While bug-type Pokémon are fun to catch and train up, they're somewhat less enjoyable when they show up in their non-Pokémon form. Some unlucky Pokémon X and Y players in Japan and Europe have reported coming across a far less welcome variety of bug while playing the game itself. It seems that the bug in question causes the game to freeze if the player tries to load a game that was saved at certain locations in Lumiose City. Not only does this cause the game to crash, leaving players staring at blank screens, worse still the save file is corrupted too meaning all progress up to that point is lost. The only option at this point is to start all over again with a new save file. It is worth mentioning that the bug has only been reported by a minority of users, so it's quite possible you may have passed through the Lumiose City area unscathed already - but if you've just reached the town of the Pokemon Professor, it's a good idea to save cautiously - or leave the city limits before doing so.
With players all over the world sinking countless hours into the game, it'll come as a relief to hear that Nintendo are not only aware of the problem, but they're actively working on a solution. Equally horrified that such a bad bug has managed to stay undetected until release, the big N have said that they're aiming to get a fix ready to be distributed over the internet which should not only prevent the issue from occurring, but could also restore the corrupted save data. While there's no exact date given, the news is bound to come as a relief to anyone who's lost hours of their progress - and we can't expect it'll take more than a few days to hit the net.
Whatever you do, don't save here.
Our advice at this point is to make sure you save your game away from Lumiose City until the patch is released and the game is updated. After all, if you've grown as attached to your Pokémon as we have, losing your save file could be an incredibly tough thing to have to put up with - especially if it means saying bye to Bert the Bulbasaur and Fred the Froakie. If you've already experienced the effects of the bug though, hopefully you won't have to wait too long for the issue to be resolved.
It's a shame that this particular bug slipped through the net, but thankfully in the age of internet connected consoles. most things can be patched up fairly quickly. If you've never connected your 3DS to the internet before, it may be an idea to read our handy guide here. With any luck, after the patch is sent out, the only Pokémon bugs we'll be encountering will fit snugly inside a Pokéball.
