Pokemon Soulgold Overview
Pokemon Soulgold is a Pokemon GBA ROM hack developed by rahtak, built on the foundation of Pokemon Emerald and released in English. This ROM hack received its most recent update on August 30, 2026, keeping the project current with fresh fixes and content.
If you enjoy this title, you could also take a look at Pokemon FireRed Accu-Types for another fun experience.
Description
Pokemon Soulgold draws its roots from an unofficial expansion port of Heart and Soul. This is a fan-made project and holds no connection whatsoever to the official Heart and Soul 2.0 release.
Core Differences Between Original Pokémon Emerald and Pokémon SoulGold
1. Region & Story Structure
| Aspect | Original Emerald | Pokémon SoulGold |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Hoenn | Johto (fully reimagined and significantly expanded) |
| Map | Original Hoenn map | Completely new tileset + many new routes, towns, and areas (e.g. Vajra Desert, Kitakami Border, Rinto Village, Tohjo Pass, etc.) |
| Main Story | Challenge 8 Gym Leaders → Champion → post-story content | Classic Johto Gym / League progression, but with heavily adjusted routes and encounters |
| Postgame | Mainly Battle Frontier + some legendaries | Becoming Champion opens an entirely new phase: high-level areas, additional ability progression, Title Defense, numerous Legendary/Mythical encounters, 121 achievement trophies, and more |
2. Starters & Mega Evolution
- Original Emerald: 3 starters (Treecko / Torchic / Mudkip), no Mega Evolution.
- SoulGold: 9 starters, and every single one can Mega Evolve.
- New Mega Evolutions added for Typhlosion, Meowscarada, and Primarina.
- Mega Stones are type-based instead of species-specific, making inventory management much easier.
- The Mega Ring is obtained during the Johto main story, and Mega forms are fully obtainable and usable by the player.
3. Battle & Difficulty Systems
- Gym Leaders, rivals, and other major battles have been redesigned.
- The Battle Factory becomes available after the 3rd Gym (it was postgame content in the original).
- Additional battle facilities appear later, with opponents that can include Pokémon from all generations.
- Some Legendary encounters are turned into multi-health-bar boss battles (you must defeat them before they can be caught), increasing the challenge.
- Adjustable difficulty options, hard level caps, and wild Pokémon level scaling are available.
- New Innate (secondary ability) system: Pokémon can unlock extra abilities later in the game that work alongside their normal Ability.
4. Major Quality-of-Life Improvements
- Candy Jar: Converts excess experience into EXP Candies for easier team changes.
- EXP All can be toggled on/off.
- HMs no longer need to occupy a move slot (field moves work without teaching them).
- Move relearning is available directly from the party menu (including a TM/HM tab).
- 19 PC boxes + mass release function.
- VS Seeker for rematching trainers.
- DexNav shows caught counts for both land and water Pokémon on the current route.
- Configurable shiny odds (default / 1/256 / 1/512 / 1/1024).
- Dark Mode battle UI and the ability to disable night lighting separately in the overworld and in battle.
- Many Water-type Pokémon have unique Surf sprites.
5. Other Important Differences
- Pokémon pool: Greatly expanded, including Pokémon from multiple generations, new forms, and new abilities.
- Daily Hidden Grottos: Can contain rare Pokémon or useful items and reset every day.
- Achievement system: 121 trophies to collect.
- Following Pokémon: Support for Mega forms while following (can be disabled).
- Built on the pokeemerald-expansion engine, giving it many modern systems and fixes that original Emerald never had.
6. Cheat Codes (Verified for v1.0.4.5)
Important Notes
- These codes were tested on mGBA for version v1.0.4.5.
- The current game version is v1.1.4 — compatibility is not guaranteed.
- Always make a normal in-game save and keep a backup before using any cheats.
- Enable only one temporary code at a time and disable it immediately after use.
- Do not use regular Pokémon Emerald cheats — memory addresses are different.
Popular Standalone Cheats
Rare Candy
8201ECEC 0066
Enable → enter a Poké Mart → buy the first item → leave the shop → disable the code.
Master Ball
820028E8 0004
Enable the code and throw any Poké Ball during a wild encounter — it will act as a Master Ball.
Infinite Money
83005B44 1388
Enable → sell an item in a Poké Mart (sale value becomes ×5000) → disable the code.
Make First Pokémon Shiny
82038126 FFFF
Applies only to the first Pokémon in the party. Enable only when needed, then disable immediately.
Battle / Catching / EXP Cheats
Easy Battle
42002B4C 0C0C
00000004 0002
42002C7C 0C0C
00000004 0002
42002BE4 0000
00000004 0002
42002D14 0000
00000004 0002
Enable before battle, disable after.
PP 50 (First Pokémon in Battle)
32002B59 0032
82002B5A 3232
32002B5C 0032
100% Catch Rate
720027A8 BB2C
820027A8 BAB1
Enable both lines together, then throw a ball (best used with Master Ball).
EXP Boost — Hold R
74000130 02FF
8201A7A0 00FF
Hold the R button (often mapped to S in mGBA) while EXP is being awarded.
Move Modifier (Template)
82037E26 YYYY
Replace YYYY with the desired Move ID, then use any TM on the Pokémon.
SoulGold Exclusive Items
EX Vitamins
- HP Up EX:
8201ECEC 037B - Protein EX:
8201ECEC 037C - Iron EX:
8201ECEC 037D - Calcium EX:
8201ECEC 037E - Zinc EX:
8201ECEC 037F - Carbos EX:
8201ECEC 0380
Custom IV Items
- Grimy Herb (sets Attack IV to 0):
8201ECEC 0381 - Goopy Herb (sets Speed IV to 0):
8201ECEC 0382
Type-Based Mega Stones
- Normalite:
8201ECEC 0385 - Firetite:
8201ECEC 0386 - Watertite:
8201ECEC 0387 - Electrite:
8201ECEC 0388 - Grasstite:
8201ECEC 0389 - Icetite:
8201ECEC 038A - Fightite:
8201ECEC 038B - Poisontite:
8201ECEC 038C - Groundite:
8201ECEC 038D - Flyingite:
8201ECEC 038E - Psychite:
8201ECEC 038F - Bugtite:
8201ECEC 0390 - Rocktite:
8201ECEC 0391 - Ghostite:
8201ECEC 0392 - Dragotite:
8201ECEC 0393 - Darktite:
8201ECEC 0394 - Steeltite:
8201ECEC 0395 - Fairytite:
8201ECEC 0396
Other Exclusive Items
- Jade Orb:
8201ECEC 0383 - Beckoning Bell:
8201ECEC 0384 - Bondstone:
8201ECEC 0397 - Shiny Genome:
8201ECEC 0398 - Black Mirror:
8201ECEC 0399 - GS Ball:
8201ECEC 039A - Dark Crystal:
8201ECEC 039B - Reverse Candy:
8201ECEC 039C - Zeromin:
8201ECEC 039D
