Game-Breaking Bug Enhances Nightmare Cat in Pokémon Champions

Incineroar may look like a hulking tiger wrestler, but it’s actually known for its annoying support moves in the competitive Pokémon scene rather than its raw power. Its ability to disrupt opponents and weaken their stats has made it a staple in ranked play in Pokémon Champions. However, a game-breaking glitch has made this fire/dark-type even more of a nuisance, and if it isn’t addressed soon, things could get out of hand.

In Pokémon games, certain moves allow you to swap Pokémon out of battle with additional effects, rather than just switching to a benched teammate and wasting a turn. Incineroar has a move called Parting Shot, which lets it switch out while also lowering the target’s attack and special attack stats. Normally, moves like Parting Shot only allow you to bring in a different Pokémon, but players in Champions have discovered a glitch that enables them to send out a Pokémon that uses the same pivot move to exit the battle.

I tested the “send yourself back in after pivot move timeout” glitch after today’s maintenance, and I was able to replicate it. This is a significant bug if players can exploit it.

Why would anyone want to do this when the purpose of these moves is to let a Pokémon retreat? In Incineroar’s case, its Intimidate ability lowers the opponent’s attack stat every time it enters the battle. With this glitch, Incineroar could potentially lower its foe’s attack stat three times in a single turn: once with its initial Intimidate, again with Parting Shot, and a final time when it returns to the field.

Intimidate is already one of the most powerful abilities in Pokémon, giving opponents a disadvantage right from the start. This pivot move glitch allows Incineroar to capitalize on that even further in one turn. Hopefully, this bug gets fixed soon. Otherwise, I’ll be countering every match against an Incineroar user with my Mirror Armor Corviknight, which reflects stat debuffs back at the user.