Sorry to post this here, but this seems to be the most active of the three forums, and I'm looking to get an answer as soon as possible.

I was cloning my Chikorita on Crystal in order to get all three starters via trading. I'm aware the cloning is much more difficult in Crystal than Gold and Silver, but I had previously thought it impossible and, after one successful clone, was relieved to know I wouldn't have to go through the hassle of restarting the file three times.

Unfortunately, the second clone I made showed up in the PC with the nickname "METAWING", which was my Skarmory's nickname on the last file which I had erased before starting this one and saving in front of the PC. I haven't looked at the clone's stats for fear of crashing, and I'm not too far into the game so it wouldn't kill me to start over, I just want to avoid any permanent game damage. Is it safe to withdraw and release the bad clone? Or will I have to erase the game file entirely?

DONT CLONE.

SERIOUSLY.

I cloned and my Entei disappeared.
I cloned and my file with 100 hrs play time and 4 level 100s got erased and it wont save now.

DO NOT CLONE

Well then, you just suck at cloning.

I resolved the problem. Didn't realize you could release them without actually withdrawing them. You couldn't in Generation 1 games.

That's a given, but the chances of something like that occuring (at least in Gold and Silver) are so slim that most people have difficulty managing to pull it off even if they try to do so numerous times. For that reason I've limited cloning in Crystal, but sadly it would be, in simplest terms, too much of a pain in the ass playing through all 6 games three times over just to get a copy of all the single-catch species.

Even if the danger was significant it wouldn't hold me back. As I've said, being expected to play what is essentially the same game over 9 times in succession is simply asking too much. If you choose to do so you're more than welcome to, but I gladly accept what little risk there is to be had.

when my gold stuffed up i named a magikarp mew and it turned into a shiny mew. creepy.
random shiny level 100 pokemon kept appearing in my pc too...

I never actually tried Glitch City, never felt the need. I used to use the Missingno/'M glitch for item duplication, but I recently learned that that messes with the game's Hall of Fame, and being as anal as I am about having "that perfect file" I haven't used it since. Mind you, I still trade to and clone in Gold/Silver when the need arises, such as is the case with Mew and the starters.

what is glitch city?

It's in Red and Blue, and I think Yellow. I haven't tried it in any of them, so I'm not sure, but it's a popular enough glitch that you can be sure it's for real. It's just as popular as Missingno.

I'm not aware of the details, but it has something to do with entering, exiting, and flying to and from the Safari Zone in a certain pattern that glitches Fuschia City, turning the map when you exit the Safari Zone into the infamous Glitch City. As far as I know it has no practical use, which is why I've never tried it.

I hear there's a way to get it to work in Saffron too, but don't quote me on that one.

waaiit... did u say skarmory? isnt skarmory from ruby/saphire/emerald??? lol, i just found that quite peculiar... xD u said crystal. gameboy color. skarmory, gba. confused. XD

Skarmory is a Generation II species. #227 (out of 251) on the National Dex.