Have you trimmed the ROM or otherwise got one that was? I have not done the internet rounds in years to see what GBA ROMs are being shared but if it is anything like the other devices out there some people running ROM distribution type setups have got a bit of a fetish for chopping things they deem unnecessary from ROMs. Simple check is the size exactly 4,8,16 or 32 megabytes. In this case both regions are apparently 64 Mbit so that will be 8 megabytes.
If memory serves this game did not like the conventional GBA style trimming where you find the first thing that is not a 00 or FF and chop after that (normally it works but it is far from impossible that it takes legit data). If it is the one I am thinking of then if you still wanted to trim I jumped a few dozen bytes forward from said first 00/FF, changed something there to not be 00 or FF and trimmed normally after that (I might have even made a quick IPS patch for it).