This article is about the glitch Pokémon. For other uses of -, see -.
BoEANSprite.png This glitch is in need of research.
Reason: In HGSS
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-----
DP Box.png
Type Category
 Normal  ----- Pokémon
Hexadecimal identifier Exp. at Lv. 100
0000 Unknown
Pokédex
National
#000
Johto
#—
Hoenn
#—
Sinnoh
#—
Unova (BW)
#—
Unova (B2W2)
#—
Games found in
Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver
Ability
-------
Height Weight
0'0" 0.0 lbs.
Pokédex color Body style Footprint Catch rate
Unknown BodyUnknown.png N/A Unknown
Gender ratio
Male only
Egg Groups Egg cycles
No Eggs Discovered (255 steps)
EV yield
HP
?
Atk
?
Def
?
Sp.Atk
?
Sp.Def
?
Speed
?
Exp.
?

-----, commonly referred to by fans as DPBox or invisible Shiny Bulbasaur, is a Normal-type glitch Pokémon in Generation IV. It has the cry of Bulbasaur and is always Shiny. When sent out by the opponent, its sprite is outside of the frame, so it appears to be invisible.

Properties

It doesn't show up on the Pokémon screen and has no usable attacks. It is always male, Shiny, at level 0, and has 0/0 HP. It has the cry of Bulbasaur. After every attack animation, its HP bar disappears. In Double Battles, it copies the Speed of its ally.

If it is attacked in a Single Battle or a Double Battle with no ally, the game will assume there is no target, then end the battle unless it is a Trainer battle and the opponent has more Pokémon. In Double Battles, if a move is used that would hit ----- and other Pokémon, the game simply skips it getting hit.

Controlled by the player

When a Pokémon is used in battle, there is usually a message saying "What will <Pokémon's name> do?"; however, when ----- is in battle, the message instead appears as "Wh t   ll       do?" with small bits of overlaid glitched characters in the first two spaces.

If the player's party only contains ----- or Eggs, the game will detect that the player has no Pokémon left after that turn ends and cause them to black out.

In Double Battles, if accompanied by another Pokémon (other than another -----), it will always automatically use Struggle without allowing the player to select an action.

In Double Battles, when selecting an enemy to attack, the button on the touch screen representing ----- has no sprite or name. However, the icon shown next to the fight button is  .

If ----- is the last Pokémon in the party, and the player tries to add a Pokémon to said party, the Pokémon from the Box will have a party sprite with a different color palette. Then when the Box is exited, the Pokémon will loom over the Box and disappear from the party.

As the opponent

When appearing on the opponent's side of the field, it seems invisible, but actually uses the same sprite as seen in its back sprite, only moved up off the top of the screen. The corners of the sprite become visible when it uses Struggle, and its full sprite can be seen when it falls due to fainting. Its shadow appears off far to the right of where it would be expected to be.

When encountered or sent out, its name appears as "dl dl..." appearing several times; a message displaying its name will have a glitched transition into the next message.

If caught when there are five or less Pokémon in the party, it will take up the next empty slot in the party permanently. If the player tries to withdraw a Pokémon into that space, it will vanish. The only known way to get rid of it is to use a cheat code to replace the ----- with another Pokémon.

In HGSS

When it's a walking Pokémon, it's shown as a normal Bulbasaur. Talking to it crashes the game.

Japanese version

In Japanese versions of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, this glitch Pokémon can be seen when trying to enter a Double Battle in the Seven Stars Restaurant with only one non-fainted Pokémon and one fainted Pokémon. Attempting this with one non-fainted Pokémon and one Egg will not work.

It can also be seen on the player's side when attempting to enter a Double Battle with two fainted Pokémon, an Egg, and a healthy Pokémon in that order in the party.

A third way to see it is by having an Egg as the first Pokémon in the party and any ordinary Pokémon in the second slot and entering a Double Battle from a different place. The glitch does not work when using a Vs. Seeker to enter the Double Battle.

When the battle starts ----- will be visible and when attacked the game will give the message "But there was no target..."

When sent out, it will have Bulbasaur's cry and will sparkle as if it were a Shiny Pokémon.

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


Through the Pomeg glitch

In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, ----- can be sent into battle by battling a Trainer in the Battleground, Pokémon League, or Seven Stars Restaurant while the player's only Pokémon are fainted or Eggs. This is possible through use of the Pomeg glitch.

Performing the glitch

This glitch can be performed against the Elite Four, in the BattlegroundPt, or at the Seven Stars Restaurant if the last conscious non-Egg Pokémon in the player's party is a Pokémon whose level is above 40 but less than 100 with a high amount of HP EVs, whose remaining HP is the same as below.

Remaining HP = (HP lost through use of a Pomeg Berry) - (HP gained through use of a Rare Candy after using a Pomeg Berry)

Then a Pomeg Berry must be used, which makes the Pokémon's HP roll over to a very high number. Then a Rare Candy must be used to level up the Pokémon, causing it to faint. The player does not black out.

By battling at the Pokémon League or Battleground, the player will send out a -----.

At the Seven Stars Restaurant, the player can perform the glitch in a Double Battle. Once the battle starts, the player will send out two -----. Due to being unable to target -----, opponents will target their ally.

This can be performed with one or more Pokémon, as long as all of them are fainted or Eggs. If performed with more than one Pokémon, the second Pokémon will appear in the first slot on the party screen, the third in the second, etc.

During the battle, if the game checks to see if either player has no Pokémon left (whenever a Pokémon takes damage and at the end of each round), the player will automatically black out if the only Pokémon they have are -----. If the glitch is performed with a fainted Pokémon in the second party slot or further and a Revive or Revival Herb is used to revive it mid-battle, the player will not lose; however, at the end of the round the player will be forced to switch it in. If this happens in a Double Battle under this glitch, the Pokémon will replace the left -----; the right -----'s sprite will remain, but its turn will always be skipped.

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


(glitch begins at 5:14)

Through cheating

 
----- in Pokémon Diamond
 
----- on the opponent's side in Pokémon Platinum

Glitched partner Trainer

It can appear when the player "recruits" a partner Trainer or has a following Pokémon from Amity Square (which the game considers to be the same thing) and leaves the area the partner is "supposed" to be by using a walk through walls cheat. The player must then trigger a wild battle. This results in the partner being replaced by a placeholder partner when the player leaves the "recruitment area", making their back sprite identical to the player's and their only Pokémon -----. The reason for this is that when the player leaves the area, the game assumes that the player is no longer traveling with the partner and it changes all of the partner's data back to placeholder data. When triggering a battle, the partner will send out ----- as a placeholder Pokémon. ----- will be one of the two wild Pokémon.

Instant Egg cheat

If a cheat used to instantly receive an Egg from the Day Care Center is used, and there are no Pokémon in Day Care, the Egg received will hatch into ----- in 255 steps. As an Egg, it will also not show up in the party either.

Similar glitch Pokémon

In Generation V

 
-----'s Pokédex entry in Pokémon Black and White
 
-----'s sprite

A Pokémon with the same name is present in Pokémon Black and White; however, it is a completely different Pokémon. It can be encountered the same way as ??????????—by using a cheating device/external modification for a Pokémon that doesn't exist (similarly, the sprite resembles that of ?????????? as well). It can be seen but not obtained without this method by exploiting the Wellspring Cave all-fainted party glitch exclusive to Japanese Black and White and the summary (✓) shortcut in a certain way.

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


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


Trivia

  • ----- has been found to display a long name, repeating the last letter that appeared and overlapping three times as its name, before the player's Pokémon is sent out.

In other languages

-----DPPtHGSS

Language Title
  Japanese ーーーーー
  French -----
  German -----
  Italian -----
  Korean -----
  Spanish -----

―――――BWB2W2

Language Title
  Japanese ―――――
  French ―――――
  German ―――――
  Italian ―――――
  Korean ―――――
  Spanish ―――――


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Generation II: ????? (00GSFCGSFEGSFFGS00CFCCFECFFC)
Glitch EggGlitch Unown
Generation III: -???????????Bad Egg
Generation IV: -----Bad EggGeneration IV hybrid
Generation V: -----Bad EggGlitch Unown
Generation VI: Bad EggGeneration VI 724+ glitch Pokémon


  This glitch Pokémon article is part of Project GlitchDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on glitches in the Pokémon games.