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Game mechanics
The hack changes a lot under the hood. These are the rules you need to know before you pick a starter, and the systems you will keep running into.
The difficulty is chosen at the wall clock in your bedroom at the start of the game and cannot be changed afterwards. See the modes below.
Difficulty modes
Four modes exist. The fourth is hidden: interact with the notebook next to the PC in your bedroom and pick the red "Not Ready" option ten times, then use the clock.
| Mode | Level cap | Items in battle | Other rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy (养生) | None | Allowed | Plays like an official game. Legendaries allowed everywhere. |
| Standard (标准) | Tied to badges (about Lv 18 before Gym 1, Lv 23 after) | Allowed in the field; formal battles ban them | Gyms and leagues: no duplicate species or held items, no box legendaries or mythicals. |
| Challenge (挑战) | As Standard | Banned in trainer battles | The AI sometimes predicts your move. |
| Lunatic (疯子, hidden) | As Standard | Banned | Every trainer has perfect IVs and full EVs; the AI predicts most moves. |
Community guides for v5.5 (17173, the Portuguese v5.5 guide); the exact cap numbers may differ slightly in v5.7.
Level caps and obedience
- In every mode except Easy, Pokémon stop gaining experience at the current cap. The cap rises with each badge and league win.
- Pokémon above the cap disobey, and you cannot catch Pokémon that are too strong for your current badge count. An NPC in Sinnoh puts it plainly: "Since I've only got one Gym Badge, it sometimes ignores my orders."
- Gym and league battles follow tournament rules. Status moves are unreliable there: "In battles against Gym Leaders and the Hoenn League's Elite Four, moves that inflict status conditions and the like have no effect."
- Shops unlock stock by badge count (Revives, for example).
- Consumable items used in trainer battles are given back afterwards.
Starters and early gifts
- On the starter screen press ▶ to page through all 24 starters from Kanto to Galar. Hisuian lines appear as Cyndaquil, Oshawott and Rowlet; picking one of those gets you a second starter from Professor Birch after you beat your rival.
- The Hoenn trio can be caught later in a pen at the lab once you have the Running Shoes, with three perfect IVs.
- Your PC starts with a Shiny Charm, an EV/IV display item and Power items.
- Petalburg Woods: Professor Oak offers a Let's Go Pikachu or Eevee (they do not evolve; a tutor in Fortree teaches their partner moves).
- Route 104: an NPC gives a Wimpod. Rustboro, house top-right of the gym: trade for a Zorua; the same NPC swaps Zorua between its Unovan and Hisuian forms.
Battle systems added by the hack
Mega Evolution
Needs the Mega Bracelet: after beating Norman, talk to your mother in Littleroot. Her line: "This is a gift that the president of Devon asked your father to pass along… Your father thought it was still too early for you to receive such a precious band, so he left it with me!" Mega Stones are hidden items and rewards; see Mega Stones & key items.
Z-Moves
Needs the Z-Ring, won from the trainer behind the Fortree City Pokémon Center. Z-Crystals come from the 18 Totem Pokémon hidden around Hoenn; collecting all 18 is also a story gate in the post-game.
Dynamax and Gigantamax
Opens in the post-game on World Championship Island, where Leon (or Sonia, if you missed him) hands you the Dynamax Band. Dynamax is only possible at Power Spots (the Championship battles, Leon's rematches, some story fights). Gigantamax forms come from Max Mushrooms and a Max Soup NPC on the island, who treats the first Pokémon in your party.
Other combat changes
- Moves, abilities and items through Generation 8; turn order is recalculated mid-turn as in Sword and Shield.
- Trainer AI is stronger across the board; the higher modes let it read your move.
- Formal battles (gyms, leagues, the World Championships) use tournament rules: exactly six Pokémon brought, pick three or four, doubles for the Sinnoh League and Championships.
Training and quality of life
| What | How |
|---|---|
| Exp. Share | Built in: full experience to battlers, half to the bench. "It works just by sitting in your Bag." |
| EVs / IVs | The whole team gets EVs. An EV checker and an IV judge stand at the Solaceon Day Care; the starting PC has a display item. |
| TMs and HMs | Reusable. HM moves work from the bag without teaching them (Flash excepted). Every TM can be bought on World Championship Island after the Sinnoh League. |
| Nature change | Trainer's School in Rustboro: answer 8 of 10 quiz questions, then pick a nature (mints are sold at the Lilycove Department Store). |
| Ability change | Ability Pill (regular abilities) and Ability Patch (hidden ability) drop as held items from Zigzagoon on Route 101. Professor Sycamore also sells them for Zygarde Cells. |
| Trade evolutions | Talk to the boy in the house east of Fallarbor and answer "No" (counts as a trade); an NPC in the Fortree Pokémon Center does the same. Hold the required item first. |
| Move relearner | The patch adds a Moves option in the party menu (no Heart Scale). The hack's own tutors want Heart Scales; farm them from Luvdisc with the Old Rod. |
| Egg moves | Inherited as in Sword and Shield. |
| Bikes | Mach and Acro Bikes from the house right of the Mauville Pokémon Center, swappable any time. The Sky Pillar needs the Mach Bike. |
| Repels | The hack asks "use another?" when a repel ends; the patch adds L to start one. |
| Headbutt trees | Ram big trees with a Pokémon for tree encounters ("Pokémon live up in the trees. A Headbutt can get their attention."). |
| Evolution stones | Thief from wild Pokémon on Mt. Pyre's Route 122 side (Vulpix: Fire Stone, Murkrow: Dusk Stone, Litwick: Dawn Stone, all 1%). An Eevee fan in Sinnoh trades stones for coloured shards. |
| Rematches | Post-game rematches against gym leaders and story characters happen on the second floor of your house in Littleroot. |
Getting around
- Hoenn: as vanilla, plus a ride device and a "news searcher" gadget that reports where roaming Pokémon are.
- Sinnoh: every town has Ride Pokémon that fly you between towns you have visited. The summoning device is in the Team Galactic warehouse in Veilstone. Bibarel climbs rock walls with the ride gear; Route 206 requires a rented bike from the Eterna bike shop (pass the assistant's exam first).
- Hisui: Rei is the fast-travel NPC between the safe zones, and his Rotom PC gives you box access.
Things closed or cosmetic
- The Global Terminal, Trade Hall, Veilstone Game Corner and Seven Stars Restaurant in Sinnoh are decorative.
- The World Championship tournament itself is a placeholder in v5.7 ("The World Championships will officially open in the future"); the island hosts cameo battles and Dynamax Power Spots.
- Sprites occasionally glitch after warps. An NPC explains it: "If this happens, just switch screens and it will go back to normal."