Pokemon Emerald Imperium

Pokemon Emerald Imperium: A Tougher Take on Hoenn

Pokemon Emerald Imperium is a ROM hack that ramps up the challenge while adding quality-of-life improvements to the original game. Version 1.0 is now complete, covering everything from the early-game journey to the Elite Four, plus extra post-game content. Inspired by the difficulty of Pokemon Radical Red, this hack tweaks battles, abilities, stats, and movesets to make the experience more strategic.

Though not directly connected to Radical Red, it borrows many of its well-received features—like updated evolutions, better movepools, and smarter AI—to give players a fresh but familiar adventure in Hoenn. If you enjoy tough battles or Nuzlocke runs, this hack keeps the classic feel while making every fight matter.

For a quick and easy way to play, check it out on kbhgames.com, where you can jump right into the action. Whether you’re looking for a harder version of Emerald or just a new way to experience Hoenn, Emerald Imperium delivers.

Features

• Almost all Pokemon from Gens 1 – 9 are available (still need to add some Legendaries)
• Vastly improved battle engine with modern mechanics and much smarter AI
• Configurable Minimal Grinding Mode (MGM, described later)

• Built-in Difficulty Modes: Easy and Normal for now, would definitely be open to adding more options if there is interest (described later)
• Built-in Randomizer with configurable species and ability randomization (described later)
• Built-in Level Caps
• Mega Evolution
  • New custom Megas have been added for several Pokemon, including Gen 4 starters, and several Gigantamax forms converted to Megas
• Several Gen 4 characters have been added, including Dawn as an additional rival, all the Gym Leaders (only Roark is a required battle), and more!
• DexNav
• Toggleable following Pokemon
• Gen 5 style party menu and Pokemon summary screen
  • Includes built-in functionality to view EVs and IVs
• Type icons displayed in battle
• Move power calculator in battle
• Sleep Clause
• Heart Gold / Soul Silver style Pokedex
• Form-changing Key Items for Rotom, Genies, Shaymin, and Hoopa
• Form-changing NPC scripts for Silvally and Genesect (still requires their held items)
• Cheat code system (available cheats listed in documentation)
• Increased difficulty of trainer battles, with a focus on Gym Leaders/Elite 4, Rivals, Team Aqua/Magma battles, route Mini-Bosses, and optional Mini-Bosses (over 100 of these battles in total!)
• Several additional optional Boss Trainer battles (with hopefully good enough rewards to incentivize the player to actually want to do the battles!)
• Some music from Gen 4
• Balance updates for Pokemon to match Radical Red, which includes type-changes, stat updates, ability updates, learnset updates, etc. Differences from the RR balance changes are explicitly noted in the documentation, but the goal for this was to be able to match the data on https://dex.radicalred.net/ and to be able to reuse the damage calculator at https://calc.radicalred.net/.
• Some fairly small story tweaks, mostly with the goal of lining up difficult battles
• Post-game Legendary events including access to Mystery Gift locations from vanilla Emerald

QoL Improvements

• Not needing to teach HMs to use them, and they are forgettable if taught
• Reusable TMs
• Held Items are restored after battles
• Expanded Bag pocket size, added Mega Stones pocket
• Bag sorting by Name and by Amount per pocket
• Capability to register multiple Key Items
• PokeVial with infinite uses to heal your party from anywhere
• Access to the PC from anywhere
• Time changer
• Stat Editor (for EVs and IVs) given in Mauville
• IV Perfecter NPC in Mauville
• Hidden Power type changer NPC in Mauville
• Toggleable Infinite Repel
• Toggleable Auto Run
• Hold R to speed through NPC dialogue
• Option to rename a Pokemon in the party menu
• Option to relearn level-up moves and egg-moves for a Pokemon in the party menu
• Move Pokemon around in the party menu more easily with the Select button or the R button
• Move-tutor moves converted to TMs so they can be taught anywhere, no more move tutors in-game
• Item care packages
  • Includes Infinite Candy, type-boosting Hold Items, type-resisting Berries, plus many more
• Ability Capsules and Ability Patches to easily change between abilities for a Pokemon
• In every Pokemon Center, a 2nd Nurse has been added who can:
  • Change Pokemon’s natures
  • Swap genders for Pokemon with gender-specific evolutions
  • Set Pokemon directly to the Level Cap
• “Quick throw” option for Poké Balls in battle
  • Can scroll through options easily by holding the L button

Minimal Grinding Mode

• It’s the same as RR’s. With MGM enabled, all Pokemon are guaranteed to have perfect IVs, and EVs are not obtainable for the player nor NPC trainers. With MGM disabled, IVs are random, EVs are obtainable, options for instant EV and IV customization are still provided, and NPC trainers will still have perfect IVs and will be EV-trained.

Difficulty Modes

• Normal: the intended difficulty of this game, and the one it was balanced for. Boss battles will be difficult, you cannot access the Bag during trainer battles, and the battle style is forced to Set.
• Easy: this experience should still be harder than a vanilla Pokemon game but should be considerably easier than Normal mode. All Boss Pokemon will be 2 levels lower than in Normal mode. Additionally, you can access the Bag during trainer battles, and you can change the battle style to Shift if desired, but it will still be Set by default.

Randomizer

• Accessed in-game.
• The player can choose between normal species randomization (fully random), scaled species randomization (Pokemon randomize into Pokemon with similar base stats), and Legendary-aware species randomization (fully random, but ensures Legendaries get randomized into Legendaries), all of which applies to encounterable Pokemon as well as regular NPC trainers’ Pokemon. Boss NPC trainers will never be randomized.
• Ability randomization is also configurable and is independent of species randomization.
• A list of abilities that are included/excluded from the randomizer is in the documentation.

Info for Stat Editor, IV Perfecter NPC, and Hidden Power type changer NPC

In Minimal Grinding Mode:

• IV Perfecter NPC is not enabled, you can just use the Stat Editor to perfect your IVs
• Stat Editor can only change IVs and can change them freely. Cannot change EVs.
• Hidden Power type changer NPC can change HP type freely, with no limitations.

NOT in Minimal Grinding Mode:

• IV Perfecter NPC: You get to perfect the IVs of 5 Pokemon per Gym Badge earned. After all 8 Gym Badges are obtained, you can use the IV Perfecter NPC freely.
• Stat Editor: You can edit the EVs of any Pokemon freely. You can only change the IVs of a Pokemon who has had their IVs perfected by the IV Perfecter NPC, and you can change those Pokemon’s IVs freely.
• Hidden Power type changer NPC: can only change the HP type of a Pokemon who has had their IVs perfected by the IV Perfecter NPC.

Credits and Special Thanks

iriv24 (Creator)