Pokemon Cubic Crystal ROM

Pokemon Cubic Crystal is a GBC ROM Hack by jayhankedlyon based on Pokemon Crystal. It was last updated on April 24, 2024.

Description

POKEMON: CUBIC CRYSTAL is a remix of Crystal that’s recognizable but distinct, a sort of “what if Crystal’s story was as different from Gold/Silver as future same-gen sequels?” approach.

The gym leaders have a greater role in your adventure, the order of events and map progression is slightly altered, and sideplots like the Rocket, Suicune, and Ruins of Alph bits are more tightly woven into the main story (don’t worry, the Radio Tower Takeover is actually streamlined!). Kanto is expanded as well, with a sidequest that sees you hunting for the Legendary Birds and further integration of gym leaders to the plot.

Quality of Life upgrades abound, from a move relearner in Violet City to the ability for mons to use HM moves in the field without wasting move slots on them. TMs remain single-use, but all of them can be repurchased at various points in the game; this makes the initial choice important, but doesn’t limit teambuilding forever. The level curve is improved for both trainers and wild mons, berries and apricorns are dropped two at a time, Kurt works instantly, Morning-only Pokemon appear in Daytime as well to avoid inconvenience, it’s all generally smoothed out.

Pokemon have been adjusted to generally create a baseline of 400 BST at the weakest for fully evolved mons, 450 for early game weakmons, and 500 BST as the standard. Typings have been adjusted for more diversity, and movesets as well as moves themselves have been greatly improved. Trainers have better teams, including my favorite idea: a rival that steals *both* of Elm’s other starters instead of doing all that work breaking into the lab and only nabbing one.

POKEMON FEATURES:

• Fully revamped stats, with BSTs given a general baseline of 400 for weakmons, 450 for mid-tier early mons, 500 for most mons, and slightly higher for starters and such.
• Tweaked typings for many and vastly improved learnsets for all!
• All evolutions available without trade, with Happiness replacing itemless trade evos and item evos replaced by just using item. All evolution items available before Elite Four, including a stone shop in Cianwood.
• Happiness is easier to accrue.
• Evolution levels tweaked for many mons with high requirements.
• Female and Shiny Pokemon have different IV spreads instead of purely suboptimal ones. Gender ratios adjusted among starters.
• Growth rates generally improved, with slow growth rates reserved only for truly powerful Pokemon.
• Improved level curve for wild Pokemon, particularly in Kanto.
• Barring legendaries and unpicked starters, full dex can be completed before Elite Four. Odd Egg from the Daycare now hatches a Kanto starter, so at least one can still be done! Additional starters available in Celadon Game Corner and by trades throughout Kanto.
• Morning-exclusive mons now appear during the day as well.
• Headbutt Trees are streamlined so that every mon-filled tree in a region offers the same Pokemon, rather than forcing a hunt through different trees.
• Old Rod can now catch more than Magikarp semi-reliably, and fishing swarm locations offer rare chances for swarming mons outside of swarms.
• Feraligatr’s name is now Colossobek (Colossus+Sobek) because “gatr” is just awful. The Name Rater now changes all names, including traded mons, so change it right back if you miss it!

MOVE FEATURES:

• Dark is physical and Ghost and Poison are special to reflect the nature of their moves (of all three types, only Lick and Poison Sting are now in the “wrong” category as of Gen IV).
• Overhaul of dozens of moves, including an accuracy buff to virtually every move with 70 BP or less.
• Iron Head and Ominous Wind added to increase move options for Steel and Ghost, respectively.
• Barrage, Egg Bomb, Nightmare, Spider Web, Whirlpool, and One-Hit KO moves removed.
• Field moves such as HMs can be used by any mon that learns them as long as the physical TM/HM is in your possession. For instance, a Dragonite with Outrage/Wing Attack/Blizzard/Thunder can still use Fly, Strength, Surf, Waterfall and such in the field!
• HM moves can be forgotten like any other move, no need for the Move Deleter.
• All TMs can be repurchased, with new TM shops appearing as the game progresses. TM moves slightly shifted to improve learnsets (out with Sweet Scent, in with Rock Slide, for instance).
• Move Reminder in Violet City teaches old moves for a modest fee.
• Bill replaces Move Tutor outside of Game Corner and teaches Thunderbolt/Ice Beam/Flamethrower. He appears after Radio Tower rather than after Elite Four, and is no longer limited by day.

TRAINER FEATURES:

• Overhaul of virtually every trainer to provide a better level curve (not Kaizo difficulty, but in keeping with a full two-area game).
• Improved Rival that steals both unchosen starters, because why would he not do this?
• Improved Gym Leader rosters, with later leaders gaining Pokemon out of their selected type to counter said type’s weaknesses.
• Pryce now acts as the fourth gym, with Chuck/Jasmine/Morty acting as interchangeable 5/6/7; while their teams are not dynamic, the game nudges towards this order.
• Rematches available for all Gym Leaders, with Johto Leaders giving bonus optional rematches before the Elite Four.

STORY FEATURES:

• Deeper integration of Gym Leaders and Elite Four members outside of their gyms a la Platinum to create a sense of place in the world and offering small story beats in Kanto.
• Suicune and Ruins of Alph quests are incorporated more deeply into the plot, with Karen replacing Eusine as our resident legendary hunter.
• Rocket HQ in Mahogany now offers meaningful choice between ambush statues and trick floor, and Radio Tower is heavily streamlined (no backtracking, and a Nurse Joy in the second floor to keep things moving).
• Completing Unown Dex and solving every Unown wall text puzzle in the Ruins of Alph earns you Legendary rewards!
• Falkner’s retired father replaces Bill’s grandfather in Cerulean Cape, offering a quest that sees you find and (hopefully) capture Kanto’s Legendary Birds. Catch all three to earn his Silver Wing!
• Mewtwo available after Red, but first it must be found! (Not a roaming encounter, worry not.)

MISC. FEATURES:

• Press B to run!
• Repel and Escape Rope are now reusable key items given early in your quest.
• Pocket PC allows for PC access on the fly.
• Fly is available immediately after Sudowoodo, allowing for easier backtracking across the split path of north Johto.
• Price overhaul for items to make catching and healing easier.
• All trees drop two berries/apricorns, and Kurt doesn’t need a day to turn apricorns into special balls.
• Three available Lucky Eggs hidden throughout the game.
• As Whirlpool as a move is deleted, there are no more pointless Whirlpools in the game.
• The Pokemon Center outside of the Power Plant can be flown to, no need to backtrack.
• The Abra at Indigo Plateau doesn’t leave, allowing easy travel between regions.
• That dinky pixel of “bangs” that makes Kris’s eyes look wonky when walking left or right? Yeah that’s gone.

CHANGELOG

V1.3

Pokemon Changes

• Updated all mons’ BSTs to match their stated stats in the spreadsheet (thanks to trobb for finding this error, for some reason a bunch of BSTs weren’t updated).
• Swapped Qwilfish’s Attack and Special Attack (Poison is now Special so 55 Special Attack on both STAB options seemed mean).
• Updated documentation to account for changed stats for Koffing, Weezing, and Sneasel.
• Allowed Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Venusaur, Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar to learn Sludge Bomb by TM (because I forgot that they somehow couldn’t).

V1.2

Progression Changes

• Karen now has dialogue pointing you in the right direction if you lose your first battle with you (she also assures you that your loss is basically a scripted event)
• NPCs in the Ruins of Alph reference the Clear Bell as an endpoint and nudge you a little harder towards the first step of the “trade sequence” to make the beginning and end goal of the sidequest easier to follow.

Quality of Life Changes

• Simplified clock reset! Just hold B+Select+Down and get going, no password required!
• Changed text scroll speed: Slow is now what Medium was, Medium is now what Fast was, and Fast is now instant! Sorry to the zero people whose favorite option was Slow!
• Removed artificial save delay (especially useful for moving Pokemon in boxes).
• Added page on Trainer Card for Kanto Badges, just because that’s a nice feature.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed sprite issue in Saffron where NPC outside of Pokemart was a player sprite (forgot there was a Fisher sprite in Saffron and removed it to make space for Bruno in the overworld, so the sprite got all janky).
• Fixed warp issue in Fuchsia where leaving the house next to the Gym brings you to the Warden’s House exit (a result of removing a building in town to smooth out navigation).
• Updated spritemap that bugged out some Route 12 Fisher sprites.

V1.1

Progression Changes

• Kenya’s trainer at the Goldenrod Gate hints at the mail recipient’s new and “ominous” TM (wanted to steer players towards actually getting Ominous Wind).
• The old man outside of Morty’s gym states plainly that Morty is going to take his time getting back (players kept asking how to fight Morty and use Surf).
• Streamlined Ruins of Alph quest by having the Omanyte word room drop you back into Union Cave, rather than making you hike back.
• Removed Chuck from Mt.Mortar after fighting the Elite Four; if you want his Lucky Egg, better track him down!

Quality of Life Changes

• Considerably shortened Nurse Joy’s text.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Sunflora’s typing (was Grass/Ice instead of Grass/Fire due to autofill somehow deciding I meant to type “Grass/Fury Attack” and the game then deciding that this means…Ice?).