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(New page: Generally, the term 'placeholder' refers to any element of a game which has been used as a filler for data in between existing data within a particular byte. Often, various placeholders c...)
 
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[[File:Wild 00FC.png|frame|right|Encountering a "?", with its placeholder Pokémon sprite]]
Generally, the term 'placeholder' refers to any element of a game which has been used as a filler for data in between existing data within a particular byte.
 
'''Placeholder data''' is data relating to generic entries among other entries which for some reason are made valid. This data may be added so that it can be altered later (example: perhaps the data for the 25 "[[? (glitch Pokémon)|?]]" in {{RSE}} and {{FRLG}}), or for consistency (example: perhaps Arceus' ??? form in [[bp:Generation IV|Generation IV]]).
Often, various placeholders can be considered as [http://www.glitchcity.info/wiki/index.php/Category:Beta_elements beta elements] within that game because they can contain data which is inaccessible through ordinary gameplay. In this case [[Missingno|Missingno.'s]] name is perhaps one of the most known examples.
 
Placeholder data may give information about the development of a Pokémon game, for example, in the [[bp:Generation III|Generation III]] core series games there is a placeholder item with an index number of hex:010B. This is directly after Contest Pass and directly before Wailmer Pail, suggesting an extra key item may have been considered.
However, not all '''placeholders''' are inaccessible because sometimes they can be useful for a developer to refer to data which the player has not 'unlocked' or 'encountered' yet. For example in the Gameboy Advance versions of the Pokémon games, even though a picture of a white question mark within a black circle that is surrounded by a larger white circle is used to account for several thousand Glitch Pokémon named ?????????? (which Glitch City Laboratories refer to as '[[Decamark|Decamarks]]' in normal gameplay, the game also uses this sprite to account for up to 386 unseen Pokémon in the Pokédex in order to occupy those in the Pokédex which the player hasn't seen yet.
 
==Examples==
[[File:493-Unknown.png|frame|right|Sprite of Arceus' ??? form from Generation IV]]
*[[bp:Arceus (Pokémon)|Arceus]]'s "???" form in Generation IV.
*[[? (glitch Pokémon)|?]]'s picture and name.
*[[Missingno.]]'s name and placeholder Pokédex data and how it permeates 39 entries in between the list of valid Pokémon.
*[[????????]] items.
{{clr}}
[[Category: Terminology]]
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