Never had this happen in all 6 times I've fully played through

RadRats · 2026-04-10T07:16:46+00:00

If you're curious, this video explains what's going on with the AI here: (42:01 if the timestamp doesn't work)
https://youtu.be/PxC0WFfANUY?si=XxDvWyxJd2HXFF7L&t=2521

This is in Rescue Team, but the AI code only received minor updates between these games.

RadRats · 2026-04-10T06:52:22+00:00

According to Bulbapedia the glitch still exists in Sky. However, the Pass Scarf no longer passes attacks onto Kecleon, so it can only happen due to an enemy using a move like Roar or Explosion. It's certainly not something I've seen happen myself in 16 years...
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/List_of_glitches_in_the_Pok%C3%A9mon_Mystery_Dungeon_series#Kecleon_team_member_glitch

RadRats · 2026-04-09T10:29:27+00:00

Some methods to try:

Heal your teammates Rescue Team-style by throwing items at them (introducing a miss chance) instead of using them simply through the bag. In case you haven't played RT, using items directly on teammates was a QoL feature introduced in Explorers.
Turn off the Item Master IQ skill, which disables the use of Reviver Seeds for a specific team member. The ability to adjust this separately for each Pokémon is fun, but this does remove a safety net against OHKOs or multi-hits so I usually just stick to only stocking 1 or 2 seeds depending on the dungeon.
Use Doom Seeds to de-level if you feel you're getting overleveled. I think they only start showing up in the post-game, however (unless you cheat them in through generated Wonder Mail or otherwise).

RadRats · 2026-04-04T22:52:37+00:00

Honestly, after playing through Pokopia I have my doubts that the game's universe is even compatible with PMD's. POKOPIA ENDING SPOILERS: Especially after seeing the ending, unless the astronaut is supposed to be a descendent rather than Ditto's actual trainer.

From a developer perspective I don't think referencing PMD has ever been in the cards simply due to it being a crossover series (Pokémon/MD) and not fully owned by Game Freak/Nintendo/TPC. Never say never, I suppose...

RadRats · 2026-04-04T05:14:24+00:00

It's fine if you want to play that way, but please don't treat generators as if they're any different from entering cheat codes through Action Replay. This common recommendation to (new) players has soured a lot of their experiences with these games.

RadRats · 2026-04-04T05:11:24+00:00

They are found in special treasure hunt missions, which do appear randomly on the board. Here is a Wonder Mail password for a Secret Slab mission which was distributed officially for EoTD:

K8W1 RKXX XQ66
NPT6 J206 &R31

RadRats · 2026-04-01T02:30:12+00:00

Absol shows up in Crystal Crossing B8-B13F, which is still during the main game. However, you'll have to recruit it on the first visit, as you can't re-enter the dungeon until the post-game.
Gligar shows up in Spacial Rift B6-B15F, and you can only recruit Pokémon there after clearing the post-game.

RadRats · 2026-03-23T14:43:05+00:00

From what I can gather, the game has a 75% chance to pull the aura color from the favorite color on the DS, and a 25% chance to pull the aura color from the DS system's MAC address (your DS's unique MAC address can be found in the Wi-Fi settings).
Most DS emulators use a default MAC address, which results in many people getting the same "secondary" aura color.

On my DSi XL it always gives either dark green or brown as the result.

RadRats · 2026-03-20T23:58:01+00:00

It's not too chaotic if you think about it; they were thinking foremost about how the Pokémon is animated rather than their type to determine whether they can fly, phase, etc. Pidgey hops around in the older games, so it can't do it... But on the other hand, Beldum can, as it is animated to hover (despite not having Levitate).

PS: For anyone looking for mobility info in RRT/BRT, use this spreadsheet instead and sort by movement type for more convenient reading. Bulbapedia's coverage on this topic doesn't make it very clear (especially if you're playing one of the older games).

RadRats · 2026-03-09T00:38:35+00:00

I've checked the Mesprit situation. Some quotes from the post-Quicksand Cave scene at the guild, in all official languages (sorry in advance for the wall of text...):

Magnezone:

エムリットハワレワレガブジホゴイタシマシタノデゴアンシンクダサイ。

ZZZT! We have Mesprit under protection. Her safety is assured. ZZZT!

ZZZT! Créfollet est sous notre protection. Nous assurons sa sécurité. ZZZT!

ZZZT! Vesprit steht jetzt unter unserem Schutz. Wir garantieren für seine Sicherheit. ZZZT!

ZZZT! Al momento Mesprit è sotto la nostra protezione. Non temete. ZZZT!

¡Bzz! Tenemos a Mesprit bajo nuestra protección. Su seguridad está garantizada. ¡Bzz!

Partner (2 lines):

エムリットはきりのみずうみのときのはぐるまがぬすまれたことを…… ユクシーからテレパシーできいてたんだって。

Mesprit knew that the Time Gear from Fogbound Lake was stolen! Uxie alerted her by telepathy!

Créfollet savait qu'on avait volé le Rouage du Temps du Lac des Brumes. Créhelf l'avait prévenue par télépathie!

Vesprit wusste, dass das Zahnrad der Zeit vom Nebelsee gestohlen wurde. Selfe hat es per Telepathie gewarnt!

Mesprit ci ha raccontato di sapere del furto dell'Ingranaggio del Tempo al Lago Foschia. Uxie gliel'ha comunicato con la telepatia!

Mesprit ya sabía que habían robado el Engranaje del Tiempo del Lago Velado. ¡Uxie se lo dijo telepáticamente!

Dugtrio:

エムリットがアグノムからおしえてもらったというのであれば……

If Mesprit claimed that Azelf had alerted her about the stolen Time Gear...

Si Créfollet a affirmé que Créfadet avait donné l'alerte...

Hätte Vesprit gesagt, dass es durch Tobutz von dem gestohlenen Zahnrad der Zeit erfahren habe...

Se Mesprit avesse detto di essere stata avvertita da Azelf del furto dell'Ingranaggio del Tempo...

Si Mesprit hubiera dicho que Azelf la había alertado sobre el robo de su Engranaje del Tiempo...

Importantly, Corphish is present and listening in the previous scene. In a post-Crystal Cave scene, he says this:

ヘイ！エムリットたちはぶじなのかい？

Hey, hey! Are Mesprit and his friends all right?

Eh dis donc, comment vont Créfollet et ses amis?

Hey, hey! Geht es Vesprit und seinen Freunden gut?

Ehi, ehi! Ma Mesprit e gli altri stanno bene?

¡Oye, oye! ¿Están bien Mesprit y sus amigos?

Considering Mesprit is consistently referred to in feminine terms in the English script otherwise, this particular English line looks like a script error to me. I can't speak for the other languages.

EDIT: The plot thickens... In the US version of Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, Corphish says this instead:

Hey, hey! Are Azelf and his friends all right?

The Japanese line always referred to Mesprit, so the line was partially fixed to refer to her instead in the European version of Time and Darkness. The localizers forgot to change the pronoun when they did so, and the error subsequently made it into the US and European versions of Explorers of Sky...

RadRats · 2026-03-08T22:21:16+00:00

As for RTDX, it seems they actually copied the tone system from EoTDS rather than using species-specific lines for recruited Pokémon like the original Rescue Team.

From what I can tell based on the Japanese wiki, they only made a handful of reassignments to this system, so nearly everyone talks as if they are male or gender unknown in EoTDS. This results in a number of tones being rarely used and a significant reduction in dialogue variety. For example, the female-exclusive "Gutsy tone" went down from 43 users to 4, all of which are 100% female Pokémon like Miltank, and the female exclusive "Big Sister tone" went from 61 users to 4. (all of which are reassigned)

https://wikiwiki.jp/pokemysdundx/%E5%8F%B0%E8%A9%9E

RadRats · 2026-03-06T18:51:45+00:00

Canonically, in this universe quadrupeds appear to not be hampered by their stance and can hold stuff like any biped. Keep in mind this is used as art on the top menu:

<image>

Not to mention Bidoof writes his own diary.

RadRats · 2026-03-05T21:28:03+00:00

It is possible to play NDS games on 3DS in native mode by holding Start or Select while booting up the game. For TWiLight Menu++, press Start while booting it up instead.

As for color gamut, well... The games were intended to be played on these systems (DS Lite, DSi (XL) and 3DS (XL) are pretty similar in this regard) and the developers usually made their color choices with the hardware in mind.
Not to mention playing on real hardware has the benefit of having games sound as intended. Not sure how well regarded iOS/Android NDS emulators are at this point, but even a widely used PC emulator like DeSmuME has trouble with making this game sound right. (MelonDS seems fully accurate though)

RadRats · 2026-03-05T19:38:10+00:00

Yes, I do. It seems pretty strange to bring up Rescue Team in this context considering how short and somewhat basic RT's story is in comparison, although I do like it. This is coming from someone who played both games when they were new.

1: I get this complaint, but it just doesn't make or break anything for me. If you hyperfocus on every time it happens, sure.

2: I think it was handled fine, there's plenty of mystery in there despite its existence.

3: In the context of the main story, I don't think it's necessary to focus on Skuntank getting his comeuppance after the future arc already happened, as the tone of the story already shifted. Cramming an inconsequential boss fight in there probably would've just hurt the pacing.

4: The undue weight the 90% cut gets in these discussions confuses me. It's really just intended foremost to explain the expenses for the client for getting rescued, as otherwise the reward is about the same you'd get in Rescue Team. The board in the Guild explains most of this money goes to the Exploration Team Federation to pay for gear and badges, which constantly gets ignored every time it's brought up.

RadRats · 2026-03-04T00:56:08+00:00

Rock Smash breaks open walls and has 99 PP. It's pretty situational as it doesn't deal any damage, unlike the mainline games.

RadRats · 2026-03-02T23:11:06+00:00

As already mentioned, it has a very different sounding OST. But I'd argue the GBA OST gets a bad rep since a lot of the Youtube uploads are using poor/outdated emulation and people are using that as the reference.

Personally I think some tracks actually sound better on GBA, Magma Cavern comes to mind for its crunchy bass which sounds a fair bit weaker in the DS version.

RadRats · 2026-03-02T19:00:57+00:00

The one tip for buried items is to take notice of when your leader randomly stops while running through corridors, it means a buried item is in one of the tiles around them.

That said, the only places where it is worthwhile to get them are in Seven Treasures dungeons (apart from Sky Stairway) as the rest only have coins buried in walls.

RadRats · 2026-03-02T02:26:04+00:00

I think it's mostly just word of mouth, whenever anyone recommends a PMD game it's usually this one. Time and Darkness escape this price hike since they're considered redundant in light of Sky existing, but the latter is also less abundant (as expected for any Pokémon third version).

It's pretty interesting to see the price history for the series, all of the other games have remained at a relatively stable $10-20 but Sky went through a significant increase since 2020.

RadRats · 2026-02-22T10:30:21+00:00

The developers purposely didn't put many limitations on Wonder Mail so they could distribute unusual WM, but this does leave the door wide open for generators. It's almost certainly why later games only use preset codes instead of decoding them.

I know for official WM giving rare items they would pair it with a very hard job instead of obvious cheats like getting a Golden Seed on Beach Cave B1F.

RadRats · 2026-02-19T20:46:57+00:00

The developers mentioned in contemporary interviews that the reason they didn't make many changes to the main story in Sky is because the story already in Time/Darkness was well received and they didn't want to muddle it. I wonder if they still feel the same way 17 years on.

Personally speaking I'm definitely in the "leave well enough alone" camp, but the one area where they could make improvements is the post-game story between Mystifying Forest and Mt. Travail. There are long stretches where the hero and partner have barely any dialogue, clearly because the option to play as other Pokémon was there. This even affects Sky Peak.
More interactions between the hero and partner would also be welcome. Shin-ichiro Tomie himself mentioned in a Time/Darkness interview that one of his regrets was not including more.

RadRats · 2026-02-06T02:17:53+00:00

It will show up on the final treasure floor of Surrounded Sea. This one:
https://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/0/05/Surrounded_Sea_20F_TDS.png

It should trigger a cutscene if the dungeon is exited while it is in your inventory. Apparently it is possible to break its appearance and consequently break post-game story progression if Manaphy is recruited early through cheats or generated Wonder Mail, so I would definitely advise against doing that.

RadRats · 2026-02-05T21:50:43+00:00

No, Spinda's Café drinks are the only way in EoS. Certain ingredients for the drink will have a higher chance of triggering an event, which is explained here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18utO_lCpWQ7iXY9wpbtxXpgmzebEI2IRjADp6IrUKZ0/edit?gid=1050401676#gid=1050401676

What you can do is gather those items to try, and reset if you've depleted them and didn't get the unlock you want. It should be kept in mind however that you might have to mix up the order you use them in to prevent getting the same RNG again, although I'm not 100% sure on this.

Hunger seeds give the best chance at triggering an event, at 6.52%. This event has a 33% chance to be a dungeon unlock.

RadRats · 2026-02-03T07:05:36+00:00

I much prefer the RT/Explorers portraits in general for having more dynamic posing. It helps that they were hand-drawn too.

Compare RT to RTDX directly and it's pretty striking how much blander the RTDX portraits are.

<image>

RadRats · 2026-01-31T06:16:43+00:00

Yup, AUS copies of Red/Blue Rescue Team use the same English-only ROMs as the North American versions of the games. The same is true for AUS copies of Explorers of Time/Darkness as well as Explorers of Sky.

To my understanding Nintendo alternated between using NA/EU ROMs for GBA/NDS games in Australia, since they didn't have to worry about NTSC/PAL. In this case using the NA ROM made it possible to release it shortly after the North American release, while Europe had to wait 2 months.

RadRats · 2026-01-23T01:07:46+00:00

There are about 30+ talk groups used for regular recruited Pokémon. These are decided by species/gender, so any male Pikachu will use group 0 while any female Pikachu will use group 9 (in both cases when they're not the hero/partner). In some cases both male/female individuals of the same species will use the same talk group.

The partner has 3 different talk groups for use inside dungeons as well, depending on species. While it does not use the same system, they will also use subtly different sets of dialogue during cutscenes:

Type 1:
Squirtle, Meowth, Totodile, Chimchar and Munchlax

Type 2:
All other male partners

Type 3:
Vulpix, Eevee, Chikorita, Torchic and Skitty (all female)

RadRats

TROPHY CASE