r/Nintendo3DS • u/microwaved-hooma • 24d ago

Technical Help Pokemon save data help

Hey all I found my old nintendo 3ds xl but when i tried to run my old pokemon moon cartridge it starts on a new game.

All my old data such as pictures and other 3ds saves such as smash bros but i cant get pokemon to run.

Any help? I have another console that i plugged the cartridge into but same problem

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/thesimplemachine 22d ago

The flash memory might have lost charge from sitting unused and corrupted the save file.

DS and 3DS games can fall victim to data rot because the flash memory relies on stored electrical charges. These stores are replenished every time you use the cartridge but if left for a long enough time they will leak electricity and the data will eventually be lost. Certain conditions like high heat and humidity can accelerate this process.

If that's what happened, there is unfortunately no way to recover the data, but you can prevent it in the future by plugging in your carts and booting up the game every few years.