ROM Hack Evolving Pokemon in X/Y/OR/AS/S/M that need to be traded without needing to trade?

[Knight of Time]

Hi guys,

With the recent banwave going on, there is something I'm highly curious to ask about that I've noticed the existence of in a couple of hacks for the 6th or 7th generation Pokemon games (such as Pokemon Rutile Ruby or Pokemon Nova Sun).

In those hacks, I've noticed tweaks where Pokemon that normally need to be traded to evolve (with or without an item) can be evolved simply by getting them to a specific level, with other requirements occasionally required as well. On a similar note, I've heard of this same concept being used in hacks of the 4th and 5th generation Pokemon games.

So, I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask about this concept, please.

First of all, what kind of tweaks make these evolutions possible without needing to do a trade? I presume they must be to the rom files or something.

And second, can GateShark codes (or even a cheat plugin) technically allow a Pokemon that evolves via trade to evolve in an alternate way?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Frezgle]

Pk3DS lets you do this sort of thing. You would need to dump your copy of the game, edit it with that, and then either repack it into a CIA or make it into a patch for something like SaltySD.

 

[Knight of Time]

Thanks. I have some more questions, as I'm tempted to try to play an edited version of at least one 3DS Pokemon game in Citra.

One, does PK3DS work with .3DS files? If so/not, how do I get one of them successfully opened in the program?

Two, how do I use PK3DS properly? I've seen many tutorials but I got lost along the way.

Three, can I use save files dumped with SaveDataFiler with Citra?

Four, what version of Citra generally works best for playing Pokemon X, Y, Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, Sun, or Moon on a fast computer like mine?

Five, when it comes to using the rom files of the Pokemon games, does it make no difference whether I download them from the internet (decrypted of course) or dump them from the cartridges?

 

[Frezgle]

Sorry about the late reply, but if you still care:
1. You would have to unpack the .3DS file with Asia81's Hacking Toolkit 3DS (which can also repack it into a .3DS or CIA when you're done doing edits).
https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutorial-how-to-decrypt-extract-rebuild-3ds-cia-cxi-files.383055/
2. The biggest hurdle with pk3DS is that it's picky with how it wants your files arranged.
When you unpack your .3DS file with Hacking Toolkit 3DS, you're gonna get "ExtractedRomFS" and "ExtractedExeFS". The contents of those should be copied over to folders named "romfsdir" and "exefsdir", and when opening them, you point pk3DS to the folder that's containing both of them. I personally just put them in a folder on my desktop for ease of navigation.
Everything else within the program is pretty self-explanatory, since there's different tabs for each individual thing you'd want to edit. One thing to note is that, at least for X/Y, hitting the "+/-" button in the randomizer section of the Wild Pokemon tab crashes the program. So... Just don't do that one.
Then when you're done doing your thing, you just copy the contents back to their original folders.
3. I don't know anything about Citra, sorry.
4. ^
5. I don't think there's a functional difference between the two. It's just recommended that you dump your own cartridge because it's more, y'know, legal :V

One other thing is that edits done to the exefs stuff are superseded by official updates, so if you want those to actually work, you have to delete the update data for the game you're using, at least on an actual 3DS. No clue how Citra handles updates, if at all.

 

[lunatiklucy]

The simplest way to "evolve" a Pokemon that has a unique method of evolution is to just edit the 'mon in PKHeX. It's not technically evolving it, but it's the simplest thing to do.

EDIT: realized you're talking about Citra so just ignore me.

 

[MrLeche]

The simplest way to "evolve" a Pokemon that has a unique method of evolution is to just edit the 'mon in PKHeX. It's not technically evolving it, but it's the simplest thing to do.

EDIT: realized you're talking about Citra so just ignore me.

I'm using a 3DS CFW Pokemon OR, Are these the correct steps?

1. Copy Save file using JKSM
2. FTP to a PC with Hex
3. Evolve Kadabra (I dunno how do this yet, but I guess I can)
4. FTP back to 3ds
5. Restore using JKSM

if those are the steps, its 100% okay and won't cause any problems? Thanks!