Pewter Gym skip glitch

The Pewter Gym skip glitch is a glitch that occurs in Pokémon Red and Blue. It allows the player to enter Route 3 without defeating Brock at Pewter Gym and earning the Boulder Badge. There are three ways to perform this glitch. Both of these variations were fixed in the Spanish (and possibly other European) versions of Red and Blue, as well as in Pokémon Yellow.

Performing the glitch

There are three different methods to perform the glitch, each with different side effects.

Walking directly in front of the Youngster

To perform the glitch, the player must first open the menu and move the cursor to "Save" without selecting it. Then the player must walk on the tile in front of the Youngster at the east exit of Pewter City and close the dialogs with the B-button (not the A-button), then immediately press Start and save the game (the cursor is frozen). The player must then reset the game. The conversation will happen again, and the player will then be forced to follow him. After that, the Youngster will be gone, and the player can walk across where the Youngster used to stand to enter Route 3; walking across any tile that was in the Youngster's line of sight will still force the player to walk back to the front of Pewter Gym.

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Walking a tile away from the Youngster

To perform the glitch, the player must first open the menu and move the cursor to "Save" without selecting it. Then the player must walk past the Youngster at the east exit of Pewter City, leaving at least one empty tile between them, which will allow the player to walk two tiles past the Youngster. The player must then close the dialogs with the B-button (not the A-button), then immediately press Start and save the game (the cursor is frozen). The player must then reset the game. The conversation will happen again, but the player will not be forced to follow him. The player can continue walking along Route 3, but if the player walks into the Youngster's line of sight from the east, they will walk down infinitely.

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Safari Zone method

This method requires skipping the Youngster at least once with one of the aforementioned methods in order to get to the Safari Zone in Fuchsia City. If the player performs the initial steps of the Glitch City glitch and runs out of steps when the Youngster is escorting the player to the Pokémon Gym, they will be warped back to the Safari Zone gate in the middle of the Youngster's path. Stepping out of the exit brings the player outside of the Pewter City Poké Mart. The Youngster will start to walk back to his initial spot. It is possible to escape to Route 3 while the Youngster is walking back to his initial spot, but the player must be quick. If the player saves the game and resets, the Youngster will turn and keep walking down one step left from the sign, looping back to the top of the screen for a relatively long time making it much easier to get to Route 3.

"Brock Through Walls"

The "Brock Through Walls" glitch is a subglitch of the Pewter Gym skip glitch that allows players to walk through walls after talking to the Youngster from the right, a position that was not foreseen by the developers. Ordinarily, talking to the Youngster from the right will cause the game to softlock; particular prior setups are required to regain player control. This softlock occurs because the player is outside of the coordinates that the game searches to determine the path. To perform the glitch, the player needs to choose Bulbasaur as their first partner Pokémon. The Bulbasaur must be trained to level 8 and taught Leech Seed, Tackle (16 PP remaining), and Growl (36 PP remaining), in that order. Then the player should perform any of the above methods to skip the Youngster. If the player enters and exits a different location and returns to the Youngster, he will still be there. The player then needs to view the stats of their Bulbasaur and speak to the Youngster from the right. Viewing the stats will cause the game to locate Bulbasaur's values, and use those to determine the path. The path that is returned through this method will cause a value overflow that overwrites the buttons that the player is not able to use at any given time, causing the ability to walk through walls. As long as the player doesn't stop walking, it will act just like a regular walk through walls. If the player stops walking, the player will follow a glitch path. Interacting with NPCs, walking through doors, caves, and other entrances, and soft resetting will cause the glitch to end.

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 glitchesOverworld glitches
Charge Beam additional effect chance glitchCharge move replacement glitchChoice item lock glitch
Frozen Zoroark glitchSky Drop glitch
Generation VI GlitchesBattle glitchesOverworld 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 (GOMystery DungeonTCG 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 Project GlitchDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on glitches in the Pokémon games.