this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2025
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Pokémon
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Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of video games, animated series and films, a trading card game, and other related media. The franchise takes place in a shared universe in which humans co-exist with creatures known as Pokémon, a large variety of species endowed with special powers. The franchise's primary target audience is children aged 5 to 12, but it is known to attract people of all ages.
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Did it get bumped or jostled at all? If you turn it on, can you reproduce the issue by turning it to a certain angle or by tapping it, or by rolling the batteries with the back cover off? There could be a loose contact.
I do think the power draw theory is solid, though. The GBC might need a new power capacitor (example found via Internet search, tailor to your region). Surface-mount components can be a pain to work with so try everything else first.
Does this happen with any other games? There's something in Link's Awakening that causes extra power draw and screen flicker on my backlight-modded DMG (i.e. already has extra power draw), something like that might help isolate the problem. For Link's Awakening, I think it was screen transitions, but my memory's a little fuzzy about the specifics.
The most likely (and easiest to fix) might just be the battery contacts. Any corrosion or looseness could break the circuit and bad luck had that happen during saving.
Honestly, I'm still gutted about the loss so I've not gone back to it. It's not had any real shocks - it gets left in a work bag on an odd occasion that gets lifted and shifted but never mistreated.
There may well be a hardware issue, maybe one day I'll break out the ammeter and see what it's doing.
Thank you for the insight though, all very appreciated!