Corrupted Pokémon

File:Corrupted Pokémon.png
 File:MD LitS Keakea.png
**Corrupted Pokémon** (Japanese: **グリチポケモン** *Glitch Pokémon*) are Pokémon that are created occasionally by the ambient energy of Arcadia. They appear in Pokémon Lithos and Helios, as well as the remake Pokémon Starlight. In the former case, catching Corrupted Pokémon is a specific requirement to complete the Arcadian Pokédex.

They also appear in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Light in the Shadows, referred to as **Corrupted Souls** (Japanese: **ブローケハーットポケモン** *broken-heart Pokémon*).

## Background

Arcadia is a strange land, whose Areas are frequently baked in the corruption referred to as the Glitch City, and it is said that if a non-Glitch-type Pokémon is born while under the effects of the Glitch City, they will become a Corrupted Pokémon.

In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Light in the Shadows, the backstory of Corrupted Souls are slightly different compared to Corrupted Pokémon, owing to the fact that Laniakea has no true connection to Arcadia. Instead, corrupted souls are the result of drawing energy from the human world, and similarly to Shadow Pokémon from Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, are often-crazed Pokémon usually created forcefully by Nilheim, though not to be confused by those suffering from astral sickness (LitS) due to staying in a Mystery Dungeon too long - as astral sickness is generally curable, while a corrupted soul isn't.

### Differences from normal Pokémon

Corrupted Pokémon have several differences from normal Pokémon of the same species.

Most Corrupted Pokémon have their color palettes tweaked. A Corrupted Pokémon will frequently look either grayscale or with a greenish hue in comparison to their normal counterpart. This is partially generation-specific: non-Legendary Pokémon introduced in Generation AN-I, or Generation I through III, will always become grayscale, while others will use a different color palette, usually making it appear to be tinted green, or to be grayscale. (Non-grayscale color palettes are technically just a grayscale color palette with a tint applied to it.) In the Mystery Dungeon series, this may also be accompanied by "dead pixels" (reminiscent of the "glitch boxes" of Pixeleon) or "static tears" (reminiscent of the screen of a sleeping Nashicom or wing pattern of a Treblair).

Additionally, Corrupted Pokémon will have their type changed to be partially Glitch-type. There is an algorithm behind this, which is virtually identical to that of Terastal in Generation AN-I:

* If the Pokémon originally has a single type: Simply add the Glitch type, except in the two special cases detailed in the "Obtaining" section.
* If the Pokémon originally has two types...
	+ ...and either type is Normal: Replace Normal-type with Glitch-type.
	+ ...and either type is Flying, but the other type is not Normal: Replace Flying-type with Glitch-type.
	+ Otherwise: Replace the secondary type with Glitch-type; keep the primary type.

A Corrupted Pokémon will also have one of its moves replaced with a Glitch-type move, referred to as a Corruption Move. This is also evolutionary line dependent, but is not algorithmic like the color palette.

A Corrupted Pokémon in Pokémon Lithos, Helios, and Starlight will also start off with a different happiness value (of 40), and also will not trust the player until their happiness reaches 120. Before this point, a Corrupted Pokémon will have a 25% chance of disobeying the player if their happiness is between 40 and 80, and a 12.5% chance of disobeying the player if their happiness is between 80 and 120.

Finally, a Corrupted Pokémon cannot use TMs or TRs, but can use GMs after their introduction in Generation AN-IV.

#### Example

Say a Fletchling is generated as a corrupted Pokémon. Fletchling is from Generation VI, therefore its color palette is not grayscale; instead it gains a purple color palette based on Gengar. Since it is a Normal/Flying type, it falls under the first case of the two-type branch, and thus becomes a Flying/Glitch type. Its Corruption Move is defined as Processing Power, and as such it will know this move when encountered or hatched.

Its Evolutions, Fletchinder and Talonflame, have different index numbers (662 and 663), but because they both Evolve from Fletchling, the same palette (Gengar) and Corruption Move (Processing Power) is used for them. However, Fletchling becomes a Fire/Flying type after Evolving into Fletchinder, which it keeps as Talonflame. Therefore, both now fall under the second case of the two-type branch, and become a Fire/Glitch type instead of a Flying/Glitch type.

### Obtaining

In Pokémon Lithos and Helios, any wild Pokémon generated in Arcadia will have a 5% chance of being a Corrupted Pokémon of the same species, except Eevee, who is replaced with an Arcadian Eevee (as this technically is Eevee's corrupted variant), and Pokémon in the Ditto or Ultra Egg Groups, which will be replaced with a Amniball. This chance is raised to 10% if the area is currently experiencing a Glitch City.

In Pokémon Starlight, in addition to the above, any Egg hatched within Arcadia will have a 50% chance of becoming its Corrupted variant. However, if the Egg would hatch into a Pokémon that cannot be corrupted in the wild (Eevee, Ditto, Totizoa, Legendary Pokémon, Mythical Pokémon, and the Ultra Beasts), it will instead become a corrupted Togepi.

## Similarity to Shadow Pokémon

Corrupted Pokémon are similar to Shadow Pokémon, in that they are an alteration of an existing species, that has a unique type and different moves to a normal Pokémon. However, there are several key differences:

* Glitch Pokémon do not have an analogue to either Hyper Mode or Reverse Mode.
* Shadow Pokémon do not disobey the player.
* Glitch Pokémon have their type changed, rather than just having moves that the species can't normally learn.
* Glitch Pokémon cannot be purified.
* Glitch Pokémon can gain Experience, level up, evolve, have their moves replaced, have a nickname, be traded, and be used in battle facilities and online play.

## Differences between Pokémon Lithos, Helios, and Starlight and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Light in the Shadows

While Corrupted Pokémon from the main series and Corrupted Souls from the Mystery Dungeon series are essentially the same concept, there are some differences:

* Corrupted Pokémon are a natural occurrence, while Corrupted Souls are not.
* In the main series, Corrupted Pokémon have a chance to disobey the player until they "trust" them (by their happiness exceeding 120, or being caught in a Friend Ball). This is not inherent in the Mystery Dungeon series (though a Dilly-Dallier Corrupted Soul may still disobey if given a direct order).

## Trivia

* The Corrupted Togepi obtained from attempting to hatch an illegal Corrupted Pokémon is a reference to the Bad Egg glitch found in all canon Pokémon games after Generation III.
* While most Pokémon's base happiness is higher than 40, resulting in the base happiness of a Corrupted Pokémon being lowered, several do not: Buneary and Luzure (with their base happiness of 0), most pseudo-legendary Pokémon, and several others (with a base happiness of 35).