Is My "Crystal" Game Busted?

[Starry Might]

Recently, my Dad won "Pokemon Crystal" on eBay, and I got it yesterday. I'm playing it right now, in fact!

Unfortunately, I'm worried it's corrupt somehow. When we checked the game before my Dad replaced the battery (which we did to insure that it won't die anytime soon), it suddenly froze! We're thinking that there's a connection problem with it and the GBA SP, but it's fine now. (I'm playing it outside my GBA case, and I'm not touching the cart.)

But that's something else entirely. Why I'm asking this is because my Pokemon won't eat the Berries that I have them hold when their Hit Points drop below the threshold. I first noticed this earlier today when I battled the Rival in Cherrygrove City.

So, what do you think?

EDIT: What the...I just ran into a wild Pidgey with my Sentret, and I tried to run, but I couldn't escape! BUT, after the third time the wild Pidgey tackled Sentret, the latter ate his held Berry! (I then switched to Chikorita and got away.) What's going on?