Certain glitches do not cause the game to completely freeze, but rather make it so that no buttons have any effect despite the game continuing to function in other ways. Examples of this include the music still being played, sprites still being animated, and NPCs continuing to move. During such a "softlock," all inputs fail to work and the player must reset the game.
In Generation I
In Generation I, a level 1 Pokémon or a level 171 using Psywave will cause the game to softlock. The level 1 soft lock occurs as the game attempts to generate a random number between 0 and 1.5 × the user's level (rounded down). No such number exists (floor 1×1.5 is still 1), preventing the game from continuing. Similarly, 1.5 × 171 = 256 (0x0100), but because the game only retains the least significant byte, it treats the product as 0.[1]
Glitch experience groups with an equation that involves a division by 0 can cause a soft lock for a glitch Pokémon that uses it[2] after:
- Capturing it.
- Leveling it up.
- Viewing the first page of its summary if it is not level 100.
- Withdrawing it from a box.
- Winning a battle with it gaining experience.
- Talking to the Pokémon Day Care man after the Pokémon was stored there.
- Using the Mew glitch incorrectly (Not making the second Trainer move)
Another division by 0 glitch is caused while battling another Pokémon. If the attacker's Attack or Special stat is higher than 255 and the defender's Defense or Special stat, respectively, is lower than 4, or if the defender's current Defense or Special stat is 512 or 513 and the defender has used Reflect or Light Screen. Also if its current Defense or Special stat is 514 or higher when Reflect or Light Screen, respectively, is up, it will be treated as if it was much lower due to a roll-over glitch.
The Pokémon Yellow glitch Pokémon 4(h4? (hex:ED) uses the glitch hex:FF experience group with a division of 0 in its current experience equation so it is affected by the glitch.[3][4]
The Pewter Gym skip glitch allows the player to bypass the person blocking the path out of Pewter City prior to defeating Brock and then talk to him from the right side, an action the developers did not anticipate. As the path the person walks is dependent on the side the player talks to him from, the game attempts to look up a path based on the player's coordinates. Specifically, the game looks in the memory and tries find the coordinates (y=16, x=36 or hex:10 24) at an address ending in 2, 6, A or E. It then executes a path based on a two byte pointer following the coordinates, but the game may seemingly never find the coordinates at an applicable address and soft lock.
The glitch Pokémon 9 will softlock while being sent out by the player.
In Generation IV
Performing the tweaking glitch can sometimes trigger a softlock or a game freeze.
When accessing the Void through either tweaking or the Surf glitch, if executed improperly it is possible to become trapped and unable to escape.
This also occurs when reloading the map over areas with water if the player hasn't obtained Surf and/or Fly.
In Generation VI
Main article: Lumiose City save glitch
When saving in the North and South Boulevards of Lumiose City, the game may become unresponsive when it is reloaded. Some textures will not load properly and it is impossible to move or use the touchscreen even though the background music still plays normally. This is fixed in version 1.1.
These are all the examples I could find on Bulbapedia.
