fixing NoMethodError in Pokemon Essentials' Pokegear phone calls

[Molly]

So I figured out reason my game crashes in building is because Pokegear phone feature which I only notice until now and I can't figure it
the error code:

[Pokémon Essentials version 21.1]

Exception: NoMethodError
Message: undefined method `has_flag?' for nil:NilClass

Backtrace:
Item_Phone:323:in `can_make?'
Item_Phone:372:in `make_incoming'
Item_Phone:558:in `block in <main>'
Event_Handlers:89:in `block in trigger'
Event_Handlers:89:in `each_value'
Event_Handlers:89:in `trigger'
Event_HandlerCollections:63:in `trigger'
Scene_Map:162:in `updateSpritesets'
Scene_Map:176:in `update'
Scene_Map:238:in `block in main'

the script in Item_Phone that causing game to crash:
def can_make?
return false if $game_map.metadata.has_flag?("NoPhoneSignal")
return true
end

it only happen at indoor building such as warehouse and mansion, and yeah i didn't register any trainers on pokegear so i think it try to recall nonexistent trainer / recall in indoor that having "NoPhoneSignal" which i can't find it on metadata, hence the error
how to fix it? or how to disable pokegear random call all together as default without you needing to disable it manually?

 

[Beloved Doll]

I registered for an account here for the sole purpose of responding to this forum post, for you and anyone else who may stumble upon this in the future.

I had the same error pop up for me, and it happened whether I was inside or outside. And this was just me messing with Professor Oak, copying the event from the example map and pasting onto a new map. Everything worked perfectly fine when I went to the example map, but got errors when I went to the map I created. I spent a few days days searching online for help and trying on Discord. Of course nobody had the answer. But finally I got it working! So maybe it'll help you, too.

I don't understand the system well enough to really get why the new map required this but the example map doesn't. But BEFORE the Phone.add script call, I added a Show Text line and just had Oak say "All righty, here is my phone number." (You can put any text you want tbh.) After that, I tested several times and have yet to run into that error again.

The theory is that it's giving the game enough time to finish initializing everything before the Phone.add happens.

 

[DMGC]

This problem is caused when the map the NPC is associated with doesn't have metadata.

To break this down further, if you are calling the following script:

Phone.add(1, "Professor Oak", 100)

Then in your map_metadata.txt PBS file, you'll need something like the following:

#-------------------------------
[100]   # Pokémon Lab
Name = Pokémon Lab

(P.S. You don't need a text line before the script call)