Hyper Emerald FAQ

Hyper Emerald: Lost Artifacts (究极绿宝石) is a Chinese ROM hack of Pokémon Emerald by Destvol, Satochu, Popy, Potato, Hurricane, Feiyixiang and others. On top of the Hoenn story it adds the whole Sinnoh region as post-game, Mega Evolution, Z-Moves and Dynamax, every species through Sword and Shield, a trainer-level system, over a hundred side quests and a hard mode.

Yes. v5.7 is a finished release with Hoenn, Sinnoh and the post-game. The English patch has been played through the areas its tests cover, not all forty-plus hours, so odd text is still possible in deep post-game screens.

The “bugfix 2” build of Hyper Emerald: Lost Artifacts v5.7 (the Chinese hack itself, 32 MB), the patch file from the repository, Python 3 to apply it, and a GBA emulator. Install & Play walks through it.

This site and the repository do not distribute ROMs. Get the hack from its original release thread and patch it yourself.

mGBA. Everything in the patch was tested on it. RetroArch with the mGBA core, standalone mGBA on Android and mGBA 0.10.x on a homebrew Switch all run the hack.

Open START → Option. The title reads “Ultra Emerald v5.7 +QoL1.8” followed by your difficulty when you are on the current build.

Your file is not the “bugfix 2” build of v5.7. Check its SHA-1 against f785bed9d9e82e8da13ea4a5ad747e3ea4ec7ba9 (see Install & Play). Vanilla Emerald is 16 MB; the hack is 32 MB. The older community English ROM is also refused: the patch already contains the full translation, so it has to start from the untouched Chinese ROM.

No. The patcher compares every byte it changes with what it expects, so any other modification makes it stop. Apply to a clean ROM and add cheats as emulator codes instead.

No. The release patch goes from the Chinese ROM straight to the final build in one step.

That was a bug in this patch’s own releases before 2026-09-14: a translation pass had overwritten a few of the hack’s movement scripts (the cutscene where the villains line up on the mountain, the Slateport Contest Hall reception and six later scenes). Re-apply the current patch to a clean Chinese ROM; your .sav keeps working.

Emulators match the .sav by file name. Rename either the ROM or the save so the base names match. The save data itself is compatible in both directions.

No. Save states capture the whole ROM image and memory, so they only work with the exact ROM they were made on. Save in-game, switch ROMs, then load the battery save.

That happened on v1.6 when the game carried on from an emulator save state made on an older version: the items had not yet been moved into the new 200-slot pocket. Nothing was lost, and the current build moves them in that case too.

Updates are designed to be save-compatible: the features keep their state in bytes the game never used. Keep a backup of the .sav anyway; it is a 128 KB file.

Set the emulator’s save type to Flash 128K. The hack needs the full 128 KB save.

Auto Run moved to START → Option (it replaces Button Mode); turn it on there once. R in the field now opens the DexNav. Every button is listed here.

Quick throw only works in wild single battles at the action menu, with at least one ball in the Poké Balls pocket and room in the party or PC. It is off in trainer, Safari, double, link and Battle Frontier battles.

Either a repel is already active or you carry none. The hack’s own “use another?” prompt still appears when a repel wears off.

You are in Rainbow Castle, Allearth Forest, Giant Chasm, Spear Pillar, the Distortion World or Mt. Silver. The ring’s PC is switched off there to keep those dungeons a challenge. A PC that stands in the area still works, and so do your registered key items.

You have not seen that species yet, so it cannot be searched. Meet it once in any battle and it shows up normally.

That is expected; the game’s Move Relearner exits to the field. Open the party menu again to continue.

He was removed in v1.7: 999 Rare Candies for a single “yes” made levelling pointless. Candies you already received stay in the Bag.

That row never changed the sound in this hack: it was the hack’s experience switch with Emerald’s label left on it, and Stereo stopped every Pokémon gaining experience. From v1.8 it reads Exp. Gain: On / Off. A save that was on Stereo shows Off; switch it On.

Yes: START → Option → Day/Night: Off keeps the daytime colours at any hour. Only the colours change; the clock keeps running, and evolutions and events that depend on the hour work as before.

The game keeps one fused Necrozma at a time (and one Calyrex, one Kyurem), so split the one you have first. If nothing of yours is fused, it was a bug: a look at IVs on v1.5, or a new game started over a save that had a fusion, left the game thinking a fusion was stored. v1.8 puts that right when you use the item again; your save needs nothing else.

Fixed in v1.8. The game used to start its random numbers from the same point at every power-on, so a reset with the same timing met the same Pokémon. It now starts them from the clock. Loading an emulator save state still brings back the luck it was made with: reset the game instead.

The hack draws that message inside the Bag window with its own routine, which ignores colour codes. Stat changes from moves and abilities are coloured.

Two things do that. First, START → Option → Exp. Gain must be On (before v1.8 that row was labelled Sound, and Stereo was Off). Second, in every mode except Easy, Pokémon stop gaining experience at the current level cap, which rises with badges and league wins. After the Elite Four, keep progressing the post-game story. See level caps and obedience.

Use another ball on legendaries where possible, or save before throwing.

Press SELECT to skip over that item, then B to leave the Bag.

Use the party menu’s Moves option (the patch’s relearner) to pick it up.

An NPC in the game explains it: “If this happens, just switch screens and it will go back to normal.”

Fixed in the “bugfix” builds of v5.7. Make sure your base ROM is bugfix 2.

From v1.8 the only Chinese left is text that is part of a picture: the title logo and a few other drawn screens. Every text the game can reach has been translated as far as our scans can tell. If you meet a Chinese line during play, report it with a screenshot on the GitHub issues page.

Open an issue on the repository with a screenshot, what you were doing, your emulator, and the version from the Option screen. A copy of your .sav makes a crash much easier to reproduce.

Yes. Every feature is a standalone patcher with its own test, and pull requests are welcome on GitHub. Corrections to this guide are welcome too.