Crystal V2 Challenge Patch
The new 16-bit home of Squidgy's Crystal challenge modes, quality-of-life settings, and expanding roster of backported Pokémon.
CHANGE LOG
Patch notes
v0.4.2
- Giftlocke now ends the attempt when the whole party is lost. Badges, story progress, items, party and stored Pokémon reset, and the next attempt begins at the professor’s lab with the chosen run options retained.
- Every Giftlocke attempt starts with a random Pokémon. A new attempt rolls a new starter; saving and reloading within an attempt keeps the same roll.
- The rival’s starter is selected automatically: a super-effective type matchup first, then super-effective level-up move coverage, then a random choice among the three if neither provides an advantage. Equally strong candidates are chosen at random.
- The restart rules also apply to Giftlocke Peril.
v0.4.1
- Maintenance update.
v0.4
- Added selected Generation IV and later Pokémon, moves, and evolutions to the 16-bit backport base.
- Expanded challenge tutors and move handling for the larger move roster.
- Refined spinner behaviour, player palettes, default names, move effects, and ball handling.
- Fixed the Early Bike option so the Bicycle is granted and removed reliably, including on older saves.
- Added verified patches for both English Crystal v1.0 and v1.1 ROMs.
v0.3
- Converted remaining item lookups to 16-bit-safe helpers.
- Expanded item buffers and pointer tables.
- Reorganised ROM banks for the new data structures.
- Fixed high-byte handling in item search and garbage collection.
v0.2
- Added all Generation III Pokémon.
- Moved item handling to the 16-bit base to make room for further backports.
v0.1
- Introduced the Elm's Lab options menu.
- Added the core Challenge Run, 4 Moves, SuperMON, Nuzlocke, and Giftlocke modes.
AT A GLANCE
What changes?
- Challenge Run, 4 Moves, SuperMON, Nuzlocke, Giftlocke, and extra modes
- All Generation III Pokémon plus newer experimental backports
- Source-generated learnsets and reference data
- 16-bit Pokémon, move, and item foundations
Quick game options
Talk to the far-left bookshelf in Elm's Lab before choosing a Pokémon to configure the run.
- HM items and helpful NPCs
- Wild encounters and B-to-repel
- Rare Candy and Candy Jar choices
- Spinner behaviour and trainer vision
- Starter DV and Hidden Power controls
- Catching, evolutions, gifts, and forced encounters
- Metronome-only and experimental randomisers
Backported Pokémon
The current branch contains the complete Generation III roster and additional later-generation experiments. The Backport Dex is rebuilt from the same source data as the ROM, so the visible stats and learnsets follow the selected build.
Giftlocke retries
Giftlocke now ends the attempt when the whole party is lost. Badges, story progress, items, party and stored Pokémon reset, and the next attempt begins at the professor’s lab with the chosen run options retained.
Every Giftlocke attempt starts with a random Pokémon. A new attempt rolls a new starter; saving and reloading within an attempt keeps the same roll.
The rival’s starter is selected automatically: a super-effective type matchup first, then super-effective level-up move coverage, then a random choice among the three if neither provides an advantage. Equally strong candidates are chosen at random.
- Water starters give the rival Chikorita
- Gastly gives the rival Totodile for its Bite coverage
- Giftlocke Peril also restarts on a party wipe
PROJECT LINKS
Archive
THANK YOU
Credits
- pokecrystal and pokecrystal16 contributors
- Backport contributors listed in the source repository
- Community testers and challenge runners