SoulGold FAQ: emulators, saves, Hard mode, and Exp. Share

These are the questions I get asked most, answered from my own Hard mode run on version 1.2.1.

Setup, versions and saves

Which emulator should I use?

Use mGBA on desktop. SoulGold checks your emulator when it boots, and if it doesn’t like it you get an “Inaccurate emulator detected” screen.

That screen lists what it accepts. Your copy might show fewer of these:

• mGBA
• The mGBA cores in RetroArch and Manic on iOS
• RetroArch on Android
• Lemuroid
• Pizza Boy

If you want the safest picks, go with mGBA, real hardware or Pizza Boy.

Can I bypass the inaccurate emulator screen?

On Delta you can press Start and keep going. Just know that nobody will help you with bugs on a Delta save.

Where do I get the game?

Get it from the creator’s official docs page. Anywhere else might hand you an old copy, and the October 2026 patches came in three batches, so an old copy is missing fixes.

I don’t host any files here. For patching, read how to play a Pokémon ROM hack.

Are saves compatible between versions?

Yes, going forward. Never going back.

Version 1.1 raised the PC boxes from 16 to 19. Once you save on a 19-box build, you can’t load that save on a 16-box one.

Before you update:

1. Make an in-game save.
2. Copy the save file somewhere safe.
3. Load it in the new version.

I skipped step 2 once and spent a very nervous minute watching the new build load.

What changed in 1.2 and 1.2.1 lists what each October patch did.

How do I know which version I have?

Look at the continue screen. The latest is 1.2.1.

Don’t wait for an update toast from the Docs button in the start menu. It still thinks v1.2 is the newest. If SELECT opens a status screen in battle, you’re on 1.2.1.

How do I report a bug?

1. Update to the latest version.
2. Make sure you’re on a supported emulator.
3. Post it in the hack’s Discord or open an issue on the creator’s GitHub.
4. Put your version and emulator in the first message, or that’s the first thing they’ll ask.

Do cheats work?

No. Cheats aren’t supported and they can corrupt your save. The cheats page explains why Emerald codes miss and what the game gives you instead.

Difficulty, Hard mode and level caps

What does Hard mode actually change?

Two things:

• Gyms and the Elite Four get tougher teams and fight you in doubles, unless another setting forces singles.
• Trainers without set moves pick smarter movepools as you progress.

Wild Pokémon, level caps and the story stay the same.

I finished on Hard, and the doubles were the hard part. A mono-type gym with two attackers out at once punishes a team that only has one answer.

What do the level cap options do?

Set it in Options:

• Hard: no EXP at all once you hit the cap.
• Soft: EXP over the cap gets cut by 4, then 8, 16, 32 and 64 for each level past it. Below the cap you get a boost.
• None: no caps.

The caps are 12, 19, 26, 34, 42, 45, 48, 55 (Rocket takeover), 58, 62 (until you catch Ho-Oh or Lugia) and 70 (until Champion). Level caps and Hard mode shows which fight each cap is for.

Should I turn on trainer or wild level scaling?

Leave both off on your first Hard run. The set trainer levels and the caps are built to work together, and the Exp. Share and Candy Jar already handle grinding.

If you’re curious, trainer scaling makes trainer levels trail your party average. Wild scaling keeps wild ‘mons 8 to 10 levels behind you, but never below their normal levels.

Can I make all battles singles or doubles?

Yes. Set the Trainer format option to Default, Singles or Doubles. Doubles needs two Pokémon in your party.

Wild, facility, partner and multi battles keep their own format. Singles on Hard drops the doubles gyms, and that makes the game a lot easier, even with the tougher teams. I kept doubles on, and those gyms are what I remember most from the run.

When is day and night?

On the in-game clock:

• Morning: 06:00 to 10:00
• Day: 10:00 to 19:00
• Evening: 19:00 to 20:00
• Night: 20:00 to 06:00

The clock sets itself on a new game, and you can still change it at the clock. The lighting toggles in Options only change how it looks. Encounters still follow the clock.

Story progression and key items

When do I get the Exp. Share?

Right before Violet City. It’s on by default once you have it. Leave it on, even on Hard. The caps stop you from overleveling, and turning it off just slows your team down. I never switched mine off once.

What is the Candy Jar?

Elm’s aide gives it to you with the Egg after the first gym. Keep it in your bag. Every time a foe faints, 90 percent of that foe’s EXP also goes into the jar, on top of the EXP your team gets. It holds up to 99,999,999 EXP.

When a new catch is 20 levels behind, feed it candies instead of grinding. Using the jar turns the bank into Exp Candy L (10,000), M (3,000), S (800) and XS (100), biggest first, up to 999 of each per use. Whatever’s left stays in the jar. It never gives XL.

How do HMs work?

You just need the HM and the badge. No Pokémon has to learn it.

• Strength is in the Olivine Café.
• Waterfall is in Ice Path.
• With Fly and the badge, fly from the region map in your Pokégear. No Flyer needed.
• Rock Climb needs the eighth badge.

Whitney’s gym is blocked. The tree after the third gym will not move.

Same gates as HeartGold.

• Whitney: go to the Radio Tower and finish the quiz on the first floor. You get the VS Seeker for it.
• The tree: get the Squirtbottle from the Goldenrod Flower Shop next to the gym.

I walked up to that tree three times before I remembered the Flower Shop.

When do I get the Mega Ring and my starter’s stone?

You get the Mega Ring after the Team Rocket takeover in Goldenrod. Elm gives you your starter’s Mega stone or Bondstone later in the story.

Mega stones work for any species of the right type here, so you’re not hunting one specific stone. More in Mega Evolution in SoulGold.

Where are the Coin Case, Cameron and the Safari expansions?

• Coin Case: Goldenrod Underground.
• Cameron the cameraman: Ruins of Alph, Route 34, Cianwood City, Kitakami Border and Route 28.
• Safari Zone area 2: opens before you enter Ice Path, when Baoba calls you.
• Safari Zone area 3: opens after you leave Tohjo Falls, also from a Baoba call.

Pokémon availability

How do I get the other starters?

Use the Gachapon machine behind the rewards counter in the Goldenrod Game Corner. It gives starters from every generation.

It costs 3000 coins at minimum. Pay more and you’re less likely to get a duplicate. Nine starters are on offer at the start, and the rest come from here. I fed that machine more coins than I want to admit.

What are the shiny odds, and are there shiny locks?

It’s 1 in 256 by default. You can change it to 1 in 512 or 1 in 1024 in Options.

There are no shiny locks, not even on NPC trades, and trades roll a little higher than wild. Shiny eggs show blue dots, and the Day Care Man tells you before you take one. DexNav chaining pushes the odds up more.

Are Hidden Grotto Pokémon better?

Yes. Grotto Pokémon have at least two perfect IVs and their Hidden Ability.

Grottos refill once a day. The Beckoning Bell from the Battle Factory (open after Gym 3) refills them whenever you want. Expect a Pokémon about 60 percent of the time, a regular item about 30 percent, and the rare grotto item about 1 in 10.

Fossils, baby forms and in-game trades?

Smash rocks in the Ruins of Alph for fossils, then revive them in the lab next door. Baby forms come from breeding with incenses, same as the main games.

The in-game trades:

• Pawmi in Violet, for Cottonee
• Galarian Slowpoke in Azalea, for Slowpoke
• Honedge in the Goldenrod Dept. Store, for Clefairy
• Rotom in the Route 39 to 49 gatehouse, for Zorua
• Hisuian Voltorb in Olivine, for Mareanie
• Gabite in Blackthorn, for Dragonair
• Meltan in Rinto Village, for Tinkaton

Mechanics and training

Were types, stats or moves changed?

No type changes in the main game, and no base stat changes. A few innates add a type in the postgame.

Some Pokémon learn extra moves for late-game power, like Attack Order on Beedrill. Evolved forms learn everything their pre-evolution does, so evolve right away. Don’t hold off on Growlithe or Vulpix.

How do I Mega Evolve, and how do I change Rotom’s form?

To Mega Evolve, hold the right stone, own the Mega Ring, and press Start on the move select screen.

For Rotom, talk to the guard on the first floor of the Goldenrod apartment building. He lets you into the basement with the appliances.

How do I grind, change natures, abilities and IVs?

• Grinding: my favorite late-game grind is the trainer in Kitakami who fights you with Audino and Blissey for a 10,000 fee.
• Natures: buy Mints at the Olivine beach café.
• Abilities: buy Ability Capsules and Patches for BP at the Battle Factory after Gym 3. A few are lying around the overworld too.
• IVs: feathers from fishing or the Factory add 5 to one IV each. Rinto Village does Hyper Training with Bottle Caps, which you also get from the Super Rod.
• EVs: buy the buffed power items in Goldenrod. Vitamins have no cap, EX vitamins max a stat at once, and EV-lowering berries are in the Dept. Store.

Why do innates unlock so late?

They’re your postgame progression. Most Pokémon stop learning moves around level 60, so the unlocks at 75, 85 and 95 give you something to chase.

You can change that in Elm’s lab:

• The bookcase behind the starter case (Artifact of Chaos) turns all innates on from level 1. It’s unbalanced and untested, so expect weirdness.
• The right-hand bookcase (Artifact of Order) turns them off.

Tutor and egg moves?

Pay the tutor master in the top-right house in Olivine 44,444 and you can teach every tutor move from the summary screen forever. The egg move master in Blackthorn does the same for 88,888.

Buy both before the Elite Four on Hard.

Money, items and postgame

How do I make money?

1. Early: keep a Pickup Pokémon in the party. Items go straight to your Bag, even if it’s holding something.
2. Mid-game: use Covet or Thief on Yanma on Route 35 for Wide Lenses. They sell well and chain with DexNav. Butterfree learns Covet and Persian learns Thief.
3. After eight badges: buy Nuggets and Big Nuggets with BP at the Battle Factory.
4. Postgame: the Rocket Arcade pays cash.

Lead with Compound Eyes or Super Luck to find held items more often. Pickup paid for most of my early Poké Balls.

Where are the postgame things?

Dive comes from a quest that starts with your rival at home after the Mt. Silver event. Route Experts are on Route 31, Goldenrod Shore, Route 47, Route 43 and Route 27.

Gym leader rematches:

• Falkner at the Violet City school
• Bugsy in the National Park
• Whitney in the Goldenrod Dept. Store
• Morty on Bellchime Trail
• Chuck on the Route 47 bridge
• Jasmine in the Olivine café
• Pryce at the Lake of Rage
• Clair in the Dragon’s Den cave

The postgame guide puts them in order.

What do the Trainer Card stars need?

• A Hall of Fame entry
• 80 trophies
• A complete Johto dex
• A 50-win streak in the Battle Tower or Factory

The dex and the streak take the longest. The streak was the one that tested my patience. The dex also means all 608 non-legendary Pokémon, which you need for the Arceus event anyway.

Is it worth playing?

Yes. Hard mode is tuned, not just inflated, and the postgame kept me busy longer than the story did. Read the review if you want the problems too.