Absurd Pokémon Scarlet and Violet bugs: from windmill arms to invisible bikes

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s recent release has fans of the series talking – but not necessarily for the right reasons.

Comb the Twitter feeds of tech-savvy Pokémon trainers, who have already begun their journey in Paldea, and you’ll find a mixed bag of reviews. Among the usual cute Pokémon clips and thoughtful opinions are examples of some of the most outlandish Pokémon bugs ever seen in the 26-year-old series to date – some of which we’ve experienced ourselves. In her Pokémon Scarlet and Violet review, TRG’s Cat Bussell said the games were “replete with framerate drops, performance issues, and more than the occasional bug.”

Luckily for Japanese developer Game Freak, however, many Pokémon fanatics are seeing the funny side of these bugs and glitches – in fact, some are even helpful. From useful hacks to straight-up silliness, we’ve rounded up the most bizarre Pokémon Scarlet and Violet bugs and glitches we’ve spotted online right here for you to enjoy. 

 Pokémon-ster mash 

Playing Pokémon is as easy as riding a bike; if you’ve done it once, you can do it again. But Scarlet and Violet has some players begging the question: what if that bike were invisible?

That’s what Twitter user OoCPokemon shows us in the above clip, where the player is seen moving about on an invisible machine that seems to resemble a bike.

But wait: what if the bike weren’t a bike, but a Legendary Pokémon called Koraidon or Miraidon? And what if you got to drive it through your friend’s bodies (without hurting them, of course) whilst growing an extra five feet like some sort of horrifying, cycle-enthused Slenderman? 

The two glitches above seem to activate when toggling your trusty vehicle-slash-Pokémon friend that accompanies you fresh out the box – Koraidon for Pokémon Scarlet owners, and Miraidon if you’ve picked up Pokémon Violet. Players have found some truly strange glitches when playing in co-op mode, so it’s worth joining forces with a buddy to see what fresh hell your poor, overworked Nintendo Switch conjures up.

Bug-eyed

Oh, and talking of co-op mode, this glitch likely had many players’ eyes wide with shock when they first stumbled upon it. Kocha8164 on Twitter shared this bizarre clip from the game where one of the two characters on the screen appears to have their physical assets totally bugged out, with their eyes popping out of their face as in an old Cartoon Network show. 

It’s both creepy and funny, but we see how this one could get annoying after awhile.

What goes up...

If you were looking for something a bit more on the serious front, however, Twitter user ZullieTheWitch has you covered with this glitch discovery that is is actually helpful.

According to the above clip, you can manipulate the game to let you climb high terrain simply by jumping at a wall and quickly moving backwards. This allows you to totally bypass areas of the map, which isn’t necessarily a great thing if you’re exploring the game for the first time, but will save you lots of time if you need to backtrack at all.

Triple whammy

Finally, this last glitch gives a whole new meaning to the term “air guitar”. Twitter user Kalhan R shared a clip where one of their characters seemed to be experiencing some, er, difficulties with their movement, with their arms and head flailing about comically.

MissingNo-thing

It’s too early to tell if Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will rank highly on the lists of best Pokémon games ever, but just because the game is plagued by a litany of bugs doesn’t mean that it won’t.

We can tell as much from the high ranking of Pokemon Go, which has seen its fair share of bugginess on and off since its 2016 release.

Although widely seen as a negative thing, Pokémon games are notorious for their glitches. The most famous of these has got to be Pokémon Red and Blue’s mysterious case of the 152nd Pokémon, MissingNo. 

This bug created an entirely new Pokémon if the player followed a specific set of instructions, and MissingNo even let you duplicate your items – which is actually another bug in and of itself in Scarlet and Violet.

Despite the bugs, glitches, and other technical issues which are highly indicative of the Switch’s less-than-brawny framework, Scarlet and Violet still raked in the coin after selling over ten million copies in three days.

There’s quite a lot of damage control to do, but if Game Freak can make it up to users who are feeling put out by the bugs whilst still letting us keep that sneaky uphill maneuver, I’d be happy about it.

• Here's the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet starter that you should pick.