Emerald Legacy FAQ: Trades, Evolutions, Postgame and the Questions Everyone Asks

The questions below are the ones that keep arriving in Emerald Legacy's own Discord and subreddit, answered from the hack's FAQ doc, its release notes and the extracted game data. Where a claim comes from the game's source, it is marked as such; where it comes from the authors, it is attributed to them.

What version is Emerald Legacy on?

The latest upstream release is V1.1.4, published 27 February 2025. The game data on PolishedDex is extracted from the upstream repository at commit 6465639 (52 commits past that tag, dated 20 July 2026), because the repo kept moving after the last release.

Upstream is the authority for the patch file, changelogs and support. Get the patch from the Emerald Legacy releases, and patch a clean Emerald ROM whose SHA-1 matches the hash in the release notes. Never apply the BPS patch to an already-patched ROM, and back up your save first.

Is it finished?

Yes. Emerald Legacy is a shipped finale, not a beta: V1.0.0 (December 2024), V1.1.0 (February 2025) and V1.1.4 (February 2025).

Can I trade Pokémon in from other Gen 3 games?

Yes. The hack's own FAQ confirms trading with other Gen 3 titles works.

Can I trade Pokémon in from Yellow Legacy or Crystal Legacy?

No. The authors point out this is a base Emerald problem, not a Legacy one: Emerald's Pokémon data is not compatible with Gen 1 or Gen 2 data.

How do I evolve Eevee into Espeon or Umbreon without a day/night cycle?

Emerald Legacy has no day/night visuals, but it does keep a clock. Espeon evolves during the day and Umbreon at night; the ROM's evolution table defines them as EVO_FRIENDSHIP_DAY and EVO_FRIENDSHIP_NIGHT respectively, so friendship still has to be high before the hour matters. See the Evolution Guide for the rest of the methods.

Did trade evolutions change?

Yes, all of them. Alakazam and Gengar evolve from Kadabra and Haunter at level 42; Golem and Machamp evolve from Graveler and Machoke at level 38. Slowking and Steelix use their trade item on the Pokémon like a stone. Hitmontop also gets a Brick Piece method ported from Crystal Legacy, though it still evolves normally. Full list in Evolution Items.

Where can I find a specific Pokémon, including postgame?

Use Locations for route-by-route encounters, and Postgame Encounters for what unlocks after the Elite Four. The community docs' Sorted Encounters sheet is the authors' own reference for a route-by-route reading of the same data.

I checked a postgame location and the Pokémon isn't there

The authors cover this one directly: postgame National Dex encounters are gated behind a Wish that you make after becoming Champion, following the instructions Birch gives you at that point. Until then, the area behaves as it does in the main game.

I brought an Old Amber, Helix or Dome Fossil to the Devon scientist and he won't revive it

Same gate as above. Postgame fossil revival depends on the postgame encounter wish being active. Talk to Birch first, then bring the fossil back.

I beat a Master-rank contest. Where is my prize?

Talk to the Lilycove Museum Curator about the achievement. The authors' note is that you need to speak to him before and after completing the contest to collect the prize.

I have all the Silver Symbols. How do Mewtwo and the gym rematches appear?

Speak to Scott in the northernmost house on the Battle Frontier. That conversation is what opens the third tier of gym rematches (and the Mewtwo encounter). The Rematch Trainers and Legendary Pokémon pages cover what is waiting behind it.

Can I use PKHeX on my save?

Not the standard build. There is a community PKHeX fork for Emerald Legacy linked from the hack's README; the official PKHeX does not understand the game's save data.

How do HMs work, and can I delete them?

You still need the HM and the badge, and you still need a Pokémon that can use the move. What changed is that HM moves can be removed in-game, with adjustments in place to stop that from softlocking you. HM order and where each one is found are on Key Items & Progression.

Is Emerald Legacy hard?

No. The authors are explicit that this is not a Kaizo-style difficulty hack: it is vanilla Emerald with better balance, a fixed level curve and improved boss fights. If you want the harder cut, "Emerald Legacy Buffed" is a separate community re-release, not this game.

What should I read first?

Start with Differences From Vanilla if you want the full change list, or Progression Guide if you just want to know what level to be before the next badge. Hard Mode Level Caps covers the caps if you are running the harder settings.

Where do I get exact data instead of a forum answer?

• Pokédex: species, stats, abilities, evolutions and learnsets.
• Moves: move details and availability.
• Items: item details and published acquisition data.
• Locations: areas, encounters and item locations.
• Trainer Battles: gym leaders, Elite Four and special trainers.
• Tools: encounter finder, type chart, level caps and team building.

When the extracted data does not prove something, this page says so instead of guessing. That is less fun than a confident answer, and considerably less annoying when it turns out to be wrong.