Dude full box glitch

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The Dude full box glitch in English Pokémon Crystal

The Dude full box glitch is a natural glitch in Pokémon Gold, Pokémon Silver and Pokémon Crystal.

It is triggered when the Dude attempts to catch a Rattata as part of the catching demonstration, but the player's party and current box is full, resulting in glitchy behavior after the player receives a message that the Poké Ball cannot be used, as the box is full.

Access

Under 'normal' circumstances, it is not possible for the player to have a full party and full box the first time they see the Dude. However, a very specific exploit can be used to get around this.

1. Proceed through the game as normal up until completing the first rival battle. The player must heal at the Cherrygrove Pokémon Center at least once. Buying some extra potions in the Cherrygrove Mart is also recommended.
2. Return to Route 30 and find a Weedle (only appears during day in Pokémon Silver and Pokémon Crystal) or Spinarak (only appears during night in Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Crystal). Allow it to poison the player's Pokémon.
3. The player should return to New Bark Town, making sure to heal their Pokémon with a Potion if their HP becomes too low.
4. Go to Professor Elm's Lab and proceed through the normal events. After obtaining Pokéballs from the assistant, walk around New Bark Town until the player's Pokémon faints. They should then reappear in Cherrygrove City.
5. Fill the party and active box with Pokémon.
6. Walk through the area between New Bark Town and Route 29.

While talking to the Dude without him walking up to the player is normally impossible with a full party and full box (due to the "POKéMON hide in tall grass. Who knows when they'll pop out..." message appearing with a full party and full box), the game does not restrict the player from watching the Dude's demonstration if he approaches the player on the route's 'boundary line' (in between Route 29 and New Bark Town).

In English/French/Italian/German Silver

The game does not freeze, and instead briefly returns to This allows the player to see briefly a Level 0 male ????? on the user's side with 0/0 HP. Afterwards the demonstration ends, and the player is returned to the overworld.

In Japanese Silver

Largely the same as the international versions mentioned above, however Japanese Silver appears to remain on the bag screen for much longer.

In Korean Silver

Misaligned player character in the Korean Silver

The game does not freeze, but the HUD may be loaded for a ????? with a corrupted name. The battle may end with the player erroneously misaligned on the screen (however the disposition may be difficult to notice at first).

YouTube video by ChickasaurusGL

This behavior has only been confirmed on BGB emulator and has not been tested on cartridge or Virtual Console releases.

In Japanese Crystal

• Graphics may become corrupted with the music continuing to play. Game will eventually freeze possibly with the music hanging on a note.

In English Crystal

The game may freeze with heavy graphics and sound corruption, or it may reset with the "This Game Pak is designed only for use on the Game Boy Color." message.

In French Crystal

The graphics and sound may be heavily corrupted and the game may freeze due to an invalid opcode at FF40 (0xE3) in the I/O region. It also may reset with the "Cette cartouche ne fonctionne qu'avec le Game Boy Color." message.

In Spanish Crystal

Similarly to the French version, both the games graphics and sound may be heavily corrupted, and the game may freeze or reset with the "Esta cartucho está diseñado para ser usado únicamente en Game Boy Color." message.

In German Crystal

Exclusively to cartridge versions, the Dude may give the player a large amount of money after the full box message, which is over the maximum amount of 999,999 Pokédollars if the player saves and resets the game.

This exploit does not seem to work in the Virtual Console release, where it may instead result in a game freeze or similar behavior.

YouTube video by ChickasaurusGL

In Italian Crystal

The game will display a heavily corrupted bag screen and may freeze or reset with the "Questa cassetta di gioco si può usare soltanto con il Game Boy Color." message. It also may stay on the corrupted screen for a long time, before returning to the battle with a corrupted pallet and heavy graphical corruption, and a ????? is on the player's side. The game will attempt to proceed through a very glitchy text box, before either freezing entirely or resetting with the aforementioned message.

YouTube video by Deku-Kitty

Credits

• Torchickens (ChickasaurusGL): Documentation