Emerald hack: Pokémon Emerald Z (Fakemon Hack | Complete | v1.2.0 available! Material drop system implemented!)

[Z-nogyroP]

Hi. I'm Celeste. My first ROM hack, Pokémon Fire Red Advanced, was finished over six years ago, and it's a charming little thing, but it's from a long-gone era, when the Fairy-type was novel and everyone was using MrDollSteak's base and I thought I was a boy. Times have changed. We've all matured.

My second hack was Pokémon Emerald Advanced, a project that in retrospect was ultimately too ambitious to succeed with my skill at the time, which is why it remains unfinished, stuck forever at gym 6. But I liked a lot of the ideas that went into it. There was a spark of something solid there.

I made other hacks from then to now, but most too minor to mention. (Hey, Viva Las Vega enjoyers.) I grew busy, I gained other interests, but something in me still had that desire to create.

Thus, here we are. I present a project that in some ways scales back those lofty ambitions, but in other ways far exceeds anything I could have dreamed of back then. I give you Pokémon Emerald Z.

What it is:
A hack of Pokémon Emerald that contains, among other things, over 100 Fakemon with thoughtful designs and high-quality sprites, a carefully-curated Pokédex, shuffled Gym Leaders, buffs to weak Pokémon, some new maps, and a lot of love.

What it is not:
A difficulty hack, an includes-every-Pokémon hack, a quality-of-life hack, a source of free Fakemon, a peanut-free product, a blood sacrifice to the dark god Ba'al, an illustrated guide to cold fusion, affiliated in any way with Elon Musk.

That's the gist. Here are some screenshots. I'll provide some more details in spoilers below, if you want to peruse. Thanks for reading. I hope you give it a try, and I hope, if you do, that you have fun.

Spoiler: I'd like more details, please

The features of this hack include, but are not limited to:
- A Pokédex of 500 Pokémon, chosen from generations 1-9, with a large variety of my own Fakemon added in. These Fakemon have full, detailed learnsets, quality sprites, interesting concepts that lend themselves to unique gameplay, icon sprites, and custom cries.
- Many buffs to weak Pokémon, as well as customized learnsets. These include Fur Coat Furret, Anticipation Golisopod, Electric Surge Electrode, Psychic / Ghost Chimecho, Noxious Torque Revavroom, and a non-terrible way to access Zen Mode Darmanitan.
- Your usual modern battle mechanics, which is to say the physical / special split, Fairy-type, the stuff you don't need to be told about and which I can't honestly tout as a feature.
- There are no Mega Evolutions or other gimmicks.
- 12-character Pokémon names and 16-character Ability and move names, because we've put up with Fletchindr and StmpngTantrm for too long.
- New moves and Abilities.
- 99 TMs. TMs, for balance reasons, are single-use, but remain accessible.
- More interesting and useful replacements to the Battle Tents. In Slateport is a TM fan club, where new copies of TMs you've discovered can be made. In Verdanturf is an old, abandoned manor where Ghost-type Pokémon lurk. In Fallarbor is a Hyper Training station where you can maximize your Pokémon's IVs.
- Trick House now leads to the Trick Forest.
- All Gym Leaders and Elite Four members have been shuffled around, so your team will be tested in different ways. Gym puzzles are not overhauled, but have at least token modifications to make them more fitting.
- There is a Shiny Charm immediately accessible in your room, which can also be removed at any time. This is specifically because, as a Fakemon hack, I want people to be able to find shinies of the new Pokémon.
- Something happened in Altering Cave.
- Difficulty was not a primary focus of this hack, so there are no level caps or competitive movesets. I would still say the game is more difficult than the main series games; the AI is generally smarter, there are still some mean moves, and of course there's no holds barred on the secret postgame boss. Trainer Pokémon generally don't have EVs until the endgame; before then, Gym Leader Pokémon will have some HP EVs to make them more durable, but that's it.
- Almost no Pokémon are fully locked to lategame. If you know how to find them, you can get almost every Pokémon in the hack before gym 3.
- The ruins that once held the Regis are now accessible from the start, and have all-new puzzles.
- Winning big at the Game Corner is much easier.
- The game is currently complete through to the Champion fight. Postgame is inaccessible. Battle Frontier will maybe someday be a thing, says literally every Emerald hack ever made.
- Cramorant is here.

Spoiler: I'd like to see the available Pokémon, please

Spoiler: I'd like details on the available Pokémon, please

Everything you need to know short of TM / tutor compatibilities and egg moves is in a .txt document included with the download. You'll also find item locations, Gym Leader teams, and wild Pokémon locations.

The documents can also be found on Pastebin here:
Pokédex
Detailed Dex
Wild Locations
Major Battles
Item Locations

Spoiler: I'd like to learn any known bugs, please

- If you save while diving in Slateport and reload the game without the seventh badge and a Dive user, you will no longer be able to surface. To avoid this, do not save and reload the game while underwater in Slateport. Next version will include an alternate way to leave the underwater area.

- The glass flutes are currently consumed on use. Will be fixed for next patch.
- In a double battle, if you knock out a Pokémon with Opportunist with a move that raises your stats, Opportunist will trigger after the Pokémon has already fainted.
- Cotton Down and Gooey / Tangling Hair don't activate Mirror Armor and their actual effects don't trigger either. This is exceedingly minor and even if it occurs it has no real effect on the battle.
- Scale Shot may sometimes fail to activate its stat-change effect or print a "But it failed!" message. Unknown what the cause is currently.
- The game may freeze in the Game Corner on the roulette table when using MyBoy. I do not advise using MyBoy to play this game. It was designed for mGBA and hardware. This bug will probably not ever be fixed, as it's an issue with the emulator and not the game.

Spoiler: I'd like to ask another question, please

Can you add x Pokémon?
No. I chose this dex carefully and have no intention to add to it at the moment.

Can you add Mega Evolution?
No. I will also not add any of the other battle gimmicks. The hack is called Emerald Z because I am Z-nogyroP, not because of Z-Moves, or Zygarde.

Can I use your Fakemon in my project?
No.

Where can I get Hisuian Sneasel?
You can't. You also can't get Pichu, Cleffa, Azurill, Igglybuff, Galarian Darumaka, Galarian Darmanitan, Sneasler, or Dusk Lycanroc. This is because I don't really like them.

What's the shiny rate?
1/512 with the Shiny Charm, 1/4096 without.

Is there an official Discord?
No, and I'd kindly ask people not try to start an unofficial one, either. I can't stop you, but I have neither the desire nor time to moderate a Discord or participate in one. If you have questions, feel free to ask in this thread, or, hell, you probably know someone who knows someone who knows me. Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon it.

Why is the documentation in .txt format instead of on Google Sheets or something?
Call me old-fashioned.

Why did you change Brendan and May's dialogue?
I have no idea what you're talking about.

Spoiler: I'd like a hint, please

Where can I find the other starters?
How thoroughly have you explored Prof. Birch's lab? Not very, I'll bet.

Spoiler: Solution

Input the code ANOTHER POKÉDEX into the Altering Cave statue.

Where can I find Drumble?
If you fast-forwarded through Wally's catch tutorial, you might've missed it.

Spoiler: Solution

Drumble is a very rare Headbutt encounter in almost all areas.

Where can I find Pokémon #364?
New Mauville has the same encounter tables for the cave-esque entrance and the interior, but somehow you can only find it in the interior.

Spoiler: Solution

Stepping on switches in New Mauville has a chance to trigger an encounter. In addition to #364, you can find Rotom and, very rarely, Meltan.

Where can I find Pokémon #379?
Feebas isn't in the game, but it'd be a shame to put that weird encounter method to waste.

Spoiler: Solution

It can be fished up on Route 119 in six specific spots. Unlike original Feebas, though, it has a 100% encounter rate in those spots, to make it easier.

Where can I find Pokémon #483?
Y'know, Bagon shows up on all floors of Meteor Falls now. So, uh, what's the point of going deeper, exactly?

Spoiler: Solution

Find it as a static encounter in the room where Bagon could originally be found.

How can I get the Alolan forms of Raichu, Marowak, or Exeggutor, the Galarian form of Weezing, or the Hisuian forms of Braviary or Avalugg?
All of those are branched evolutions from the original base forms. The item necessary is held by Pokémon you receive, but only one of them is free.

Spoiler: Solution

All of these evolve with the Strange Souvenir, which is held by in-game trades except the one in Rustboro and the gift Type: Null, and for sale in Ever Grande City.

How do you get the Fossils?
Normal RSE methods will grant you the special ones. The others come from the HGSS method.

Spoiler: Solution

Mirage Tower and the Desert Underpass give you the Old Amber and Ancient Egg. All the others can be found through Rock Smash drops.

Where do you get the X-Scissor TM?
Someone in Rustboro gave you something similar. Might be worth checking again?

Spoiler: Solution

The Cutter's daughter in Rustboro will give you the TM after you get three badges.

How do you solve Trick Forest?
Trick Forest can be fully cleared the moment you have access to it. You'll need Cut and one other easily-accessible out-of-battle move. Run around and experiment.

Spoiler: Further hints

The white flowers teleport you, the purple flowers don't. That's pretty inconvenient. And some of those trees, what's their deal?

Spoiler: Solution

Using Headbutt on a golden tree will cause certain white and purple flowers to swap colours, which is necessary to progress and get certain items and find Trick Master.

What's the deal with those Cut trees? They're not actually blocking anything, are they? …Are they?

Spoiler: Solution

The scroll Trick Master wants is blocked by five statues, each corresponding to a Cut tree in the forest. When the tree is cut, the statue disappears.

Leaving and re-entering a map causes cut-down trees to grow back. What about teleporting within the same map? Does that count as leaving?

Spoiler: Solution

Using a flower to teleport resets the trees, so there's a specific one that must be cut down first. Another is hidden in a grove of thinner trees.

What's the deal with Altering Cave?
Altering Cave isn't very useful at first, unless you know someone else who's gotten further than you. Its utility is in replays and TM crafting.

Spoiler: Solution

Altering Cave lets you find encounters from later-game areas early by inputting codes found on scrolls or in other places in those areas.

How do you unlock the Desert Ruins?

Spoiler: Braille Translation

ESCHEW ALL NORMALITY TO ACCESS OUR SECRETS.
The Braille isn't capitalized correctly. It's more properly written as, "Eschew all Normality to access our secrets."

Spoiler: Solution

Interact with the door with a full party and no Normal-type Pokémon or moves.

How do you unlock the Island Cave?

Spoiler: Braille Translation

LEAD IMMUNE TO POWDER IMMUNE. LAST IMMUNE TO BURN IMMUNE.
There are a lot of immunities in Pokémon. What traits can grant immunity to powder moves or the burn status? Which of those traits themselves have immunities?

Spoiler: Solution

Your first Pokémon must be immune to Grass, i.e. with Sap Sipper or Green Thumb. Your sixth must be immune to Fire, with Flash Fire or Well-Baked Body.

How do you unlock the Ancient Tomb?

Spoiler: Braille Translation

OUR DOOR OPENS ONLY FOR THOSE WHO BEGIN WITH BRAVERY.
"Begin" refers to the first Pokémon in your party. What makes a Pokémon brave?

Spoiler: Solution

Lead with a Brave-natured Pokémon. It must be naturally Brave - a Brave Mint won't suffice.

Where do you get the Memories for Silvally?
The man who gave you Type: Null mentioned where it came from. I'm sure she'd like to see it all grown up.

Spoiler: Solution

If you talk to Dr. Sponsibel in the Weather Institute with Silvally in your party and enough bag space for all 17 Memories, she'll give them to you.

Spoiler: I'd like to see the credits, please

Firstly, the Pokeemerald Expansion project and the folks in the RHH Discord. This project is Expansion-based and would not be possible without it, even though I've probably cut out and / or mangled a good 30% of the features it includes.

DNS: ShinyDragonHunter

Lotad, Taillow, Swellow, Snorunt, Magnezone, Beldum, Metang, Metagross fronts: Wiznatts
Skiddo front: Azria
Gogoat front: Smogon XY Sprite Project
Gen 9 icon sprites, except Tandemaus line, Varoom line, and Glimmet line: Ezerart
ALL Fakemon, Poochyena, Mightyena, Pelipper, Shroomish, Breloom, Palossand, Heliolisk, Carvanha, Sharpedo, Cramorant, Dracovish, Snorlax, Tatsugiri, Kartana: Me
Remaining sprites: The assorted DS-Style 64x64 Resources

Basically every single cry: Skurleton (for real, can't thank you enough)

Playtesting: Stevie, Nihil, Ibis, Jill, Atlas, Chessa, Jim, and several other wonderful friends

If you were responsible for a part of this hack and don't see your name here, let me know! I have an exceedingly poor memory!

Spoiler: I'd like to download it, please

v1.2.0 can be downloaded here. The recommended emulator is mGBA, but it should also work on VBA and on cart. Several bugs have been reported on the MyBoy emulator, so I do not recommend using that.

Spoiler: Changelog

- Wild Pokémon now drop materials.
- The materials that wild Pokémon can drop can be viewed in the Data tab of the Pokédex.
- If the Pokémon in the first slot of your party has the Ability Pickpocket, Scavenger, or Pickup, wild Pokémon drop materials 50% more often.
- You can disable the text that notifies you of an item drop in page 2 of the options menu, under Wild Drop Text.
- The TM Master in Slateport now uses materials to craft TMs instead of asking you to defeat certain Pokémon.
- The move tutors now request their respective Shards plus a few materials to tutor their moves.
- An NPC in the Dewford Town Hall will trade a bundle of random rare materials in exchange for more common materials once each day.
- If you started your save file on v1.1.0 or earlier, you may speak to a deliveryman in any Poké Mart to receive a large bundle of assorted materials, to make up for not having access to them throughout your play.

- The TM Tracker Key Item is now the Bounty Charm. The Bounty Charm gives a chance for wild Pokémon to drop two or three of a material instead of one. If you already had the TM Tracker, it will be replaced by the Bounty Charm to help get a head start on material collecting. Otherwise, it can be obtained through a sidequest with the Berry Master's daughter on Route 123.

- Pyukumuku now drop Mucus Globs instead of holding them.
- Karrablast and Shelmet now drop Forked Horns / Shell Visors instead of holding them.
- Gligar, Sneasel, and Bisharp now drop Razor Fangs / Razor Claws / Leader's Crests instead of holding them.

- The Item Locations document has been updated to include material prices for TMs and tutors, as well as listing the drops for first-stage wild Pokémon.

- There is now a setting for a Wild Exp. All.
- This setting is off by default, but will cause your entire team to gain Exp. Points whenever you defeat a wild Pokémon. It does not affect Trainer battles.
- The Exp. Share item has no effect in wild battles if this setting is on, but otherwise works as normal.
- Grinding on wild Pokémon is still important, more so now that materials exist, but this should speed things up somewhat for the impatient and those without much time.
- Once again, this setting is off by default. You must enable it in page 2 of the Options menu.

- Further adjustments to experience gain.
- All Pokémon that participate in battle will now receive the full amount of Exp. Points.
- The Exp. Share still gives the holder 50% of the Exp. Points, but the Pokémon that participated in the battle now receives full Exp. Points.
- The Wild Exp. All setting gives 25% of the Exp. Points to any Pokémon that did not participate.
- Scaling experience gain makes its return, but with a twist - it only affects Pokémon that are lower-leveled than the defeated Pokémon. In other words, low-level Pokémon will gain extra Exp. Points from defeating high-level Pokémon, but high-level Pokémon will not be penalized when defeating low-level Pokémon.
- The following Pokémon now yield approximately 50% more Exp. Points when defeated: Baltoy, Ferroseed, Golett, Murkrow, Psyclops, Wailmer, Yanma, Tangela, Scyther, Bonfird, Gligar, Rufflet, Vullaby, Cetoddle, Sneasel. These Pokémon's Exp. Point yields are now equal to (BST * 6 / 20), rather than the typical (BST * 4 / 20) formula used for first-stage Pokémon.
- In the absence of Chansey and Blissey, Munchlax and Snorlax have nobly taken on the role of "rare Normal-type that explodes into Exp. Points when defeated" and have much greater Exp. Point yields. Headbutt isn't just for getting that pre-Rustboro Drumble anymore!
- God willing, these will be the very last adjustments to the experience system.

- There is now an Egg Move tutor in Fallarbor along with the normal move tutor. He takes Eggshells as currency, which are held by Pokémon you've hatched.

- You can now access a small diving area in the Slateport Harbor.
- Not strictly related, but the underwater wild Pokémon tables on Routes 124-126 have been adjusted.

- Brendan / May now give the TM for Hidden Power after battling them in Rustboro.
- Hidden Power now displays its true typing in battle and in the summary screen.

- Explorer's Guide description updated to make it clearer that it's a held item for battle and has no out of battle use.
- Added a few NPCs and signs. One talks about stealing Lucky Eggs from wild Togetic, and one explains how material drops work.

- Battle messages should no longer get cut off in the interface.
- Shiny Charm palette fixed.
- Rocky Helmet should now proc on Pokémon with Gooey / Tangling Hair.
- Interacting with a Strength boulder while not having a Pokémon with Strength no longer brings up the Rock Smash message.
- Rookidee line is now correctly compatible with Rock Smash.
- May will no longer refer to you as a Gym Leader's kid if you speak to her on the first floor of her house.
- Mass outbreaks have been edited; don't get too excited though, they're still postgame and you can still only get one per save because I can't figure out how to fix that.

Spoiler: Old Versions

v1.1.0

Spoiler: v1.1.0 Changelog

- Wibow: Now evolves at level 20.
- Tarantailor: Now learns Zen Headbutt and Head Smash by level instead of by move relearner.
- Tadbulb: Primary Ability is now Illuminate instead of Own Tempo.
- Nymble, Lokix: Secondary Ability is now Steadfast instead of Defiant.
- Ratten, Possessum: Secondary Ability is now Perish Body instead of Toxic Boost. Hidden Ability is now Toxic Boost instead of Perish Body.
- Acipeasi, Zestatic: Hidden Ability is now Ripen instead of Magnet Pull.
- X-Trac: Now evolves at level 33.
- Wailmer, Wailord: Secondary Ability is now Simple instead of Stamina. Now learns Curse at level 40 instead of Hyper Voice.
- Frillish, Jellicent: Hidden Ability is now Perish Body instead of Damp.
- Scyther, Scizor: Hidden Ability is now Steadfast instead of Sharpness.

- Revamped Ability: Steadfast - When this Pokémon's stats are lowered, its Speed is sharply raised.
- Steadfast is an extremely niche Ability. More importantly, though, replacing Defiant with Steadfast on the Nymble line makes it less of a menace in the very early game.
- Revamped Ability: Perish Body - On contact with this Pokémon, the attacker gains the Ghost type.
- Perish Body felt underpowered, especially on Apparaven. This gives it a good bit more utility, and retains some synergy with Smoke Bomb.

- New Ability: Traffic Jam - When another Pokémon switches in while this Pokémon is on the field, the incoming Pokémon's Speed is lowered.
- Pokémon with this Ability: Varoom (secondary), Revavroom (secondary), Scargot (replaces Stakeout)

- Wild Sprout: 25 BP -> 30 BP
- Wild Sprout was a little weak. This modest buff should make it a bit more of an enticing option.
- Grand Entrance: 100 BP -> 110 BP
- Felt like it needed a little more oomph.

- The level curve got a facelift. Most of the endgame is slightly lower-levelled, and sets have been adjusted to be less optimized and more GameFreak-ish. In particular, Maxie 2 and Archie 2 are no longer such big spikes in level.

- Some Pokémon with specific Abilities can now use HMs outside of battle without knowing the move.
- Pokémon with Sharpness or Hyper Cutter can use Cut.
- Pokémon with Iron Fist or Mold Breaker can use Rock Smash.
- Pokémon with Huge Power or Sheer Force can use Strength.
- Pokémon with Swift Swim can use Surf, Dive, and Waterfall. Pokémon with Gulp Missile can also use Dive.
- Pokémon with Illuminate will automatically light up darkened areas.
- This change is not meant to replace teaching HMs. The number of Pokémon with these Abilities is fairly small. This is a little bonus if you happen to have them.

- TMs and items at the Game Corner cost fewer coins.
- You can now receive a Pokéblock Case from a Safari Zone attendant.
- Trainers have been added to Trick Forest and Verdanturf Manor. They are very normal.
- Several improved move animations.
- The Abilities Swarm, Green Thumb, Cursed Body, Forewarn, Dark Aura, and Fairy Aura now increase the wild encounter rate with Bug, Grass, Ghost, Psychic, Dark, and Fairy-type Pokémon, respectively.

- Fixed a graphical oddity with a flower in Trick Forest.
- Parental Bond and Double Tap now work properly with multi-hit moves.
- Migreat-South can now be tracked in the Area tab of the Pokédex.
- Persim Berry now works correctly when used from the bag during battle.

v1.0.3

Spoiler: v1.0.3 Changelog

- The moves Incinerate, Flip Turn, Snipe Shot, and Anchor Shot should no longer crash the game on MyBoy. I STILL DO NOT RECOMMEND PLAYING THIS HACK ON MYBOY, because other "bugs" that result from inaccurate emulation will likely not be fixed. Please play this hack on mGBA to get the best results.

- The Lucky Egg now boosts EXP gained by 100% instead of 50%. The Lucky Egg is available in the Safari Zone from an NPC. It can also rarely be held by wild Togetic, which can be encountered via Headbutt in Trick Forest, if you're willing to put in the effort of getting one early.

- The TM Master now gives you a TM Tracker, which lets you check what TM you're currently crafting and which Pokémon you still need to defeat.

- The Hiker in the Pretty Petal Flower Shop now lets you make one of each Nectar, or convert all currently held Honey into one type of Nectar.
- Honey is now slightly more expensive and Nectars sell for slightly less, because I forgot you can buy Honey in Verdanturf Town, but I still want the Nectar guy to serve as a way of boosting your early-game funds if you have a Honey Gather Pokémon.

- Wild Pokémon on the first floor of Meteor Falls, the interior of New Mauville, and the top floor of Mirage Tower are slightly higher level.

- A new Altering Cave password has been added for the Abandoned Ship.

- Pursuit on a switching target with Justified / Rattled should no longer produce weird behaviour.
- Fixed a typo in Darumaka's Pokédex entry.
- The postgame gift Type: Null should now actually be a Type: Null.
- Assorted NPC dialogue fixes.
- Moved the position of a golden tree in Trick Forest to make it a little more accessible.

v1.0.2

Spoiler: v1.0.2 Changelog

- Lotad, Lombre, & Ludicolo: Hidden Ability is now Tangled Feet instead of Own Tempo.
- Ludicolo: Sp. Atk 90 -> 95, Sp. Def 100 -> 105
- Shiftry: Attack 100 -> 105, Sp. Atk 90 -> 95
- Oricorio-Pom-Pom: Hidden Ability is now Tangled Feet instead of Quick Feet.
- Scovillain: Secondary Ability is now Tangled Feet instead of Insomnia.
- Granvas & Mezosaic: Hidden Ability is now Levitate instead of Synchronize.
- Mezosaic: Now learns Razor Wind by move relearner instead of Air Cutter.

- Revamped Ability: Tangled Feet - At the end of each turn, this Pokémon's Speed stat is either sharply boosted, boosted, lowered, or harshly lowered, at random.

- New item: Explorer's Guide - Non-consumable. When held, allows Dig, Dive, and Fly to be executed in one turn instead of two. Found in the Fossil Maniac's tunnel.

- The Data tab of the Pokédex now explains evolution methods, though it does not necessarily provide all of the details.

- EXP no longer scales with level. In the absence of the Gen 6+ Exp. Share, this should hopefully make levelling a bit less painful. I'm definitely looking for feedback on how this affects the overall level curve - please let me know!

- Berries now grow much faster and have slightly higher yields. Basic Berries like Chesto and Pecha will grow fully in one real-time hour. The rarest Berries like Starf and Liechi will grow in twelve hours. Berries like Lum and Sitrus will take around 3-4, while type-resist Berries take 2. Berry trees also no longer disappear when fully-grown if left unpicked.

- Tate and Liza now only have two Super Potions instead of four.
- Player can now receive either the Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, or Flamethrower TM from the Winstrates.
- X-Scissor TM is now available after three badges instead of five.
- Fallarbor's Hyper Training Station now contains an IV judge.
- The postgame superboss now hints that they can be fought after the Champion.
- Trainers in Victory Road can now be rematched once you reach the Pokémon League, although it may not exactly be... ethical.

- Fixed alternate form cries and summary screen dex numbers.
- Lilycove Ferry can no longer take you to the Battle Frontier (yet).
- May's dialogue no longer references the player being the child of a Gym Leader.
- Migreat can now properly change forms with the Lost Compass.
- Ponyta, Rapidash, Darumaka, and Darmanitan are now properly compatible with the Overheat TM.
- Subzerebrum now evolves at the correct level.
- The Fallarbor Hyper Training Station is now usable if you have a Gold Bottle Cap but no regular Bottle Caps.

v1.0.1

Spoiler: v1.0.1 Changelog

- Fixed the weirdness with Scavenger, I hope.
- No longer possible to softlock in Mauville Gym.
- A few very minor battle engine related bugfixes related to Corrosion, Emergency Exit, and some Life Orb interactions.
- Added a patching guide in the download.

v1.0.0

 

[Inner Rhymes]

Oh man! Welcome back! I fondly remember Fire Red and Emerald advanced. Congratulations on your return!

 

[mattgcn]

Sooo excited to see you finally put this out :3

 

[JJSponge120]

I am so gonna give this one a try. The Fakemon look so good!

 

[tadashi89]

Can you catch the other starters in this hack? Or do they need to be edited in?

 

[Deneb]

It seems like Scavenger is bugged - upon activating, it restores HP as normal, and then displays the "There was no PP left for the move!" text before replacing your moveset with the KO'd Pokemon's.

 

[aicaimze]

sup, found a hardlock. can't do anything about this i think

 

[Maxbupweed]

hello I downloaded version 1.0 only I don't know how to launch the game with the emulator, I don't have an application folder apart from "nups" thanks in advance the game looks great

 

[Mirizi]

The move Incinerate keeps me hang my emulator (I'm using MyBoy GBA) ANDROID

 

[shadowgamer200]

just started it and heres my starter ^^

 

[Aaron Lycan]

I Don't See The Download Link Anywhere. 😓

 

[Maxbupweed]

I still haven't figured out how to make the ROM work.

 

[Mirizi]

I Don't See The Download Link Anywhere. 😓

At the bottom of thread the last spoiler

 

[Mirizi]

I still haven't figured out how to make the ROM work.

Just patch the trashman file to trashman emerald using marco robledo online patcher

 

[Maxbupweed]

Just patch the trashman file to trashman emerald using marco robledo online patcher

I don't really understand I did what you said but I don't have anything usable to launch the game, but thank you for your answer

 

[Guzeinbuick]

Yooo the sprite work is clean!! I love Fakemon hacks so I'll definitely be checking this out later!

 

[shadowgamer200]

hay does anyone know where u get bottle caps in this game?

 

[lweege]

Hi. I'm Celeste. My first ROM hack, Pokémon Fire Red Advanced, was finished over six years ago, and it's a charming little thing, but it's from a long-gone era, when the Fairy-type was novel and everyone was using MrDollSteak's base and I thought I was a boy. Times have changed. We've all matured.

My second hack was Pokémon Emerald Advanced, a project that in retrospect was ultimately too ambitious to succeed with my skill at the time, which is why it remains unfinished, stuck forever at gym 6. But I liked a lot of the ideas that went into it. There was a spark of something solid there.

I made other hacks from then to now, but most too minor to mention. (Hey, Viva Las Vega enjoyers.) I grew busy, I gained other interests, but something in me still had that desire to create.

Thus, here we are. I present a project that in some ways scales back those lofty ambitious, but in other ways far exceeds anything I could have dreamed of back then. I give you Pokémon Emerald Z.

What it is:
A hack of Pokémon Emerald that contains, among other things, over 100 Fakemon with thoughtful designs and high-quality sprites, a carefully-curated Pokédex, shuffled Gym Leaders, buffs to weak Pokémon, some new maps, and a lot of love.

What it is not:
A difficulty hack, an includes-every-Pokémon hack, a quality-of-life hack, a source of free Fakemon, a peanut-free product, a blood sacrifice to the dark god Ba'al, an illustrated guide to cold fusion, affiliated in any way with Elon Musk.

That's the gist. Here are some screenshots. I'll provide some more details in spoilers below, if you want to peruse. Thanks for reading. I hope you give it a try, and I hope, if you do, that you have fun.

Spoiler: I'd like more details, please

The features of this hack include, but are not limited to:
- A Pokédex of 500 Pokémon, chosen from generations 1-9, with a large variety of my own Fakemon added in. These Fakemon have full, detailed learnsets, quality sprites, interesting concepts that lend themselves to unique gameplay, icon sprites, and custom cries.
- Many buffs to weak Pokémon, as well as customized learnsets. These include Fur Coat Furret, Anticipation Golisopod, Electric Surge Electrode, Psychic / Ghost Chimecho, Noxious Torque Revavroom, and a non-terrible way to access Zen Mode Darmanitan.
- Your usual modern battle mechanics, which is to say the physical / special split, Fairy-type, the stuff you don't need to be told about and which I can't honestly tout as a feature.
- There are no Mega Evolutions or other gimmicks.
- 12-character Pokémon names and 16-character Ability and move names, because we've put up with Fletchindr and StmpngTantrm for too long.
- New moves and Abilities.
- 99 TMs. TMs, for balance reasons, are single-use, but remain accessible.
- More interesting and useful replacements to the Battle Tents. In Slateport is a TM fan club, where new copies of TMs you've discovered can be made. In Verdanturf is an old, abandoned manor where Ghost-type Pokémon lurk. In Fallarbor is a Hyper Training station where you can maximize your Pokémon's IVs.
- Trick House now leads to the Trick Forest.
- All Gym Leaders and Elite Four members have been shuffled around, so your team will be tested in different ways. Gym puzzles are not overhauled, but have at least token modifications to make them more fitting.
- There is a Shiny Charm immediately accessible in your room, which can also be removed at any time. This is specifically because, as a Fakemon hack, I want people to be able to find shinies of the new Pokémon.
- Something happened in Altering Cave.
- Difficulty was not a primary focus of this hack, so there are no level caps or competitive movesets. I would still say the game is more difficult than the main series games; the AI is generally smarter, there are still some mean moves, and of course there's no holds barred on the secret postgame boss. Trainer Pokémon generally don't have EVs until the endgame; before then, Gym Leader Pokémon will have some HP EVs to make them more durable, but that's it.
- Almost no Pokémon are fully locked to lategame. If you know how to find them, you can get almost every Pokémon in the hack before gym 3.
- The ruins that once held the Regis are now accessible from the start, and have all-new puzzles.
- Winning big at the Game Corner is much easier.
- The game is currently complete through to the Champion fight. Postgame is inaccessible. Battle Frontier will maybe someday be a thing, says literally every Emerald hack ever made.
- Cramorant is here.

Spoiler: I'd like to see the available Pokémon, please

Spoiler: I'd like details on the available Pokémon, please

Everything you need to know short of TM / tutor compatibilities and egg moves is in a .txt document included with the download. You'll also find item locations, Gym Leader teams, and wild Pokémon locations.

Spoiler: I'd like to learn any known bugs, please

- In a double batle, if you knock out a Pokémon with Opportunist with a move that raises your stats, Opportunist will trigger after the Pokémon has already fainted.
- I believe that's all.

Spoiler: I'd like to ask another question, please

Can you add x Pokémon?
No. I chose this dex carefully and have no intention to add to it at the moment.

Can you add Mega Evolution?
No. I will also not add any of the other battle gimmicks. The hack is called Emerald Z because I am Z-nogyroP, not because of Z-Moves, or Zygarde.

Can I use your Fakemon in my project?
No.

Where can I get Hisuian Sneasel?
You can't. You also can't get Pichu, Cleffa, Azurill, Igglybuff, Galarian Darumaka, Galarian Darmanitan, Sneasler, or Dusk Lycanroc. This is because I don't really like them.

Is there an official Discord?
No, and I'd kindly ask people not try to start an unofficial one, either. I can't stop you, but I have neither the desire nor time to moderate a Discord or participate in one. If you have questions, feel free to ask in this thread, or, hell, you probably know someone who knows someone who knows me. Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon it.

Why is the documentation in .txt format instead of on Google Sheets or something?
Call me old-fashioned.

Spoiler: I'd like a hint, please

Where can I find the other starters?
How thoroughly have you explored Prof. Birch's lab? Not very, I'll bet.

Spoiler: Solution

Input the code ANOTHER POKÉDEX into the Altering Cave statue.

Where can I find Drumble?
If you fast-forwarded through Wally's catch tutorial, you might've missed it.

Spoiler: Solution

Drumble is a very rare Headbutt encounter in almost all areas.

Where can I find Pokémon #364?
New Mauville has the same encounter tables for the cave-esque entrance and the interior, but somehow you can only find it in the interior.

Spoiler: Solution

Stepping on switches in New Mauville has a chance to trigger an encounter. In addition to #364, you can find Rotom and, very rarely, Meltan.

Where can I find Pokémon #379?
Feebas isn't in the game, but it'd be a shame to put that weird encounter method to waste.

Spoiler: Solution

It can be fished up on Route 119 in six specific spots. Unlike original Feebas, though, it has a 100% encounter rate in those spots, to make it easier.

Where can I find Pokémon #483?
Y'know, Bagon shows up on all floors of Meteor Falls now. So, uh, what's the point of going deeper, exactly?

Spoiler: Solution

Find it as a static encounter in the room where Bagon could originally be found.

How can I get the Alolan forms of Raichu, Marowak, or Exeggutor, the Galarian form of Weezing, or the Hisuian forms of Braviary or Avalugg?
All of those are branched evolutions from the original base forms. The item necessary is held by Pokémon you receive, but only one of them is free.

Spoiler: Solution

All of these evolve with the Strange Souvenir, which is held by in-game trades except the one in Rustboro and the gift Type: Null, and for sale in Ever Grande City.

How do you get the Fossils?
Normal RSE methods will grant you the special ones. The others come from the HGSS method.

Spoiler: Solution

Mirage Tower and the Desert Underpass give you the Old Amber and Ancient Egg. All the others can be found through Rock Smash drops.

Where do you get the X-Scissor TM?
Someone in Rustboro gave you something similar. Might be worth checking again?

Spoiler: Solution

The Cutter's daughter in Rustboro will give you the TM after you get five badges.

How do you solve Trick Forest?
Trick Forest can be fully cleared the moment you have access to it. You'll need Cut and one other easily-accessible out-of-battle move. Run around and experiment.

Spoiler: Further hints

The white flowers teleport you, the purple flowers don't. That's pretty inconvenient. And some of those trees, what's their deal?

Spoiler: Solution

Using Headbutt on a golden tree will cause certain white and purple flowers to swap colours, which is necessary to progress and get certain items and find Trick Master.

What's the deal with those Cut trees? They're not actually blocking anything, are they? …Are they?

Spoiler: Solution

The scroll Trick Master wants is blocked by five statues, each corresponding to a Cut tree in the forest. When the tree is cut, the statue disappears.

Leaving and re-entering a map causes cut-down trees to grow back. What about teleporting within the same map? Does that count as leaving?

Spoiler: Solution

Using a flower to teleport resets the trees, so there's a specific one that must be cut down first. Another is hidden in a grove of thinner trees.

What's the deal with Altering Cave?
Altering Cave isn't very useful at first, unless you know someone else who's gotten further than you. Its utility is in replays and TM crafting.

Spoiler: Solution

Altering Cave lets you find encounters from later-game areas early by inputting codes found on scrolls or in other places in those areas.

How do you unlock the Desert Ruins?

Spoiler: Braille Translation

ESCHEW ALL NORMALITY TO ACCESS OUR SECRETS.

The Braille isn't capitalized correctly. It's more properly written as, "Eschew all Normality to access our secrets."

Spoiler: Solution

Interact with the door with a full party and no Normal-type Pokémon or moves.

How do you unlock the Island Cave?

Spoiler: Braille Translation

LEAD IMMUNE TO POWDER IMMUNE. LAST IMMUNE TO BURN IMMUNE.

There are a lot of immunities in Pokémon. What traits can grant immunity to powder moves or the burn status? Which of those traits themselves have immunities?

Spoiler: Solution

Your first Pokémon must be immune to Grass, i.e. with Sap Sipper or Green Thumb. Your sixth must be immune to Fire, with Flash Fire or Well-Baked Body.

How do you unlock the Ancient Tomb?

Spoiler: Braille Translation

OUR DOOR OPENS ONLY FOR THOSE WHO BEGIN WITH BRAVERY.

"Begin" refers to the first Pokémon in your party. What makes a Pokémon brave?

Spoiler: Solution

Lead with a Brave-natured Pokémon. It must be naturally Brave - a Brave Mint won't suffice.

Where do you get the Memories for Silvally?
The man who gave you Type: Null mentioned where it came from. I'm sure she'd like to see it all grown up.

Spoiler: Solution

If you talk to Dr. Sponsibel in the Weather Institute with Silvally in your party and enough bag space for all 17 Memories, she'll give them to you.

Spoiler: I'd like to see the credits, please

Firstly, the Pokeemerald Expansion project and the folks in the RHH Discord. This project is Expansion-based and would not be possible without it, even though I've probably cut out and / or mangled a good 30% of the features it includes.

DNS: ShinyDragonHunter

Lotad, Taillow, Swellow, Snorunt, Magnezone, Beldum, Metang, Metagross fronts: Wiznatts
Skiddo front: Azria
Gogoat front: Smogon XY Sprite Project
Gen 9 icon sprites, except Tandemaus line, Varoom line, and Glimmet line: Ezerart
ALL Fakemon, Poochyena, Mightyena, Pelipper, Shroomish, Breloom, Palossand, Heliolisk, Carvanha, Sharpedo, Cramorant, Dracovish, Snorlax, Tatsugiri, Kartana: Me
Remaining sprites: The assorted DS-Style 64x64 Resources

Basically every single cry: Skurleton (for real, can't thank you enough)

Playtesting: Stevie, Nihil, Ibis, Jill, Atlas, Chessa, Jim, and several other wonderful friends

If you were responsible for a part of this hack and don't see your name here, let me know! I have an exceedingly poor memory!

Spoiler: I'd like to download it, please

Find the link to v1.0 right here.

Is there a way to check the EVs of your Pokemon?

 

[Z-nogyroP]

Emerald Z v.1.0.1 is now available to download! Normally I wouldn't put out a new patch so soon, but this solves two relatively important bugs - one because it affects a very common and early Pokémon, and one because it's a softlock.

Spoiler: Changelog

- Fixed the weirdness with Scavenger, I hope.
- No longer possible to softlock in Mauville Gym.
- A few very minor battle engine related bugfixes related to Corrosion, Emergency Exit, and some Life Orb interactions.
- Added a patching guide in the download.

Can you catch the other starters in this hack? Or do they need to be edited in?

This is answered in the first post, but yes, you can. It's done through a specific method, however.

hello I downloaded version 1.0 only I don't know how to launch the game with the emulator, I don't have an application folder apart from "nups" thanks in advance the game looks great

NUPS is the patching application used to apply the .ups patch included in the download to an Emerald ROM, which you have to acquire yourself.

The move Incinerate keeps me hang my emulator (I'm using MyBoy GBA) ANDROID

Unfortunately this hack was tested on and made for mGBA, as it's the most accurate GBA emulator, so I can't guarantee it'll play perfectly on other emulators.

hay does anyone know where u get bottle caps in this game?

There's a few Bottle Caps available in the overworld and as hidden items. The repeatable methods are through the Pacifidlog Fan Club man and very rarely via Rock Smash.

Is there a way to check the EVs of your Pokemon?

No, there is not - this is not a game where you need to optimize your EVs. That said, EV-reducing berries are available in the Fallarbor Hyper Training Station.

 

[RqTT]

Hey, this isn't a game-breaking issue, but most alternative forms of existing species (eg. west gastrodon, rotom forms) either have invalid cries or just bulbasaur's cry. the roaming legendary's alternate form also has a pokedex index of 0 too.