Missingno.

Missingno.
File:Missingno.jpg National Pokédex 'M - Missingno. (#000) - Bulbasaur
Japanese name	Ketsuban (けつばん)
Evolves from	None
Evolves into	Kangaskhan
Generation	First
Species	Glitch Pokémon
Type	Bird / Normal
Height	? ft ? in (? m)
Weight
Ability	Abilities were introduced in the third generation, which does not feature Missingno.

Missingno. is a well-known glitch found in the Pokémon Red and Blue Game Boy games. Missingno. is an abbreviation of “missing number”; its Japanese name, Ketsuban (けつばん), also means “missing number”. Missingno. and other glitch Pokémon appear in the games due to programming oversights.

How Missingno. is found

The most common way players encounter Missingno. in the Red and Blue versions of Pokémon is by doing the following:

• Going to the northern part of Viridian City and watching the Old Man’s demonstration of how to catch a Pokémon.
• Flying or Teleporting to Cinnabar Island or Fuchsia City.
• Surfing up and down along the east coast of Cinnabar Island or the Seafoam Island closest to Fuchsia City until Missingno. appears. In Pokémon Stadium, the game saves automatically upon encountering Missingno. Depending on the player’s name, Missingno. may not show up.[1], [2]
• Alternatively, a player can also cause Missingno. to appear by trading Pokémon with a friend via a link cable or with one of the in-game traders, then Flying or Teleporting to Cinnabar or the Seafoam Islands and surfing along the coast as mentioned before.

File:Oldmanmisingnoguideversion.png

One way to start the Missingno. capture sequence is to watch the Old Man’s demonstration (also known as the “Coffee Man” due to his liking coffee) in Viridian City.

Missingno. has no Pokédex description, and is not registered in the Pokédex. Encountering a Missingno. (or another glitch Pokémon, like 'M) and running without battling it will add 129 of the sixth item in the player’s inventory. (The item’s quantity will then appear as a pixel blob until brought down to 99 or fewer.[3]) Many players take advantage of this by duplicating rare items like Master Balls and Nuggets. Catching a glitch Pokémon can mess up in-battle graphics and the Hall of Fame data; sending a glitch Pokémon to the storage PC will prevent the player from using the storage system unless they start a new game; and severe glitches can erase saved games or corrupt the entire cartridge.

Reasons why Missingno. appears

When the player watches the Old Man catching a Weedle, the game replaces the player’s graphic and name with those of the Old Man to show the training sequence. The player’s name has to be stored elsewhere for later retrieval, and the programmers decided to store it where information on wild Pokémon availability is usually loaded, since the player won’t encounter any wild Pokémon in Viridian City. When the battle ends, the game retrieves the player’s name from its temporary storage place.[4]

As soon as the player enters an area with wild Pokémon, such as Route 2, the game will overwrite their saved name data with information on the wild Pokémon in the current area. However, Flying or Teleporting directly to another city doesn’t change that data, since cities don’t have wild Pokémon.

This also occurs when trading. When a trainer catches a Pokémon, the player’s name is stored as the Pokémon’s Original Trainer (OT). During a trade, the game basically deletes the Pokémon from one cartridge and re-creates it on the other. In order for a player to receive a Pokémon with a different Original Trainer, that player’s name and ID number are temporarily swapped with those of the person he/she is trading with, and the player’s real name is stored in the wild Pokémon data section (the same data-swapping trick as during the Old Man’s demo). This explains encounters with Missingno. or other Pokémon after trading.

The final reason for Missingno.’s appearance is that Cinnabar Island’s coast is programmed as an area where wild Pokémon are available, but it is not specified which Pokémon! Thus, the game doesn’t overwrite the previous wild Pokémon data, which (due to the Old Man’s demo or a trade) currently holds the player’s name. When a random battle begins, the game checks this data for a wild Pokémon list. Instead of finding a valid list, it will find the player’s name data; but since all the data is stored as numbers, the game doesn’t know the difference.

The player’s name consists of six bytes, which are interpreted as data for three wild Pokémon, whose identities and levels are determined by the letters of the player’s name. (Their identities are determined by the third, fifth, and seventh characters of the player’s name, while their levels are determined by the second, fourth, and sixth characters, respectively.) Each of the bytes has 256 possible values, from 0 to 255. That is why players encounter some of the regular 151 Pokémon, as well as trainers (whose identities are stored the same way as Pokémon are) and glitches (some of the 256 values are undefined). With a little calculation, this is easy to exploit; for example, a player using the name “DxDyDzD” (case-sensitive) will encounter Mewtwo at levels 183, 184, and 185. A player whose name is “??????” will encounter a trainer (although battling trainers this way might erase a saved game). Other characters can be used to encounter Safari Zone Pokémon, starter Pokémon, and other rare Pokémon.[5]

Of the unspecified values, most are programmed to return the name “MISSINGNO.” This prevents the game from crashing if a glitch Pokémon is encountered (it’s good programming practice not to allow the program to crash, even when an unexpected error occurs). Some of the higher values, as well as zero, are not crash-protected in this way. This is why Pokémon like “'M” and “3trainerpoké” appear (and, like the trainers, can erase saved games or even destroy the cartridge).

Many rumors exist about Missingno.. Some players believe Missingno. is a deliberate glitch added by the programmers to aid them in beta-testing (it is also rumored that Cinnabar Island was originally connected to Pallet Town by a bridge), or that Missingno. was going to be the fourth “legendary bird”. The latter myth arose because Missingno. often has its type as Water/Bird: originally the Flying-type was called the Bird-type, but this was changed. Another common tale is that Missingno. and other glitch Pokémon are “Poké-Gods”, a rumor exacerbated by numerous fake screenshots based on Missingno. (of so-called Pokémon like Venustoise, Charcoal, Rainer, and Togepy). In reality, many “Poké-Gods” stemmed from glitches in the Red and Blue, or prototype artwork for the Gold, Silver, and Crystal games.

Appearance and attributes

File:Missingno ghost.jpg

Missingno. may also appear as an unidentified ghost.

The 256 slots for Pokémon graphic data are not all filled. 151 are real Pokémon; 47 are trainers; 38 are Missingno., and the remaining 19 are pure glitches.[6] Since characters and pixel data are all stored as numbers, the characters in the player’s name determine the Pokémon encountered via the Missingno. glitch (see above).

Missingno.’s most common and well-known appearance is as a mass of pixels in a backward "L" shape (see infobox picture). This is also the appearance of the 19 glitch Pokémon which are not named Missingno. (including 'M). Missingno. sometimes appears as the sprite which represents Ghosts in Lavender Tower before the player receives the Silph Scope item. Other types of Missingno. appear as the Aerodactyl or Kabutops fossils from Pewter City’s museum. If the player’s name has a lowercase “y” as the third, fifth, or seventh letter, Missingno. will appear as a Ghost; a lowercase “x” results in the Aerodactyl fossil appearance; and a lowercase “w” results in the Kabutops fossil graphic. (This is because the memory addresses for the Ghost, Aerodactyl fossil, and Kabutops fossil graphics correspond to the numerical identifiers for the “y”, “x”, and “w” characters.)[7]

Missingno.’s icon in the Pokémon menu is also glitched, often appearing as a pixellated Surfing icon or a black blob (it changes based on the player’s location). When used in Pokémon Stadium, it looks like a Substitute doll.

Missingno.’s type, stats (including HP, Attack, Defense, Speed, Special, height, weight, and cry) and attacks vary depending on its identifier (there is more than one Pokémon called “Missingno.”, explained above), the characters in the player’s name, and the player’s currently owned Pokémon. Its most common types are Bird/Normal and Water/Bird, and its most common attacks are Sky Attack, Water Gun, and Water Gun (it knows Water Gun twice). It gains levels erratically, going from level 80 to 136 to 0, or other random changes. Its stats also change randomly, not always growing higher with the level.

When Missingno. grows a level, it will evolve, at any level. The Pokémon it evolves into is random, but the pokémon it evolves into always stays the same after the first time it is evolved, even if another Missingno. is caught. If a Missingno. is defeated, however, it shall give you over one hundred of your sixth item, unless it is your bicycle. If one is caught, it glitches your first hall of fame data.

If a Missingno. is traded to Pokemon Gold or Silver, it will become a Slowpoke, meaning it gives Slowpoke, Slowbro, and Slowking an extra possible move for a crazy moveset (Sky Attack).

Actually, these two results of MissingNo. interacting with the player in a way also works if you just run away.

Other glitches

Missingno. is one of many glitches that occur in the Red and Blue versions. It is arguably the most well-known Pokémon glitch, and has acquired much notoriety. It appears in many Pokémon myths, especially those involving Mew. Actually, the glitch described above cannot make Mew appear on the Cinnabar Island or Seafoam Island coasts; its numerical identifier does not correspond to a letter available for player names. Despite this, Mew’s popularity and Missingno.’s own mystery have secured Missingno. a place in Pokémon culture.

Another glitch Pokémon similar to Missingno. exists, with a glitched name appearing as “'M” (referred to as “'M” or “'M Block”). This “Pokémon” is far stranger than Missingno, causing more frequent and more damaging glitches. It evolves into a Kangaskhan when it is given a Rare Candy, or a Rhydon if allowed to level up on its own. (Rhydon and Kangaskhan are not random: 'M’s identifier is 0, Rhydon’s is 1, and Kangaskhan’s is 2.) Because of this, some people believe it may have originally been intended as a baby Kangaskhan (the one seen in Kangaskhan’s pouch), but this is likely another myth.

When asked about Missingno., Nintendo replied: “When players capture MissingNo, their game can perform strangely, and the graphics will often become scrambled. The MissingNo Pokémon is most often found if the player incorrectly performs the “Fight Safari Zone Pokémon” trick. To fix the scrambled graphics, try releasing the MissingNo Pokémon. If the problem persists, the only solution at this time is to re-start the game. Using the “Fight Safari Zone Pokémon” trick in other areas may cause the MissingNo quirk. If the directions are followed, it will work.”[8]

Also two other glitches include fighting a wild Prof. Oak off the coast of Cinnabar Island. Or if trading twice, the second trade being between a Gengar and Pikachu one of the traders may receive a mysterious pokemon known as '9. In battle '9 uses an attack called Sharpen then in later rounds is able to use an unknown electric type attack called Conversion, Horn Drill and Wrap. The use of '9 however changes graphics and causes problems with your game. The attacks Sharpen and Conversion are only used by Porygon; Sharpen increases Attack (similar to Meditate), and Conversion changes Porygon's type to that of the last attack used against it. It's unclear how these attacks operate when used by '9, however.

Advantages and disadvantages of Missingno.

Encountering Missingno., 'M, and other glitch Pokémon often interferes with the saved game data in various ways. Trainer and Pokémon graphics during battle are corrupted; the Hall of Fame data is extremely glitched (changes in screen color, music, and game speed have been known to occur); and rarely, the entire saved game may be deleted or the cartridge permanently corrupted.

Missingno.’s presence also allows what is known as the “Rare Candy Cheat” or “Item Duplication Cheat”, the Pokémon games’ infamous item duplication bug, which adds 129 of the sixth item in the player’s inventory. It is commonly used to duplicate valuable and hard-to-obtain items, such as Rare Candies and Master Balls. However, the duplication bug can affect any item in the game, not just Rare Candies. Using the bug to duplicate Key Items is possible, allowing the player to obtain more fossils for reviving Kabuto, Omanyte, and Aerodactyl; this is not recommended, as the player cannot get rid of duplicated key items through “tossing” or selling, and they serve only to take up inventory space.

The coasts where Missingno. may be found are used for other cheats as well. If the player Surfs along the coasts after leaving an area where certain wild Pokémon appear, those Pokémon will continue to appear by the coast, even if they are not water-dwelling Pokémon. This is because Surfing along the coasts does not overwrite the data for which wild Pokémon are available, and if the player’s name has not been stored in that area through one of the procedures above, the previous wild Pokémon will appear. This glitch can be used to fight Pokémon from the Safari Zone in a normal battle.

Also when doing the Missingno glitch you may encounter Pokemon over level 100. If you catch one, you can level it up to 255 with rare candies. At 256 it will level down to zero. If you try to train it,it will go back down to level 100.

Missingno. in other games

In all later Pokémon games there exist glitch “Pokémon” similar to Missingno. that are obtainable through cheating devices. Players often refer to these anomalies as “Missingno.” even though none of them explicitly carry the name “Missingno.” within the games. For more information on second- and third-generation glitches, see “Question mark glitches in Pokémon”.

Missingno. in Pokémon Yellow

File:Missingnoyellowversion.jpg

In a link battle between the Yellow version and another game, Yellow’s perspective of Missingno. is a glitch box that depends on the other Pokémon’s apearance.

When Pokémon Yellow was released, the east coasts of Cinnabar Island and Seafoam Island were reprogrammed to disallow random encounters. However, some time after Yellow was released, a new glitch was discovered that allowed battles with any Pokémon, including Missingno. and Mew. This is explained in the Glitch Guide on GameFAQs’ Pokémon Yellow page. Sometimes when encountering Missingno. or 'M in Pokémon Yellow, their names will appear as 3trainerpoké or some such garbage.

A Yellow-version player can also receive a Missingno. by trading with a Red or Blue version player. In this case, Missingno. will affect the Yellow version in the same way it affected the Red or Blue versions, including corrupting the Hall of Fame data. In some instances, a Missingno. traded from Red or Blue to a Yellow version will become a Rhydon or Kangaskhan for the same reasons Missingno. and 'M can evolve into those Pokémon.

There is also another way to get Missingno. on Yellow.

1. Outside the underground path between Celedon and Lavender, there is a bald trainer. For this cheat to work, you need to have not battled him before.
3. Go above him, until he turns round. Just before there is an exclamation mark above his head, go to the start menu and fly to Lavender Town.
5. Go into the Pokemon Tower and fight a Channeler (important: make sure the Channeler walks up to you, or the game freezes)
6. Head out and walk back to the Gambler (not fly). Before you can go, the start bar comes up.
7. Close it and a Lv. 7 Missingno will appear. (The game might freeze - if it does, wait for 2 minutes)

In Pokémon Stadium

Missingno. and 'M can be uploaded to Pokémon Stadium, and (if the game doesn’t freeze) will look like Substitute dolls (small Rhydon or Kangaskhan-like figures that appear when a Pokémon uses the Substitute attack). Missingno.’s graphic is purple and 'M’s is blue. When viewed in the Pokémon Center, all of Missingno.’s stats will be question marks (including the Pokédex species ID number, even though the Game Boy versions identify Missingno. and 'M as #000). However, Missingno. will not be allowed to battle, nor will it function correctly in the Gallery (in which players can take pictures of Pokémon). Photos of it will not develop if taken.[9]

If Missingno. or any other glitch Pokémon is selected in the “see list”, the game will freeze, playing the music without the bass track in the background. If a player tries to view Missingno.’s stats, the game will also freeze on occasion.[10]

The second generation

Missingno. cannot be traded to Pokémon Gold and Silver because the data slots once filled by Missingno. in the first generation are filled by real Pokémon in the second generation. In the trade center, Missingno. appears as whatever second-generation Pokémon corresponds to that Missingno.’s numerical identifier, often a Remoraid or Tyrogue. When the players try to trade Missingno., a message appears stating “Your friend’s [Missingno.’s name] appears to be abnormal.” and the trade is cancelled automatically. Less often, Missingno. can be traded, in which case it turns into the Pokémon it was displayed as.

Similar problems present themselves when attempting to transfer Missingno. or 'M to Pokémon Stadium 2 (USA). If successfully transferred, Missingno. and 'M will become a Ditto.

Trivia

Oddly enough, Missingno is one of the the top suggestions for new characters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is frequently mentioned on the Nsider forums and is even on the japanese character suggestion list on the offical Super Smash Bros. Brawl website.

References/External links

• Ghost/Skeleton type MissingNOs, mirrored from Pokemon Paranormal Research Lab/Glitch City
• GameFAQs FAQ, details inner workings of the glitch
• Tales from the Glitch at TR’s Rockin!
• Glitch City, a site about such glitches
• Mew’s Pokémon Information Zone -- info on Missingno.
• Missingno. and ’M at Professor Glitch’s Laboratory
• Over 100 Items at Poké Glitch
• MissingNo Mystery Solved
• http://www.cheatsnetwork.com/cheats/2480.html
• http://www.edgecheats.com/cheats/2480.html
• http://www.gamerevolution.com/cheat/gameboy/pokemon_bluered
• http://www.dmwright.com/cheats/database/nintendo_game_boy/cheats/gb_pokemon_hints.htm
• http://www.console-cheats.com/nintendo64/PokemonStadium.shtml
• http://www.trsrockin.com/index.html