An exploit in Pokemon Legends: Arceus allows players to duplicate Pokemon that appear in trees, rocks, and chests. The bug allows players to encounter, battle, and capture the same Pokemon over and over again, which is significant as it means that players can potentially capture multiple Shiny Pokemon provided they have a bit of luck and time on their hands. And while some glitches risk destabilizing save files or somehow “hacking” the game, this new exploit only requires players to turn off the game’s Autosave function.
The duplication bug is remarkably simple – players start by turning off their autosave. Once they’ve encountered the Pokemon they want to duplicate by shaking trees, breaking up rock ore, or breaking a chest, they then need to save their game manually and then find a cave in the same region and enter it. Once a player has waited 30 minutes, they can then encounter the Pokemon again in the exact same location, even if they caught it before. The new Pokemon will be a duplicate of the original, with the same level, moves, GVs, and ID number as the first one. You can see the duplication bug in action below:
Videos by ComicBook.com
While this method only works with a limited number of Pokemon species, it’s very simple to complete other than the fact that players need to wait 30 minutes for the Pokemon to reappear. Not only is the bug useful for capturing multiple Shiny Pokemon of the same species, it also potentially allows players to capture rare Pokemon like Cherubi or Bonsly that are usually difficult to find outside of Mass Outbreaks.
Now that the duplication bug is out in the open, chances are it will be patched sooner as opposed to later. Game Freak has already released its first post-launch patch for Pokemon Legends: Arceus, which patches a bug that prevented players from catching Cherrim in the wild when it switches between forms during battle. We’ll see if they address this new bug with the next update.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available for the Nintendo Switch now.
