Mystery Zone

In Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum a 'Mystery Zone' (Japanese: なぞのばしょ Mystery Place) refers to any of several hundred areas which act as placeholders in between multiple areas normally accessible within the game. These maps also correspond with tunnels in the underground which are normally unaccesible without the player moving around first.

A player enters one of many Mystery Zones consisting of several rows of trees.

Essentially the Mystery Zones act as error handlers for the undefined areas surrounding real routes or as fillers when considering Sinnoh as two large maps being the normal areas and the underground. When a player travels through a Mystery Zone they are unable to open the menu or even operate the touch screen; therefore it could be suggested a blank map is used to ensure that the player cannot open the menu before they even proceed past the title screen.

The Mystery Zone is most usually seen consisting of either blank space, several rows of trees, water or any combination of these features. Whilst in the Mystery Zone the music for Routes 206, 207, 208 and 211 usually plays; however the Mystery Zone plays a slightly off-key version of these routes. This music corresponds to a completely different value and is normally never used in-game.

Procedure (Diamond/Pearl/Platinum)

This is the most common method people have used to access a Mystery Zone.

1. Use a game-altering device to walk through walls.
2. Attempt to move through objects surrounding the area into areas which are normally inaccessible.

Alternative methods for accessing the Mystery Zones without a game-altering device

1. Players can use the Tweaking Glitch on Pokémon Diamond/Pearl to take advantage of an error concerning how the game handles accessible areas within the game. However, this glitch does not work on Pokémon Platinum.
2. On early versions of Japanese Pokémon Diamond and Pearl games the Surf through Elite Four door glitch allowed players (as the name of the glitch suggests)to be able to surf through the first Elite Four member's door and then be able to walk through an extremely large area of blank space whilst passing various Mystery Zones and even areas such as Flower Paradise which are normally unaccessible without a special Nintendo event.

See also

---- - the several hundred areas acting as placeholders in between multiple areas normally accessible in Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver.

Out of bounds - An article about going 'out of bounds' within the Pokémon games in general.

External Links

1. A player using a 'walk anywhere' code to access several Mystery Zones
2. An article about 'going out of bounds' on the forums
3. Bulbapedia's article about the 'Mystery Zone'