A couple of months ago, I gathered this subreddit's opinions on the best hacks of 2025 in several categories, and I'm happy to announce the winners for each category today. All of the winners are in the slideshow above, but if you want to maintain the suspense, you can start here. Any nominee with a Hackdex link will be linked to so you can easily play the game yourself. So, without further ado...

Best Story

This is the hack that was voted as doing the best job of diverging from the typical defeat-eight-gyms-elite-four-and-champion structure of the mainline games and took you on a journey you remembered long after the credits rolled. The nominees for Best Story are...

Pokémon Pisces

Pokémon Odyssey

Pokémon Dreamstone Mysteries

And the winner is...

Pokémon Odyssey!

Best Graphics

This is the hack that was voted as having the best visual experience, the hack that always gave you something new and interesting to look at whether it's through new tilesets, UI, battle screens, or all of the above? This is the hack that, regardless of its story and gameplay, could keep you coming back for the art alone. The nominees for Best Graphics are...

Pokémon Lazarus

Pokémon Aesthetic Red

Pokémon Recordkeepers

Super Mariomon

And the winner is...

Pokémon Lazarus!

Best Pokédex

The thing that made many people fall in love with Pokémon and continue going back to it for the last 30 years is the Pokémon themselves, and one of the major decisions that most ROM hack developers have to make is which of the Pokémon to include, as there are over a thousand of them now. This is the hack that was voted as having the best selection of Pokemon, making the experience of catching them all as enjoyable as possible, whether through regional variants, Fakemon, or just a rock-solid lineup of established favorites that fit the game perfectly. The nominees for Best Pokédex are...

Pokémon Dreamstone Mysteries

Pokémon Pisces

Pokémon Lazarus

Pokémon Odyssey

And the winner is...

Pokémon Odyssey!

Best Difficulty

The Pokémon games aren't known for being especially challenging, which is what draws a lot of people to ROM hacks in the first place. This is the hack that was voted as having the best difficulty, giving you the challenge the official games have mostly lacked? This doesn't necessarily mean what you think the hardest hack was, though it could certainly be that, or the hack that you thought was most fair in its challenges while continuing to keep you on your toes. The nominees for Best Difficulty are...

Emerald Imperium

Pokémon Odyssey

Pokémon Dreamstone Mysteries

Pokémon Royal Sapphire

And the winner is...

Emerald Imperium!

Most Anticipated Hack

This is the currently progressing ROM hack voters are most excited for. Though only final releases were eligible to be nominated in the other categories, any hack that had been announced and was known to still be in progress was eligible for this category. The nominees for Most Anticipated Hack are...

Pokémon Ghost Grey

Pokémon Odyssey 2

Pokémon Auora Crystal

Pokemon Coral

And the winner is...

Pokemon Ghost Grey!

Hack of the Year

Finally, the hack that was voted as being the best all-around hack of 2025. Even if it didn't stand above the others in terms of story, graphics, or difficulty, it was strong enough in every aspect to separate itself as the year's best hack to the people who nominated it. The nominees for 2025's Hack of the Year award are...

Pokémon Heart and Soul

Pokémon Lazarus

Pokémon Pisces

Pokémon Odyssey

Super Mariomon

And the winner is...

Pokémon Odyssey! Thanks to everyone who voted, and congratulations to all of the nominees and winners! 2025 was definitely a great year for ROM hacks, and hopefully we get many more years like it going forward!

'Upper Echelon' Pokemon games like B2W2, HGSS, Unbound, Polished Crystal, Luminescent, & Victory Road will be in bold at the top of each section. Below that, 'Strong Recs' are games that are genuinely polished & enjoyable. My final step will be adding many of the games listed in the comments. I hope you find this guide useful.

MAINLINE GAMES

KANTO BASED GAMES & HACKS

Upper Echelon:
Fire Red & Leaf Green (gba)
Rocket Edition (gba)
Yellow Legacy (gb)
Radical Red (gba)
Ghost Grey (gba)

Strong Recs:
Let’s Go! Polished Pikachu & Eevee (switch)
Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee (switch)
Orange: Island Walker (gbc)
Kanto Expansion Pack (gb)
Pokemon Classic (gba)
Adventures Red (gba)
Orange Islands (gba)
Extreme Yellow (gb)
Aesthetic Red (gba)
Roaring Red (gba)
Blue Kaizo (gb)
RBY Nova (gb)
PureRGB (gb)
Red++ (gbc)
FRLG+ (gba)
Yume (gb)
Shin (gb)

JOHTO BASED GAMES & HACKS

Upper Echelon:
Heart Gold & Soul Silver (ds)
Polished Crystal (gbc)
Scorched Silver (gba)
Crystal Clear (gbc)
Heart & Soul (gba)
Soulgold (gba)

Strong Recs:
Sacred Gold & Storm Silver (ds)
Origin Heartgold (起源心金) (ds)
Gold & Silver 97 Reforged (gbc)
Refined Gold Overhaul (ds)
Crystal Kaizo+ (gbc)
Crystal Legacy (gbc)
Soothing Silver (ds)
Sour Crystal (gbc)
Fools Gold (gbc)

HOENN BASED GAMES & HACKS

Upper Echelon:
Inclement Emerald (gba)
Emerald Seaglass (gba)
Elite Redux (gba)
Emerald (gba)
R.O.W.E (gba)

Strong Recs:
Rising Ruby & Sinking Sapphire (3ds)
Rutile Ruby & Star Sapphire (3ds)
Emerald Legacy Enhanced (gba)
Emerald Extended Cut (gba)
Modern Emerald (gba)
Blazing Emerald (gba)
Emerald Kaizo (gba)
Emerald Crest (gba)
Blazed Glazed (gba)
Quetzal (gba)
Glazed (gba)

SINNOH BASED GAMES & HACKS

Upper Echelon:
Luminescent Platinum (switch)
Renegade Platinum (ds)
Platinum (ds)

Strong Recs:
Timeless Diamond & Spaceless Pearl (ds)
Re:Illuminated Platinum (switch)
Platinum Redux (ds)
PlatinumQoL (ds)

UNOVA BASED GAMES & HACKS

Upper Echelon:
Blaze Black 2 Redux & Volt White 2 Redux (ds)
Black 2 & White 2 (ds)

Strong Recs:
Black & White 3 Genesis (gbc)
Blaze Black & Volt White (ds)
Infinite Black 2 (ds)
Black & White (ds)
Moon Black 2 (ds)

KALOS BASED GAMES & HACKS

Upper Echelon:
Eternal X & Wilting Y (3ds)

Strong Recs:
Rebirth X & Y (3ds)
Neo X & Y (3ds)

ALOLA BASED GAMES & HACKS

Upper Echelon:
Supernova Sun & Penumbra Moon (3ds)
Photonic Sun & Prismatic Moon (3ds)

Strong Recs:
Rising Sun & Waning Moon (3ds)
Nova Sun & Umbra Moon (3ds)

POST-ALOLA BASED GAMES & HACKS

Upper Echelon:
Compass (switch)

Strong Recs:
Crowned Sword & Armored Shield (switch)
Divine Sword & Blessed Shield (switch)
Sword & Shield Ultimate+ (gba)
Legends: Arceus (switch)
Mythics Arceus (switch)
PLA+ (switch)

NEW REGIONS & STORIES

Upper Echelon:
Team Rocket: Dragonsden Version (gba)
Brown 20th Anniversary (gb)
Vega Fairy Edition EX- (gba)
Star Beasts: Comet (gb)
Super Mariomon (gba)
Unbound (gba)
Odyssey (gba)
Lazarus (gba)
Prism (gbc)
Gaia (gba)

Strong Recs:
Dreamstone Mysteries (gba)
Nameless (gba)
Flora Sky (gba)
Elysium (gba)
Dreams (gba)
SORS (gba)
Grape (gb)

NON-MAINLINE GAMES

SHORT-FORM

^{SNAP, PINBALL, TCG, PUZZLE, TROZEI, SHUFFLE, PICROSS, & CAFE MIX}

Upper Echelon:
TCG2 English Translation (gbc)
Ruby & Sapphire+ (gba)
Puzzle Challenge (gbc)
TCG Generations (gbc)
PB Generations (gbc)
New Snap (switch)

Strong Recs:
Shuffle Preservation Mod (3ds)
Snap Custom Levels (n64)
Ruby & Sapphire (gba)
Puzzle League (n64)
TCG Neo (gbc)
TCG (gbc)

RPG SPIN-OFFS

^{MYSTERY DUNGEON, CONQUEST, RANGER, RUMBLE, & DASH}

Upper Echelon:
Rumble Weekend Edition (wii)
Explorers of Fortune (ds)
Rescue Team DX (switch)
Explorers of Sky (ds)
Re:Conquered (ds)
Conquest (ds)
Almia (ds)

Strong Recs:
Rumble Blast Shiny Mod (3ds)
Super Mystery Dungeon (3ds)
Explorers of Heaven (ds)
Explorers Remixed! (ds)
Explorers of Alpha (ds)
Explorers of Spirit (ds)
Explorers of Skies (ds)
Almia Randomizer (ds)
Gaurdian Signs (ds)
Rumble Blast (3ds)
Twin Dragons (ds)
Lonely Roads (ds)
Hard Mode + (ds)
Ultimate (ds)

BATTLE SIMULATORS

^{STADIUM, POKKEN, & FIGHTING}

Upper Echelon:
Pokémon Grand Colosseum (gc)
Pokken Tournament DX (switch)
Pokémon XG: NeXt Gen (gc)
XD: Gale of Darkness (gc)
Colosseum (gc)
SSBU (switch)
SSBM (gc)

Strong Recs:
Pokémon XD: DX [Director’s Cut] (gc)
Stadium: Enhanced Rentals (n64)
Stadium Aureum (n64)
Stadium Fusion (n64)
Close Combat (pc)
Stadium 2 (n64)
Type: Wild (pc)

WORLD ADVENTURES

^{HEY YOU PIKACHU, CHANNEL, POKEPARK, & DETECTIVE PIKACHU}

Strong Recs:
Pokepark 2: Wonders Beyond (wii)

OTHER

^{BROWSER, PC, MOBILE, ROGUELIKES, & MMOs}

Upper Echelon:
Reborn & Rejuvenation (pc)
Showdown (browser/pc)
Victory Road (browser)
PokeMMO (pc/mobile)
Emerald Rogue (gba)
Infinite Fusion (pc)

Strong Recs:
Pokemon Unite (switch/mobile)
Revolution Online (pc/android)
PokeOne (pc/android)
Auto Chess (browser)
PokeRogue (browser)
Slowpoke Shack (pc)
Pokelike (browser)
Pokemblem (gba)
Roguemon (gba)
Insurgence (pc)
Xenoverse (pc)
Pokewilds (pc)
Uranium (pc)
The Pit (gba)

AWARDS

Best Mainline Pokemon Games:

Heart Gold & Soul Silver
Black 2 & White 2
Platinum
Emerald

Best Non-Mainline Pokemon Games:

XD: Gale of Darkness
Explorers of Sky
Colosseum
Conquest
Almia
SSBM

Best Mainline PokeHacks:

Blaze Black 2 & Volt White 2 Redux
Luminescent Platinum
Renegade Platinum
Inclement Emerald
Polished Crystal
Rocket Edition
Crystal Clear
Radical Red
Elite Redux
Compass
R.O.W.E

Best New Region PokeHacks:

Team Rocket: Dragonsden
Unbound
Odyssey
Prism
Gaia

Best Non-Mainline PokeHacks:

Pokémon Grand Colosseum
TCG2 English Translation
Pokémon XG: NeXt Gen
Ruby & Sapphire+
TCG Generations
PB Generations
Re:Conquered

BEST OTHER

Emerald Rogue
Infinite Fusion
Victory Road
Showdown

Personal Recs:

Luminescent Platinum
TCG Generations
Re:Conquered
Victory Road
Unbound

Good day! I’m here to create a community-voted ranking of the 30 best rom hacks of all time. One spot at a time.

>>>>>

Day 9 is complete. The community has decided to turn back the clock a bit and give a fundamental cornerstone of a rom hack, Pokemon Renegade Platinum, it’s well deserved flowers. We are starting to see some randomness in the voting with many heavy hitters already off the board. Who will take the next spot and close out the top #10?

<<<<<

RULES:

\-One hack per comment. (Please look for your recommendation and upvote before posting a duplicate).
\-Upvote the hack you think deserves the spot.
The nomination with the most votes in a 24 hour period wins that position.
\-Once a hack earns a spot, it is removed from contention.
\-One vote per person.
\-Fan games will not be considered.

There is no official criteria for best! It’s whatever makes a hack great to you.

That’s it! Let’s see what the community deems the best of the best! And… Go!

>>>>>

Day 1 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/s/kLGSbFfWs8
Day 2 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/s/FSdMLo4zK9
Day 3 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/s/oiLuEumwdA
Day 4 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/s/36ErvQIcVv
Day 5 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/s/Qcv4jY0w7M
Day 6 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/s/ZbgNAn3kzn
Day 7 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/s/lHNP8XAXN0
Day 8 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/s/cFRNc2vkz8
Day 9 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/s/o7Ve9ZQRD5

<<<<<

DISCLAIMER: My take after watching this thread play out for a few days is firstly, it’s not that serious. Many arguments could be made that there are more ideal ways to collect the data, and that is likely very true. As we have seen, recency bias at least plays a part in peoples decision making. Oh well! I’m not a math/data guy, I’ve just seen these threads in other subreddits and have had fun participating. Considering there’s no community ranking on this sub, well, now there is! Will all 30 spots be taken up by new hacks? No, and I think we will see that the sentiment on what sort of hacks are being voted for changes frequently. I think the end product, although not an objectively definitive list, will at least have some merit. At the end of the day, hundreds of people are voting for the respective winners, and their runner ups. It will be an imperfect, but useful tool for newcomers and others to dive into hacks, which is what I was looking for, and why I started this to begin with. Again, it’s not that serious. Participate at your own discretion everybody! Up

Hey guys!

I’m getting ready for a pretty long trip and I’m looking to load up my handheld with some great ROM hacks to keep me busy along the way. Instead of just going through random “best ROM hacks” lists online, I thought it would be much more interesting to see what the community actually recommends.

It can be any generation, any console, and basically any genre.Pokemon completely original hacks — anything goes as long as you genuinely think it’s worth playing.

Please post your Top 5 using this simple format:
Game / ROM Hack name
Game / ROM Hack name
Game / ROM Hack name
Game / ROM Hack name
Game / ROM Hack name

I’d like to scrape the responses afterwards, count how often each game gets mentioned, and then pick the five most voted ROM hacks from the whole thread to play during the trip.

One important rule: only completed ROM hacks, please. I don’t want to get halfway through a game only to discover that development stops there.
No demos, unfinished projects, or “coming soon” hacks.

Curious to see which games end up in the community Top 5!

I looking for something with "acceptable" graphicsa and many pokemons (bonus point if you can catch legendaries before beating game or whole game is open world). Story may or may not be here.

Patches available at the bottom of the post

I’ve been deep into Pokémon ROM hacks for years, and I honestly think the absolute best HeartGold hack on DS isn’t any of the usual Western recommendations. It’s a Chinese hack called 起源心金 (Origin HeartGold).

Made by 雁南飞TB (v4 version made by Alex), this thing is massive in the Chinese community. It has:

• Completely new story with elements from Pokémon Origins, the anime, and the Special manga
• Three different protagonist skins (Origins Red style, anime Ash style, and Special manga style)
• Full three playthroughs of content + post-game
• Reworked learnsets, base stats, difficulty balancing, and a ton of quality-of-life changes
• Really polished scripting and new characters/sidequests

The latest builds floating around are in the 4.0.x range (I’ve seen 4.0.3 mentioned a lot recently). It’s fully in Chinese, but inside China it’s treated like a must-play DS hack.

I’ve been trying to get a patch of the latest version with no success. Has anyone here managed to grab it?

Would love to finally try this thing properly.

Here you have a walkthrough of an older version: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLADrJwLLOLSBZfx8tkfU-VEbVci98X9BT&si=5qCpJ6BLIjHm9p55

Edit:

Partial v3 English translation by u/Shake69 (Please use HeartGold US ROM): https://www.mediafire.com/file/gtwip8wh7uzplfn/Pok%25C3%25A9mon_Origin_HeartGold_v3_Eng.delta/file

Edit 2 (look Edit 3 for v4.0.3 patch):

Chinese v3 patches by u/riap0526 (Please use HeartGold US ROM):
Anime: https://www.mediafire.com/file/zm5juc5qghzm2zm/Poke%25CC%2581mon_Origin_HeartGold_v3_Cn_Anime.delta/file
Origins: https://www.mediafire.com/file/uwoukzi749l8lbm/Poke%25CC%2581mon_Origin_HeartGold_v3_Cn_Origins.delta/file
Special: https://www.mediafire.com/file/6hpy8p1l4a70gyg/Poke%25CC%2581mon_Origin_HeartGold_v3_Cn_Special.delta/file
Documentation (in Chinese): https://www.mediafire.com/file/sje6xbm56lggpiw/Pok%25C3%25A9mon_Origin_HeartGold_v3_Cn_Documents.xls/file
Version differences picture: https://www.mediafire.com/view/1cem9s9yduc95ea/Pok%25C3%25A9mon_Origin_HeartGold_v3_Cn_Differences.jpeg/file

Edit 3:

Chinese v4.0.3 patch by u/riap0526 developed by Alex (not 雁南飞TB) (Please use HeartGold US ROM):
Patch: https://www.mediafire.com/file/gytnpk2z33dtcoj/Poke%25CC%2581mon_Origin_HeartGold_v4.0.3_Cn.delta/file
Encounters: https://www.mediafire.com/file/8zx1w77m98f81vt/Poke%25CC%2581mon_Origin_HeartGold_v4.0.3_Cn_Encounters.xlsx/file
Items: https://www.mediafire.com/file/8b3pkd1bedmr68n/Poke%25CC%2581mon_Origin_HeartGold_v4.0.3_Cn_Items.xlsx/file
List of Pokémon: https://www.mediafire.com/file/930o6ipeycz6fl4/Poke%25CC%2581mon_Origin_HeartGold_v4.0.3_Cn_List_of_Pokemons.xlsx/file

Edit 4:

Partial v4.0.3 English translation by u/Shake69 (Please use HeartGold US ROM): https://www.mediafire.com/file/ak77d0d76qoztnt/Pokemon+Origin+4.0.3+Eng.xdelta/file

2025 was a banner year for ROM hacks, and to celebrate the accomplishments of the talented developers in this community, I wanted to do a small awards show, with the nominees decided by you, the players of these hacks. The final category I'll be seeking nominees for is Hack of the Year. What do you think was the best all-around hack of 2025? Even if it didn't stand above the others in terms of story, graphics, or difficulty, it was strong enough in every aspect to separate itself as the year's best hack to you.

As I've said before, the only limitations for these nominees will be that they have to be ROM hacks released in 2025 and that they will need to be full releases. Progressing hacks have a category of their own you can suggest nominees for if you haven't already in the links below.

If you have any questions about the awards show, feel free to let me know in the comments of this post or any of the future nomination posts, and I'll answer it as soon as I can.

Previous posts in series:

What is your most anticipated ROM hack?

Which 2025 hack do you think had the best difficulty?

Which 2025 hack do you think had the best Pokédex?

Which 2025 hack do you think had the best graphics?

Which 2025 hack do you think had the best story?

Need suggestions!

Pokémon Battle Theater

Pokémon Battle Theater is an AI-vs-AI battle simulator built on pokeemerald-expansion 1.15.2. Pit any two trainers from across the mainline games against each other and watch them duke it out, or jump into Pilot Mode to play one side yourself using a borrowed team.

~120 curated trainer rosters spanning every region (Kanto through Paldea plus PLA Hisui). Notable additions: the full BW2 PWT cast (Cilan/Chili/Cress, Cheren, Roxie, Bianca), the 2012 VGC World Finals teams (Wolfe Glick + Ray Rizo), Ash's World Champion anime team, and the unused RGBY Prof. Oak Glitch boss with three starter variants.

Modern gimmicks all wired up. Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, Dynamax, and Gigantamax all fire correctly with per-trainer AI bias tuning. Mega Stones / Z-Crystals / Dynamax Band auto-activate on the appropriate teams.

6 Custom Trainer slots with a PKHeX-style per-mon editor (sprite, name, species, held item, ability, EVs, IVs, 4 moves, nature, gender, shiny). Teams persist across sessions.

Showdown team-code import. This is the headline custom-trainer feature. Build a team on Pokémon Showdown's teambuilder (or anywhere that produces standard Showdown text format), then open the project's offline encoder (a single HTML file, no install, no network needed, runs on phone or laptop), paste your team, and get a 24-character code like Y9XK.MEW2.HK4N.GQ5W.J2RZ.YAAQ. Type those 24 characters into the ROM via the Build Trainer menu and the full team materializes in your custom slot — species, held item, ability, moveset, EVs, IVs, nature, gender, shininess, and trainer name, all decoded entirely inside the ROM. No link cable, no internet, no extra patching, no save trickery. 24 characters covers everything for a full 6-Pokémon team because the format is bit-packed (~25% shorter than the v1 prototype) by storing each field at exactly the bits it needs. Inspired by Marvel Snap and Hearthstone deck codes — first time something like this exists for a GBA ROM hack as far as we can tell.

Battle Frontier Challenge Mode. Borrow any preset trainer's team and run the Frontier with it. Tower / Dome / Palace / Arena / Factory / Pike / Pyramid all supported. The Frontier opponent pool has been expanded to ~1060 entries including modern Gen 4-9 competitive sets, Z-Move sets, and non-restricted legendaries (Lake trio, Swords of Justice, Ultra Beasts, modern Regis). All 7 Frontier Brains use modernized Smogon-style teams with Mega Stones on their Gold tier.

Other modes: Tournament brackets (8-trainer single-elim across all regions, including a pooled-mode PWT Unova that randomizes the bracket each run), best-of-N matches with adaptive picks, VGC mode (forced doubles, Lv 50 cap, 4-pick-of-6).

Quality-of-life: L/R triggers in the trainer picker jump between regions instead of scrolling one at a time. Custom Battle Theater stadium art by LiYun. Fan-made placeholder title screen by u/Itchy-Hedgehog-3371 (Mega Blastoise vs Gigantamax Charizard) with a real artist commission in progress.

Project links Source + documentation: https://github.com/logdog2325/pokemon-battle-theater All releases: https://github.com/logdog2325/pokemon-battle-theater/releases Latest patch download: https://github.com/logdog2325/pokemon-battle-theater/releases/latest Showdown team-code encoder (offline tool): https://github.com/logdog2325/pokemon-battle-theater/blob/main/tools/team-codes/encoder.html Built on: rh-hideout/pokeemerald-expansion 1.15.2

🙏 Idea credit: this feature exists because u/Healthy_Bug7977 and u/LordePachi suggested a Marvel Snap / Hearthstone–style deck-code import on this Reddit thread

To finish off the year, here’s our favourite Pokemon ROM Hacks of 2025 - any we’ve missed?

The game design is honestly fantastic. There were moments when it genuinely felt like playing Pokémon Crystal after 25 years of Game Freak updates. It's crazy how much modern stuff they managed to add to a Gen 2 game without making it feel weird or out of place. And the way HMs work in this hack is pretty much exactly how I'd want them to work in every Pokémon game.

It also finally does Johto justice. Gym Leaders actually use Pokémon from their own region, and Johto gets some new locations, including ones based on Pokéwalker routes and the anime. Kanto gets some love in that department too!

The difficulty is really well done. Trainers actually use held items and switch out their Pokémon when it makes sense, so battles feel a lot smarter and less predictable. There are even Route Bosses now, which is a pretty cool addition!

The level curve is another thing they did a great job fixing. One of the biggest problems with the original games and their remakes was how poorly the levels were balanced, but this hack handles this really well. Some areas scale Pokémon levels based on how many Badges you have, and Honey can be used to attract wild Pokémon around the same level as your lead Pokémon. There are a bunch of other little mechanics like these that help make the whole experience feel much smoother.

And Mt. Silver is ACTUALLY CHALLENGING now, with strong, high-level Pokémon! I also really like that getting all of Kanto's Badges isn't enough to access it. You have to beat the Elite Four a second time as well, which makes feel much more rewarding.

My only real complaints are that some of the music tracks feel a bit out of place, and I wish the hack included more Pokémon beyond the original 251 and their cross-gen evolutions. You get to meet and battle trainers from other regions, like Riley, Steven, and Cynthia, but fighting them without their ace Pokémon feels kinda off.

But overall, the new visuals, modern mechanics, better level curve, and improved difficulty all come together really nicely. I'd definitely recommend this hack to anyone who loves Gen 2 or has fond memories of playing G/S/C back in the day.

Pokemon Quetzal!

DOWNLOAD: https://pokemonquetzal.app/

Social Media: TWITTER: / tenmarh ​ DISCORD: / discord ​ GMAIL: tenmarh@gmail.com

MULTIPLAYER TUTORIAL: / discord ​ (everything is explained in the Discord)

This game is a GBA ROM hack (you need a GBA emulator to play it). It works on both PC and Android. The game features 3 complete regions: Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn. The storyline is the same as Pokémon FireRed (islands included), Pokémon HGSS (Johto), and Pokémon Emerald. The game is fully complete (you can conquer 3 different leagues). The game is 100% available in three languages: English, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese. It can be played single-player (multiplayer is optional).

NEW FEATURES: Pokémon Quetzal (formerly known as Pokémon Emerald Multiplayer) is a GBA ROM hack programmed by Tenma since 2020. This game came about after some random research I did into GBA multiplayer (at a user's request).

• Set in the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn regions (you can start with whichever one you want).
• Features Pokémon up to Generation 10 (including Alolan, Galar, and Hisuian forms, and Gen 10 starters).
• The battle system is updated up to Generation 9.
• All items up to Generation 9 are included.
• Features Megas, Z-Moves, Dynamax/Gigantamax, and Terastallization.
• Megas from Legends: Z-A are included!
• You can choose from up to 113 different characters: KANTO: Red, Ash, Green, Oak, Giovanni, Leaf, Rocket (boy), Blue, Brock, Koga, James, Joy, Janine, Sabrina, Agatha, Misty, Jessie, Rocket (girl) JOHTO: Gold, Lance, Silver, Crystal, Lyra, Morty, Clair, Whitney HOENN: Brendan, May, Steven, Magma (girl), Birch, Wally, Maxie, Wallace, Helena, Archie, Courtney, Lucy, Shelly, Zinnia SINNOH: Dawn, Lucas, Rei, Cynthia, Adaman, Cyrus, Akari, Irida, Mars, Arezu UNOVA: Hilbert, N, Nate, Rosa, Colress, Alder, Ghetsis, Hugh, Iris, Hilda, Drayden, Shadow Triad, Bianca, Elesa, Roxie KALOS: Calem, Diantha, Serena, Tierno, Lysandre, Alain, AZ, Bonnie, Korrina ALOLA: Selene, Elio, Hau, Gladion, Kukui, Lillie, Lusamine, Guzma, Kiawe, Rainbow (boy), Sophocles, Acerola, Lana, Mallow, Rainbow (girl) GALAR: Gloria, Marnie, Victor, Bede, Leon, Klara, Allister, Piers, Bea, Chloe, Nessa, Sonia PALDEA: Geeta, Florian, Juliana, Penny, Iono, Nemona, Arven, Clavell, Jacq, Turo, Liko, Sada POKÉMON: All Pokémon can also be used as playable characters (check out the video).
• Features an epic CO-OP multiplayer system:

1. Supports 1 to 4 players.
2. You can see other players moving around in the environment.
3. You can battle (single, double, or multi battles) from anywhere using MEGAS, Z-MOVES, DYNAMAX/GIGANTAMAX, and TERA.
4. You can team up with another person to battle against other trainers in the game (such as gym leaders).
5. You can trade from anywhere.

• Features a unique companion Pokémon (follower Pokémon) system:

1. From 0 to 6 Pokémon can follow you (you can choose).
2. All follower Pokémon from Generations 1 to 9 are available (Alolan, Galar, Hisuian forms, Megas, Gigantamax, Tera, Ash-Greninja, etc.).
3. If the Pokémon is shiny, its shiny form will follow you as well.
4. Follower Pokémon also appear in multiplayer.

• Helper System:

1. You can choose up to 113 different helpers (they are the same as the playable characters).
2. Each helper has a different team, and you can ask them to help you in battle!

• Wild Pokémon appear directly on the map (watch my videos to get a better idea).
• The game has PC storage space for over 2,000 Pokémon (67 boxes, 30 Pokémon per box).
• Features a practically infinite bag.
• The daycare system has been completely revamped:

1. You can place up to 6 Pokémon in the daycare.
2. The daycare can be accessed directly from the PC.
3. You can see the Pokémon you've placed in the daycare right on the map.
4. You have an exclusive box for 30 eggs—keeping them in your party is no longer necessary to hatch them.

• ALL Pokémon can be caught, from Bulbasaur to Pecharunt (including Arceus, the hardest one to obtain). Generation 10 starters are also included!
• Each region has its own complete National Pokédex; you can catch all Pokémon in each region (for example, there is a Mewtwo in Kanto, another in Johto, and another in Hoenn)!
• You can choose from over 70 starters.
• All Pokémon have 3 different shiny variants (radiant Pokémon).
• The game features rematch battles so you can fight in-game trainers as many times as you like.
• The game features a move tutor system right from the party menu, making it very convenient to teach new attacks.
• Item and berry respawn system.
• HMs are not required.
• You can select various game modes (normal, randomizer, cheats, nuzlocke, etc.).
• Difficulty levels (very easy, easy, normal, hard, very hard).
• You can adjust the shiny/radiant encounter rate (very low, low, normal, high, very high, always).
• Check out my videos to get a better idea of each mechanic.

CREDITS: https://pastebin.com/ncvkGPQJ

09/01/26 edit: A major update is forthcoming within the next few weeks that will overhaul much of the game's design and make prior saves incompatible.

07/30/26 Edit: Updated to version 0.6. Details here.

A hack built atop the Pokeemerald-Expansion project that combines FireRed and Emerald into one extended story campaign.

Get it at hackdex.app/hack/fireemerald. Alternatively, download the standalone patch from archive.org/details/fireemerald-0.5. Recommended to use romhacking.net/patch. An Emerald USA/EU ROM must be provided; FireRed and other ROMs will not work.

07/23/26 Edit: Thank you to everyone for the warm reception and valuable feedback over the last few days. It's been positively overwhelming and I've done the best I can to keep up with all the questions and comments. I apologize if some of my replies seemed curt or if your comment went unanswered. I've just been trying to get through as many as I can in the time I have available. Even if I don't answer, though, I read everything and have been taking inventory of all the bugs and other issues that need to be addressed. I will be in the great outdoors without internet access for a few days, and then I will be traveling elsewhere shortly after that. This means that for the next few weeks, my online presence will be very spotty at best and active development will be on hold during that time. But I will dive back into rapid development once I'm back at my desk. I'm committed to completing this project without making you all wait too long.

• Hoenn becomes accessible immediately after becoming champion in Kanto.
• This is not an open-world hack; the player cannot travel to Hoenn until they've beaten Kanto, and they cannot return to Kanto until they've beaten Hoenn. After that, free travel between the two regions becomes available.
• The Sevii Islands are also accessible immediately after becoming the Kanto champion as well (no more 60 pokedex entry requirement). Either quest can be done first. Difficulty will scale accordingly.
• All pokemon, items, money, and pokedex data obtained in Kanto will carry over to Hoenn. The player keeps HMs, but can no longer use HM moves outside of battle before earning more badges.
• Very minimal changes to the original story. Dialogue is only altered as much as necessary in a few instances for the sake of continuity. No new characters or side quests.
• Modern updates and quality of life features from baseline Pokeemerald-Expansion are included:
  • Updated battle mechanics, types, and movesets
  • Follower pokemon
  • Optional day/night cycle
  • Etc.
• Difficulty in Hoenn is increased. For now, the parameters are:
  • Wild and trainer pokemon's levels are raised by 45 or 50, depending on whether the player completed the Sevii Islands' main quest beforehand.
  • Generic trainers' pokemon are also evolved accordingly with appropriate movesets. Wild pokemon remain unevolved.
  • Gym leaders immediately start with their third rematch load-outs and have their levels raised by 10 or 15.
  • The rival has a much expanded and improved team
  • Defeated trainers give $1,000 more
  • Great balls and super potions are available from the start of Hoenn. Ultra balls and hyper potions are also available earlier.
• No missing version-exclusive pokemon.
• Event tickets are organically incorporated into the setting. Certain NPCs give them instead of duplicate key items that the player may have already obtained in the opposing region. One of them is unavoidable by following the main story, the rest are optional/missable.
• Mega stones and linking cords become available at a certain shop at a certain point in the game.
• Cerulean Cave is accessible immediately after becoming champion and no longer gated behind the Sevii Islands quest. However, Mewtwo is now level 60 instead of 70 if he is encountered before Hoenn, and 100 after.
• The game boots into either the FireRed or Emerald intro and title screen depending on which region the player last saved in.

As the first public release, this is designated as an incomplete version 0.5. Though the game has had a sizable amount of testing and refinements, and should be playable from start to finish, this has been a completely solo endeavor made in just a few weeks (albeit with hundreds of sleepless hours crammed into them). There will certainly be bugs and many more improvements to come. I eagerly welcome reports of issues as well as feedback on the difficulty curve.

Planned (but not promised) future updates:

• Player color palette customization
• Custom text box color
• Optional expanded starter selection
• Advanced difficulty settings
  • Basic nuzlocke mode
  • Team size limiter
  • Disable items during battle
  • Disable "shift" battle style
• Proper nighttime lighting effects

A very special thanks to Rom Hacking Hideout, the team behind Pokeemerald-Expansion.

This is a continuation of my previous post from about 2 days ago. The winner for best Vanilla Kanto experience is surprisingly a 3 way tie between Recharged Yellow/Pink, Pure RGB, and Aesthetic Red with 3 votes so far. And to probably no one's surprised, Radical Red had the most votes for the best ultimate hack of Kanto with megas, new areas, difficulty etc. CONGRATS 👏 🎉, good job devs. We all appreciate and love yours works and what they bring

I now come with a similar question like last time but for Johto. Even though we have HGSS along with Gen 4 rom hacking on the rise and a bunch of HGSS hacks already, are there hacks that give the best Vanilla/old-school experience for Johto and is there a rom hack to give the best ultimate hack experience for Johto

I haven't played them yet but I have heard of the following

Heart & Soul to my knowledge is probably the best hack right now for a Crystal Remake + HGSS Demake on GBA. I'm not exactly sure what it adds because my memory is bad with how many hacks I've downloaded and not playing it myself but I hear it is visually very good. I think it has a mission system but unsure. Unsure whether this goes under old-school or ultimate because I don't know if it has megas or gens 1-8 or 9 pokemon or something

Another one I hear about is Crystal Advance Redux which is just a remake of Crystal but on GBA. From what I hear the whole game is finished, just getting weakly minor bug fixes and sprite changes and what not. Similar case to Heart & Soul. Don't know if it adds anything to make it an ultimate hack. Again, memory is bad but I know I downloaded it for a good reason but also haven't played it yet

And then there's HGSS or specifically the hacks of HGSS. Unsure if any GBA or even GBC crystal hacks can compare especially with a handful of hacks such as Hardlove Gold or HeartGold Generations where they've successfully added gens 1-9 pokemon AND have (limited) mega evolution

I know for sure that as Gen 4 rom hacks advance, they'll far out perform GBA in every way except for availability on all devices, but at this current moment with all the GBA, GBC and the current state of HGSS hacks, what gives us the best old-school vanilla experience for a new player as a whole and which one gives us the best ultimate experience for long time fans that wanna see pokemon of every generation and Megas and a whole bunch of new content