Emerald Party of one
Catches and gifts go to the PC. Right after a catch you get one chance to swap partners. The PC won't give anyone back.
Kaizo IronMON, built into Pokémon Emerald
The rules are ironclad. The game enforces them.
Every new game rolls a seed and randomizes the whole run inside the ROM. You travel with one Pokémon, catch one per area, and the game itself says no when you try to break the rules.
No randomizer, no tracker, no PC. Patch it once and play on any GBA emulator or handheld.
v0.5 betaKaizo + SurvivalMiyoo · Anbernic · mGBA
Patch counter
Bring your own Emerald. Your file never leaves your computer: the check and the patch both run in this page.
1Use a clean Pokémon Emerald (USA, Europe) dump. The page checks it for you.
2It must have CRC32
1F1C08FB.3Download
Emerald Ironclad v0.5.gba and copy it to your emulator or SD card.Waiting for a file.
Free to download. Tips are optional and unlock nothing.
Prefer a patcher app? Apply the base patch, then the v0.5 update, in that order, with Rom Patcher JS or Floating IPS.
Rules shelf
Pick KAIZO or SURVIVAL when you step out of the moving truck. These follow the official Kaizo IronMON rules wherever the game can enforce them, and the game enforces almost all of them.
Catch, don't fight
FIGHT is refused in wild battles unless you can't run, like against Shadow Tag.
One per area
At most 4 levels above your strongest. No legendaries, nothing with 600+ base stats.
Balls and Repels only
Marts stock nothing else. Items still work in battle. Trainers and wild Pokémon are 60% higher level.
HMs from the bag
Have the HM and its badge, face the tree, rock or water, press A. Nobody has to learn them.
Gym TMs only
Only the eight Gym Leader TMs can be taught. Move Tutors refuse, berry trees can't be picked, no rematches.
No banned moves
Recover-style healing, Rest, Wish, Spore and Assist never show up, for you or the trainers.
Bigger bosses
Gym Leaders, the Elite Four and the Champion bring three extra Pokémon, up to six.
No field healing
HP, status and PP items are refused outside battle. Draining moves never show up. Centers heal as normal.
10 heals per run
Centers, rest stops and beds count. One more after badge 8. The nurse tells you how many are left.
Items, mostly
Healing items work outside battle except in Gyms and the League. Potions sell until badge 1. Draining moves are allowed.
The rest is on you
No Center-style healing in dungeons, and the official held-item limits. The game can't tell those apart.
Full ruleset: the official Kaizo IronMON rules. The IronMON challenge was created by iateyourpie.
Nurse desk
Found something broken? Leave it here. Reports are read every day and fixes ship in small dated updates.
Attach your save if you can. We load it in a test copy of the game and land right where the bug happened. It's the fastest way to a fix.
- mGBA and most emulators: the
.savfile next to your ROM. - Onion OS (Miyoo): a
.srmfile inSaves/CurrentProfile/saves/. - Your seed is on the Continue screen and your Trainer Card.
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 randomizing happens inside the game on every New Game, and the game enforces 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?
Once patched it's a normal GBA ROM, so any GBA emulator works. We test on a Miyoo Mini with Onion OS. 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.