I cant update variable within a function, even though it is defined outside of the function!

[RedCoder]

I’m collaborating on a text-based Pokémon game but cant seem to figure out why a variable is giving the error “local variable referenced before assignment” when it is defined as one of the first things. Please help!
Link: https://replit.com/@IronCodem/Pokemon-RPG-Game?v=1
How to recreate: enter your username, choose your Pokémon and type “find”.

[WindLother]

It’s because how you are using global variables.
If a variable is defined outside of any function, it’s a global variable. If it’s defined within a function, it’s a local variable.

In your code, met is defined as a global variable, but when you try to modify it inside the wild_pokemon() function with met += 1 , Python treats met as a local variable. But, since met hasn’t been defined in the local scope, so you got the error: local variable referenced before assignment .

So… you need to add the statement global met at the beginning of the wild_pokemon() function. This tells Python that in this function, met refers to the global variable met , not a new local variable.

Like this:

def wild_pokémon():
    global met  # Add the variable here
    random_pokémon = pokelist[random.randint(0, len(pokelist) - 1)]
    random_pokémon_name = random_pokémon.getVar("name")

[RedCoder]

Great! Thanks for the help!