Pokemon Beta Emerald - Down + Dirty ROM

Pokemon Beta Emerald – Down + Dirty is a GBA ROM Hack by Missingno#0 based on Pokemon Emerald in English. It was last updated on October 23, 2024.

Description

After following the insanity that was the Pokemon leak and seeing all of the leaked Gen III beta sprites, I decided I wanted to put together a quick ROM hack that adds them into Pokemon Emerald. Therefore I present to everyone, Pokemon Beta Emerald: Down + Dirty.

This is a completed ROM hack. I have no intention of adding any additional features as I have achieved what I set out to do. I will (attempt) to fix any bugs or glitches that come up if they are game breaking. However, I do not expect any of those to occur based on what I have actually hacked.

Features

Pokemon

• Beta sprites of already existing Pokemon have replaced their normal sprites.
• Beta Pokemon that didn’t make it into the final games have replaced other Pokemon.
  • I have given them English names based on their appearance and what little data was included in the leak. Some names are great, some are not. You decide.
  • They maintain the types, stats, moves, etc. of the Pokemon they replaced, barring a few, specific instances (see documentation).
  • The Pokemon I selected to replace match the Beta Pokemon in typing and/or theming in order to maintain some semblance of normalcy (see documentation).
  • All Pokemon menu icons have been replaced with a Pokeball icon. The color of the Pokeball icon matches the main type of the Pokemon.
    • I am not the best sprite artist and I wanted things to be quick and consistent, so this seemed to be the best option.
• The Hoenn Dex is completable in game. All 202 Pokemon in the Hoenn Dex are obtainable.
  • Additional encounters have been added for Pokemon missing from the game (see documentation)
  • A few maps have been altered slightly to make room for the additional encounters.
• A handful of Pokemon from my upcoming ROM hack were added for funsies as Easter Eggs. The documentation will tell you which Pokemon were replaced but not what they are.

Quality of Life

• You can run indoors after getting the running shoes.
• Trade evolutions will occur at level 38.
• Stone evolutions will also occur at level 40.

Things I Didn’t Do That I Won’t Be Doing That People Will Probably Ask About

• I did not add the Fairy Type
• There is no Physical/Special Split
• All 386 Pokemon are not obtainable
• No increased Shiny Odds
• No Additional QoL will be added
• Beta Sprites were not altered (unless it was necessary)
• Back Sprites were not created for Beta Sprites that did not have them
  • Front Sprites were mirrored vertically and used as Back Sprites
• Shiny Sprites were not created for Beta Sprites/Pokemon
• Pokemon Sprite animations were removed and won’t be re-added.

In Summary

This is a very simple, straightforward, and dirty ROM Hack for people that simply want to play a game with the Beta Sprites & Beta Pokemon. It is not meant to be groundbreaking or game changing. In all honesty, I made it for myself and thought some other people might get a kick out of it as well.

If anyone wants to extract the Beta Sprites to use for their own ROM Hack, please feel free (but obviously not my “Easter Egg” Pokemon). Since I have already processed the Beta Sprites to add in, extracting full sprite sheets from the hack would probably be easier than trying to assemble them yourself.

Useful Links

Pokecommunity

Reddit