Pokemon Emerald Z ROM

Pokemon Emerald Z is a GBA ROM Hack by Z-nogyroP based on Pokemon Emerald in English. It was last updated on February 22, 2024.

Description

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.

Features

• 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.

Changelog

V1.2.0

• 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.

V1.1.0

• 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, Mystic Eye, 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

• The moves Incinerate, Flip Turn, Snipe Shot, and Anchor Shot should no longer crash the game on MyBoy.
• 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.