Since 2003

Most chances you or one of your friends has heard or even fallen for one of these common Pokémon/Glitch myths at one time. Back when Pokémon Red/Blue were new to the video game market and everyone was playing them, myths ran rampant, especially with the discovery of MissingNo. and the general mysteriousness of a game as large as Pokémon. Well, now I, ACE91, will debunk many common Pokémon and Glitch myths and explain the truth about the Pokémon games. Read on...

Ace's Pokémon MythBusters

Myth: "You shouldn't capture MissingNo. It will completely wreck your game."

Truth: Fear and uncertainty always seem to win out over scientific testing and knowledge... I can say that I believed this one myself for a long time, but then I saw the truth. The Glitch Pokémon [[glitchdex:redblue/missingno|MissingNo.]] and [[glitchdex:redblue/m|'M]], contrary to popular belief, do not cause significant permanent damage to your game. However, they do cause a few glitchy things to happen, but these are easily overlooked or fixed. First off, the one thing that makes most people wary of MissingNo. is that it messes up the game's graphics when caught, causing enemy Pokémon images to be flipped horizontally and your character's image to be scrambled. This is easily fixed by simply looking at the stats of a normal, non-Glitch Pokémon. It will happen again if you view MissingNo's stats, but you can just view another Pokémon's stats and return the game's graphics to normal again. It has also been said that sending an 'M to your PC will freeze the game when you view your PC, and this has truth to it... sort of. The freezing will only occur if the 'M is at Level 0, because the game can't process a Level 0 Pokémon correctly. 'Ms over Level 0 will cause no problems. The one bit of permanent damage that MissingNo. and 'M do cause is scrambling your Hall of Fame and filling it with a glitchy mess. This will happen when you encounter a Glitch Pokémon, even if you don't capture it. However, it's a worthwile trade for multiplied items. After all, how often do you look at your Hall of Fame?

Myth: "If you talk to Oak a million times, he'll give you a Pikablu/Pikatwo/Pikayou/Pikawho/Pikashoe/Pikaglue/Pikaf00/slap in the face/whatever."

Truth: Any "code" that involves getting a "secret Pokémon" that isn't in the game and isn't glitched (like the infamous "Pikablu," which some people I know actually believe exists) is definitely fake. Cheats that involve hidden, non-glitched cities, extra HMs, and stuff like that are also fake. The only "extra" Pokémon that the developers put in the game is [[bulba-p:Mew|Mew]], and it can be acquired through [[docs:ditto/mew|a glitch]]. The people who make this stuff up only want to make you waste your time chasing some stupid joke. Of course, if you're really determined, keep trying to make something that doesn't exist appear. Oak might just be generous and give you that slap in the face. :P

Myth: "If you catch all 150 Pokémon and talk to the guy in Celadon Mansion, you'll get a Mew."

Truth: Not really. All you get for your hard work of completing the entire Pokédex is a diploma. No Mew. Some say (and I myself once thought) that Mew can be obtained this way on the Japanese versions of Pokémon Red/Blue, but I have no way to prove this true or false, as I do not own one. Even though you won't get Mew for catching all 150 other Pokémon, you can still get Mew on Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow by using the [[docs:ditto/mew|Mew Glitch]].

Myth: "There's some kind of awesome secret that the developers didn't want you to find in the grass beyond the fence beside Route 1."

Truth: For years gamers have wondered what lies in that seemingly endless expanse of grass to the right and left of Route 1 that no one can get to. Some people think you can find Mew or Glitch Pokémon there, others think there's a secret area beyond the grass. Well, there's a "secret" there all right... You take one step into that grass and your game freezes. People have tried this with the Gameshark walk-through-walls code and the same thing has happened every time. No, this isn't because of some defense system that the developers added or anything, it's actually because there's nothing out there. It's not that there's no grass beyond there or anything, there's just nothing. No data, not even empty space. The developers didn't program anything out there because you're not supposed to be able to go there, so when someone walks far enough to see the spot where the grass ends, the game crashes because it doesn't know what to do with the null data. Coincidentally, this is the same reason that the game freezes if you Surf too far in any direction in Glitch City.

Myth: "When you through a Pokeball, holding down the B button and the Down button will make the Pokeball act as a Master ball."

Truth: This doesn't happen. The rate of catching Pokemon is determined by a simple formula the moment you select your Pokeball. So if the Pokemon will be caught or not is determined before the Pokeball even appears on the screen, and any button pressing will not effect the outcome.

---

I will be debunking more common myths in the days to come, so stay tuned to this page. Also, if you know a myth or something that you think is a myth, join the forums and post it on the official Glitch MythBusters thread. Your myth just might be posted on the site.