Surf glitch

This article is about the glitch in Generation IV. For the glitch in Generation I which uses Surf, see List of glitches in Generation I → Statue collision oversight.

The Surf glitch is a glitch found only in the Japanese versions of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl best known for allowing the player to catch the event-only legendary Pokémon Darkrai and Shaymin. It is one of two glitches in Generation IV officially acknowledged by Nintendo, with the other being the broken escalator.

Performing the glitch

Due to a programming mistake, the door in Aaron's room of the Pokémon League can be Surfed through, by facing the door and selecting Surf from the party screen. This allows the player to step into the void around the indoor area and walk to other areas.

By counting steps using the Pokétch pedometer app, the player can travel to Newmoon Island and the Flower Paradise without the event-exclusive Member Card and Oak's Letter items, respectively. The player can proceed to catch Darkrai and Shaymin at these locations, then Fly or Teleport back to a normally-accessible area and resume play.

As this glitch bypasses the usual event flags, neither Pokémon will regenerate if the player later acquires the Member Card or Oak's Letter and travels to the area normally. To partially remedy this, the two event Pokémon were given through direct Mystery Gift distributions rather than Mystery Gift distributions of the event items. The items were not legitimately distributed until the release of Pokémon Platinum, in which the glitch has been fixed as the items now properly work as event flags.

It is also possible to use the Surf glitch to reach other areas, including the Hall of Fame.

It is strongly believed, although not conclusively proven, that the Hall of Origin is inaccessible with this glitch, as it is not an outdoor area unlike the other two event-only areas. Regardless, Arceus is not obtainable with this glitch for several reasons (see here for more information).

Danger

As the void is not intended to be accessed during the normal course of the game, it poses the risk of the player getting trapped with no way out, thus forcing them to either cheat to escape or start their game anew. This is most likely to occur if the player incorrectly follows the steps to reach a desired area and/or saves their game in the wrong place.

Remedy

Nintendo has officially acknowledged the glitch and offered workarounds and methods of recovery. The glitch was removed from international releases of the games.

For both this glitch and the above-mentioned broken escalator glitch, in the case where the player has saved the game while trapped, it is possible to repair the save state with a program that was distributed to DS Download Stations in Japan starting October 27. The player will be transported back outside their house in Twinleaf Town, allowing them to resume the game.

If one does not have access to a DS Station, one may mail their DS game card for repair to Nintendo of Japan at this address:

〒601-8501 京都市南区上鳥羽鉾立町11番地1 
任天堂株式会社　「お客様ご相談窓口　ポケモンＤ＆Ｐ係」

Videos

Performing the glitch in order to get Darkrai

By Crystalmourne

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

Performing the glitch in order to get Shaymin

By Crystalmourne

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

Trivia

• While the Surf glitch has been removed in the international versions of Diamond and Pearl, another glitch that allows the player to enter the void, tweaking, still allows players to catch Darkrai and Shaymin. Like the Surf glitch, there is no way to use it to catch Arceus.

External links

• Surf glitch officially acknowledged by Nintendo

Glitches in the Pokémon games Multiple generations Transform glitches • Glitch Trainers • Cloning glitches • Error messages • Arbitrary code execution Generation I Glitches • Battle glitches • Overworld glitches -- • 0 ERROR • Broken hidden items • Cable Club escape glitch • Dual-type damage misinformation Experience underflow glitch • Fight Safari Zone Pokémon trick • Glitch City • Item duplication glitch • Item underflow Mew glitch • Old man glitch • Pewter Gym skip glitch • Pokémon merge glitch • Rhydon glitch • Rival twins glitch Select glitches (dokokashira door glitch, second type glitch) • Super Glitch Time Capsule exploit • Walking through walls • ZZAZZ glitch Generation II Glitches • Battle glitches Bug-Catching Contest glitch • Celebi Egg glitch • Coin Case glitches • Experience underflow glitch Glitch dimension • Glitch Egg • Teru-sama • Time Capsule exploit • Trainer House glitches • GS Ball mail glitch Generation III Glitches • Battle glitches • Overworld glitches Berry glitch • Dive glitch • Pomeg glitch • Glitzer Popping Generation IV Glitches • Battle glitches • Overworld glitches Acid rain • GTS glitches • Pomeg glitch • Rage glitch Surf glitch • Tweaking • Pal Park Retire glitch Generation V Glitches • Battle glitches • Overworld glitches Charge Beam additional effect chance glitch • Charge move replacement glitch • Choice item lock glitch Frozen Zoroark glitch • Sky Drop glitch Generation VI Glitches • Battle glitches • Overworld glitches Charge Beam additional effect chance glitch • Charge move replacement glitch • Choice item lock glitch Lumiose City save glitch • Symbiosis Eject Button glitch • Toxic sure-hit glitch Generation VII Glitches • Battle glitches Charge Beam additional effect chance glitch • Charge move replacement glitch • Choice item lock glitch Toxic sure-hit glitch • Rollout storage glitch Generation VIII Glitches Charge Beam additional effect chance glitch • Charge move replacement glitch • Choice item lock glitch Toxic sure-hit glitch • Rollout storage glitch • Party item offset glitch Generation IX Glitches Glitch effects Game freeze • Glitch battle • Glitch song Gen I only: Glitch screen • TMTRAINER effect • Inverted sprite Gen II only: Glitch dimension Lists Glitches (GO • Mystery Dungeon • TCG GB • Spin-off) Glitch Pokémon (Gen I • Gen II • Gen III • Gen IV • Gen V • Gen VI • Gen VII • Gen VIII) Glitch moves (Gen I) • Glitch types (Gen I • Gen II)

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