Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

This page details bugs of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky.

10-Character Softlock#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: How did the European version fix this bug?

Exclusively in the North American/Australian version of the game, if the player tries to evolve a Pokémon with a name that uses the maximum length of 10 characters, the game may softlock. This bug can apply to certain Pokémon without nicknames like Charmander, or Pokémon with a 10-character nickname.

The bug is caused by the function the game uses to copy names into a data structure for Luminous Spring. It copies a Pokémon's name data until a 00 byte is found, but since name data is only 10 bytes long, a 10-character name will cause the function to unintentionally load extra bytes. This extra data contains the next recruited Pokémon's Level, Joined at, Floor and Pokémon ID values, and if 7 or more of these extra bytes are read it will overwrite an important identifier used by the dialogue box and consequently trigger the softlock.

The hero and partner are notably completely immune to this bug. In the hero's case, this is because the partner's Floor value can only be 00. In the case of the partner, this is because the Special Episode Pokémon's Floor data will also return a 00 in all cases.

A regular recruited Pokémon can avoid the bug in any of the following cases:

• The Pokémon being evolved is the most recent recruit.
• The next recruited Pokémon joined on a dungeon's boss or special floor, or in overworld locations such as Treasure Town or Spinda's Café. These Pokémon will have 00 as their Floor value.
• The next recruited Pokémon has an internal ID number up to and including #256 (meaning all male, genderless or female-only Pokémon up to and including National Pokédex #229, Houndoom). This is because a 00 byte will always be part of their ID. For illustration, FF00, 0001 and 0101 are how the IDs for male Houndour, Houndoom and Kingdra respectively are stored in memory; Kingdra's ID will allow the softlock to trigger.
• The next recruited Pokémon is a male Leafeon, female Ariados or female Torterra. These Pokémon are exceptions to the previous rule, as their IDs are stored in memory as 0002, 0003 and 0004 respectively.
• The next recruited Pokémon has been recruited inside the Test Dungeon, which returns a 00 for the "Joined at" value. This is not possible in regular gameplay.

The softlock can also be completely circumvented by using the following Action Replay code:

52025100 E3A02000
02025100 E4D12001
D2000000 00000000
52388A70 5D4E435B
52025100 E4D12001
02025100 E3A02000
D2000000 00000000

This bug has been fixed in the European version.

Move Copy Bug#

To do: Document the helper Pokémon method that requires two copies/DS systems using local wireless to perform.

In the Japanese version only, it is possible for Pokémon to copy all moves known by another Pokémon through a very easy-to-perform glitch. It should be kept in mind that this does overwrite all moves known by the target Pokémon.

To set up the glitch, use any Pokémon as the leader, the source Pokémon as the second party member, and the target Pokémon as the third. Following this, enter a dungeon with a rest area, the most convenient being Sky Peak. Before entering the rest area, send home the source Pokémon, and make sure not to recruit any Pokémon after doing so. In the rest area, all the player has to do is check the target Pokémon's move list to perform the glitch.

Since the hero, partner and Manaphy always have order priority over recruited Pokémon (but not over each other), this glitch normally only has utility for them while copying moves from each other. However, it is possible for them to copy moves from new recruits found within the current dungeon if it has a rest area. To do this, use another prioritized Pokémon as the second party member, and the target hero/partner/Manaphy as the third. Send home the second Pokémon, recruit the source Pokémon, and once it has the desired moveset to copy send it home as well before entering the rest area. As with the regular glitch, simply check the target's move list within the rest area to perform the glitch.

While this glitch has a lot of utility, it is also very easy to perform unintentionally. The escort Shaymin that joins the player during the first visit to Sky Peak temporarily leaves the party while entering rest areas, which triggers the glitch if a new recruit's moves are checked within them.

Giratina#

In the Japanese version, the stat boosts or reductions that are meant for Giratina's Defense and Special Defense across formes are applied to the enemy it faces rather than Giratina itself, resulting in its Altered Forme being too weak, and its Origin Forme being too strong. This error has been corrected in the international versions of the game.

Japan#

International#