Error traps and anti-cheating traps
Error prevention and placeholders in the Pokémon games:
?????????? | ????? | ! | Abnormal Pokémon | Bad Egg | Enigma Berry (Generation III) | Error! | Error codes (Generations I and II) | Error traps for damaged save data | Error traps to prevent impossible progress | Event data debugging messages | Instant victory effect (Generation II) | Mystery Zone | N/A | Pokégear instruction booklet trap | Rhydon trap | Special (location) | This Game Pak is designed only for use on the Game Boy Color. | This Pokémon cannot be traded.
?????????? | ????? | ! | Abnormal Pokémon | Bad Egg | Enigma Berry (Generation III) | Error! | Error codes (Generations I and II) | Error traps for damaged save data | Error traps to prevent impossible progress | Event data debugging messages | Instant victory effect (Generation II) | Mystery Zone | N/A | Pokégear instruction booklet trap | Rhydon trap | Special (location) | This Game Pak is designed only for use on the Game Boy Color. | This Pokémon cannot be traded.
An error trap, error trapper, or simply a trap, for the purpose of this wiki, is a preventative measure used to avoid the effects of glitches, such as freezes or to prevent cheating.
A common example of an error trapper is the infamous "This program has caused an illegal operation" message in Windows 95 and 98.
?????????? is an example of an error trap in Generation III. Most invalid Pokémon use this name when they are on the opponent's side, and have a "? mark in a circle sprite".