Glitch Trainer

Glitch Trainers are Trainers that can only be battled via the use of glitches.

Battling a glitch Trainer

Generation I

Glitch Trainers can be battled in one of two ways: the old man glitch (if the player's name contains certain special characters in the 3rd, 5th, or 7th slot) or the Ditto glitch (using Special stats ranging from 201-255RB or 201-253Y). Unlike other Trainers, glitch Trainers say nothing before or after the battle, and often use glitch Pokémon.

Old man glitch method

If the player encounters a glitch Trainer via the old man glitch, the team used by said trainer will be determined by the last team index number loaded, and the team will be always read from a nonexistent Trainer class #256 - so if a Gambler with team number 3 was fought last time and the player encounters a trainer via old man glitch, the game will load team #3 of trainer #256, regardless of the encountered Trainer class.

Below is a list of the first 10 teams of the trainers encountered via the old man glitch.

Team ID Pokémon 1 Pokémon 2 Pokémon 3 Pokémon 4 Pokémon 5 Pokémon 6
0 ◣ゥ 8 Lv. 32 Glitch (FA) Lv. 32 MissingNo. Lv. 32 PKMN ◣ n Lv. 32 Flareon Lv. 32 Glitch (FA) Lv. 32
1 Drowzee Lv. 111 Rhydon Lv. 111 Pidgey Lv. 111 Grimer Lv. 111 MissingNo. Lv. 111 ゥ$ (F0) Lv. 111
2 ゥ (C1) Lv. 9 Grimer Lv. 9 MissingNo. Lv. 9 Glitch (EB) Lv. 9 ◣ゥ 8 Lv. 9 MissingNo. Lv. 9
3 Trainer Lv. 215 Pidgeot Lv. 215 Ivysaur Lv. 215 Trainer Lv. 215 Nidoking Lv. 215 Fearow Lv. 215
4 Tentacool Lv. 128 Gengar Lv. 128 Cubone Lv. 128 a Lv. 128 Dugtrio Lv. 128 Growlithe Lv. 128
5 Tentacool Lv. 128 Voltorb Lv. 128 Cubone Lv. 128
6 Growlithe Lv. 64
7 Pゥ ゥ ゥ Lv. 128 C Lv. 128 Rhydon Lv. 128 Exeggcute Lv. 128 Spearow Lv. 128 Trainer Lv. 128
8 Nidoran♀ Lv. 14 Magneton Lv. 14 'M (FF) Lv. 14 Gastly Lv. 14 Grimer Lv. 14 MissingNo. Lv. 14
9 Rhyhorn Lv. 42 Arcanine Lv. 42 MissingNo. Lv. 42 Clefairy Lv. 42 Mewtwo Lv. 42 MissingNo. Lv. 42

Ditto glitch method

If the player encounters a glitch Trainer via the Ditto glitch, the Attack stage modifier of the Ditto used will determine which team will be used. This modifier is normally 7, causing the game to attempt to load the 'seventh' team; as most Trainers only have one set team, this almost always results in a glitchy team with several glitch Pokémon. If a move like Growl is used six times to lower the Ditto's Attack stage modifier to 1, then the loaded team will be valid.

Two particular Trainers, Prof. Oak and Blue, have three different possible teams based on the player's first partner Pokémon; therefore any Attack stage modifier from 1 to 3 will work. This is the easiest way to battle Prof. Oak with his original, dummied-out team.

ZZAZZ glitch

Main article: ZZAZZ glitch

If the player performs the Ditto glitch and uses a Special stat of either 251, 252, 254, or 255, the ZZAZZ glitch (a.k.a. The Exploding Bulbasaur Glitch) will be triggered. This glitch heavily corrupts the game's save file and memory, changing several in-game bytes to have a value of 153; most noticeably, parts of the player's name will be overwritten with multiples of the letter "Z" (index number 153), and most of the player's Pokémon will be changed to level 153 Bulbasaur (index number 153) with several copies of the move Explosion (index number 153).

Jacred

 
The player encounters Jacred

Jacred is a glitch Trainer class. Its name is derived from parts of the preset names that the player can choose for themselves and their rival, specifically "Jack" and "Red". 'Jacred' can be battled by performing the Ditto glitch with a Special stat of 200. Unlike other glitch Trainers, Jacred has no defined sprite and can instantly crash the game when the player's Pokémon uses a move or when the player accesses their party or uses an item.

There is also a ZZAZZ variant of Jacred, caused by using the Ditto glitch with a Special stat of 200 and Growl one or two times. Because this is a ZZAZZ variant, battles can be escaped using a Poké Ball, though the Bag will be corrupted. The screen is almost fully covered by PokéTrainer, but it is still possible to scroll down over Cancel, find a Poké Ball, and escape the battle. After escaping the battle, the player will be in a different Glitch City. The game will not be able to be saved, because when the party is opened, the game will lock. The city has no PC to indirectly save the game, nor a Pokémon Center where the save option can be restored by healing the player's party.

Video

Regular
By pandakekok
This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.


ZZAZZ variant
By pandakekok
This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.


Generation II

Main article: Trainer House glitches

Glitch Trainers may appear in the Trainer House as a result of the Trainer House glitch.

Unused Trainer classes

Prof. Oak

Main article: Unused Trainer data →Prof. Oak
 
Professor Oak, who cannot normally be battled

Unused Trainer data for Prof. Oak (Japanese: オーキドせんせい Teacher Oak) exists in all Generation I games. He can be battled in different ways.

  • By performing the Ditto glitch using a Pokémon with a Special stat of 226 if the wild Ditto's Attack is lowered by 4, 5, or 6 stages (each number of stages will yield a different team; in order: Charizard, Venusaur, or Blastoise).
  • By performing the Old man glitch with a player's name containing the MN character in the third, fifth or seventh slots, Professor Oak can be battled as a glitch Trainer; however, he will not have a defined roster.
  • By performing a specific select button glitch in the Japanese Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue.
By 0xwas
This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.


Chief

Main article: Unused Trainer data →Chief
 
Chief

Chief is an unused Trainer class in the Generation I games. He has neither a defined sprite nor a programmed party. When battled, his sprite appears as that of a Scientist due to its Trainer class being directly after Chief in the game's data.

Chief can be battled using the Ditto glitch and a Pokémon with a Special stat of 227, or through the use of the old man glitch when the player's name contains a dash in the third, fifth, or seventh letter slot in English Pokémon Red and Blue.


Trainer classes in the Pokémon core series
Kanto Ace Trainer*BeautyBikerBird KeeperBlack Belt*Bug CatcherBurglarCamper*ChampionGSCFRLGHGSSPE
ChannelerElite FourGSCFRLGHGSSPEEngineerFishermanGamer*GentlemanGym Leader*GSCFRLGHGSSPE
HikerJugglerLassPicnicker*Poké Maniac*Pokémon Trainer*GSCPEPsychicRivalFRLGRockerRoughneck*
SailorScientistSuper NerdSwimmerTamerTeam Rocket Boss*FRLGHGSSPETeam Rocket Grunt*Youngster
BoarderHGSSDouble TeamHGSSFirebreatherGSCHGSSGuitaristGSCHGSSMediumGSCHGSS
PokéfanGSCHGSSSchool Kid*GSCHGSSSkierHGSSTeacherGSCHGSSTwinsGSCFRLGHGSS
Cool CoupleFRLGCrush KinFRLGSis and BroFRLGYoung CoupleFRLGHGSS
Coach TrainerPEKarate MasterPEPunk GuyPETeam RocketPETeam Rocket AdminPE
Master TrainersPE
Unused Trainer class:
ChiefRGBY


Multiple
generations
Transform glitchesGlitch TrainersCloning glitchesError messagesArbitrary code execution
Generation I GlitchesBattle glitchesOverworld glitches
--0 ERRORBroken hidden itemsCable Club escape glitchDual-type damage misinformation
Experience underflow glitchFight Safari Zone Pokémon trickGlitch CityItem duplication glitchItem underflow
Mew glitchOld man glitchPewter Gym skip glitchPokémon merge glitchRhydon glitchRival twins glitch
Select glitches (dokokashira door glitch, second type glitch) • Super Glitch
Time Capsule exploitWalking through wallsZZAZZ glitch
Generation II GlitchesBattle glitches
Bug-Catching Contest glitchCelebi Egg glitchCoin Case glitchesExperience underflow glitch
Glitch dimensionGlitch EggTeru-samaTime Capsule exploitTrainer House glitchesGS Ball mail glitch
Generation III GlitchesBattle glitches
Berry glitchDive glitchPomeg glitchGlitzer Popping
Generation IV GlitchesBattle glitchesOverworld glitches
Acid rainGTS glitchesPomeg glitchRage glitch
Surf glitchTweakingPal Park Retire glitch
Generation V GlitchesBattle glitches
Charge Beam additional effect chance glitchCharge move replacement glitchChoice item lock glitch
Frozen Zoroark glitchSky Drop glitch
Generation VI GlitchesBattle glitches
Charge Beam additional effect chance glitchCharge move replacement glitchChoice item lock glitch
Lumiose City save glitchSymbiosis Eject Button glitchToxic sure-hit glitch
Generation VII GlitchesBattle glitches
Charge Beam additional effect chance glitchCharge move replacement glitchChoice item lock glitch
Toxic sure-hit glitchRollout storage glitch
Generation VIII Glitches
Charge Beam additional effect chance glitchCharge move replacement glitchChoice item lock glitch
Toxic sure-hit glitchRollout storage glitchParty item offset glitch
Generation IX Glitches
Glitch effects Game freezeGlitch battleGlitch song
Gen I only: Glitch screenTMTRAINER effectInverted sprites
Gen II only: Glitch dimension
Lists Glitches (GOTCG GBSpin-off)
Glitch Pokémon (Gen IGen IIGen IIIGen IVGen VGen VIGen VIIGen VIII)
Glitch moves (Gen I) • Glitch types (Gen IGen II)


  This article is part of both Project GlitchDex and Project CharacterDex, Bulbapedia projects that, together, aim to write comprehensive articles on glitch Trainers.