Diamond & Pearl players found a Pokemon cloning glitch and it's breaking the remakes

February 2022 · 3 minute read

A Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl player has discovered a way to clone Pokemon, making Legendary ‘mon like Dialga and Palkia easier to get than ever.

The cloning glitch is something many long-time fans feel nostalgic for. In Red and Blue, trainers would trade with another player locally and pull out the Link Cable before the swap was completed, resulting in duplication.

It appears the error is back in the Sinnoh remakes, with many Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl players creating clones of their favorite ‘mon and Legendaries in mere seconds.

This glitch uses the Pokemon Box to duplicate ‘mon.

Pokemon BDSP has a cloning glitch

Trainer ‘kevinfor5‘ discovered the bug on November 22 and posted a clip of it in action on Twitter. User ‘Orcastraw’ then translated it into an easy-to-follow guide, which we have laid out below.

Because this is 2021 and not 1996, there’s no Link Cable involved and it’s very simple to clone your ‘mon. You just need to have reached Solaceon Town after Gym #2:

  • Go to the Nursery and open your Boxes.
  • Move two Pokemon to the bottom right corner of Boxes 1 and 2.
  • Put the one from Box 1 in your Battle Box. You press X twice to access it.
  • Talk to the Nursery Lady at the counter and select the ‘mon from Box 2 but don’t confirm yet.
  • Click on “Box List” and then press Y twice and switch Box 1 and Box 2 around. Now you can give your Pokemon to the Lady.
  • Open your Boxes again and you’ll see a glitched ‘mon in the Battle Box.
  • Move a Pokemon you don’t mind deleting into the Battle Box, and then the one you want to clone.
  • Go to “Check summary” on the cloning one and then back out. You should now see multiple!

    • Original thread: https://t.co/trjpG5Sk16

    — Kaitlyn Molinas (@orcastraw) November 23, 2021

    Dexerto has tested the cloning glitch and it works as of update 1.1.1. The Pokemon Company and ILCA will no doubt patch this soon, though, so if you have anything you want to duplicate, you may want to look into it at your own risk.

    It’s not an intended feature so just bear in mind that, like every exploit, there is a slight possibility that it could corrupt your save file. You’ve been warned!

    This has big implications for the trading scene, especially with hackers already finding ways to get Shaymin, Darkrai, Celebi, and Deoxys in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, despite them not being available officially at the time of writing.

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