Wiping Mystery Gift cards

[Soniktts]

Hello all,

I've done a few searches and I can't find any answer. Hopefully you can help me.

I have a number of Generation IV and V distribution cartridges. I sent a Deoxys to my Pearl version but the Delivery Man is not there. The Wondercard was downloaded using another DS to my retail Pearl and when I back up the .sav file, it shows the following;

Slot 3 is the Wondercard which does say Unclaimed.

Slot 4 is Partial Cart Data.

The Slot 1 and 2 are occupied and can be redeemed correctly.

I cannot obtain the Deoxys nor can I discard the cartridge without me obtaining it first.

Any ideas on what's happened here? Is there a way to wipe the Mystery Gift information for this save file?

Much appreciated.

[Guest]

You should be able to import a blank .pcd file over saved Mystery Gifts which should remove them.

Then you can delete Used Card IDs from the list as needed.

Actually, don't do this. I figured out that it causes problems.

I would instead recommend using Pokémon Mystery Gift Editor to manually edit Wondercard slots and Gift slots and remove everything you may want to remove.

Edited May 3, 2016 by Guest

[Soniktts]

You should be able to import a blank .pcd file over saved Mystery Gifts which should remove them.

Then you can delete Used Card IDs from the list as needed.

Excellent, that worked. Thank you!

Do you have any idea why this happened at all? It was a new save file and the Delivery Man just wouldn't turn up, but would with other events.

[Guest]

The way Mystery Gifts and Wondercards work in D/P is really weird and different from Platinum/HG/SS. I don't think this sort of thing would happen during normal gameplay though.

Did you do any kind of save editing related to Mystery Gifts before receiving the Deoxys?

[Soniktts]

The way Mystery Gifts and Wondercards work in D/P is really weird and different from Platinum/HG/SS. I don't think this sort of thing would happen during normal gameplay though.

Did you do any kind of save editing related to Mystery Gifts before receiving the Deoxys?

None at all. It's a retail cartridge, never backed up before, fresh save & a retail distribution cartridge from the event I worked myself.

From Google, it appears this problem was apparent during early Diamond and Pearl events. Deoxys is the earliest cartridge event I have. There are a few threads with literally the same issue.

[Guest]

That could be a reason why Game Freak changed the way Mystery Gifts worked when they made Platinum. The D/P system was just too messy and prone to errors.

Could you tell me what were the steps you have done since creating the new save file? What events you received, in what order, etc., everything you did. I'm wondering if I can replicate the problem.

It shouldn't be limited to early D/P events, because as far as I'm aware, they all use the same kind of distribution cartridge, just with a different Wondercard. The difference is that D/P saves the gifts as two different files, Wondercard + gift, and once you claim the gift from the delivery man, the gift still stays there in the save file, except it gets marked as already claimed. In Platinum/HG/SS, the gift itself gets completely cleared out and only the Wondercard file remains.

In D/P, it is messier and gets easier for Wondercards and gifts to actually get mismatched and to glitch out. This never happens in Pt/HG/SS.

[Soniktts]

That could be a reason why Game Freak changed the way Mystery Gifts worked when they made Platinum. The D/P system was just too messy and prone to errors.

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it.

In what way do they differ, by the way? Files are in the same format so I presume it's just the way the hex numbers are presented.

[Guest]

You happened to post while I was editing my previous post to add more info.

[Soniktts]

You happened to post while I was editing my previous post to add more info.

Ha, as per usual.

Well I have the following event cartridges which are specifically to Diamond and Pearl only;

Movie11 Shaymin

GameStop Deoxys

Alamos Darkrai

The rest I have also distribute to HG/SS & Platinum.

I deleted my save data at the main menu by using the standard Up + Select + B, worked my way to the Pokémon Centre in a new save file and then received the events in this order; Machina Arceus (Europe), Movie 11 Shaymin (Europe) & Deoxys Gamestop (US).

Note that the Gamestop Deoxys was the only file to provide the Wondercard + Partial Cart data, not the Shaymin.

[Guest]

So you distributed Arceus Wondercard, then Shaymin Wondercard, then Deoxys Wondercard, and the problem happened? That all you did?

(Also, simple curiosity, do you have the actual distribution cartridges, or are you just using roms on a flashcard?)

[Soniktts]

So you distributed Arceus Wondercard, then Shaymin Wondercard, then Deoxys Wondercard, and the problem happened? That all you did?

(Also, simple curiosity, do you have the actual distribution cartridges, or are you just using roms on a flashcard?)

That's all I did, yeah. This is a really, really old Pearl save with 999:99 hours on that I've used since Day 1, believe it or not. Never backed this up before, so no outside interference.

They're retail distribution cartridges, not ROMs.

[Guest]

Interesting. I wish I could have at least one of the actual cartridges.

For now I have to make do with dumped roms. Trying to collect as many of the genuine roms as I can, never saw the Darkrai one around.

Going to try and do things in the order you've done them. This won't really help with anything, I'm just curious to see if this is something that can be consistently reproduced and happens every time.

Edit: It seems that importing a blank .pcd file in PokéGen may not cleanly wipe Mystery Gift data and cause problems later down the line. It does clear the Wondercard and the Gift slots, but it doesn't clear the Corresponding Card Number flags,

A better option for wiping Mystery Gift data would likely be to use Pokémon Mystery Gift Editor, or Pokésav, as it allows you to directly edit pcd and pgt data separately, along with editing flags.

For research purposes, I'm making a few tests. Going to check a brand new save file with no Wondercards, saved in front of the Pokémart. Then the same save file, with Arceus, then Shaymin, then Deoxys, received via distribution and collected from the Pokémart.

After collecting all three gifts, the cards are still there, obviously. But as I went back in-game every time to collect the gift before receiving another Wondercard, gift slot #1 would be marked as Inactive, with the gift remaining there. Upon receiving the next Wondercard, this gift slot #1 gets replaced with the new gift. Then I pick up that second gift in the Pokémart, which marks the gift as inactive. Then I received Deoxys, which replaced gift slot #1 with Deoxys, and I went to pick it up in the Pokémart then saved the game.

Wondercard Slots 1 through 3 are now Arceus, Shaymin and Deoxys, while Gift Slot 1 is Deoxys, and the rest is blank. The gift is marked as inactive, of course.

However this is where things get a little bit weird. The Deoxys gift says it is associated with Wondercard Slot 1, which is the Arceus wondercard. This happened all within the game itself, no external modifications.

PokéGen reads this as if the Arceus wondercard is unused, and Shaymin/Deoxys have "(Card has been used.)"

Edited May 3, 2016 by Guest