New 'Pokémon Scarlet & Violet' Bug Can Crash the Game During the Final Boss Battle

The gist:

• The recent 2.0.1 update for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet has introduced a game-breaking bug that can cause the game to crash while battling the final boss.
• According to Twitter user mattyoukhana_, the bug only happens when you have Koraidon or Miraidon registered to the Pokédex and by hovering over your fourth, fifth, or sixth party slot during the encounter.
• Having a party of one to three creatures or pressing up to reach the Legendary slot helps avoid the bug.

With the release of update 2.0.1 for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, it seems a new game-breaking bug has been introduced and is causing some trouble for players. In fact, the bug is so bad that it can crash the game entirely during the final boss encounter.

It’s possible you might not come across this at all. However, for those endlessly stuck with the annoying issue, here’s everything you need to know and how to avoid it.

On Oct. 1, Twitter user mattyoukhana_ shared a short clip of Scarlet & Violet crashing while battling the final boss in the Paradise Protection Protocol.

According to them, the bug seems to trigger when you have Koraidon or Miraidon registered to the Pokédex and by hovering over your fourth, fifth, and sixth party slot during the encounter.

The clip shows mattyoukhana_ replicating the steps to crash the game, which supposedly works this way every time.

“I had a similar crash happen here but it only happened when I had new Pokémon from the DLC on my team during this (Ariados and Ogerpon),” said one Twitter poster under the clip.

Another user expressed their frustrations with the bug, saying, “Bro I went through hell from this for like three days straight of just trying the battle over and over again praying for a different outcome.”

We recommend trying workarounds shared by mattyoukhana_ if you’re having trouble. To avoid the bug, you can try using a party of one to three Pokémon or only press up to reach the Legendary slot on the party menu.

“Hopefully Game Freak addresses this in the October patch, and if not, whenever The Indigo Disk releases,” said mattyoukhana_.

Since the post was published, Game Freak has yet to announce potential fixes for the bug.

With how specific and unique the bug is, this could stay as a persisting issue until the next patch. As long as you follow these steps, you can avoid this strange bug and get back to enjoying the game.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is now available on Nintendo Switch.