Pokemon Legends: Z-A Glitches that STILL WORK

Host / context

Video by EHD (footage recorded on Switch 2). Covers glitches still working after the Mega Dimension DLC and 2.0.x patches, plus some DLC-only exploits for donuts, shinies and loot. Notes: some large glitches were patched (bench-walking, alpha-spawn overload, shiny duplication). The video shows surviving glitches and a few that no longer work.

Main storyline / gameplay highlights

• General praise for movement, the battle system, and characters in Lumiose City and the Mega Dimension DLC (Hyperspace, Rayquaza fight, special scans).
• DLC additions:
  • Hyperspace surveys and special scans.
  • Donuts with powers (e.g., Sparkling Power).
  • Five-star zones that grant high-tier loot and boosted/guaranteed shiny spawns when donuts have the right powers.

Glitches, exploits and useful tips

Below are grouped glitches/exploits with step summaries where relevant.

1) Bring wild Pokémon outside their Wild Zone (fun/unique)

Works with wild Pokémon that aggro and then temporarily disappear (Dig, Bounce, Phantom Force).

Steps:

1. Aggro the wild Pokémon and lead it to a zone exit.
2. Wait for it to use Dig (or Bounce), then walk out the exit while it’s underground.
3. The Pokémon will pop up outside the wild zone in a “panic” state (won’t target you).
4. Pause, save and reset — after reload the Pokémon will target normally and can be battled/caught in the new zone.

Uses: parade an alpha through Lumio City, or place species in zones where they don’t normally spawn.

2) Backup-save exploit — reroll donuts, pick shinies, and farm specific loot (DLC, very useful)

Key mechanics:

• A backup save is created only when you fast-travel or heal at a Pokémon Center (not overwritten by normal autosaves).
• To load a backup from the title screen: hold Up (stick or D‑pad) + X + B at the title screen to bring up the backup-save menu.

Donut reroll / get desired powers:

• Heal at a Pokémon Center (creates backup). Craft a donut. If powers aren’t desired, close the game, reload backup and retry.
• Sparkling Power 3 requires ≥420 Sweet stat (700+ does not further increase odds beyond ≥420).

Guaranteed/hand-select shinies in Hyperspace:

• Make a donut with the matching Sparkling power and enter the matching hyperspace zone.
• Find the guaranteed shiny, or close the game and reload the backup to reroll until you get the exact species/alpha/shiny you want.

Loot (rare balls, bottle caps, berries):

• Use five-star special scans (battle or wild) and a suitable donut (item-power or just five-star).
• Battle zones: defeat a specific NPC (e.g., a collector with Ultra Ball cap gives rare balls). Autosave triggers after defeat but before claiming—reload to reroll their drop.
• Wild zones: use item-power donuts, break floating Pokéballs, save in front of the gold ball; reload to reroll if unsatisfied.

Big benefit: massive time saved rerolling expensive resources and desired outcomes.

3) Hyperspace survey cutscene bug (DLC progress stall)

• Symptom: If you max research mid-mission/cutscene, the game may not trigger the “survey complete” story cutscene and the story won’t progress.
• Fix/workaround: Enter another hyperspace portal and complete at least one mission/cutscene; the missing cutscene should then play and progress resumes.
• Note: patch notes claim it was fixed, but the presenter still found conditions that can trigger it, so the workaround remains useful.

4) Small visual and animation glitches (harmless/funny)

• Draco Meteor briefly clears certain lighting/fog, revealing a low-res/faded distant world for a few seconds.
• Defeating a moving Pokémon mid-air can cause its model to snap back/teleport oddly during withdrawal.
• NPC Pokéball leftover in double team-ups: sometimes a partner’s Pokéball model remains visible during throw-in cutscenes.

5) Getting stuck (player or Pokémon)

• Pokémon poking through ceilings/walls (e.g., Feraligator with Aqua Jet); they generally teleport back if you move away.
• Player stuck sliding by a lamp post: running into a lamp post at a specific angle can trigger a stuck/falling animation that fades to black and teleports you back to the Pokémon Center (fail-safe).
• Roof bench corners can trap you briefly — teleporting/warping solves it.
• Ladder desync / ROM glide ladder gap: rom-glide + quick climb can desync your model creating a visual gap from the ladder (visual only).
• Wild Pokémon stuck under roofs/shingles — use withdraw or safe ranged attacks to defeat/catch high-level alphas safely.

6) ZA Royale / camera and victory sequence oddities

• If the final knock-out lands while your character is falling or on a ladder, the victory camera doesn’t zoom in and you can free-pan the camera during the victory animation — a neat cinematic effect and small exploit.

7) Floating buildings & world seams

• Example: a building in the John district floats above a pit exposing the void underneath (visual only).

8) Canary NPC interaction oddity

• Canary can be talked to through a room wall in one spot — dialogue appears even though there’s a wall between you and her.

9) Day/night cutscene silence / delayed cutscene & blackout timing

• Jumping/falling while a day-night transition/cutscene triggers can mute audio until the sequence completes.
• Being attacked and knocked out while on ladders or mid-fall produces delayed blackout animations (HUD disappears, then a pause before the usual kneel/teleport).

10) Useful roof movement tricks

• You can jump/climb certain slanted roofs even without a visible platform by holding forward and using ROM glide timing — helps reach places faster.

Patched-out (no longer works in latest update)

• Bench-walking (airwalk while dialog box open): previously allowed floating across the map, seeing low-res areas, clipping out of tutorial, and walking up to the Prism Tower. Now patched (dialogue delayed until you stop moving).
• Shiny duplication (lure a shiny far from spawn, save/reset, lure further, save/reset, reload and duplicate) — patched.
• Alpha spawn overload under the Tower (repeat lure/save/reset to multiply alpha spawns up to 6 under the ruined tower) — patched (but instances created pre-patch can remain).

Other small mentions / curiosities

• Rare cutscene/name text bugs in the final “Here in Lumio City” mission (some dialogue shows “Charizard, the Pokémon’s name” instead of the trainer’s name) — clip from Callum demonstrates it.
• Some behaviors resemble legacy engine bugs (similarities to Scarlet/Violet were noted).
• A floating building clip was found by “small ant.”

Practical tips & quick references

• Create a backup save by fast-traveling or healing at a Pokémon Center before any exploit you might want to reroll.
• Load backup from the title screen: hold Up + X + B at the title screen (hold before title appears or right when it appears).
• For Sparkling Power 3 on donuts: aim for at least 420 Sweet stat.
• If a DLC hyperspace survey appears complete but the story doesn’t progress, enter another portal and complete a mission to trigger the missing cutscene.

Featured gamers / sources

• EHD (video creator / narrator)
• small ant (floating building clip)
• Callum (YouTube clip of the mission text bug)
• Reddit (community reports referenced)

Footage recorded on Switch 2; some references and speculation about Switch One behavior were also mentioned.