# Linking original GB/GBC with Emulator?



## overlord00 (Feb 19, 2012)

Can this be done?
ie: _Can I link my original Pokemon Yellow on my original GameBoy with a ROM version I am running on an Emulator on my pc?_
I think i remember reading something along these lines years ago, but I was not as savvy as I am now.
Does anyone know if this sort of thing can be done? and how?

Thanks


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## The Pi (Feb 19, 2012)

Doing it directly would be a lot of effort. (making a custom cable, writing the software etc)

If you can get a hold of a GBC save dumper. (however they are rare now) You could dump the save. Use an emulator that allows linking (TGB dual). Then write the new save back onto the cart. Apart from that I can't think of another way.


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## Foxi4 (Feb 19, 2012)

The Pi said:


> Doing it directly would be a lot of effort. (making a custom cable, writing the software etc)
> 
> If you can get a hold of a GBC save dumper. (however they are rare now) You could dump the save. Use an emulator that allows linking (TGB dual). Then write the new save back onto the cart. Apart from that I can't think of another way.


Or he could grab another Gameboy and a flashcart for it, which is not as hard as it seems. Alternatively he can actually make one, there are tutorials online on how to solder one up from a normal cartridge and a FLASH chip. 

http://www.reinerziegler.de/readplus.htm#MBC5_64

Alternatively there's TGB

http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/gameboy/tgbdual.html

It allows linking between two ROM's via TCP/IP or on a single computer, but you'd need a save dumper/writer to use it with a cartridge save.


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## Ace (Feb 19, 2012)

Couldn't he just get a Slot-2 flashcart and dump the save's/ROM's with a GBA?


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## The Pi (Feb 19, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> The Pi said:
> 
> 
> > Doing it directly would be a lot of effort. (making a custom cable, writing the software etc)
> ...



GBC flashcarts are also quite rare, I myself have made a cart with reference to that very guide. However to write to homemade carts you still need a flasher which doubles as a dumper. Which can be made or bought. Aswell as a second GBC and link cable. A dumper is still needed regardless. Making or buying a flashcart is just extra effort.



Ace said:


> Couldn't he just get a Slot-2 flashcart and dump the save's/ROM's with a GBA?



You can't hotswap.


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## Foxi4 (Feb 19, 2012)

The Pi said:


> GBC flashcarts are also quite rare, I myself have made a cart with reference to that very guide. However to write to homemade carts you still need a flasher which doubles as a dumper. Which can be made or bought. Aswell as a second GBC and link cable. A dumper is still needed regardless. Making or buying a flashcart is just extra effort.


I guess I'm just a purist and prefere to use actual hardware over using emulators. 

GBC flashcarts are *not* rare, EMS USB 64m is all over the place and is compatible with most games. They're available at affordable prices, unfortunatelly, they don't come with a dumper so he wouldn't be able to get his save from the original cart... But yeah.


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## FAST6191 (Feb 19, 2012)

I do not ever recall an emulator that did that for the GBC (it was hard enough just getting software links to work), the GBA however had vbalink real that has since been lost (well the hardware side of things and rendering the software side of things kind of pointless) and you might have seen multiboot cables (which I do not believe exist for the GBC).


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## overlord00 (Feb 21, 2012)

thanks all.
i probably wont be doing any of the hardware stuff in the short term, and the emulator to emulator is not what i was looking for in the first place, but thanks for that.
and as for why; as for most cases, because of pokemon... I have an original yellow with no pikachu... i want one.


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## Foxi4 (Feb 21, 2012)

overlord00 said:


> thanks all.
> i probably wont be doing any of the hardware stuff in the short term, and the emulator to emulator is not what i was looking for in the first place, but thanks for that.
> and as for why; as for most cases, because of pokemon... I have an original yellow with no pikachu... i want one.


You physically cannot have Pokemon Yellow without a Pikachu - the starter you recieve cannot evolve, cannot be traded and cannot be released.


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## YoshiInAVoid (Feb 21, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> The Pi said:
> 
> 
> > Doing it directly would be a lot of effort. (making a custom cable, writing the software etc)
> ...


Eww. Soldering your own flashcart. I tried to do that with a copy of Super Troll Islands, SNES and ended up just wasting it  it was a pretty cool game too!


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## Foxi4 (Feb 21, 2012)

YoshiInAVoid said:


> Foxi4 said:
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> > The Pi said:
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That's why you do it on game carts that are cheap and easy to find online, prefferably ones that you dislike anyways. X3

By the way, I believe SNES had Anti-Piracy protection built-in the cartridges much like some NES consoles did, effectively making a flashcart tricky to make. The GBC had no protection of that kind.


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## overlord00 (Feb 23, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> overlord00 said:
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> > thanks all.
> ...


well dude. I have one. I dont know what else to say. I have a pokemon yellow with a raichu and no pikachu. can post pics for you... assuming it shows OT somewhere else.
From memory it was traded away to another game and evolved there. In fact I'm pretty sure I've done this twice on two different cartridges. give it a go. I am sure you'll be surprised.


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## Foxi4 (Feb 23, 2012)

overlord00 said:


> Foxi4 said:
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> > overlord00 said:
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I was sure you couldn't trade it, nevermind, this explains alot.


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## xwatchmanx (Feb 26, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> overlord00 said:
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> 
> > thanks all.
> ...


You're right when you sayThe pikachu in Yellow can't be released or evolved, but it can DEFINITELY be traded. However, no Pikachu in you get traded back (including the original) will follow you around like it originally did, and can be evolved, released, etc.

If you want the pikachu that follows you around again, you're best off just wiping and restarting your game.


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## overlord00 (Feb 26, 2012)

xwatchmanx said:


> You're right when you sayThe pikachu in Yellow can't be released or evolved, but it can DEFINITELY be traded. However, no Pikachu in you get traded back (including the original) will follow you around like it originally did, and can be evolved, released, etc.
> 
> If you want the pikachu that follows you around again, you're best off just wiping and restarting your game.


Really? You sure? Has this been tested and documented? Because I would really like a walking Pikachu back. If what you say is true, then there is no point even trying what I plan to do.


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## xwatchmanx (Feb 26, 2012)

overlord00 said:


> xwatchmanx said:
> 
> 
> > You're right when you sayThe pikachu in Yellow can't be released or evolved, but it can DEFINITELY be traded. However, no Pikachu in you get traded back (including the original) will follow you around like it originally did, and can be evolved, released, etc. If you want the pikachu that follows you around again, you're best off just wiping and restarting your game.
> ...



Turns out I was half right. Sorry about the slight misinformation.

http://bulbapedia.bu..._Yellow_Version

"If you have a Pikachu in the party, and you are that Pikachu's original trainer, then there will be a Pikachu following you. If you are not the Pikachu's OT (such as, if you got one traded to you from GS) it won't follow you"

Basically, if you trade your original yellow pikachu away, and get him traded back (as you are the original trainer), yes, he will follow you again. But getting a pikachu traded from any game of any version besides the one you originally owned SPECIFICALLY will not follow you.

So in other words, unless you can track down the game cartridge that you originally traded your pikachu to (assuming it still has that save data), you're out of luck, I'm afraid. :-( Sorry, man.


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## overlord00 (Feb 26, 2012)

OK, now this is where the magic happens.
I keep trying and remaking a pokemon yellow game until i get the correct OT name and number then trade it back.
I should be all good.


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## xwatchmanx (Feb 26, 2012)

overlord00 said:


> OK, now this is where the magic happens.
> I keep trying and remaking a pokemon yellow game until i get the correct OT name and number then trade it back.
> I should be all good.


Lol... you're persistent and patient to a fault. :-p

Honestly though, I'm sure there's an easier way to do this via gameshark or action replay


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## overlord00 (Feb 26, 2012)

xwatchmanx said:


> overlord00 said:
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> > OK, now this is where the magic happens.
> ...


I have neither and I am sure it would cost me a whole bunch of time and money looking for and buying one for an old gameboy that i would use probably once ever.
Instead i will waste counteless hours trying to get the correct 5 digit OT... which by my calculations is upward of about 100000 combinations... damn... maybe a gameshark would be easier... any suggestions on where to find one?


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## xwatchmanx (Feb 26, 2012)

no idea, sorry. but in times like these, eBay is your best friend. lol.


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## Kitsune_Obsessed_Freak (Oct 30, 2018)

I do remember seeing one of my buddies linking his gameboy advance to a pc emulator once, but I'm pretty sure he never posted any details on how to do it, and how he made the cable adapter or software anywhere online. Hell, he wouldn't even show me how to do it. He told me that it was a rediculously hard thing to make  since he did it all from scratch, even the emulator, and that it still didn't work very well. I asked him if he'll show me one he finished, and he simply said "maybe, but not unless it's 100% finished, and working with every game." I take that to mean it's possible for gba, but extremely hard. It does make me wonder if that would ever be possible for GBC or regular GB as well. Probably not worth it anyways. The point of what I'm saying is that, it may be rediculous (and hard to do) but it still is probably possible. Just stupidly hard.


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## Zaphod77 (Dec 25, 2018)

there are devices you can get that can dump the save.

https://bennvenn.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/reader-writer-gen2

is one example. it also dump carts, and can reflash chinese pokemon pirates into other games too.


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