Skip to content

Ghost Grey FAQ: Versions, Badges, Type Changes and the Questions Everyone Asks

Straight answers for Ghost Grey: which version the site documents, how many badges there really are, why Normal and Fighting moves now hit Ghost-types, how long the game is, and whether it has legendaries, endings and a secret area.
Generated
Last updated: October 18, 2026

Short answer: Ghost Grey is a finished, binary-only FireRed hack set in a decayed Kanto, and most questions about it come down to one of three things: which version you are playing, how the hack has quietly rewritten mechanics you think you know, or how to get somewhere. All three are below.

This page is built from the ROM data PolishedDex extracts (v1.0.4) plus the community's own records. Where something is genuinely unknown, it says so instead of guessing.

What is Ghost Grey, and which version does PolishedDex document?

A FireRed hack by Joey Zeed, set in a decayed Kanto in 2049 with a horror premise: the region is overrun by ghosts and broken people, and the dex is rebuilt around Ghost-types.

It is binary-only, which means there is no decompilation source to read. PolishedDex's data is extracted from the ROM itself.

  • Base ROM: FireRed (USA) Rev 0, CRC32 DD88761C
  • Patch: the author's BPS file, v1.0.4 (2026-10-06)
  • Built ROM: 33,554,432 bytes, CRC32 737A7A12
  • Engine: HUBOL DPE + CFRU rombase

Version matters. A lot of what is written about Ghost Grey online describes v1.0.2 or v1.0.1, because those were current for months. If a page you found disagrees with ours, check which version it is describing first.

Is the game finished?

Yes. v1.0.4 is described by the author as a fully completed game: a full story campaign, a Champion title, and post-game content. The author has also signalled a further patch, so versions will keep moving -- our getting started guide tracks how to tell which build you have.

How long is it?

Long. The most complete public playthrough of v1.0.4 runs 11 hours, and it is not padding:

  • Hall of Fame at about 7 hours 52 minutes
  • Post-game runs to about 10 hours 58 minutes

That is one thorough player's pace. You can absolutely be quicker, but you should not expect a weekend-length hack. The walkthrough breaks the same run down badge by badge, from the first gym to the last ending.

How many badges are there?

This is the one question with no clean answer, and we would rather say that than invent one:

  • The ROM stores eight badge flags, each with a grant site and an item.
  • The game's own listing text says "7 Gym Badges".
  • The reference playthrough labels gym fights all the way up to a "9th Gym Badge", and separately buys a Boulder Badge with Game Corner coins.

Those three counts do not reconcile, and nobody has published an explanation. Our walkthrough uses the ROM's eight flags, because that is the version with evidence behind it, and it flags exactly which of the eight come from a fight and which are given to you by the story.

Do Normal and Fighting moves hit Ghost-types now?

Yes. This is the single most useful thing to know, because it is the opposite of what thirty years of muscle memory tells you. In Ghost Grey:

  • Normal-type moves are 1× against Ghost, not 0×
  • Fighting-type moves are 1× against Ghost, not 0×

So the whole family of questions people search for -- does Aura Sphere hit Ghosts, does Seismic Toss work on Ghosts, does Struggle connect -- resolves the same way: those moves connect. Fighting coverage is real coverage in this hack.

There are nine deviations from the standard type chart in total, and only four of them are advertised by the author. The full table is in what's different from vanilla.

One honest boundary: the type chart covers type effectiveness. Some status moves are blocked by engine-level rules rather than by the type chart, and we do not assert those until they are checked in-game.

Where is HM Fly?

There is no Fly as you know it. The HM list was renamed and reordered:

  • HM02 is Soul Shift -- that is the Fly slot
  • HM06 is Shatterpoint, a move this hack invented

HMs are forgettable in Ghost Grey, so nothing is a permanent mistake. The full seven-HM table with locations is in the walkthrough.

How do I evolve [a Pokémon]?

Use the evolution guide, and do not trust your instincts. Ghost Grey deliberately scrambles the evolution tree: Venusaur becomes Blastoise, Charizard becomes a species called GHOST, and Arcanine becomes Gyarados at level 10.

The related FAQ: there are no trade evolutions at all. The ROM's evolution table contains zero trade entries and there is no Link Cable, so anything that needed a trade in the official games has been given a level or a stone instead.

Are there EVs? What about IVs?

No EVs. Every species' EV yield in the ROM is empty, so there is nothing to train for and no reason to grind a specific species for stat gains. IVs still exist, and a Bottle Cap will improve one -- the item's own text admits the concept is opaque.

Are the starters the Kanto starters?

No. The three starters are Rowlet (Grass/Ghost), the Litwick line (Fire/Ghost), and the Spiritle line, which ends at Lichtoise (Water/Ghost). All three are Ghost dual-types, and they occupy the first nine slots of the regional dex.

Only the water line is original to the hack, so it is the one you cannot get anywhere else. Your choice also follows you to the very end: the champion's team changes depending on your pick.

Is Magikarp in this game?

No, and it is not alone. Ghost Grey's dex is rebuilt: 291 species, of which 132 are original to the hack. Missing entirely are Pidgey, Rattata, Caterpie, Zubat, Geodude, Abra, Mankey, Magikarp, Eevee, and all three base Kanto starters. Their final forms sometimes survive -- Gyarados, Blastoise, Charizard and Venusaur are all in the dex.

Pikachu survives as Pikaboo, which evolves into Gorochu at level 26 -- the evolution cut from Red and Green before release.

Does it have legendaries?

Yes, and more than the usual handful. The ROM stores 28 static encounters, including Giratina, Hoopa, Marshadow, Pecharunt, Mewthree, Spectrier and Regiscream, plus 16 gift Pokémon and 3 eggs. Every one is listed with its level and location in the post-game guide.

Does it have a post-game? More than one ending?

Both, and the post-game is bigger than most main games. After the credits you travel to Johto, and the run ends in a 13-boss final gauntlet and three endings -- the third labelled as the true ending by the player who documented it.

We do not publish the ending conditions. The triggers are not documented anywhere, and we would rather leave the question open than guess wrong on someone's playthrough.

Is there a secret area?

Yes. It is gated behind passwords you find by reading dialogue, and we are not going to publish it -- the player who documented the post-game deliberately withheld it out of respect for the developers, and we will do the same. The reward is real and worth chasing.

Why is the whole game black and white?

Because it is meant to be. Ghost Grey renders in monochrome inside a Super Game Boy border, a deliberate aesthetic choice that fits the creepypasta premise. It is not a display bug, and there is no colour setting to find.

Is Ghost Grey a fan game or a ROM hack?

A ROM hack. You patch a copy of FireRed (USA) Rev 0 -- it is not a standalone game and it does not run on its own. That is also why our pages cite ROM data rather than source code: Ghost Grey is binary-only, so the game's own tables are the only readable text there is.

Practically, it means two failure modes are worth checking first if something does not match a guide: the wrong base ROM, or the wrong patch version. The getting started guide covers the checks that tell you which build you are actually running.

How do I get past the triangle in the Lost Forest?

The triangle is tied to the Fairy Bow, and the ROM's own item description points at the puzzle: "A bow and arrow. Works how you'd expect. There's a strange triangle on it." The Fairy Bow itself is a gift in the Forest Temple, the area the playthrough behind our post-game route calls the Lost Forest.

In that route the triangle is interacted with from the tile below it, not from standing on it. We do not have the whole puzzle written up, and we would rather leave that gap visible than invent a step sequence.

How fast can Ghost Grey be speedrun?

There is no verified speedrun route or leaderboard for Ghost Grey that we can point you at. What we do have is timing evidence from a complete v1.0.4 run: 11 hours end to end at normal speed, with the credits at 7h 52m and the final boss at 10h 43m. The player who recorded that run says speed-up brings the whole thing in at two to three hours.

Read that as the shape of the route rather than a record. A real any% attempt would skip most of what we document in the post-game guide, and the main story alone is about eight hours.

Is Kanto post-nuclear in Ghost Grey?

Not in the way that comparison usually implies, and we have not seen the game frame it that way. Ghost Grey's Kanto is a decayed region in 2049 overrun by ghosts, and the horror is supernatural and personal rather than radioactive: the region's own NPCs are the broken people in the premise, not survivors of a blast.

Nothing in the story we have documented turns on a nuclear event. If you see a source calling it post-nuclear, read that as a description of the mood rather than the plot.

Should I play it blind?

The developers advised playing it blind, and we agree with them: this is a story game, and our own pages spoil it freely from the second heading onward. If you want the experience, play first and read later -- and if you would rather have the story spoiled deliberately, the spoilers page is where we put it.

Why is your data missing something I saw in-game?

Because our pages are generated from the ROM, and some things are not readable from it. When item locations were extracted, for example, 86 rows were withheld because the source could not be verified -- a key item given by a script that the extractor cannot see has no location we are willing to publish.

If you have found something real that our pages get wrong, that is a genuine correction and worth sending. Where the community and the ROM disagree, we show the ROM's version and say so.

Can I use cheats, PKHeX or my save with it?

We do not document cheat tooling for Ghost Grey, and we have not verified the save format against external editors. Treat your save as something to back up rather than something to open in another tool.

Where do I get the game?

Not here, and not from us. PolishedDex is a reference site: we do not host, mirror, or link to ROMs or patches. You supply your own dumped FireRed (USA) Rev 0 cartridge and apply the author's patch to it. The getting started guide covers the checks that tell you the patch applied correctly.

Where to go next

Was this useful?

Loading votes...