio” after you answer “Luxray”. The quiz and the cry both say Luxray, so the English patch says Luxray. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

bank 0536#49 says 我的这只电光狮 (Luxio); the quiz menu (file 841 L916–L940; Prof. Elm’s Lab 2F) accepts index 2 = 0536#35 雷电狮 (Luxray) at L984 → L2395, and the cry line 0536#55 says Luxray. English corrected with the user’s approval (D-0764, D-1496, D-1572).

Leech Seed tutor line

Section titled “Leech Seed tutor line”

The Leech Seed tutor in the Cherrygrove Pokémon Center says your Pokémon “already knows Baton Pass”. The line was copied from the New Bark Town Baton Pass tutor. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

bank 0544#11 (已经会接力棒了), shown at file 849 L398 after MonHasMove … 73 (Leech Seed) at L331.

Elite Four practice names

Section titled “Elite Four practice names”

In the Chinese hack, the Elite Four practice rematches show another Trainer’s name. In the post-game practice battles, Agatha or Lance does the talking, but the battle uses another Trainer’s data, so the battle opens with “Elite Four Koga” in Agatha’s room and “Elite Four Lorin” in Lance’s room, under Agatha’s and Lance’s pictures. This English translation names those two Trainers Agatha and Lance, so you see the right names. The first-run battles use the right Trainers. Cosmetic. Tested in an emulator on both versions.

Technical source (script files and flags)

Agatha’s room (file 818 L1509) starts trainer 703, named Koga (阿桔); Lance’s room (file 820 L1479, Doubles L1545) starts trainer 705, named Lorin (梨琳). Agatha’s Doubles: L1575 (703 ×2). Agatha’s intro line before the battle: 818 L1502. The first-run battles use 247 Agatha and 246 Lance (D-1442).

Uncle Apricorn’s box

Section titled “Uncle Apricorn’s box”

Uncle Apricorn doesn’t check that you have Kurt’s Apricorn Box. He admires “that thing you’re holding” and buys it whether or not you carry one. Harmless: everyone gets the box, and key items can’t be thrown away.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 225 script 15 (Route 29): no HasItem; each of the three offers runs TakeItem 468 (L3692, L3737, L3782) and then gives item 468 back with the money.

Route 26 Nugget

Section titled “Route 26 Nugget”

The Route 26 Phanpy Trainer gives you TM41 for your Nugget but lets you keep the Nugget. This happens when you choose to give it to him; selling it to him works normally. In your favour. Tested in an emulator: “Have it” gives TM41 and the Nugget stays in the Bag; “Sell” takes it and pays $30,000.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 218: the give path (L1551) gives item 368 (TM41) and sets flag 1111 but has no TakeItem; the sell path (L1522) takes item 92 (D-1404).

Cherrygrove Wooper boy and the clover hunter

Section titled “Cherrygrove Wooper boy and the clover hunter”

The Cherrygrove Wooper boy and the Five Island clover hunter share a switch. Talking to the crying boy in Cherrygrove City (whose Poké Ball the Wooper snatched) also removes the clover hunter on Five Island, the man who finds the four-leaf clover. If you haven’t done the Five Island clover scene yet, it can’t be started until the Ruins of Alph scene where you promise Molly to look for Prof. Hale, which brings him back. Nothing is lost unless that Ruins of Alph scene never happens; the Mt. Silver Revival Herbs (which need the Five Island scene) just wait. Do the Five Island clover scene before you talk to the boy. Side effect: if you forced the sale on Five Island, the hunter comes back after the Ruins of Alph scene and just repeats a line. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1973 is the hunter’s hide flag (Five Island object 24, file 58 script 15; set when the sale is forced, L7740) and the Wooper quest’s “talked to the boy” flag (file 847 L1106, checked by the Poké Ball at L1133). Cleared by the Ruins of Alph Molly scene (file 51 L4289, with 1975/1978). The Mt. Silver Turtwig owner who gives the Revival Herbs is shown by the Five Island “Forget it” path (file 58 L4425 clears his hide flag 1530) (D-1405).

Marauder’s Deoxys sprite

Section titled “Marauder’s Deoxys sprite”

Executive Marauder’s lead Deoxys uses a form the game doesn’t define, so it shows up in battle as a small garbled figure. Cosmetic. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build). Read from the game code only: it uses normal Deoxys stats.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1498; trainer 865, party slot 1, form 4 (no entry in the form table; the stat lookup falls back to base Deoxys). Work note: work/notes/trainer_runtime_review.md.

Cherrygrove City to Azalea Town

Section titled “Cherrygrove City to Azalea Town”

Quests on this page

Union Cave Marill choice

Section titled “Union Cave Marill choice”

Letting Yamamoto catch Marill in Union Cave still counts as saving it. Even if you answer No to “Step in and stop Marill from being caught?”, the owner and her Marill reappear in Violet City after Crystal’s scene at the end of Ilex Forest, and she thanks you for stepping in. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 56 L785–L989: the No path sets the quest var 0x40AD = 8 (L969) like the Yes path (L2838), only without clearing flags 1528/1825. The Ilex Forest Crystal scene (file 92 L10515 → L10927) clears 1825 and 1528 whenever the var is already 8, so Violet City (file 854 L1810) shows the thank-you line 548#113.

Marill owner’s Azumarill

Section titled “Marill owner’s Azumarill”

In the Chinese hack, the Marill owner mourns “my Azumarill”. Her Pokémon is a Marill everywhere else. This English translation says Marill. The line only shows if you never met her Marill in Union Cave. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

bank 548#114 (玛力露丽), shown by file 854 L3837 when flag 1528 is set (set by the Ilex Forest Crystal scene, file 92 L10528–L10534, when the quest var isn’t 8); 548#113 also misspells it (玛丽露). English fixed with user approval (D-0934, D-1496).

Pokémon Academy class and Youngster Ward

Section titled “Pokémon Academy class and Youngster Ward”

Some answers in the Pokémon Academy class make losing to Youngster Ward cost you the reward. Your answers in the class decide the teacher’s gift: most answers lead to TM67 Recycle, and only a full set of “safe” answers gives 2 Big Pearls instead. The answers that lead to TM67 also mark the class as finished, so if you then lose to Ward, the teacher only repeats his closing line and you get nothing. If you lose after only “safe” answers, the class simply starts again. Ward’s Pokémon are Lv. 4–5, so losing is unlikely. Save before the class.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 82 (Violet City, east house): flag 1858 is both “class finished” (scripts 6–12 check it) and “give TM67”. It is set by Limber answers 0–2 (L963), Sylveon answers 0–2 (L1119), “Yep, I cheated all the way” (L1275) and beginner-Pokémon answers 0, 1, 3 (L1646/L1673/L1700). TrainerBattle 752 (Youngster Ward) at L1727; a loss jumps to L1904 WhiteOut. After a win, L1837: flag set → item 394 (TM67), clear → L1910 item 89 ×2 (Big Pearl).

Sprout Tower offerings

Section titled “Sprout Tower offerings”

The Sprout Tower monks take their offering even if you can’t pay. When a monk on the ground floor asks for an offering and you say Yes, you’re let through with too little money, and your money drops to $0. Answering No means battling him instead. The Elder on 3F does check your money before selling his sutras. Tested in an emulator with the first monk ($3,000): $1,000 → $0, $5,000 → $2,000.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 16 L1022, L1110, L1216 use SubMoneyImmediate ($3,000 / $5,000 / $10,000) with no money check (Yes paths L973/L1053/L1167; No starts TrainerBattle 747 etc.). 3F (file 18 L2384/L2480) uses HasEnoughMoneyImmediate 5000.

Ruins of Alph Potion girl (not a bug)

Section titled “Ruins of Alph Potion girl (not a bug)”

The Ruins of Alph Potion girl’s quest works. She asks “Do you have a Potion I could borrow?”, takes a Potion if you have one (“Liar. You don’t even have a Potion.” if you say Yes without one), and then tells you about her face on the statue. An earlier version of this page said she skips the request and thanks you for a Potion you never gave; that rested on a Prof. Elm’s Lab scene that never plays. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build): she asked for the Potion, took one and moved on to the statue step.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 37 script 19 (object 1, no hide flag) asks for the Potion while var 0x4079 is 0–2 (L1271; HasItem 17 at L1859 → L3312 takes it and sets 3 at @3364, else msg 52), shows the thanks at 3 (L1308) and the statue question at 4 (L1319); the statue (file 42 L236) needs 3. Kanto sets the var to 0/1/2 only (files 739 @965, 212 @3120, 115 @5535). The lab’s SetVar 0x4079 3 (file 840 @3184/@3314) is in lab script 15, which never runs (it needs var 0x4108 = 8, which no script sets; emulator: work/build/harness/bugreports-20261006/miltank/). Emulator: var 0x4079 = 2, script 19 → msgs 50, 53, 54, Potion −1, var → 3 (work/build/harness/guide-review-20261006/known-issues/potion_cn|en/).

Route 32 Igglybuff counter

Section titled “Route 32 Igglybuff counter”

The Route 32 Igglybuff storm scene shares a progress counter with earlier story scenes, harmlessly. Several Kanto story scenes also change this counter, but they all happen before you reach Route 32 and leave it at a “not started” value, so the storm scene starts normally when you talk to Nurse Joy or the Igglybuff Trainer.

Technical source (script files and flags)

var 0x40A6 is set to 1 by Mt. Moon Square (file 9 L5634), the S.S. Anne (files 156 L426, 157 L1512, 162 L459) and Silph Co. (files 795 L2208, 834 L5074/L5215), and to 0 by the S.S. Anne B1F (file 162 L1658) and the Saffron takeover (file 17 L12045). The quest uses 2–5: the Igglybuff Trainer (file 232 L1516–L1562) sets 2 from any value below 3; Nurse Joy (file 233) treats 0, 1 and 5 alike before her request flag 1983 is set. The earlier note said “set to 0 by Sprout Tower 2F”, which is wrong.

Bugsy’s four-Pokémon rule

Section titled “Bugsy’s four-Pokémon rule”

Bugsy’s “no more than four Pokémon” rule never applies. You can bring six. The check reads a temporary number that the game resets to 0 before every conversation, so it never matches. Tested in an emulator: with six Pokémon he accepts, also right after another script had set that number to 5.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 866 script 2 → L367 compares var 0x8005 with 5 and 6 (→ L4470, msg 12), but never loads the party count (no GetPartyCount, unlike the rematch at L4541). 0x8005 is a scratch variable. Observed: it reads 0 at L367 both on a fresh talk and after a one-off script ran SetVar 0x8005 5 (scratch vars don’t survive between scripts), and the talk goes on to the type check (D-1432, D-1563).

Bugsy’s rematch line

Section titled “Bugsy’s rematch line”

After you win a Bugsy rematch, he gives his refusal line. You see “None of your Pokémon can have a type that’s strong against Bug…” instead of a victory line. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 866 L4530 and L4590 show message 22 after TrainerBattle 713 (L4505, Doubles L4565).

Charcoal Kiln HM01

Section titled “Charcoal Kiln HM01”

The Charcoal Kiln apprentice takes HM01 without checking you have it. At “Give him the TM for Cut?” → Yes, players without HM01 still get the Leek, and players with it lose their HM01. If you still need HM01, answer No. Tested in an emulator: with HM01 you get the Leek and lose the HM; without it you still get the Leek.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 871 L602 (msg 51) → L1428–L1804: every path ends in L1773 (Leek, item 259) and L1796 TakeItem 420 (HM01) with no HasItem check; sets flag 1984.

Air Cutter or Solar Blade

Section titled “Air Cutter or Solar Blade”

The Charcoal Kiln master praises Air Cutter but teaches Solar Blade. The Chinese says Air Cutter in that line too; the rest of his lines say Solar Blade. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

bank 563#60 (真空斩); the tutor teaches move 669 (Solar Blade; file 871 L1964/L2499), and messages 63–72 say Solar Blade (日光刃).

Losing to Goh in Union Cave

Section titled “Losing to Goh in Union Cave”

Losing to Goh in Union Cave can repeat the lure scene. If you lose, answering Yes to “Help Goh move the rock?” starts the lure scene over, and No doesn’t record the outcome. Win the battle. Not confirmed in game.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 56: the Goh battle (L3512 TrainerBattle 755, 0, 1, 0, no white-out) jumps to L4012 on a loss; Yes at L4419 and L4533 jumps to L1587 (the start of the lure scene) instead of L3588 (Goh’s catch ending); the No path (L4550–L4604) sets no flag or var (var 0x40A8 = 2 and flags 762/677 are set elsewhere at L2367–L2377).

Kurt’s five Tidal Bells

Section titled “Kurt’s five Tidal Bells”

Kurt gives you five Tidal Bells. Probably copied from his Apricorn Ball gifts. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 60 (Slowpoke Well B1F) L3457–L3469 sets item 503 count 0x8005 = 5.

Route 30 dates (pointer)

Section titled “Route 30 dates (pointer)”

Green’s and Red’s Route 30 dates have the opposite confession check. See Ilex Forest and Goldenrod City for the full entry.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 228 L761 and L789; details in the Ilex Forest and Goldenrod City entry.

HM08 and Mr. Pokémon’s quiz

Section titled “HM08 and Mr. Pokémon’s quiz”

Holding HM08 Rock Climb skips Mr. Pokémon’s quiz for good. His quiz (prize: Exp. Share) only opens after the Dark Cave trouble is over. Once you carry HM08, which the Mt. Mortar Hiker gives you for his Map (see Mt. Mortar: the runaway Hitmontop and the Hiker’s map), he only gives a Rock Climb tip. Do his quiz before you hand over the Map. Other Exp. Shares can be had in Viridian City and at Silph Co. Possibly deliberate (a late-game tip replaces the quiz).

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 229 script 1: L30 HasItem 427 (HM08) → L88 (msg 29) before any other check; the quiz needs flag 1808 (L51) and gives item 216 once (flag 2335, L607–L625). HM08’s only source is the Mt. Mortar Map exchange (site/src/data/items.json).

Crystal’s walk

Section titled “Crystal’s walk”

Crystal’s “Let’s go for a walk together” leads nowhere. It shows one line and ends. Crystal has no date scenes or progress, although you can confess to her.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 851 L966 (menu 96, shown once flag 1645 is set and Crystal’s lock 2145 is clear) → L1676: one message (100), then End.

Pewter Museum Brock and the Route 30 Chikorita

Section titled “Pewter Museum Brock and the Route 30 Chikorita”

Talking to Brock in the Pewter Museum can make the Route 30 Chikorita disappear. If you talk to him after the Cherrygrove orphanage scene but before the Route 30 Chikorita scene, while his siblings’ quiz is unfinished, the Chikorita is gone for good. Do the Route 30 scene first. Tested in an emulator: talking to him sets the record that hides the Chikorita.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1323 hides the Chikorita and its Trainer (Route 30 objects 25/26) and marks the scene done (file 227 L1026, set at L4192). It is cleared once by file 851 @492 and set by Brock on every talk while his siblings’ quiz isn’t finished (file 753 L683/L3496 → L3506) (D-1424).

Gyro Ball TM kept

Section titled “Gyro Ball TM kept”

The Violet City Forretress kid lets you keep the Gyro Ball TM. In your favour. Tested in an emulator: after you hand it over, TM74 is still in the Bag.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 854 L535 HasItem 401 (TM74); the hand-over L3872–L3895 only sets flag 1850; the file has no TakeItem 401 (D-1425).

Falkner’s, Bugsy’s and the fire-breather’s type rules

Section titled “Falkner’s, Bugsy’s and the fire-breather’s type rules”

Falkner’s, Bugsy’s and the Route 32 fire-breather’s type rules let through Pokémon they shouldn’t, and Falkner refuses some he should accept. Their checks are lists of banned Pokémon that stop at the Sinnoh Pokédex, so many later Pokémon get in (for example Yungoos or Gumshoos with Falkner). Falkner refuses Rotom even in its Flying form (Fan Rotom). Bugsy lets in Hippowdon. The fire-breather lets in Carnivine and Magnezone.

Technical source (script files and flags)

Falkner (file 856 L971–L14807, 692 species; 226 later non-Flying species pass); fire-breather (file 232 script 13, 457 species up to #493: every non-Fire species except Carnivine and Magnezone, nothing later); Bugsy (file 866, 203 species: Hippowdon and 55 later Fire/Flying/Rock species pass) (D-1426). Re-counted against site/src/data/species.json.

Ilex Forest and Goldenrod City

Section titled “Ilex Forest and Goldenrod City”

Quests on this page

Celebi’s Sitrus Berries

Section titled “Celebi’s Sitrus Berries”

Celebi’s treatment never checks or takes the 10 Sitrus Berries the ranger asks for. Only the 10 Fresh Water are checked, and nothing is taken. In your favour.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 52 L2885 and L3574 are both HasItem 30 ×10 (Fresh Water); bank 81#13, #107 ask for Sitrus Berries (大树果); file 52 has no TakeItem.

Koume, Sakura and the bug hunt

Section titled “Koume, Sakura and the bug hunt”

Talking to Koume, Sakura or the fire ranger during the Ilex Forest bug hunt can break the hunt. They share the bugs’ progress counters, so a bug could become catchable without Honey, or Bugsy’s “all done” check could never pass. Their requests are meant for after the hunt, but they’re already around during it. Finish the bug hunt before talking to them. Not confirmed in game.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 92: Kricketune’s state (var 0x409A) is also Koume’s quest var (Koume, Ilex Forest script 19, checks 2/3/4); Sakura in the north gatehouse (file 869 L120–L198) sets it to 3 or 4. Burmy’s state (var 0x409B) is also the Houndour ranger’s var (script 31, L4155 sets 2). Both are visible during the hunt (Koume/Sakura hide flag 2033 is only set at L8232). The hunt’s end (L5669–L5737) resets 0x409A/0x409B to 1, the quests’ start value. Flags 2101/2102.

Noah and Flo

Section titled “Noah and Flo”

Fisherman Noah and Ace Trainer Flo in Ilex Forest count as one Trainer. Beat one and the other only says the after-battle line. You lose one battle’s prize money.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 92 scripts 24 (trainer 100, Noah) and 26 (trainer 119, Flo) both check and set flag 1460 (L1229/L1279, L1314/L1364).

Haircut Brother’s price

Section titled “Haircut Brother’s price”

The younger Haircut Brother needs $500 but charges $300. In the US game he checks and charges $300; the hack raised only the check. Fixed in rc8: $300 is enough. On rc7 and earlier, have $500 on you.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 94 L2806 (HasEnoughMoneyImmediate 500) / L2912 (SubMoneyImmediate 300).

Goldenrod clerk’s warehouse line

Section titled “Goldenrod clerk’s warehouse line”

The Goldenrod clerk’s “secret deals in the warehouse” line can never be seen. After the photo case he always says “North of Azalea, Mary’s the prettiest!” Flavour only.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 882 L2238–L2277: the three checks on var 0x4098 (≠ 0, ≠ 1, ≠ 2 → L15727, msg 99) exclude every value, so 573#93 is unreachable.

Radio Tower grunt and the old man

Section titled “Radio Tower grunt and the old man”

A leftover branch in one Radio Tower takeover conversation can’t be reached. In Goldenrod City during the takeover, a Team Rocket grunt is bullying an old man at his barricade. If you answered Yes to “Teach this Team Rocket grunt a lesson?” while standing between the two of them, the game would start the Extreme Speed tutor’s Lemonade lesson instead of the battle. You can’t stand there: a barricade fills that spot, so you always talk to them from another side. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 882 script 38 (grunt object 36 at 369,355 and old man object 39 at 369,357, hide flag 441): L1659 → L2572 GetPlayerCoords; at player Y = 356 it jumps to L2193, the Extreme Speed tutor’s Lemonade check (HasItem 32). Barricade objects 37 (368,356) and 38 (369,356) share hide flag 441, so every tile from which you can talk to the grunt or the old man has Y = 354, 355, 357 or 358. Earlier versions named only object 37 and left this as unconfirmed. Read from the event data, not tried in game.

Radio quiz B button

Section titled “Radio quiz B button”

Pressing B in the Radio Tower 1F radio quiz is not a shortcut (not a bug). An earlier note said B counts as a right answer. Tested in an emulator: B picks the last choice of the question, as if you had touched it. That happens to be right for the first question (4 channels) but wrong for the second, so B on every question fails the quiz. Answer normally.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 29 script 3: the five menus (L327, L419, L511, L603, L695) are MenuInit [1, 1, 0, 1, 0x800C]; each tests only the three wrong indices (L375–L407, L467–L499, L559–L591, L651–L683, L743–L775) and falls through otherwise. Observed (emu_harness.py guide0813 --case radio_quiz): with B the value read at L375 and L467 is 3 (the last button), not 0xFFFE, so question 2 jumps to the wrong-answer copy (L2310) and the quiz ends with msg 125. D-1479, D-1561.

Buena’s lottery line

Section titled “Buena’s lottery line”

After a right password that doesn’t bring a prize, Buena’s scene ends with the lottery attendant’s line. You see “The winning number is [your name]! Does it match the ID No. of any of your Pokémon? Let’s check!”, then Buena walks back. In the US game she says “Tune in to my show again tomorrow!” here. Your point is still saved. Cosmetic. Tested in an emulator: the scene prints Buena’s “You earned one point!” and then the lottery line.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 29 L5656 (reached from L4574, L4890, L5204, L5396, L5506 when var 0x413A isn’t a prize total) shows bank 0063#32, Felicity’s lottery line; buffer 0 last holds the player’s name (L3859). Vanilla Radio Tower 2F (file 30 L1384) shows msg 32 of its own bank, Buena’s “Tune in to my show again tomorrow!”; the hack moved the script into the 1F file and changed only the prize path to msg 87 (L5675). D-1478.

Bike Shop owner’s lines

Section titled “Bike Shop owner’s lines”

The Bike Shop owner’s lines don’t match what he checks. He thanks you for beating the bikers and says “You already have a Bicycle”, but only checks whether you already have the Pass. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 887 script 1: L18 HasItem 480 (Pass) is the only check; msgs 0 and 1 then give item 480.

Department Store Double Battle with one Pokémon

Section titled “Department Store Double Battle with one Pokémon”

Fixed in rc8: speaking up for the blind man on Department Store 6F with fewer than two Pokémon no longer freezes the game; the Double Battle becomes a Single Battle. On rc7 and earlier it froze the game. The shoppers’ Double Battle starts without checking your party size. With one Pokémon, a broken second Pokémon (“nnnnnnr”, Lv. 2) stands next to yours, and the game hangs as soon as you choose FIGHT. On those versions, have at least two Pokémon before you answer Yes. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build); with a full party the same battle plays normally.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 901 script 11, L3087 TrainerBattle 777, 778, 0, 0 (no GetPartyCount before it). Observed (emu_harness.py guide0813 --case white_flute): party reduced to one as the game leaves it after a deposit (count 1, the other slots cleared); both shoppers’ teams are built, the battle menu shows, touching FIGHT leaves a blank bottom screen and the CPU looping at 0x01FF8030; the control with six Pokémon finishes the turn (D-1559).

Fortune-teller’s price

Section titled “Fortune-teller’s price”

The fortune-teller’s ideal-Pokémon reading checks for $300 but charges $10,000. With $300–$9,999 you still get the item, and your money drops to $0. Fixed in rc8: she now turns you down below $10,000. On rc7 and earlier, have $10,000 before asking. Tested in an emulator: $5,000 → $0 with the item; $20,000 → $10,000. If you ask for a love reading without $10,000, she turns you down and the touch menu on the bottom screen stays hidden; you can still walk and press X for the menu. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 895 L228 HasEnoughMoneyImmediate 300; SubMoneyImmediate 10000 at L313/L537/L589. Love reading: L323 → L484 without TouchscreenMenuShow (D-1546).

Green’s and Red’s Route 30 dates

Section titled “Green’s and Red’s Route 30 dates”

Confessing to anyone closes Green’s and Red’s Route 30 dates. This is the opposite of every other partner’s dates, which need a confession. On top of that, the male-player branch checks the wrong thing, so Green’s own lock is never checked: a male player who never confessed gets Green’s dates whatever he picked in the Dream World.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 228 L761: CheckFlag 1645 → GoToIf [1] sends you to the plain “How’ve you been?” talk when you have confessed, the opposite of every other date script (739 L2301, 859 L719, 851 L930, 758 L3645, 216 L2786). For male players L789 checks flag 106 (got a starter, always set) where the female branch checks Red’s lock 2154, so Green’s lock 2141 is never checked.

Female players and Red’s confession

Section titled “Female players and Red’s confession”

A female player can never confess to Red after the Dream World. Red’s confession checks Green’s lock instead of Red’s, and every Dream World choice a female player can make locks Green, including choosing Red.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 109 script 21 (Victory Road 2F object 15) L2369 checks only flag 2141 for both genders; nothing in file 109 checks Red’s lock 2154. Every female choice sets 2141 (file 898 L2392–L2632, including “Red” at L2443–L2475, the only block that leaves 2154 clear).

Love readings and confessions

Section titled “Love readings and confessions”

Any finished love reading counts for the confessions, even “Just friends is better” or wrong answers. This only matters for partners reopened after the Dream World.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 895 L430/L989/L1497 set flag 1618 for every finished reading; the confessions (files 109, 110, 758, 923) check only 1618, not the “near future” flag 1619 (set only at L993; read by file 895 L601 and the MooMoo Farm, file 251 L861).

Battle Tower partner room (pointer)

Section titled “Battle Tower partner room (pointer)”

The Battle Tower partner-room scenes that would reopen Yellow and Misty can’t be reached. See Battle Frontier, Cianwood City and Mahogany Town for the full entry.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 75 L1521, L1658; file 249 L4250–L4254; details in the Battle Frontier, Cianwood City and Mahogany Town entry.

Dream World battles before the old man

Section titled “Dream World battles before the old man”

If you fight Will or Karen in the Dream World before talking to the old man, you lose the partner choice. He disappears after either battle, and leaving through the broken statue then locks every partner. Talk to the old man first. Probably intended, but easy to miss.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 898: both battle endings (L1261 Will, L1757 Karen) go to L2307, which sets flag 2300 (the old man’s hide flag; he is object 0, script 2). The statue (object 3, script 6, with the Lunar Wing → L1763) jumps to L2337 and locks 2141–2145 and 2153–2157 unless the old man’s choice set 2302 (L1808).

Rocky Helmet and the bug hunt

Section titled “Rocky Helmet and the bug hunt”

Taking the Rocky Helmet in Ilex Forest before the bug hunt is over spoils the hunt. The Helmet man is tied to the hunt’s Ariados. If you take the Helmet first, the Ariados rock does nothing and the hunt counts the Ariados without crediting you. The hunt can still be finished, but you can deal with at most two bugs yourself, so you miss the top reward. If you find the Ariados first, he won’t give the Helmet until the hunt ends. A Helmet taken mid-hunt means you can get a second one later. Finish the bug hunt first. The Helmet man’s part was tested in an emulator (his gift sets the Ariados record); the hunt itself wasn’t replayed.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 92 script 20 checks and sets flag 2104 (@985/@1056, gives item 324), the Ariados “done” flag: the Honey spot ignores you once it’s set (L1927 → L4344) without adding to your count, but every end-of-hunt check (L4490, L4608, L9322, L9722) only needs 2104, and Skorupi’s rock also resolves a still-hidden Ariados (L9976–L10004), so the hunt ends with at most two bugs credited (no top reward, PP Max + Heart Scale). 2104 is cleared at the hunt end (L5709) (D-1412).

Purugly quest and the bug hunt

Section titled “Purugly quest and the bug hunt”

Leaving Ilex Forest mid-hunt can scramble the Goldenrod Purugly quest. The Team Rocket act may start as soon as you enter the girl’s house, skip the clinic choice or count as “Purugly kept”, and finishing the bug hunt later wipes your Purugly progress. Finish the bug hunt first. Not confirmed in game.

Technical source (script files and flags)

var 0x409D is both the Ariados state (file 92, values 1–5) and the Purugly quest state (file 897, values 2–6); the hunt end resets it to 1 (file 92 L5737) (D-1413).

Friday’s Daily Drawing prize

Section titled “Friday’s Daily Drawing prize”

Friday’s Daily Drawing prize isn’t the one announced. The attendant announces a Cherish Ball, but the 1st prize is an Old Gateau. The Chinese says Cherish Ball too.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 901 L1946 (1st prize) → weekday chain L2792 → L4034 gives item 54 (Old Gateau) on Fridays; bank 589#42 (D-1414).

Game Corner 500-coin option

Section titled “Game Corner 500-coin option”

At the raised Game Corner price, “500 coins for $50000” gives only 50 coins. Fixed in rc8: the option gives 500 coins. On rc7 and earlier, choose “50 coins for $5000” instead, as often as you need. Tested: $60,000 → $10,000 for 50 coins; the $5,000 option gives the same 50 coins.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 903 L6374–L6455 (menu 94/95) → L7575: HasEnoughMoneyImmediate 50000, SubMoneyImmediate 50000, GiveCoins 50 (L7596–L7623) (D-1415).

Cynthia’s Rest in my room

Section titled “Cynthia’s Rest in my room”

Cynthia’s “Rest in my room” asks for a Snow Mail but would take a Bubble Mail. At home in Pallet Town, Cynthia only adds “Rest in my room” to her menu if you carry a Snow Mail, but choosing it tries to take a Bubble Mail instead. In practice the option never appears: it needs the move-in step, which no player can finish, and neither Mail can be obtained anywhere in the game (see Pallet Town to Pewter City, which also lists the other Mail mismatches). In the same menu, “I’m busy” shows Misty’s goodbye line instead of Cynthia’s. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 842 script 15 (1F, Cynthia object 8, hide flag 422): L1064 needs var 0x40B5 ≥ 7 → L7063 HasItem 144 (Snow Mail) → menu 537#197 “Rest in my room” → L7154 → L8417 TakeItem 139 (Bubble Mail; result not checked) → warp to 2F, 0x40B5 = 8 (L8473). “I’m busy” (L7161) shows 537#212 (Misty) instead of #218. 0x40B5 = 7 is only set in file 843 (2F), whose PC script (script 1, L41 → L363) ends at L4292 for every player with a starter (flag 106) while the var is 6, the value Mom’s visit leaves (file 736 script 4). Items 139/144 have no source (site/src/data/items.json; D-1398).

Route 34 photographer

Section titled “Route 34 photographer”

The photographer never appears on Route 34. His visit there checks for a Badge that doesn’t exist, so he is always hidden and you can’t get his photo on that route. Cosmetic. Tested in an emulator (Wednesday and Thursday, all 16 Badges). Read from the script only: one Route 30 line never shows for the same reason.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1334; file 237 @4691 CheckBadge 18 (always false) → L6244 sets the photographer’s hide flag 638; Route 30: file 227 @789 CheckBadge 16.

Goldenrod City crash on entry

Section titled “Goldenrod City crash on entry”

Entering Goldenrod City can crash the game if both the townsfolk and the Team Rocket takeover crowd are switched on. The city then needs more character graphics than the game has room for. Normally the story swaps one group for the other, but a few scenes (the first Hall of Fame entry, the Radio Tower deck and 1F) switch only one, and it isn’t known yet which real story order leaves both on. Keep a save from before you enter Goldenrod. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build) with both groups switched on.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1547; hide flags 439 (townsfolk) and 441 (takeover crowd): 33 overworld graphics for 32 slots. Single-flag changes: file 822 @2482, file 34 @1195, file 29 @3194/@3407.

Goldenrod Flower Shop sign

Section titled “Goldenrod Flower Shop sign”

The sign beside the Goldenrod Flower Shop calls it a Poké Mart. The shop inside is still the Flower Shop (Berry Pots and other goods). The Chinese sign says the same; the English keeps it. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1475. File 882 script 30 (bg event at ≈373,333, TrainerTips 46, bank 0573#46 友好商店); the Flower Shop door is at ≈371,332. Observed in an emulator (emu_harness.py vqueue --case sign): the sign reads 0573#46 and stands at the Flower Shop’s awning.

Radio Tower, Ecruteak City and Olivine City

Section titled “Radio Tower, Ecruteak City and Olivine City”

Quests on this page

Pokéathlon Dome and the Route 36 tree (not a bug)

Section titled “Pokéathlon Dome and the Route 36 tree (not a bug)”

Visiting the Pokéathlon Dome doesn’t affect the Route 36 tree. An earlier version of this page warned that a first visit to the Dome between the Plain Badge and the odd-tree scene would make Crystal vanish from the tree and block the road to Ecruteak City. The Dome’s first-visit cutscene from the original game never plays in this hack, so nothing in the Dome touches Crystal. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build): walking in from the Dome’s entrance after the Plain Badge played no scene, and Crystal’s group stayed switched on.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 551 hides Crystal, Gold, Bayleef and Quilava at the tree (file 243 objects 3, 11–13; set at new game, file 149 L178; cleared by the Plain Badge, file 883 L621; set by the tree scene, file 243 L1179). The vanilla Dome 1F first-visit scene (file 123 script 1 → L981/L1046, which clears and re-sets 551) was started by a coord trigger at ≈23,10; the hack’s Dome events (events 252, zone 281) have no coord triggers, and its map-script header (file 384) only runs script 24 on load (SetFlag 2515). The US ROM has the trigger. Emulator: flags 551/463 clear, var 0x40E2 = 0, walked from the entrance (≈23,22) to ≈23,10: only script 24 ran, no message, 551 still clear (work/build/harness/guide-review-20261006/known-issues/dome_cn|en/).

Puppy-love quest counter

Section titled “Puppy-love quest counter”

The puppy-love quest shares a progress counter with the Goldenrod Gym story, probably harmlessly. The Gym story is always over before the quest can start.

Technical source (script files and flags)

var 0x408D: the quest uses values 5–9 (files 245 L778/L1076 and 25 L2510/L4192/L5289), the Gym chain 1–4 (files 32 L2650, 883 L673/L1012/L1846, 888, 890). The mother stands in the Route 36 National Park gatehouse (file 245, zone 104), which you can only reach after the Plain Badge (sets the var to 4) opens Routes 35 and 36.

Route 35 Pidgey letter

Section titled “Route 35 Pidgey letter”

Reading the Route 35 Pidgey’s letter doesn’t let Viridian City’s Nurse Joy give her gift again. The two share a switch, but harmlessly: that Nurse Joy is gone by then and nothing brings her back.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1061 is cleared by file 240 L4099 (Pidgey), checked by file 925 L648 (the writer) and file 742 L238–L279 (Viridian Pokémon Center Nurse Joy, object 8, 2 Paralyze Heals); file 883 L613 (Plain Badge) sets it. Her object is hidden by flag 1244 (set at file 738 L1655 and file 212 L1935, never cleared). The letter can’t be read before the Plain Badge.

Prof. Birch and the unmasked Sudowoodo

Section titled “Prof. Birch and the unmasked Sudowoodo”

The unmasked Sudowoodo stands on Route 36 before the odd-tree scene, and Birch’s memory of the rescue follows the Sudowoodo instead. Every player finds the Sudowoodo near the National Park gatehouse as soon as they reach that part of Route 36, before the odd-tree scene, whether or not they saved Prof. Birch on Route 12. After the Plain Badge, Birch in the Goldenrod friendship checker’s house no longer “remembers” being rescued, even if you did save him. Finishing the Route 36 Sudowoodo story makes him “remember” it again, even if you never saved him. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 111 is the unmasked Sudowoodo’s hide flag (file 243 object 20) and “saved Prof. Birch” (set at file 199 L2249; read at file 888 L272). The Plain Badge clears it (file 883 L617), and the end of the Route 36 Sudowoodo story sets it again (file 243 L3814); no other script touches it. The Sudowoodo (≈392,235) stands west of the odd tree (object 4, ≈415,246), on the part of Route 36 you reach from the National Park gatehouse, which opens only after the Plain Badge, so 111 is already clear for everyone when you get there. Earlier text said only players who hadn’t saved Birch see it early.

Will and Karen’s National Park challenge

Section titled “Will and Karen’s National Park challenge”

Will and Karen may skip their National Park challenge if you did certain other scenes first. Gold’s Game Corner scene and the uncut-stone gamble in an Islander’s House count as beating them, and he then just says “Beating us makes you feel pretty good about yourself, huh?”. It also works the other way: beating Will and Karen skips Gold’s Game Corner scene. The Plain Badge and Silver’s Route 37 scene reset all this, so only scenes in between count. Cosmetic. Not confirmed in game.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1604 is set by file 25 L2668 (Will and Karen beaten), file 903 L3184 (Gold’s Game Corner scene, which is itself skipped when 1604 is set, L2003) and file 737 L3404 (Islander’s House, zone 507); read at file 25 L478/L796 (→ L2585, msg 123), file 737 L442 and file 58 L2051 (only a check, not a set). Cleared by the Plain Badge (file 883 L649) and the Route 37 scene (file 246 L331).

Arthur’s ribbon message

Section titled “Arthur’s ribbon message”

Fixed in rc8: Arthur’s ribbon gift on Route 36 (and those of the other six weekday siblings) now ends normally. On rc7 and earlier it left its message on screen. This happened with all seven weekday siblings. Arthur gives his ribbon on Thursdays once you’ve met all seven. Your lead Pokémon gets the ribbon, but the scene stops right after the “put on the ribbon” message, which stays on screen. The game doesn’t freeze: you can still walk, and pressing X opens the menu (which clears the message) and lets you save. Earlier versions of this page called it a freeze; tested in an emulator, it isn’t one.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 243 script 2 (weekday 4, var 0x4094 = 7) → L1617 → L2301–L2334: GiveRibbon 62, PlayFanfare [20], then opcode 2009 at @2334, which the interpreter (RunScriptContext 0x0203F474) rejects as ≥ 843 commands and stops the script (D-1331; work/notes/softlock_audit.md). Observed for all seven siblings on both ROMs (emu_harness.py guide0813 --case ribbon): the ribbon byte of the lead changes, the script dies at the bad opcode, the window stays open, the player walks, X opens the menu and SAVE asks to save; the normal daily gift (var 0x4094 = 6) ends cleanly. The rest of the vanilla tail (WaitFanfare, the day’s SetFlag, CloseMsg, ReleaseAll) never runs (D-1558).

Morty’s post-game challenge size

Section titled “Morty’s post-game challenge size”

Morty’s post-game challenge asks for three Pokémon but requires six. If you come back after the final Hall of Fame without the Fog Badge, Morty asks for a 3-on-3, then says “Please use at least six Pokémon”. The battle is still a 6-on-6 Double Battle. Bring six Pokémon.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 918 L500 → L1055: 605#79 (3-on-3), then the main-story check prints 605#20. Trainer 31 ×2.

Morty’s Lv. 1 Pokémon

Section titled “Morty’s Lv. 1 Pokémon”

Morty’s Gym team has three Lv. 1 Pokémon. His team data has Gengar, Dusclops and Mismagius at Lv. 80, plus Mimikyu, Dhelmise and Sinistcha at Lv. 1, six Pokémon in all. The battle does use this team: tested in an emulator, his side has Gengar, Dusclops and Mismagius at Lv. 80 and Mimikyu, Dhelmise and Sinistcha at Lv. 1, so half of his side faints almost at once.

Technical source (script files and flags)

trainer 31 (Morty) party data, party count 6 (site/src/data/trainers.json, exported from the ROM); used by the Gym battle TrainerBattle 31, 31 in file 918 (D-1440).

Morty’s Ghost rule

Section titled “Morty’s Ghost rule”

Morty’s “weak to Ghost” rule refuses some Pokémon it shouldn’t and lets others in. It refuses Exeggutor and Rotom, which are Psychic or Ghost in this hack. It lets in Stunfisk, Yungoos and Gumshoos, which aren’t. (Golduck and Noctowl are Psychic in this hack, so they’re correct.)

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 918 L1140–L13661 is a fixed list of 660 banned species, not a type check (all jump to L14645). Refused: Exeggutor (103), Rotom (479), also Meloetta (648, only from the July 14 calendar encounter). The list is incomplete past #493.

Lantern riddle 2 (not a bug)

Section titled “Lantern riddle 2 (not a bug)”

Lantern riddle 2’s answer is correct. This isn’t a bug. The clue “Round head, round hands, a body round too, round eyes, and antennae poking through” fits Ledyba, No. 165, so the answer is 5.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 916 L6188 (bank 603#126); menu index 4 (“5”) is the only option that doesn’t jump to the failure chain (L7067). Ledyba is #165. Earlier versions of this page listed it as unconfirmed.

Dozen Moomoo Milk

Section titled “Dozen Moomoo Milk”

The MooMoo Farm farmer promises a dozen Moomoo Milk but gives one. The Chinese says “a dozen” too. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

bank 391#15 (一打哞哞牛奶); file 251 L1370 shows msg 15, then L1375–L1387 gives item 33 (Moomoo Milk) ×1 via CallStd 2033, flag 2301.

Jasmine’s Defense rule

Section titled “Jasmine’s Defense rule”

Jasmine’s Defense rule refuses Aegislash and lets several weak Pokémon in. Her rule is three Pokémon with a base Defense of 130 or higher. Aegislash is refused although Doublade is allowed; Stunfisk, Yungoos and Gumshoos get in. Same gap as Morty’s list.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 909 L839–L14918 is a list of 742 banned species (→ L15137), correct for #1–#493 but patchy after: Aegislash (#681, base Def 140) refused; Stunfisk, Yungoos and Gumshoos (Def 30–84) pass among Pokémon you can get. Rule text 607#30.

Jasmine’s cut-off TM line

Section titled “Jasmine’s cut-off TM line”

Jasmine’s “And this TM, too…” is cut off and no TM is given at the Gym. TM91 Flash Cannon comes later, at the Lighthouse, after you bring the Secret Potion. Probably intended (the Lighthouse emergency interrupts her), but it looks lost.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 909 L14988 (msg 3), then L15154 (“Lady Jasmine! Trouble!!!”); the TM (item 418) is given at file 66 L3606.

Unused Olivine port Machine Part

Section titled “Unused Olivine port Machine Part”

An unused Machine Part scene at the Olivine port can’t be reached. The Café’s Machine Part is the working one. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 152 script 6 gives a Machine Part (item 481), sets flag 458 and hides object 3, but zone 240 has only objects 0–2 and nothing runs it. The Café copy is file 915 L1968–L1986.

Café Machoke record reset

Section titled “Café Machoke record reset”

Two story scenes reset whether you fed the Café Machoke, harmlessly. Both happen before you can reach the Café.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 458 is cleared by file 246 L303 (Route 37 scene) and file 23 L3547 (Burned Tower scene), and set by file 915 L1986 (Café Machine Part) and file 152 L222 (unused copy).

Route 38 gatehouse test character

Section titled “Route 38 gatehouse test character”

A leftover test character could break the Alto Mare Bikers’ story if it ever appeared. It sits hidden in the Route 38 gatehouse to Ecruteak City and offers to “Send them to Alto Mare” or “Keep them in Kanto”. It should stay hidden. Harmless in normal play.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 248 script 4 (Route 38 Ecruteak gatehouse object 2, hide flag 1366) rewrites flags 2013–2023, 1109, 1663, 1673, 1580 and var 0x4097 (L145–L208, menu 248 msgs 3–5; see Saffron City to Cinnabar Island and Sevii Islands and Indigo Plateau).

Will and Karen, fake grunt and Chimchar record

Section titled “Will and Karen, fake grunt and Chimchar record”

Declining Will and Karen, beating the Route 39 fake grunt and getting Prof. Rowan’s Chimchar are all stored as one thing. In normal play this does nothing: Rowan is gone after the Plain Badge, and Route 39 can only be reached after Silver’s Route 37 scene, which removes Will and Karen. Not confirmed in game.

Technical source (script files and flags)

flag 1620 is set by file 25 L2654/L2763/L5333 (No to Will and Karen; scripts 7/8 then jump to the “need evidence” line), file 249 L776/L2122 (fake grunt) and file 890 L2175 (Chimchar; script 10 checks it at L343), and cleared by the Plain Badge (file 883 L653) and the Route 37 scene (file 246 L327) (D-1431).

Olivine Leppa Berry menu

Section titled “Olivine Leppa Berry menu”

The Olivine salesman’s Leppa Berry menu never appears. He always sells Weakness Policies.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 907 L2237 jumps to the Leppa Berry branch (L3165) only while flag 106 (got a starter) is clear; 106 is set when you get your starter (file 738 L3946/L4080, file 840 L238) and never cleared (D-1418).

Lantern riddle failure order

Section titled “Lantern riddle failure order”

A wrong answer at the 4th or 5th lantern riddle makes Grandpa ask riddles 2–5 again before telling you that you failed. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 916 L6631–L6715 and L6809–L6893 jump to L6935, the failure chain’s riddle 2, instead of its riddle 5 (L7331) or the failure line (L7463) (D-1419).

Route 36 gatehouse talk

Section titled “Route 36 gatehouse talk”

The people in the Route 36 gatehouse always say the odd tree still blocks the road, even after it’s gone. Cosmetic. Tested in an emulator. Read from the script only: the Elite Four door’s “already open” line and one Route 4 line never show for the same reason.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1336; file 862 checks flag 450 (0x1C2), which the hack never sets (the tree is hidden by flag 463); files 817 @1623 and 178 @121.

Battle Frontier, Cianwood City and Mahogany Town

Section titled “Battle Frontier, Cianwood City and Mahogany Town”

Quests on this page

Whirl Islands Challenge payout

Section titled “Whirl Islands Challenge payout”

The Whirl Islands Challenge pays out after only one island, again and again. After visiting just the northwest island you can claim a prize, accept the challenge again and report straight back for another prize. Tested in an emulator: report, accept again, report again: two prizes.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 872 L2417–L2450 tests flag 2097 four times instead of 2097/2098/2099/2100, then clears 2094 and offers the challenge again.

Northeast island quiz answer

Section titled “Northeast island quiz answer”

The northeast island’s quiz accepts Azalea Town, not Ecruteak City, as the other place tied to Lugia. Possibly intended (the Tidal Bell under Slowpoke Well).

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 960 L1397–L1491 (and the copy at L2878): bank 0735#53–57; options 1–3 jump to the failure line L2952, so only option 0 (Azalea Town) passes.

Lugia: one chance

Section titled “Lugia: one chance”

Lugia is gone for good once you catch it, knock it out or run away. Only a loss lets you try again. Save before the battle.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 104 L3915 WildBattle 249; CheckBattleWon is false only on a loss or draw (→ L4216 WhiteOut). Any other result sets flag 579 (Lugia’s hide flag), hides the sisters’ summoning circle and sets 265 (L3939–L3967); the sisters then leave (flag 581, L4154). The only clear of 579 is inside the summoning cutscene (L3616), and Satsuki’s dance-theater offer (file 924 L4299) is closed by 265.

Mt. Mortar statue and the Lustrous Orb

Section titled “Mt. Mortar statue and the Lustrous Orb”

The Mt. Mortar statue says it resonated with your Lustrous Orb without checking that you have one. It opens after the final Hall of Fame, not the first, and takes you to Palkia’s space.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 98 script 3 L137–L179: needs flag 2261 only, no HasItem; then Warp 521.

Dark Cave copy of the Whirl Islands Challenge

Section titled “Dark Cave copy of the Whirl Islands Challenge”

The unreachable Dark Cave copy also holds a copy of the Whirl Islands Challenge. Nothing leads into that cave. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 964 (zone 176, Dark Cave Route 31 side) checks the same flags 2094–2100 (L104–L385, L2650/L2661). No map warp and no script Warp leads into zone 176.

Yellow and Misty in the Battle Tower partner room

Section titled “Yellow and Misty in the Battle Tower partner room”

Yellow and Misty never appear in the Battle Tower partner room. So the scenes that would reopen their romance can’t be reached. They are removed when Gold’s scene on Route 39 plays, which you always see before the Battle Frontier opens; Yellow also leaves at your first Trainer House visit.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 75 objects 2 (Yellow, flag 603) and 5 (Misty, flag 336). 603 is set by file 249 L4250 (Route 39 Gold scene) and file 746 L80 (first Trainer House visit); 336 by file 249 L4254; nothing clears either. The scenes would clear the romance locks 2143/2142 (file 75 L1521, L1658).

Jirachi stone without Star Pieces

Section titled “Jirachi stone without Star Pieces”

The Jirachi stone can be “repaired” without any Star Pieces. Choose Yes repeatedly to repair the stone. Each repair takes a Star Piece if you have one, but still counts if you have none. In your favour. Tested in an emulator: with no Star Pieces the stone still wakes after seven repairs; with ten, seven are used.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 81 script 10 → L1588 (menu) → L1801–L1861: TakeItem 91 (Star Piece) runs with no HasItem check and its result is ignored; AddVar 0x408C, 1 always follows.

Jirachi stone and the story counter

Section titled “Jirachi stone and the story counter”

The Jirachi stone counts its repairs on a story counter, and its scene overwrites that story’s progress. If you’ve finished the legendary story that ends with Crystal taking Suicune to the orphanage in Cherrygrove City, the stone needs exactly seven repairs. If you haven’t, it needs more, and when the stone turns into Jirachi the scene overwrites that story’s progress, so its remaining scenes may never play. Finish that story before you start repairing the stone. Tested in an emulator with the story finished: the seventh repair wakes Jirachi.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 81 L1849 AddVar 0x408C, 1, L1855 Jirachi appears at ≥ 24 (→ L1985). 0x408C is the legendary-investigation story var (values 0–17: files 739, 738, 212, 178, 853, 923, 900, 815, 899, 31, 129, 758, 195, 851); its highest value is 17, set in Cherrygrove when Crystal takes Suicune to the orphanage (file 847 L5336). Repairs needed: 24 − current value (7 at 17). The Jirachi scene sets 0x408C = 23 before the Team Rocket battle (L2637, trainers 629/630) and 25 after it (L2868); story checks still waiting for 3, 12 or 15 (files 178, 758, 129, 31, 133, 195) can then never pass. The stone needs flag 2261 (final Hall of Fame).

Battle Frontier Cut man without HM01

Section titled “Battle Frontier Cut man without HM01”

Without HM01, the Battle Frontier Cut man starts the photographer’s routine instead. Almost every player has HM01 by then. Tested in an emulator: without HM01 talking to him takes a photo; with it he gives his Cut line.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 81 script 6 L1043–L1057: without item 420 (HM01) it jumps to L1491, inside the Tuesday/Saturday photographer’s photo routine (weekday check at L1377).

Doubles memory battle announcement

Section titled “Doubles memory battle announcement”

The Doubles memory battle announces a Single Battle. Cosmetic.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 78 L1033 shows msg 32 (“the Single Battle in your memories”) before TrainerBattle x, x (Double); msg 33 (“Double Battle”) is unused.

Secret Potion handed out again

Section titled “Secret Potion handed out again”

During the Amphy crisis, Gold and Crystal hand you another Secret Potion every time you talk to them without one. The scene in the Cianwood Pharmacy replays and the pharmacist gives you a new one, so you can end up with several. In your favour. Curing Amphy takes one; Gold and Crystal then leave the pharmacy, and the pharmacist’s herbal-medicine counter (closed while they’re there) opens again. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build): after the cure the counter sells again. The repeat hand-over is read from the script.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 878: scripts 2/3 (Gold, Crystal) only test HasItem 464 (L187/L351) before replaying the scene and giving item 464 at L1170, with no flag. The counter (script 1) opens only while flag 471 is set; Gold, Crystal and their Pokémon (objects 1–4) use 471 as their hide flag. 471 is set by the Route 39 Gold scene (file 249 L4118) and cleared when the crisis starts (file 66 L2507); the cure (file 66 script 16) runs HidePerson 0 on Jasmine, whose hide flag is 471, so it sets 471 again. Emulator: work/build/harness/guide-review-20261006/ch11/ (cure_{cn,en}: 471 clear → set, one Secret Potion taken; after_{cn,en}: counter menu shown). Corrected: this entry used to say the counter never reopens and Gold and Crystal stay for good.

Lure Ball kept

Section titled “Lure Ball kept”

The Lure Ball girl “receives” your Lure Ball but you keep it. In your favour.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 872 L3369–L3396 thanks you and gives her reward, with no TakeItem (the file’s only TakeItem is the Close Combat tutor’s at L5159).

Chuck’s Fighting rule

Section titled “Chuck’s Fighting rule”

Chuck’s Fighting-only rule refuses Staraptor and lets a few non-Fighting Pokémon in. Staraptor is Fighting/Flying in this hack, yet it’s refused. Stunfisk, Braviary, Yungoos and Gumshoos get in.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 874 L1213–L14950 is a list of 724 banned species (→ L15233) covering every non-Fighting Pokémon through Gen 4 but missing many later ones; it bans species 398 (D-1409). Most missing later species (Patrat, Woobat, Klink and others) can’t be obtained in this hack; the obtainable ones that pass are 618, 628, 734, 735.

Green and Silver by the Persian statue (not a bug)

Section titled “Green and Silver by the Persian statue (not a bug)”

Green, Silver and their Pokémon by the Persian statue leave for good after their scene. This isn’t a bug. An earlier version of this page said they might come back on every visit, but the scene’s ending removes them permanently.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 881 objects 10–13 (zone 385) use hide flag 2235, which no SetFlag touches, but script 13 ends with HidePerson 10–13 (L1317–L1329), and HidePerson sets the object’s hide flag permanently (engine note in work/notes/guide_errata.md).

Petrel’s Chatot: one chance

Section titled “Petrel’s Chatot: one chance”

Petrel’s Chatot can be caught only once, straight after the radio-room scene, and only before you leave Team Rocket HQ B2F. When the scene ends, everyone leaves except the Chatot. Talk to it: “Petrel’s Chatot. Nobody wants it anymore. Catch it?” → Yes starts a wild battle with a Chatot (Lv. 10). Catching it, knocking it out, running away or losing all remove it for good, and so does leaving the floor without talking to it. Answering No is safe while you stay on the floor. Possibly intended. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build): after the scene the Chatot offers the battle.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 90 script 6 (L888 CheckFlag 500 → L2874, msg 111#99; WildBattle 441 at L3650). The Chatot is B2F object 31 with hide flag 500. The radio-room ending (script 5) runs HidePerson on objects 29, 30, 32–41 (L2582–L2813), which share hide flag 500, so 500 is set while the Chatot is still on screen; any later load of the floor hides it. After the battle L3674 sets 500 and hides it; a loss goes to WhiteOut (L3629), with 500 already set. Emulator: work/build/harness/guide-review-20261006/ch11/chatot_{cn,en}. Corrected: this entry used to say the Chatot can never be caught.

Unused Mahogany Silver Wing gift

Section titled “Unused Mahogany Silver Wing gift”

An unused Silver Wing gift in Mahogany Town can’t be reached. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 933 script 7 gives a Silver Wing (item 482), sets flag 2336 and hides object 25, but zone 133 (Mahogany East House, Archer’s room) has only objects 0–24 and nothing runs script 7. Flag 2336 is also set at the Bell Tower roof (file 21 L5896).

Pryce’s weather rule

Section titled “Pryce’s weather rule”

Pryce’s weather rule bans by Pokémon, not by Ability. His rule is “no Pokémon whose Abilities change the weather”. It bans Probopass (whose Abilities here are Sturdy, Magnet Pull and Power Spot) and bans Charizard, Wailord and the others even without a weather Ability. Charizard’s normal Abilities here (Solar Power, Blaze, Tough Claws) include no weather Ability; only a special form has Drought. Vanilluxe (Snow Warning) isn’t banned, but it can’t be obtained.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 928 L269–L782: 28 species checks (→ L1083, msg 14). Banned without a weather Ability: Charizard (6), Probopass (476).

Burned Tower beasts scene and the expedition leader

Section titled “Burned Tower beasts scene and the expedition leader”

The Entei, Raikou and Suicune scene in the Burned Tower can be lost, and the three beasts with it. After Lance visits your house, see the Burned Tower release scene before you talk to the Mt. Mortar expedition leader again. In that window he greets you as if you’d never met. If you say Yes to “Are you a really strong Trainer?” and beat him, his “Please join my expedition” resets the expedition. The release scene then never plays, so Entei (Ruins of Alph), Suicune (Route 25) and Raikou (Route 47) never appear. Answer No to avoid the battle. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build): after the win the Burned Tower basement stays quiet; after No the scene plays.

Technical source (script files and flags)

var 0x409F: Lance’s visit (file 842 @2223) sets 11; the Burned Tower scene (file 23 script 14, coord trigger 12–18,18–20 on 0x409F = 11) sets 12 (L6953) and clears the beasts’ hide flags 2318/2319/2320 (L6941–L6949; set at new game by file 842 @484–@492; objects: Ruins of Alph zone 326 obj 22, Route 25 obj 34, Route 47 obj 33). The leader (file 962 script 2, object 4, hide flag 461 never set) runs his first-meeting path for any value other than 3, 5 or 10; winning TrainerBattle 897 (Psychic Hewitt, L2706) leads to the join, which ends at L3482 SetVar 0x409F, 3 (D-1406). Emulator: var 0x409F = 11, leader → Yes, win → var 3, no scene on the trigger; → No → var 11, scene plays (msg 136) (work/build/harness/guide-review-20261006/known-issues/F/).

Satsuki’s Lugia option

Section titled “Satsuki’s Lugia option”

Satsuki’s “Lugia” option can lead to the Ho-Oh path and a second Ho-Oh. If you’ve caught Ho-Oh but not Lugia, her first menu is “I want to see Lugia / Never mind”, and choosing Lugia gives the Ho-Oh line (“the Clear Bell is still in Morty’s hands”). Talk to her again and pick Lugia from the full menu instead. The wrong option also re-opens Morty’s Clear Bell battle and the Bell Tower, so a second Ho-Oh can be caught, again and again while Lugia is uncaught. The menu part was tested in an emulator: “I want to see Lugia” gives the Clear Bell line and resets the story step Morty checks; the second Ho-Oh wasn’t played through.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 924 L4299 (var 0x40A9 ≥ 11) → short menu at L4915; choice 0 jumps to L4968 (609#87) and sets var 0x40A9 = 7; Morty (file 918) checks 7; Ho-Oh GiveMon 250, 95 at file 21 @6116 (D-1407).

Close Combat tutor’s fee

Section titled “Close Combat tutor’s fee”

The Close Combat tutor is free if your Pokémon has to forget a move. He still says he’ll take the 3 Rare Candies. In your favour. Tested in an emulator: with a free move slot he took 3 Rare Candies; when a move was replaced he took none.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 872 checks them at @3410 but takes them only on the free-slot path (@5159); the forget-a-move path ends at L5393 with the same line and no TakeItem (D-1408).

Lex’s Doubles

Section titled “Lex’s Doubles”

Lex’s “Doubles” on Route 41 is a Single Battle. Both options give the same Single Battle; Doubles only adds a party-size check. Tested in an emulator: “Doubles” sends out one Pokémon.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 960 script 2: menu L583–L604; both paths start TrainerBattle 823, 0 (Swimmer Lex, L2332/L2392); Doubles adds GetPartyCount (L2368) (D-1410).

Boot Camp Ruins password lines

Section titled “Boot Camp Ruins password lines”

In the Boot Camp Ruins, female players see one of Silver’s lines in the wrong place, and the digits read out are wrong. When Green tries the number from the crumpled paper, she reads out 0-7-3-2-2, which matches neither the paper (325003225300469) nor the real password 14246. Female players see Silver’s “This crumpled paper says…” line there instead. Use 14246.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 881 @3792 GenderMsgBox 90 91: female players see 572#91 out of place; 572#90 reads out 0-7-3-2-2 (D-1411; the merged speaker label is D-1121).

Lake of Rage, Blackthorn City and beyond

Section titled “Lake of Rage, Blackthorn City and beyond”

Quests on this page

Lake guardian’s quiz answers

Section titled “Lake guardian’s quiz answers”

Two of the lake guardian’s quiz answers look wrong. For the Koffing question, both 0 and 2 fit (10 Mankey, Koffing and Mareep with 26 legs allows 0–3 Koffing), but only 2 is accepted. The Pikachu question accepts 14, although four moves can be learned in 24 orders, and 24 isn’t one of the options (12, 14, 16, 18). The Chinese may carry a hidden rule. Answer 2 and 14. The Pikachu question was tested in an emulator: only 14 goes on; 12, 16, 18 and the B button (which picks the last choice, 18) fail.

Technical source (script files and flags)

bank 0618#8–12 and #28–32; file 935 L1111–L1198 (Q4: D-1439; emu_harness.py hackbugs --case uxie, the value read at L1260).

Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf: one chance

Section titled “Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf: one chance”

Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf are gone for good once you catch them, knock them out or run away. Only a loss lets you try again. Save before each battle.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 934 scripts 29–31 (WildBattle 480/481/482 at L1563/L1636/L1709): CheckBattleWon is false only on a loss or draw (command 220 → 0x0205172C), so a catch, knockout or flee hides the guardian and sets its hide flag (586/587/588) and “trial” flag (649/651/652). Only the lake trials in file 935 (L795, L1404, L1517) clear 649/651/652, and they advance var 0x4098 so they can’t be repeated.

Anti-Age Spray never used up

Section titled “Anti-Age Spray never used up”

The Anti-Age Spray is never used up. One bottle works forever. Because the old man won’t make another while you have one (“Don’t you already have an Anti-Age Spray? Use that one up first.”), you can never get a second. In your favour.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 101 L5813–L5872 checks item 429 and shows “used the Anti-Age Spray!” but no script takes item 429; 0121#151 says one bottle is one trip; the maker’s HasItem 429 refusal is L5984 → L7021 (msg 152).

Durin Berries for the Anti-Age Spray

Section titled “Durin Berries for the Anti-Age Spray”

The Anti-Age Spray needs 20 Durin Berries, but the game hands out only 16. Swinub has to eat 10 before the old man will make the spray, and the spray itself takes another 10. The Mahogany Pokémon Center gives 15 and Fuchsia City 1. You need the spray to follow Giovanni in the final chapter, so plant Durin Berries to grow more if you’re short. Possibly intended.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 101 L5640 (and L6733, L6873) takes 10 for Swinub, which sets the recipe flag 2249 (L7013, checked at L3961/L4224); L6005/L6110 checks and takes 10 for the spray (plus 5 Rare Candies, Sacred Ash, Fresh Water, $10,000). Gifts: 15 in Mahogany (file 931 L402), 1 in Fuchsia (file 804 L4158). No other script gives item 182.

Blackthorn Gym Trainers

Section titled “Blackthorn Gym Trainers”

The Blackthorn Gym Trainers may never battle you. If you accept the MooMoo Farm farmer’s request to look into his sick Miltank (the request that leads into the Dream World; he makes it once the League HQ’s third order has made the Miltank sick) before you reach Blackthorn City, the four Gym Trainers are skipped and the entrance Trainer just says “Welcome to the Blackthorn Gym, Champion.” Clair can still be challenged. To get the Gym Trainer battles, do Blackthorn City before helping MooMoo Farm. The Gym side was tested in an emulator: after the farmer’s Yes the entrance Trainer only says his line; before it he battles you.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 939 coord triggers (scripts 7, 8, 10) need var 0x40A3 = 1, 2, 3 in turn (script 7 L346 falls back to msg 13 at L14262); trainers 932–935. The var is set to 1 only at the end of the Vermilion construction clash (file 774 L1161), to 5 when you answer Yes to the MooMoo farmer (file 251 L1423, offered while flag 744 is clear, i.e. from the League HQ round-3 order, file 31 @4666; the ClearFlag 744 in Prof. Elm’s Lab, file 840 @3194/@3324, is in lab script 15, which never runs) and to 6 in the Dream World (file 898 L2307). Earlier text named only the Dream World.

Clair’s Dragon rule

Section titled “Clair’s Dragon rule”

Clair’s Dragon-only rule lets many non-Dragon Pokémon in. Many Pokémon from after the Sinnoh Pokédex get in; of those you can get, Snivy, Excadrill, Stunfisk, Amaura, Yungoos and Gumshoos do. Among older Pokémon, Seadra is allowed but Horsea isn’t; Magmar, Porygon, Kecleon, Corphish, Shieldon and Drapion are allowed; Trapinch and Swablu aren’t.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 939 L853–L14096 is a list of 698 banned species (PlayerHasSpecies), not a type check; checked against site/src/data/species.json types. Non-Dragon species up to #493 that pass: Charmander line, Rhydon, Kangaskhan, Seadra, Magmar, Gyarados, Lapras, Porygon line, Aerodactyl, Dunsparce, Corphish, Crawdaunt, Kecleon, Cranidos line, Shieldon line, Drapion. 225 non-Dragon species from #494–#1025 pass.

Santos’s and Wesley’s ribbon message

Section titled “Santos’s and Wesley’s ribbon message”

Fixed in rc8: Santos’s ribbon gift (and Wesley’s at the Lake of Rage) now ends normally. On rc7 and earlier it left its message on screen. It was the same slip as with all seven weekday siblings. They only offer the ribbon once you’ve met all seven, on their own day. Your lead Pokémon gets the ribbon; walk away or press X to clear the message. The game doesn’t freeze (tested in an emulator; see Arthur’s ribbon message).

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 937 script 7: ribbon branch when var 0x4094 = 7 and weekday 6 (L197 → L1611 → L2751); L2774 GiveRibbon 64, PlayFanfare [20] at L2780, opcode 2009 at @2784. Wesley: file 934 L5643 GiveRibbon 61, same bytes (@5653). Both observed with emu_harness.py guide0813 --case ribbon (Wesley on a calm Wednesday, flag 202 and var 0x40B2 = 5). D-1331, D-1558; work/notes/softlock_audit.md.

Ice Path Darumaka and Zen Mode Darmanitan

Section titled “Ice Path Darumaka and Zen Mode Darmanitan”

The Darumaka in Ice Path (mornings and daytime) evolve into a Darmanitan stuck in Zen Mode. The Darumaka themselves look and battle like ordinary Fire-type Darumaka, but at Lv. 35 they become Zen Mode Darmanitan (Fire/Psychic, low Attack, high Sp. Atk), and nothing changes them back outside battle. Tested in an emulator.

Technical source (script files and flags)

encounter record 60 uses Darumaka form 1, which the form table doesn’t define (only form 2 → 1173), so it uses the base form’s data (D-1443); evolving keeps form 1, and Darmanitan form 1 is Zen Mode (personal 1174) (D-1491). Emulator (emu_harness.py hackbugs --case darumaka): a form-1 Darumaka’s summary shows a normal Darumaka, Fire type; after a Rare Candy at Lv. 34 it is Darmanitan form 1 with Zen Mode’s sprite and types and Atk 28 / Sp. Atk 103 at Lv. 35.

Play Rough tutor teaches Flail

Section titled “Play Rough tutor teaches Flail”

Fixed in rc8: the Blackthorn “Play Rough” tutor now teaches Play Rough. On rc7 and earlier he taught Flail. The runaway Dragonair Trainer’s father promises Play Rough, and every line says Play Rough, but your Pokémon learned Flail. Tested in an emulator: a Pokémon with three moves and one with four both learned Flail; the forget-a-move screen already shows Flail as the new move.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 944 script 8: MonHasMove/SetMonMove use move 175 (Flail; Play Rough is 583) at L1925, L3461 and L3619 (D-1305; 626#62). Emulator: emu_harness.py hackbugs --case tutor, both ROMs.

Gallade’s Berry Juice

Section titled “Gallade’s Berry Juice”

The Route 48 Gallade “takes” your Berry Juice but you keep it. In your favour.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 261 L1239 HasItem 43 (Berry Juice); the file has no TakeItem at all.

Dragon’s Den Elder’s quiz record

Section titled “Dragon’s Den Elder’s quiz record”

A wrong answer in the Dragon’s Den Elder’s quiz is noted but nothing uses it. Probably a removed reward (in HeartGold it decided the Dratini gift). Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 112 L1318 sets flag 219 on every “Hah? I didn’t quite catch that…” branch; no script checks 219.

Unused Dragon’s Den scene and item

Section titled “Unused Dragon’s Den scene and item”

An unused Dragon’s Den scene and item ball are left in the files. They can’t be reached. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 111 script 5 (a Silver / Lance / Clair Multi Battle, MultiBattle 736, 733, 734 at L1212, vanilla leftover) moves objects 9–12, but map 253 has only objects 0–9 and nothing runs script 5. Script 11 (a Dragon Scale item ball, item 235, using script 10’s flag 2256) is attached to no object either.

Raikou: one chance

Section titled “Raikou: one chance”

Raikou on Route 47 is gone for good once you catch it, knock it out or run away. Only a loss lets you try again. Save before the battle. It may be intended (same as Lugia).

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 260 L5082 WildBattle 243; CheckBattleWon is false only on a loss or draw, so any other result sets flag 2320 and hides it (L5106/L5110). The only clear of 2320 is the one-time Burned Tower beasts scene (file 23 L6949, var 0x409F 11 → 12).

Dialga and Palkia: one chance

Section titled “Dialga and Palkia: one chance”

Dialga and Palkia are gone for good once you catch them, knock them out or run away. Only a loss lets you try again. Save before each battle.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 130 scripts 10/11: WildBattle 483 at L2706 sets flag 2342 and WildBattle 484 at L2748 sets 2343 on any result but a loss or draw. Lance’s post-League visit (file 842 L2193/L2197) is the only clear after the battle, and it plays once (after the final Hall of Fame). The final-chapter Cyrus scene (file 130 L1667) also clears 2342 for the battle and sets it again after a win (L1951). Palkia doesn’t come back after the story: Giovanni’s capture scene removes it with HidePerson 6 (L2381), which sets its hide flag 2343 permanently (emulator CN and EN: the command sets 2343 and Palkia is gone after a reload, work/build/harness/guide-review-20261006/pass2-A/palkia_hide_{cn,en}); only Lance’s visit clears 2343 (file 842 L2197).

Route 45 Senior Trainer’s line

Section titled “Route 45 Senior Trainer’s line”

The Route 45 Senior Trainer’s “I’ve only got 1 left” line can’t be seen. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 258 script 4 L221 → L2047 (msg 51) runs only when flag 234 is set, but 234 (set at L7201 after his gift) is also his own hide flag (Route 45 object 3).

Arceus and Regigigas out of reach

Section titled “Arceus and Regigigas out of reach”

Arceus can’t be summoned in practice, because the Azure Flute can’t be obtained after the Hall of Fame. Arceus needs the flute, and the centre circle of the Mystri Stage only reacts if your flute came from the Seven Island shrine keeper’s post-game gift, which can’t be reached (see Sevii Islands and Indigo Plateau). The same flute is the way back into the temple after the story, so the post-game Regigigas there is out of reach too.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 131: the centre-circle coord trigger (16,14, script 10) needs var 0x40B7 = 5, set only at file 942 L539 (the shrine keeper’s gift), which is the unreachable Azure Flute offer (file 942 L104). Script 10 L579–L661 then also needs flag 2261, item 536 and species 483/484/487 in the party; Arceus is script 11 (L1335, flag 2306). Regigigas: script 9 (L1008, flag 2305, cleared by the final Hall of Fame, file 822 L2498); post-game temple access needs the flute (file 49 L694). Earlier text cited L590 for the var check; L590 is the flute HasItem.

Unused Kyogre room in Reversal Cave

Section titled “Unused Kyogre room in Reversal Cave”

A second Reversal Cave room with a Kyogre is still in the files, but nothing leads there. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 134 (map 525, “Reversal Cave” Kyogre room, wild Kyogre Lv. 50 at L178, needs the Blue Orb, item 535, at L85); no map or script warps into 525; Route 47 (map 151) only warps to map 526.

Palkia’s space cabin

Section titled “Palkia’s space cabin”

The cabin in Palkia’s space can’t be entered. So its Abra man and Cynthia scenes never play, and the Mystri Stage Arceus-circle scene can’t be seen. Harmless. Tested in an emulator: walking into the cabin door does nothing.

Technical source (script files and flags)

zone 521’s cabin door (20,25 → zone 523) has no door behaviour and 20,26 is blocked; no script warps in (D-1417, from the map’s collision data). File 132’s Cynthia (object 0, hide flag 733) would also need 733 cleared: new game (file 149 L464) sets 732, not 733, and 733 is set in the Ruins of Alph (file 53 L752); only file 132 itself clears it. File 131 scripts 4–6 also need an event Arceus as your only Pokémon.

Giratina after Lance’s visit

Section titled “Giratina after Lance’s visit”

Lance’s visit could allow a second Giratina, but probably can’t in practice. Lance’s visit brings Giratina back. It plays only once, as soon as you get home after the final Hall of Fame, and Giratina can only be summoned after that same Hall of Fame entry, so there’s no chance to fight it in between. Not confirmed in game.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 135 L2400–L2528 needs flag 2261 and sets Giratina’s “done” flag 2340 on any result but a loss or draw (catch, knockout or flee); Lance’s visit (file 842 script 7 → L1083, ClearFlag 2340 at L2201) clears it. The visit runs from the home map’s frame script on var 0x4106 = 3, which the first Hall of Fame (file 822 L175) and the final one (L2558, same block that sets 2261) set; later Hall of Fame entries (L322 path) don’t. Its other setters (Silver Conference closing, file 107 @9512; Sabrina’s Mt. Silver scene, file 844 @3224; the 2F bed rest at var 0x40A2 = 20, file 843 @1031) all run before the final Hall of Fame, while 2261 is clear, so they take script 7’s other branch. Earlier text said 2340 is set “only on a catch or win”.

Route 45 Dragonite counter

Section titled “Route 45 Dragonite counter”

The Route 45 Dragonite quest shares a progress counter with early Kanto scenes, harmlessly. The S.S. Anne party scenes, the Vermilion construction clash and the Saffron City scenes use the same counter, and Team Rocket’s Saffron takeover resets it. All of these are over before you can reach Route 45, so this can’t cause trouble in normal play.

Technical source (script files and flags)

var 0x40A5: file 258 (L2386 = 2 battle pending, L2851 = 3, L732 ≥ 3 → Outrage tutor; Route 45 coord script 14 on value 2). Other writers, all Kanto: S.S. Anne files 156 (L420/L809/L6488; coord script 18 on value 0), 157 (L590/L1506), 161 (L1947), 162 (L1664); Vermilion file 774 L1267; Saffron file 755 L3152 (coord script 16 on value 0); reset at the takeover, file 17 L12039 (D-1416). Earlier text said “Olivine Lighthouse and S.S. Aqua”; no Olivine Lighthouse file uses this var.

Dungeons, Battle Tower and game-wide events

Section titled “Dungeons, Battle Tower and game-wide events”

Quests on this page

Unown Report notes

Section titled “Unown Report notes”

The Ruins of Alph Research Center never gives any Unown Report notes. The researcher only ever says his “about 1,500 years old” line. The hidden rooms the later notes depend on can’t be reached either: the four chamber walls now lead to the dream-world hall. Whether the ! and ? Unown depend on this wasn’t checked.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 38 L804–L929: every note branch needs var 0x40EC ≥ 1 (L877–L922, L1495, L1519), and the hack’s only AddVar 0x40EC commands are in unreachable blocks (file 41 @562–620, file 45 @540–598) (D-1427). Notes advance var 0x403E (L2304), so it stays 0. The chamber walls warp to map 324 and nothing leads to the hidden rooms (files 40, 44, 46, 47; maps 313, 317, 319, 320 have no incoming warp), so var 0x40F1 never rises (file 38 L1437–L1476). Notes 71#34–#45 can’t be seen.

Hidden Ruins of Alph rooms’ exit

Section titled “Hidden Ruins of Alph rooms’ exit”

A leftover exit in the hidden Ruins of Alph rooms points into Island Forest. It can’t be used: the rooms can’t be reached. Harmless.

Technical source (script files and flags)

the rooms’ exits warp to map 492 when 0x403E ≥ 7 (files 40/44/46/47 L386 → L452 Warp 492); the hack reused map 492 as Island Forest. 0x403E never leaves 0.

Ho-Oh panel and Silver’s battle

Section titled “Ho-Oh panel and Silver’s battle”

Solving the Ho-Oh panel before the Molly chapter’s dream world makes that dream world treat Silver’s part as already done. The panel and Silver’s part of the dream world share one record. The Ho-Oh chamber (north-west) is open from your first visit to the Ruins of Alph, and its panel has no story condition, so you can solve it first. Then, when you arrive in the dream world, Silver and his Croconaw already stand by the steps into the sky instead of arriving with you, and Gold and Crystal aren’t gathered round you either. The opening scene would then move them from the wrong places, and Silver’s battle in the dream world is skipped; whether the rest of the chapter then plays correctly wasn’t tried. To be safe, leave the Ho-Oh panel until after the Molly chapter. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build), arrival only: with the panel solved, Silver and Croconaw stand by the steps and the group isn’t gathered; without it, all three wait next to you.

Technical source (script files and flags)

file 45 script 1: after AlphPuzzle 3, flag 2426 (panel solved) → L134, which clears flag 565 (L182; with 273 cleared, 546 set). 565 is set at new game (file 149 L190) and otherwise only cleared in the dream world (file 50 L3224, after Silver’s Multi Battle; objects 14/15 then shown). In the dream world (map 325, file 50) 565 is the hide flag of Silver and Croconaw by the steps (objects 14/15, 18–19,48); the map-load positioning tests it before the arrival check (L2686 → L3305: Silver’s group objects 0/1/8/10 moved away, then End before the var 0x40AB = 3 arrival placement at L2719); the steps gate “Let’s wait until everyone’s here” (L2556 → L3272) waits on 565, 1980 and 1981, and the other done-checks are at L2745, L2944, L3486, L3684, L3827. The chamber (zone 318) is entered from the Ruins of Alph exterior (warp at ≈425,289, no object or flag in the way). Emulator: work/build/harness/guide-review-20261006/pass2-A/hooh_{early,normal}en and hooh_arrive{early,normal}_cn (var 0x40AB = 3, 1980/1981 set; with 565 clear objects 0 at 38,3, 2 at 43,50, 4 at 47,64, 14 at 18,48; with 565 set 0/2/4 at 57,49 / 56,50 / 57,52, 14 hidden). Driving the opening scene’s battle failed in the harness, so the rest is read only.

Field moves without the move

Section titled “Field moves without the move”

Surf, Waterfall and the other field moves work without a Pokémon that knows them. You only need the Badge; your first healthy Pokémon is used. The party menu still only lists moves a Pokémon knows. This is an intended HM-free feature, not itself a bug. Tested in an emulator for Cut: with the Cascade Badge and a party in which nobody knows Cut, a Cut tree still offers to cut. The other field moves are read from the game code.

Technical source (script files and flags)

the hack’s script command 141 (GetPartySlotWithMove, handler 0x0204C8D4) returns the first healthy non-Egg slot; the water check (ov1 0x021E65E4) only needs the Rainbow Badge and the Waterfall check (ov1 0x021E5C86) always passes (D-1428). Emulator (emu_harness.py hackbugs --case cut): the Cut prompt (std script 10000) reads slot 0 with a Splash-only party, and slot 2 with the lead at 0 HP; it never reads 6.

Forest of Time during the bug hunt

Section titled “Forest of Time during the bug hunt”

Entering the Forest of Time in the middle of the Ilex Forest bug hunt plays scenes from the later Sammy chapter. The two share a progress record. Depending on how far the hunt has got, stepping into the forest’s entrance clearing plays the Sammy and Celebi arrival scene with Sammy, Celebi and the ranger missing, or the maze lets you through to the upper forest, where the Marauder scene starts at once and leads into his battle. Either one also changes the hunt’s own progress, so the hunt may not carry on normally afterwards (not tried). Fixed in rc8: the two scenes only run while the Sammy chapter is active, so the hunt can no longer start them. On rc7 and earlier, finish the bug hunt before you go into the Forest of Time. From the moment Bugsy gives you the Honey, and after the hunt until the old ranger in Ilex Forest starts the Sammy chapter, the maze’s last exit just sends you back to the entrance clearing, which is harmless. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build): with the hunt’s values, the empty arrival scene plays in full and the Marauder scene runs into the battle; the maze test is in Forest of Time: the maze of clearings.

Technical source (script files and flags)

var 0x4099: Bugsy’s Honey hand-over sets 2 (file 92 L6516); the hunt sets 3 (L10693), 4 (L10735) and 5 (L2209, L2398 and others) and resets it to 2 at the reward (L5713); only the ranger’s Sammy scene (script 16 on var 0x40A2 = 17) sets 3 (L5372) and clears the actors’ hide flag 1120 (L5378; set at new game, file 842 L292). The Forest of Time (map 327, file 52) has coord triggers on 0x4099 = 3 (script 1, entrance clearing 16–18,81–82; ends with 0x4099 = 4 at L2875) and = 5 (script 3, upper-forest arrival 15,38; Marauder, Sammy and Celebi are objects 7–11, hide flag 2110, set only at the end of that scene, L2397; the scene goes on to set 6, L2405); the maze copy of Ilex Forest (map 462, file 106) sends you back from its last exit on 2 and 4 (D-1429). The forest door in Ilex Forest has no condition. Emulator: work/build/harness/guide-review-20261006/pass2-A/fot_{v3,v5}{cn,en} (0x4099 = 3: arrival scene, bank 81 #0–16, actors absent, 0x4099 → 4; 0x4099 = 5: Marauder lines bank 81 #59–73, then TrainerBattle); maze: ch13/maze*.

Island Forest wild Pokémon

Section titled “Island Forest wild Pokémon”

Island Forest on Six Island has wild Pokémon from the start (not a bug). An earlier note said its grass and water stay empty until you’ve solved a Ruins of Alph panel. Tested in an emulator: with no panel solved, wild Pokémon appear in its tall grass as usual.

Technical source (script files and flags)

map 492 is inside the original game’s Ruins of Alph encounter check range (ov2 0x02248420: maps 490–492, flags 2423–2426) (D-1430). Observed (emu_harness.py guide0813 --case island_forest, both ROMs): 400 steps on two tall-grass tiles at 46,33 with flags 2423–2426 clear gave 4–8 wild battles (Electrike, Seedot, Wurmple, Meditite, Carnivine, Lotad, Surskit, Cherubi), as many as with flag 2423 set. Water encounters weren’t tried (D-1562).

Moves that work differently

Section titled “Moves that work differently”

A few moves behave differently from the official games. These may be intended changes by the hack; they are listed so you know what to expect. All tested in an emulator:

  • Volt Tackle does no recoil damage (Double-Edge still does).
  • Blast Burn doesn’t need a recharge turn; you can act again on the next turn (Hyper Beam still needs one). Frenzy Plant, Hydro Cannon and Rock Wrecker use the same move data, but weren’t tried.
  • Lunar Dance doesn’t make the user faint; it raises the user’s Speed and Sp. Atk instead.
  • Bounce attacks on the turn you choose it; the user doesn’t spring up first (Fly still takes two turns). See “One-turn and two-turn moves” below for the full list.
Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1319 (Volt Tackle: recoil effect, recoil value 0), D-1318 (Blast Burn, Hydro Cannon, Frenzy Plant, Rock Wrecker: recharge effect without the recharge flag), D-1311 (Lunar Dance: Sp. Atk/Speed +1 fields). Emulator (emu_harness.py hackbugs --case move, both ROMs): a Lv. 100 user against a wild Pokémon; Volt Tackle KO’d a Magikarp with no HP lost (Double-Edge cost 4 HP); after Blast Burn the next command menu came after one Blissey attack, after Hyper Beam after two; Lunar Dance printed “Speed rose” and “Sp. Atk rose” and the user stayed in.

Source (Bounce): D-1350 (charge flag clear; description 0738#340 corrected, D-2410). Emulator (emu_harness.py vqueue --case probe, both ROMs): Bounce printed “used Bounce!”, no “sprang up” message (1#734) and no miss, and the command menu came back every turn; Fly printed “flew up high” (1#714) and hit on the next turn.

One-turn and two-turn moves

Section titled “One-turn and two-turn moves”

The hack turned a few moves that take two turns in the official games into one-turn moves, and the move descriptions are not always up to date. The Chinese hack does the same; it is intended design, not an English-patch change. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build, same result), a Lv. 100 user against a wild Shuckle that used Splash, then Protect:

  • One turn (attacks as soon as you choose it):
    • Bounce. The English description now says so too (the Chinese still says “turn 1 … turn 2”). There is no turn in the air, so a foe that uses Protect before you blocks it on the turn you choose it.
    • Razor Wind, Skull Bash and Sky Attack. Their descriptions already say so.
  • Two turns (a charge turn, then the attack), as in the official games: Fly, Dig, Dive, Solar Beam, Solar Blade, Shadow Force, Phantom Force, Freeze Shock, Ice Burn, Geomancy, Meteor Beam and Electro Shot. With Fly, Dig, Dive, Solar Beam, Solar Blade, Freeze Shock and Ice Burn, a foe’s Protect on the charge turn does not stop the charge, but it does block the attack turn. Shadow Force and Phantom Force got through Protect in the test.
  • Not tested: Sky Drop (it did nothing against the test Pokémon).

Bide, which also lasts two turns, works as in the official games.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1350 (Bounce: charge flag clear, description 0738#340 corrected in English, D-2410; Razor Wind, Skull Bash and Sky Attack have the same flag clear and one-turn descriptions). The other twelve moves keep the charge flag. Emulator (scripted wild battle, one move on each side, every battle message logged): Bounce, Razor Wind, Skull Bash and Sky Attack took one foe action per command; the two-turn moves took two before the command menu came back, with their charge message (Fly 1#714, Dig 1#726, Dive 1#722, Solar Beam and Solar Blade 1#746) on the first. With the foe using Protect, Bounce was blocked at once (“protected itself”, same turn); Fly, Dig, Dive, Solar Beam and Solar Blade charged and were blocked on the second turn. Full results: work/notes/two-turn-moves-docs_fix.md.

Battle messages that name the wrong thing

Section titled “Battle messages that name the wrong thing”

A few battle messages print the wrong word or side. Cosmetic; the Chinese game does the same:

  • After Soak, Protean, Color Change and similar type changes, the message names the move instead of the new type (“…transformed into the Soak type!”). Fixed in the English patch from rc6: the message names the new type (“…transformed into the Water type!”).
  • When a wild Pokémon’s Future Sight hits your Pokémon, the message says “The wild …took the Future Sight attack!” with your Pokémon’s name; when yours hits the wild one, it leaves out “The wild”. The message follows the side of the Pokémon that used the move.
Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1461 (battle_string 1#1212–1215), D-1568 (1#1464–1467). Emulator (emu_harness.py vqueue --case probe, both ROMs): Soak on a wild Geodude printed 1#1213 with 浸水 / Soak in the type slot (fixed by work/patches/type-change-message, D-2290); a Greninja with Protean using Quick Attack printed 1#1212 with the move name; a wild Mewtwo’s Future Sight on the player’s Chansey printed 1#1465, the player’s on a wild Shuckle 1#1464.

No Struggle when a Pokémon runs out of PP

Section titled “No Struggle when a Pokémon runs out of PP”

A Pokémon with no PP left never uses Struggle. Choosing FIGHT opens the move list, and every move says it is out of PP, so you can’t pick an attack. Switch to another Pokémon or use a Leppa Berry from the Bag (Ethers and Elixirs can’t be used in battle, see Status medicine in battle). If your only Pokémon that can still battle has no PP left and you have no Leppa Berry, a Trainer battle can’t go on and you have to reset. Watch out in the Route 12 battle against the boyfriend (Ace Trainer Newt): his Rattata knows only Normal-type moves, so a team of Ghost types can neither lose nor win there. Bring a Pokémon that isn’t Ghost type. Suspected hack bug; the Chinese game does the same. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build).

Technical source (script files and flags)

with all four moves at 0 PP, FIGHT opens the move list and each move prints its “out of PP” message; the turn can’t be submitted (no Struggle). Seen against trainer 185 (Route 12 Ace Trainer Newt, file 199 TrainerBattle 185, 0, 1, 0; Lv. 13 Rattata with Tail Whip, Focus Energy, Quick Attack, Tackle) and trainer 5. Emulator evidence: work/build/harness/bugreports-20261006/struggle/. Leppa Berry is in the battle Bag’s HP/PP Restore pocket; Ether, Max Ether, Elixir and Max Elixir aren’t (D-1495, work/notes/status_healers_rc5.md).

Traded Pokémon get no Exp. boost

Section titled “Traded Pokémon get no Exp. boost”

Pokémon from another Trainer get the same Exp. as your own. In the official games a traded Pokémon gets 1.5 times the Exp. and a “boosted” message; here it gets the normal amount and the normal message. Probably an intended change.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1377. Emulator (emu_harness.py vqueue --case exp, both ROMs): a Lv. 50 Mewtwo beating a wild Chansey Lv. 10 gained 62 Exp. with its own and with a different OT ID; both printed battle_string 2#29, never the boosted 2#30.

Partner calls about the Celadon Gym

Section titled “Partner calls about the Celadon Gym”

Your partners say a Venonat would love the Celadon Gym, but it’s a walking Tangela that reacts there. A walking Tangela wraps its vines around you and is having fun; a Venonat just “seems a bit nervous”, like any other Pokémon. The Chinese calls say Venonat too.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1191 (a027/0653 #66, #139). Emulator (emu_harness.py vqueue --case follow, both ROMs): talking to a following Tangela in the Celadon Gym reads 0258#725; Venonat and Pikachu read 0258#205.

Evolutions that cannot happen

Section titled “Evolutions that cannot happen”

A few Pokémon have an evolution method that the game never checks, so they can’t evolve that way. Pancham never becomes Pangoro, and Gimmighoul, Kubfu, Galarian Yamask, White-Striped Basculin, Pawmo, Rellor and Finizen never evolve at all through the evolution their data gives them. Galarian Farfetch’d can’t become Sirfetch’d by landing critical hits; a regular Farfetch’d still evolves into Sirfetch’d at Lv 40. Eevee can’t become Leafeon at a Moss Rock and Nosepass can’t become Probopass in a magnetic field, but a Leaf Stone and a Thunder Stone still work. Petilil holding a Black Belt during the day doesn’t become Hisuian Lilligant: the game says “Petilil evolved into Petilil”, uses up the Black Belt and leaves a Petilil; a Sun Stone then turns that Petilil into Hisuian Lilligant (tested in an emulator). Fixed in rc8: it evolves straight into Hisuian Lilligant (tested in an emulator). Most of these Pokémon can’t be met in the game anyway. Each Pokémon’s page (for example Eevee) marks these as not possible and lists any method that still works. Verified in the game code; tested in an emulator for Pancham: a Pancham that reaches Lv. 32 with a Dark-type in the party stays a Pancham.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1481. Evolution table a/0/3/4 (10 slots × 6 bytes), evolution check arm9 0x020700FC: in the level-up switch methods 31–36 fall through to “no evolution” and methods 38+ fail the bound check (cmp r0, #0x25); methods 24–26 compare a map evolution code that is always 0 (stub 0x0203AAA0, copied into the battle setup at 0x020511B8). Trade context handles only methods 5–6, item use only 7, 16, 17. Petilil: D-1485 (the evolution setup builds species 548 instead of 549 for Hisuian Lilligant; a disabled fix patch, D-2334, corrects it).

Things you can’t get, although the game has them

Section titled “Things you can’t get, although the game has them”

A few Pokémon, items and forms exist in the game’s data but can’t be obtained. Read from the game code; not tried in game unless the entry says so.

  • TM46 (Thief): its item ball is never placed on a map.
  • Flapple, Appletun and Alcremie: Applin needs a Tart Apple or Sweet Apple and Milcery a Sweet, and none of these items can be obtained.
  • Shaymin’s Sky Forme: the Gracidea only works on an event Shaymin, and the Shaymin from the Forest of Time isn’t one (tested in an emulator: the Gracidea does nothing to it; on the same Shaymin marked as an event Pokémon it works).
  • Unown letters: every wild Unown comes out as A (tested in an emulator: 65 wild Unown, all A).
  • Some later Pokémon and forms have stats and moves in the game’s data but no normal-play route was found by the availability audit. The Pokédex keeps them as references and marks audited unavailable entries with a reason. A missing source on another entry means its availability is still uncertain; it is not proof that it cannot be obtained.
  • Apicot Berry and Lansat Berry: no source was found in the expanded item audit. The older warning also listed Qualot, Tamato, Salac and Petaya, but those have sources: Qualot and Tamato are configured Battle Frontier Scratch-Off prizes; Salac and Petaya can be stolen from Trainers’ Pokémon and kept after battle (tested in an emulator). Those routes do not restore the old berry shops.
  • Grip Claw: its item ball is never placed on a map, and no shop sells it.
  • Volcanion: its April 16 calendar slot at the Lake of Rage never triggers (there’s no grass there), and nothing else gives it. Tested in an emulator.
  • Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre: the Red Orb and Blue Orb are key items that summon Groudon, Kyogre and Deoxys. They can’t be given to a Pokémon, and even when one is held (save edit) no Primal Reversion happens. Tested in an emulator.
Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1339 (TM46 item ball, std 7136 unused), D-1493 (Tart Apple, Sweet Apple, Sweets have no source), D-1490 (Gracidea check arm9 0x02071024 needs the fateful flag), D-1487 (wild Unown form written back at ov2 0x02248AD4), work/notes/availability_audit.md (expanded availability review), work/tools/site/items_extra_sources.json (Scratch-Off and Trainer-theft routes), D-1345 (v4 turned the old berry shop lists 5 and 22 into X-item lists; work/notes/sheet_mismatch_verification.md §4.6), D-1494 (Grip Claw item ball, std script 7223 unused), D-1488 (calendar table arm9 0x020F6A64; Lake of Rage land walk rate 0), D-1571 (Red/Blue Orb have no Give option; no Primal Reversion code).

Thief in wild battles copies the item

Section titled “Thief in wild battles copies the item”

Stealing a wild Pokémon’s held item with Thief gives you the item twice. After the battle the Pokémon that used Thief holds the item, and another one is in your Bag. Against Trainers you only get the held one. In your favour. Suspected hack bug. Tested in an emulator (a wild Miltank’s Moomoo Milk; an Eviolite).

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1569. emu_harness.py open --case thief: battle message 1#1432; Bag +1 and the item held by the thief after a wild battle; no change without Thief; Trainer battles: Bag unchanged (work/notes/emu_harness.md, Thief section).

Out-of-range story records (save data)

Section titled “Out-of-range story records (save data)”

Two scenes write past the end of the game’s story records. The Viridian Mart promoter on Route 1, who gives you a Berry Juice, and the end of the Mt. Mortar expedition each note that they’ve happened in a spot beyond the space the save keeps for story progress. Both scenes still play normally once. Measured in an emulator, both notes land in your save’s Pokédex data. The promoter’s sets a “seen” mark for entry No. 1335, past the end of the Pokédex; opening the Pokédex or the Trainer Card never reads it, so nothing visible changes. The expedition’s sets the “caught” mark of Weezing (No. 110) without its “seen” mark; the Pokédex ignores it (tested in an emulator: Weezing’s slot stays empty until you’ve seen one). There’s no way to avoid it: the expedition is needed in the final chapter.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1333; work/notes/softlock_audit.md. File 168 script 4 CheckFlag 7286 (0x1C76) at @235, SetFlag 7286 at @1954 (Route 1 Viridian Mart promo, Berry Juice item 43); file 962 @1819 SetFlag 4461 (0x116D) at the end of the expedition, next to SetFlag 675. The hack has 3,232 flags: arm9 GetFlagAddr (0x0204F8E4) bounds the byte index at 0x194 and still forms base + 0x2E0 + index past the bound; block size 0x474 (0x0204F840). Vanilla layout: 0x116D → Pokédex caught bit for species 110, 0x1C76 → a Pokédex language byte. Probably typos for 0x0C76 / 0x016D. Observed in the hack (emu_harness.py guide0107 --case promo_flag,mortar_flag, both ROMs): the SetFlag handler (PC 0x0204F8B6) writes save offset 0x151A bit 6 (7286) and 0x13B9 bit 5 (4461); both are inside save array 6 (offset 0x13A8, 0x374 bytes, magic 0xBEEFCAFE, the Pokédex): +0x172 = seen bit of No. 1335 (seen bits +0xCC, 200 bytes), +0x11 = caught bit of No. 110 (caught bits +0x4). With the bit cleared first, the promoter’s scene plays (lines 2–7, Berry Juice), sets it, and the next talk shows line 1 only. Read hooks while the Pokédex and Trainer Card were open: no read of the No. 1335 word (control: the caught word of No. 1 is read). D-1550.

Status medicine in battle

Section titled “Status medicine in battle”

Most medicine can’t be used from the Bag in battle. Antidote, Burn Heal, Ice Heal, Awakening, Paralyze Heal, Full Heal, Full Restore, Lava Cookie, Max Potion, Hyper Potion, Energy Powder, Energy Root, Revive, Max Revive, Revival Herb, Ether, Max Ether, Elixir, Max Elixir and Sacred Ash don’t appear in the battle Bag. This may be intended; the Chinese game does the same. Carry status-healing Berries (Pecha, Cheri, Lum and others) or the Blue, Yellow and Red Flutes, which do appear; Heal Powder is listed under HP/PP Restore. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build).

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1495; these items’ battle-pocket flags are 0 in the item data (a/0/1/7, identical in both ROMs). Work note: work/notes/status_healers_rc5.md.

Trainer Pokémon with unusual Abilities

Section titled “Trainer Pokémon with unusual Abilities”

Some Trainers’ Pokémon have an Ability their species can’t normally have, for example a Glalie that starts hail (Snow Warning) or a Houndoom that brings harsh sunlight (Drought). The battle uses the Trainer’s Ability. About 165 of the game’s 3,891 Trainer Pokémon; possibly intended. Tested in an emulator.

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1341; the trainer party record stores the Ability (observed for trainers 146 and 376). Full list: work/notes/docs_crossref.md §4.

Pokédex stops at No. 709

Section titled “Pokédex stops at No. 709”

The Pokédex list ends at No. 0709 (Kommo-o), and there is no National Pokédex mode. Pokémon after that point (and Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist) never get a Pokédex entry, even when you’ve seen or caught them, and from No. 0504 on the Pokédex number isn’t the National Pokédex number. Your Pokémon themselves are unaffected. Tested in an emulator (Chinese ROM and English build).

Technical source (script files and flags)

D-1523; dex order table a/0/7/4 file 12 (781 entries); the National-mode check (arm9 0x0202AA74) always returns 0.

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