Emerald One Pokémon at a time
Catches and gifts go to the PC. Right after a catch you can swap your partner for it. Deposited Pokémon can't be withdrawn.
Free Pokémon Emerald patch · v0.5 beta
Kaizo IronMON on your handheld.
Emerald Ironclad puts the randomizer and most Kaizo IronMON rules inside Pokémon Emerald. Start a new game for a fresh randomized run, choose Kaizo or Survival, and take on Hoenn with one Pokémon.
Patch your ROM once. Start new runs without a separate randomizer or tracker.
Tested on Miyoo Mini (Onion OS)mGBA
Patch your ROM
You'll need your own clean Pokémon Emerald (USA, Europe) ROM. This page finds it, checks it and applies the patch in your browser. Your ROM is never uploaded.
Plug in your SD card first. In the window that opens, click the card (it may be called MIYOO, SDCARD or NO NAME), then click Select. We'll find Emerald on it.
Looking for Emerald…
✓ Found your Emerald ROM
Then open it in your emulator, or copy it to Roms/GBA on your handheld and pick NEW GAME.
Details
- You need an unmodified Pokémon Emerald (USA, Europe) ROM, CRC32
1F1C08FB. It can be a .gba or a .zip. - Everything runs in your browser. If it says it will "upload" a folder, nothing actually leaves your device: the page only reads the files to find Emerald.
- Already have a patcher? Download the v0.5 .bps patch and apply it with Rom Patcher JS or Floating IPS.
The rules
Choose Kaizo or Survival at the start of your run. Both modes follow the Kaizo IronMON rules, with most restrictions enforced by the game. The rules below explain what the game handles and what you'll need to follow yourself.
When your Pokémon faints
You travel with one Pokémon, so if it faints you black out and the run is over. The game lets you keep playing, but under IronMON rules that run has ended.
Start a new game for a new seed and a new run. To retry the same run, enter its seed in the moving truck.
What's randomized
- Starters: three random Pokémon in Birch's bag.
- Wild Pokémon: each area gets its own random species.
- Trainer teams, plus gift and in-world Pokémon (no legendaries).
- Base stats: each Pokémon keeps its total, split randomly.
- Abilities: random, never Wonder Guard.
- Movesets: four random starting moves, then random moves at the usual levels.
Types, maps, items and the story stay the same. Legendaries never appear in the random pools.
Both modes
No attacking wild Pokémon
You can't attack wild Pokémon unless you're unable to flee, for example against Shadow Tag.
One catch per area
At most 4 levels above your strongest Pokémon. No legendaries and nothing with a base stat total of 600 or more.
Poké Balls and Repels only
Marts sell nothing else. Items you already have still work in battle.
Higher levels
Trainers and wild Pokémon are 60% higher level than usual.
Bigger boss teams
Gym Leaders, the Elite Four and the Champion bring three extra Pokémon, up to six.
HMs from the bag
Once you have the HM and its badge, face the tree, rock or water and press A. Use Fly and Flash from the bag. Nobody has to learn them.
Gym Leader TMs only
Only the TMs from the eight Gym Leaders can be taught.
No Move Tutors
Move Tutors won't teach your Pokémon anything.
No berry trees
Berries on trees can't be picked.
No rematches
Trainers and Gym Leaders never ask for a second battle.
Banned moves removed
Recover-style healing, Rest, Wish, Ingrain, Swallow, Spore and Assist never appear, for you or for trainers.
Kaizo
No healing outside battle
HP, status and PP items can't be used outside battle. Pokémon Centers heal as normal.
No draining moves
Giga Drain, Leech Seed, Heal Bell and similar moves never appear.
Survival
10 heals per run
Pokémon Centers, rest stops and beds count. You get one more after badge 8. The nurse tells you how many are left.
Healing outside battle
Healing items work outside battle except in Gyms and the Pokémon League. Marts sell Potions until badge 1.
Draining moves allowed
Draining and status-curing moves can appear in movesets.
Rules you follow yourself
- No Pokémon Center-style healing inside dungeons.
- Held items: only consumables (no Focus Sash), evolution items and a Smoke Ball.
- The other official rules the game can't check, such as no flutes for status healing in Kaizo.
See the full official rules at ironmon.gg. The IronMON challenge was created by iateyourpie.
Report a bug
Tell me where you were, what you did, and what happened. Include your seed and a save file if you can so I can try to reproduce it.
Where to find your save
- mGBA and most emulators: look for a
.savfile beside your ROM. - Onion OS on Miyoo: look for a
.srmfile inSaves/CurrentProfile/saves/. - Your seed appears on the Continue screen and your Trainer Card.
Support development
Emerald Ironclad is free. If you'd like to support development and testing, you can leave a tip.
Changelog
v0.5Gym TMs only, no Move Tutors, berry trees or rematches, banned moves removed from every moveset. Start a new run after updating.
v0.4.1New name: Emerald Ironclad. Same game as v0.4.
v0.4One Pokémon at a time, swap on catch. HMs work from the bag.
v0.3Seed shown in-game; enter your own in the truck.
v0.2Auto-run, no PokéNav calls, fast text by default.
v0.1First build with the rules enforced.
FAQ
Do I need a tracker or randomizer?
No. The game randomizes each new run itself and enforces most of the rules. A few rules are on you; they're listed under the rules.
Can I race a friend?
Yes. Share your 8-character seed and your rules (Kaizo or Survival). Same seed and rules, same starters, routes, trainers and movesets.
Does it work on my handheld?
It's been tested on a Miyoo Mini with Onion OS and on mGBA. The patched file is a standard GBA ROM, so other GBA emulators should run it, but they haven't been tested yet. If something looks off on yours, report it with your device. On Onion, delete Roms/GBA/GBA_cache6.db after copying so the new file shows up.
My patcher says the ROM is wrong.
The patch needs Pokémon Emerald (USA, Europe), CRC32 1F1C08FB. Other dumps, other languages and already-patched files won't work.
Where do I get the ROM?
From your own cartridge. We only ship the patch and never link to ROM downloads.