Pokémon Scarlet and Violet got a blowout showcase during Pokémon Day 2023, with two DLC releases announced for the game and new Paradox Pokémon being added as part of a Tera Raid event. Despite that exciting lineup, a massive bug is now locking players out of catching Walking Wake and Iron Leaves entirely.
This gameplay bug is impacting players who are playing the previous version of Scarlet and Violet and trying to enter Tera Raids with the two newest Pokémon.
Upon entering the raid, things will work as intended, but the Pokémon the game produces will be one of the franchise’s most infamous glitches—a Bad Egg.
For players who might not have experienced this before, a Bad Egg is essentially a piece of placeholder data that occurs when the data for a Pokémon is corrupted or does not match up with the game’s calculations. It has been something players have tried to avoid since it was introduced in Gen III and is notorious for causing game-breaking glitches.
It can’t be removed from your save file unless you hack it out of your game, which brings in its own set of problems.
Related: Best counters for the Walking Wake and Iron Leaves Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
According to reports, players who do not update their version of Pokémon Scarlet or Violet to version 1.2.0—the update released earlier today—then go online and enter the Poké Portal could experience this glitch. This seems to be because going online with the previous version and updating the Poké Portal News will put your game into a state where you can still participate in the new five-star raid event without some of the proper files in place from the update to fully implement Walking Wake and Iron Leaves.
How to prevent Bad Egg Tera Raid glitch in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
If you don’t automatically see a Bad Egg pop up as your Tera Raid Boss, this does not mean you are safe. Catching either of the new Paradox Pokémon while under these specific conditions will result in you catching the Bad Egg and locking it to your save file as soon as you save.
Not only will this Bad Egg permanently take up a slot in your PC, but it also counts as your only encounter with either Walking Wake or Iron Leaves depending on the raid you participated in. This means you will be unable to catch another one at all due to the restrictions placed on these event encounters.
In order to avoid this issue, it is recommended you immediately update your copy of Scarlet or Violet to version 1.2.0 when you get on to play. Doing so will prevent you from running into this scenario at all.
If you have run into this problem or don’t know if your game is updated to the latest version, do not catch the Paradox Pokémon from the raids and quit your game without saving before checking for updates from your Switch Home menu.
An emergency fix for this unintended bug could be rolled out in the coming days since players are not typically supposed to be allowed to access online features in Scarlet and Violet without updating their games to the newest versions. But it is best to be very cautious moving forward now.
Update Feb. 28 3:05pm CT: The Pokémon Company has confirmed it is aware of the ongoing issue with the new Tera Raid event that involves Bad Eggs.
A fix is being worked on, but no timeline for when it will be implemented has been shared yet.
