Pokemon Scarlet & Violet player finds classic ‘MissingNo’ glitch in game

Michael Gwilliam
MissingNo in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

A Pokemon Scarlet & Violet player got taken for a trip down memory lane when they ended up finding what appeared to be the classic ‘MissingNo’ glitch in their game.

In the olden days when there were only 151 Pokemon, trainers who played Pokemon Red & Blue stumbled across one of the most iconic glitches in gaming – MissingNo and it seems like the fake ‘Mon has infiltrated the ninth generation too.

Pokemon Red & Blue’s MissingNo glitch was famous for helping players cheat. By surfing into the top of Cinnabar Island’s gym, a MissingNo will appear. By killing the strange fake Pokemon, items in your bag will duplicate, resulting in a lot of rare candies and Master Balls.

MissingNo is basically a weird sprite containing a bunch of glitched-out pixels that form an “L” shape, but players were baffled when it somehow popped up in the latest Pokemon games.

Pokemon players find ‘MissingNo’ in Scarlet & Violet

In a post on the Scarlet & Violet subreddit, a user posted a photo of their shiny Donphan, but the Pokemon had a very strange glitch-like pattern.

While the original user joked that it was a “rainbow skin” leading others to comment that it was celebrating Pride Month, others noticed the similarities between the pattern and MissingNo.

“MissingNo?!” one exclaimed. “HE’S BACK! HE IS BACK!”

“Honestly I’d be happy if MissingNo returned,” another remarked.

“The Donphan is about to evolve into MissingNo,” someone else replied.

Of course, MissingNo isn’t actually in Scarlet & Violet, so this is probably the closest thing we’ll get to being reunited with our old friend of yesteryear on the Nintendo Switch.

That said, considering the warm welcome the glitch received, it may be time for Game Freak to resurrect the fake Pokemon in some capacity when Generation 10 eventually releases.

About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam