How to Clone Pokémon on Pokémon Gold and Silver: 8 Steps

If you grew up with Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver, you probably remember two things very clearly: Johto was magical, and rumors spread across the playground faster than a runaway Raikou. One of the longest-lasting rumors turned out to be gloriously true: yes, you really can clone Pokémon in Gold and Silver.

This trick is one of the most famous Generation II glitches because it is both wonderfully useful and just risky enough to make your palms sweat. Pull it off, and you can duplicate a prized Pokémon, copy a held item, or save yourself from endlessly grinding for rare resources. Miss the timing, and the game may decide to humble you like a strict gym leader with a type advantage.

In this guide, you’ll learn exactly how to clone Pokémon on Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver, why the glitch works, what can go wrong, and how to practice safely. I’ll also add a longer experience-based section at the end, because nothing says “retro gaming” like repeatedly trying a glitch while whispering, “Okay, this time for sure.”

What Is the Pokémon Cloning Glitch in Gold and Silver?

The cloning glitch in Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver takes advantage of the save process that happens when you switch PC boxes. During that save, the game does not handle every chunk of data at the exact same instant. If you reset or power off at just the right moment, the game can end up keeping a copy of the Pokémon in your party while also saving a version in the box.

In plain English: the game briefly gets confused, and you walk away with two copies instead of one. Retro games, bless them, were built with enough charm to make even their bugs memorable.

Before You Start: A Few Smart Safety Tips

Before you go clone your level 100 Typhlosion like a mad scientist in a Pokémon Center, slow down for a second. This glitch is useful, but it is still a glitch. That means there is always some risk.

Use these precautions first

• Practice with a low-value Pokémon before trying it on a favorite team member.
• Stand right next to a PC in a Pokémon Center to save time and reduce mistakes.
• Make sure the box you are using has room available.
• If you want to clone an item, have the Pokémon hold that item first.
• Do not mash buttons wildly once the save prompt appears. This is not a drum solo.

If you mistime the reset, the most common problems are losing the Pokémon you were trying to clone, ending up with a glitched copy, or causing odd box behavior. That is why cautious players always test the timing on something expendable first.

How to Clone Pokémon on Pokémon Gold and Silver: 8 Steps

Here is the step-by-step process. Follow it carefully, because the difference between success and sadness is about the length of one nervous blink.

Step 1: Put the Pokémon you want to clone in your party

The Pokémon you want to duplicate needs to be in your active party, not already sitting in a PC box. If you also want to clone an item, give the item to that Pokémon before you begin.

Example: if you want to duplicate a Master Ball, give it to a Pokémon in your party. When the glitch works, the cloned Pokémon should also carry a cloned copy of the item.

Step 2: Save the game in front of a PC

Go to a Pokémon Center and stand directly in front of the PC. Save your game before doing anything else. This creates your clean starting point, which is important in case your first attempt goes sideways.

Think of this as putting a bookmark in a very old, very cranky book.

Step 3: Access Bill’s PC

Turn on the PC, choose Bill’s PC, and enter the box system. You want to be ready to deposit the Pokémon and then switch boxes without unnecessary menu wandering.

The smoother your movement through the menus, the easier it is to focus on the timing.

Step 4: Deposit the Pokémon into a box

Deposit the Pokémon you want to clone into the current PC box. If the Pokémon is holding an item, leave the item attached. That is how players use this glitch to duplicate rare held items too.

At this point, do not save manually again. The important save comes during the box switch.

Step 5: Choose “Change Box”

After depositing the Pokémon, select the option to change to another box. The game will warn you that changing boxes requires saving.

This is the key moment. Once you confirm the box change, the game starts the save routine that makes the cloning glitch possible.

Step 6: Confirm the save prompt

When the game asks whether you want to save, choose Yes. The message “SAVING… DON’T TURN OFF THE POWER.” will appear.

Now it becomes a timing game. Different players describe the sweet spot slightly differently, because hardware, reflexes, and luck all join the party here. A common rule of thumb is to reset or power off right as the save message fully appears or just as the word “POWER” is visible in full.

Step 7: Reset or power off at the right moment

This is the make-or-break step. As the save message appears, reset the game or power the system off at the precise moment you have chosen to test.

If you do it too early, the save may not catch the box data correctly. If you do it too late, the save may finish normally and nothing will be cloned. If you hit the sweet spot, the game will preserve the Pokémon in your party from the earlier save state while also keeping the boxed version that was written during the interrupted save.

Yes, it feels ridiculous the first time. Yes, that is part of the charm.

Step 8: Restart the game and check your party and box

Turn the game back on and load your save file. Then check both your party and the PC box.

If the glitch worked, the Pokémon will still be in your party and also appear in the PC box. If it was holding an item, the cloned version should also carry a duplicate of that item.

If it did not work, do not panic. Many players need several tries before they get the timing down. Practice with a less important Pokémon until you find the rhythm that works for your setup.

Why Players Use This Glitch

There are a few big reasons players still look up how to clone Pokémon in Pokémon Gold and Silver.

1. Duplicating rare items

This is a huge one. Because held items are duplicated along with the Pokémon, players often use the glitch to copy rare items. That makes this trick about more than collecting duplicate monsters. It can also save serious time.

2. Keeping a “safe” copy of a rare Pokémon

If you have a favorite Pokémon with a rare move, sentimental value, or a hard-earned high level, cloning can let you keep a backup copy. It is basically the retro equivalent of making a save-state with extra drama.

3. Trading without regret

Some players clone a Pokémon before trading it away so they can keep one copy and still share another with a friend. Morally gray? Maybe. Efficient? Extremely.

What Can Go Wrong?

Even though this is one of the better-known and more commonly used glitches in Generation II, it is not foolproof. Here are the risks.

You may lose the Pokémon

If the save interruption lands in the wrong spot, the Pokémon can disappear instead of duplicating. That is the heartbreak scenario, and it is why no sane trainer tests this first on a beloved shiny or an irreplaceable event-style favorite.

You may create glitch data

Sometimes a bad reset can create a corrupted or abnormal Pokémon. These glitched copies may have weird names, broken data, or unpredictable behavior.

Your box data can act strangely

Because the glitch involves interrupting a save tied to PC storage, the box system is the area most likely to behave oddly if something goes wrong.

In other words, use the glitch because you want to have fun, not because you want to transform your save file into a haunted cartridge.

Best Practices for Safer Cloning

• Start with one Pokémon at a time.
• Use an empty or roomy box.
• Practice the reset timing several times before cloning anything valuable.
• Do not immediately save after a suspicious result if something looks off.
• If you get a clearly glitched Pokémon, treat it carefully and avoid building your whole strategy around chaos.

Does This Still Feel Useful Today?

Absolutely. Part of the reason this glitch still gets attention is that it represents a very specific kind of old-school gaming magic. Modern games patch bugs quickly, update servers quietly, and generally refuse to let players get away with anything interesting. Pokémon Gold and Silver, by contrast, feel like old houses with secret creaky floorboards. Step in the right place, and suddenly you’re in a hidden room.

That sense of discovery is a big reason people still search for “how to clone Pokémon on Pokémon Gold and Silver” years later. It is not only about efficiency. It is about touching a weird, beloved piece of gaming history and making it do a little trick on command.

Experience Section: What It Feels Like to Actually Try the Cloning Glitch

The first time you try the cloning glitch in Pokémon Gold or Silver, it feels like you are attempting something halfway between science and superstition. You save in front of the PC, deposit the Pokémon, select “Change Box,” and suddenly your confidence evaporates. The save prompt appears, and now your whole plan depends on a tiny timing window and your ability not to panic. Naturally, this is when your hands remember they are attached to a nervous human.

Most players do not nail it on the first try. Usually, the first few attempts go something like this: too early, too late, nothing happened, try again, maybe that was close, no wait, that was absolutely not close. It becomes weirdly hilarious. You start talking to the screen. You start inventing rules. “Okay, I’ll reset right when the full sentence appears.” Then: “No, maybe right before the word POWER finishes.” Five tries later, you are basically conducting a dramatic performance for a Game Boy.

And then it works.

That moment is fantastic. You reload the game, open your party, see the Pokémon still there, and think, “Interesting.” Then you check the box, and there it is again. Same Pokémon. Same item. Two copies. Your brain instantly upgrades you from “confused person in a Pokémon Center” to “Johto’s leading glitch researcher.”

That little burst of victory is what keeps people coming back to this trick. It is not just that cloning is practical. It is that the glitch makes you feel like you discovered a secret passage hidden behind the wallpaper of the game. You are not merely playing Gold or Silver anymore. You are negotiating with it.

There is also a strange emotional side to the process. In older Pokémon games, every rare item and every trained team member carried weight. You invested real time into these things. So the idea of duplicating a prized Pokémon can feel both thrilling and slightly forbidden, like sneaking extra dessert when nobody is looking. You know the game did not intend it, but the game also forgot to stop you, and that feels like a legal technicality in your favor.

Of course, the glitch can also humble you immediately. If you mis-time the reset and lose the Pokémon you were trying to clone, the mood changes fast. One moment you are a retro genius. The next, you are staring at the screen in silence, reconsidering every life choice that brought you to this Pokémon Center. That emotional swing is part of the full Generation II cloning experience too. It is not polished. It is not safe. It is memorable.

For many longtime fans, this glitch is also tied to the social side of Pokémon. Kids traded tips about it at school, argued about the exact timing, and swore their cousin’s friend’s brother had cloned six starters and three Master Balls in one afternoon. The cloning glitch lived in that wonderful space between fact and folklore until enough players tried it for themselves. Once you finally pull it off, you understand why it became legendary.

So if you decide to try it today, go in with patience, caution, and a sense of humor. Practice on something you can afford to lose. Expect a few failures. Expect one or two dramatic sighs. And when it finally works, enjoy the small burst of retro chaos. Few game glitches are this famous, this useful, and this oddly charming all at once.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to clone Pokémon on Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver is part strategy, part timing, and part old-school nerve. The method itself is simple once you understand the flow: save, deposit, switch boxes, interrupt the save, and check the results. The challenge is in the execution.

If you practice carefully, start with low-risk Pokémon, and accept that a few attempts may fail, this classic Generation II glitch can be both useful and weirdly entertaining. Whether you want to duplicate a rare item, preserve a favorite battler, or just poke at gaming history with a stick, this trick remains one of Johto’s most famous secrets.

Just remember: the game may be old, but it can still punish overconfidence with vintage efficiency.

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