Hack Series: Pokémon Photonic Sun & Prismatic Moon

[Buffel Saft]

Found an error in the docs. In the third Gladion fight (Aether House), it says his lead Crobat has Hurricane, when it actually has Brave Bird. I don't know if the other moves listed are correct.

Also giving Pidgey access to Echoed Voice via TM might be nice for early normal stab to go with its new special attack buff? It also just makes sense since the line gained access to Hyper Voice.

The other moves are correct; Brave Bird -> Hurricane was the only change I meant to make (along with a different EV spread, which also didn't happen) Thanks for letting me know!

Yeah, that makes sense. Gives that TM a reason to exist too!

 

[Aqua Mosquito]

Hey, I'm playing Sinking Sapphire and I have a question about abilities. It seems like pokemon that already have 2 abilities don't get their hidden ability naturally in this game, for example, Garchomp gets rough skin but Gliscor doesn't get poison heal. Goldeen would have been a fantastic encounter if it got lightning rod for example. Do pokemon that heavily benefit from their hidden abilities get their less useful one replaced?
(Slowpoke, Honchkrow, Nidoran, Clefable, weather setters, Vileplume, Priemape, Alakazam, Alolan Marowak, Starmie, Kingler, Pinsir, Corsola, Smeargle, Sableye, Sharpedo, Spinda, Glalie, Lucario, Alomomola, Braviary, Pangoro, Carbink, Toxapex, Hitmonlee, Tangrowth, Jynx, Noctowl, Xatu, Quagsire, Qwilfish, Heracross, Mamoswine, Crawdaunt, Liepard, Swoobat, Seismitoad, Stantler, Mightyena, Cincinno, Gothitelle, Klinklang, Beeheyem, Golurk, Diggersby, Meowstic, Dragalge, Breloom, Lanturn, Pachisrisu, Gliscor, Snorlax, Watchog, Excadrill, and Avalugg)
(I know that's a lot and I'm sorry if any of these were changed completely. And yes, this is all because of that Goldeen.)

 

[Ohoshi]

Hey there, I just have a quick question. So in the summary it says that it's recommended to play with the exp share on. I'm just wondering if it's because the exp is cut back in half, like in the gen 6 hacks, or because the trainers lvls are really really highly where you need to use the exp share to be on par with them. Would the game be very different when playing without it, or would it just mean that you'll have to do some insane amount of grinding. Thanks if you read this.

Edit: would there also be a way to use the No Outline Patch on your rom hack? I'm asking this because in the title Id folder, there is a code.ips file which is also the name of the no outline patch (playing on a cfw 3ds)

 

[Buffel Saft]

Hey, I'm playing Sinking Sapphire and I have a question about abilities. It seems like pokemon that already have 2 abilities don't get their hidden ability naturally in this game, for example, Garchomp gets rough skin but Gliscor doesn't get poison heal. Goldeen would have been a fantastic encounter if it got lightning rod for example. Do pokemon that heavily benefit from their hidden abilities get their less useful one replaced?
(Slowpoke, Honchkrow, Nidoran, Clefable, weather setters, Vileplume, Priemape, Alakazam, Alolan Marowak, Starmie, Kingler, Pinsir, Corsola, Smeargle, Sableye, Sharpedo, Spinda, Glalie, Lucario, Alomomola, Braviary, Pangoro, Carbink, Toxapex, Hitmonlee, Tangrowth, Jynx, Noctowl, Xatu, Quagsire, Qwilfish, Heracross, Mamoswine, Crawdaunt, Liepard, Swoobat, Seismitoad, Stantler, Mightyena, Cincinno, Gothitelle, Klinklang, Beeheyem, Golurk, Diggersby, Meowstic, Dragalge, Breloom, Lanturn, Pachisrisu, Gliscor, Snorlax, Watchog, Excadrill, and Avalugg)
(I know that's a lot and I'm sorry if any of these were changed completely. And yes, this is all because of that Goldeen.)

Hey, Sinking Sapphire was made by Drayano, I can't answer that. You'll have to check his documentation.

Hey there, I just have a quick question. So in the summary it says that it's recommended to play with the exp share on. I'm just wondering if it's because the exp is cut back in half, like in the gen 6 hacks, or because the trainers lvls are really really highly where you need to use the exp share to be on par with them. Would the game be very different when playing without it, or would it just mean that you'll have to do some insane amount of grinding. Thanks if you read this.

Edit: would there also be a way to use the No Outline Patch on your rom hack? I'm asking this because in the title Id folder, there is a code.ips file which is also the name of the no outline patch (playing on a cfw 3ds)

Hey, it's because the trainer levels are stupidly high and you'll fall behind without using it. You could play with it off but it would either make the game much harder or turn it into a horrible grind. Might make a good challenge run but I wouldn't recommend it!

The no outline patch can be used with the hack; you'd need to manually patch it and the hack's code.ips patch onto the eshop update's code.bin file, then replace the code.ips in the hack's files with the patched code.bin. To do that, you'll have to unpack the eshop update with asia81's 3DS hacking toolkit to get the coode.bin, and use any old ips patcher to apply the patches (lunar ips should work). The patches can be applied in any order.

 

[Aqua Mosquito]

Hey, Sinking Sapphire was made by Drayano, I can't answer that. You'll have to check his documentation.


Hey, it's because the trainer levels are stupidly high and you'll fall behind without using it. You could play with it off but it would either make the game much harder or turn it into a horrible grind. Might make a good challenge run but I wouldn't recommend it!

The no outline patch can be used with the hack; you'd need to manually patch it and the hack's code.ips patch onto the eshop update's code.bin file, then replace the code.ips in the hack's files with the patched code.bin. To do that, you'll have to unpack the eshop update with asia81's 3DS hacking toolkit to get the coode.bin, and use any old ips patcher to apply the patches (lunar ips should work). The patches can be applied in any order.

I was asking about the abilities in this hack. The documentation is kind of unclear on that.

 

[Buffel Saft]

I was asking about the abilities in this hack. The documentation is kind of unclear on that.

Ah sorry, I misunderstood. Almost all hidden abilities are available via SOS chaining; if a mon can't be SOS chained - which should only include the fossils or Alolan starters - then it gets its hidden ability as a regular ability. I've left it that way for all other Pokemon just for consistency, even if they've only got one regular ability.

 

[Jk Howling]

Heyo, I have a couple more ideas I wanted to throw out there:

-Tentacruel line getting Recover (It feels fitting for the line, and could be a reference to the Immortal Jellyfish species)

-Luvdisc becoming Water/Fairy (probs suggested already, but it feels fitting for the species, and contrasts nicely with Primarina, who is slow and bulky rather than fast and fragile; plus I think it could use the help. 95 spatk and soul-heart are v nice, but it's still only got 43/55/65 bulk, which is about as bulky as an unevolved starter oop)

-Give Alolan Grimer/Muk Poison Jab. The TM for it isn't until literally the end of the game as you're going up Mount Lanakila, and your only other options are Poison Fang (which is weak) or Gunk Shot (which is heavily inaccurate). Maybe give it as an evo move, or at the same level as Kanto Grimer/Muk?
Other mons that might also appreciate Poison Jab: Scolipede, Garbodor, Skuntank

-Donphan line with Shore Up or Slack Off (maybe a bit of a stretch or a bit strong, but one can dream haha)

 

[AlbabImam04]

For some reason, when I try to talk to the Pokemart assistants in the Verdant Cavern Pokemon Centre, the game crashes. Can you please see why this is so

 

[Buffel Saft]

Heyo, I have a couple more ideas I wanted to throw out there:

-Tentacruel line getting Recover (It feels fitting for the line, and could be a reference to the Immortal Jellyfish species)

-Luvdisc becoming Water/Fairy (probs suggested already, but it feels fitting for the species, and contrasts nicely with Primarina, who is slow and bulky rather than fast and fragile; plus I think it could use the help. 95 spatk and soul-heart are v nice, but it's still only got 43/55/65 bulk, which is about as bulky as an unevolved starter oop)

-Give Alolan Grimer/Muk Poison Jab. The TM for it isn't until literally the end of the game as you're going up Mount Lanakila, and your only other options are Poison Fang (which is weak) or Gunk Shot (which is heavily inaccurate). Maybe give it as an evo move, or at the same level as Kanto Grimer/Muk?
Other mons that might also appreciate Poison Jab: Scolipede, Garbodor, Skuntank

-Donphan line with Shore Up or Slack Off (maybe a bit of a stretch or a bit strong, but one can dream haha)

Hey!
- I've considered Recover for Tentacruel (but left it alone as it's pretty good already), but if Jellicent gets it Tentacruel could have it too.
- Fairy Luvdisc has been done in a few other hacks and it does kinda work, I just didn't want to go overboard with slapping Fairy typing on too many things.
- I'm going to have to go through all the Poison types to see which ones want Poison Jab, that TM location is just bad design.
- Donphan with Slack Off would be fine I think, it's got plenty of other weaknesses to keep it from being too strong.

For some reason, when I try to talk to the Pokemart assistants in the Verdant Cavern Pokemon Centre, the game crashes. Can you please see why this is so

Hey, that most likely means you haven't installed the hack correctly. Please read the FAQ.

 

[Ohoshi]

Hey, Sinking Sapphire was made by Drayano, I can't answer that. You'll have to check his documentation.


Hey, it's because the trainer levels are stupidly high and you'll fall behind without using it. You could play with it off but it would either make the game much harder or turn it into a horrible grind. Might make a good challenge run but I wouldn't recommend it!

The no outline patch can be used with the hack; you'd need to manually patch it and the hack's code.ips patch onto the eshop update's code.bin file, then replace the code.ips in the hack's files with the patched code.bin. To do that, you'll have to unpack the eshop update with asia81's 3DS hacking toolkit to get the coode.bin, and use any old ips patcher to apply the patches (lunar ips should work). The patches can be applied in any order.

Thanks so much. I didnt quite understand the instructions you gave, but when i read them over and over again carefully i managed to do it. It didnt work at first when i patched the code.ips of the hack onto the code.bin file of the extracted update file. But when i patched the hacks code.ips to the code.bin of the extracted exefs folder of the ultra sun rom it started working. Anyways thanks so much, i managed to get everything running. It wouldnt be possible for me without the instructions you gave.

 

[Buffel Saft]

Thanks so much. I didnt quite understand the instructions you gave, but when i read them over and over again carefully i managed to do it. It didnt work at first when i patched the code.ips of the hack onto the code.bin file of the extracted update file. But when i patched the hacks code.ips to the code.bin of the extracted exefs folder of the ultra sun rom it started working. Anyways thanks so much, i managed to get everything running. It wouldnt be possible for me without the instructions you gave.

You're welcome! Sorry about the instructions not being all that clear, glad you got it sorted though! You might want to check that the marts are working properly if you haven't already; if you've patched the ultra sun ROM's code.bin there could be some issues there.

 

[Jk Howling]

Lucario really lacking in steel moves. Its only option currently is Iron Tail at the heahea beach tutor, which is very inaccurate. That's it until level fifty two for Bullet Punch and seventy for Meteor Mash. Or Flash Cannon allll the way on Poni Island (you weren't joking when you said usum's TM distribution is awful LOL). Plus it doesn't learn Iron Head via tutor, which is very unfortunate.

I'd say give it Smart Strike in the low 40's perhaps? And probs move Metal Clawup a bit so its not a level 1 heartscale move (maybe evo move?) or move Bullet Punch a little lower. Just spitballing here-- I'm literally running Hidden Power Steel for a stab move rn lmao


Also on a similar note to Return never being used on Tauros, I'm pretty sure the AI also never clicks Infestation in any situation on Plumeria's Toxapex. Likely due to the AI reading resisted Scald as doing more damage than even a super-effective Infestation, due to the low base power. It doesn't really read the added trapping/chip damage affect.

Maybe change that to something more useful? Venoshock could work well with baneful bunker, or toxic for all the funni poisoning lmao.

 

[Nightman_cometh]

Hi, just wondering does the standard version not have the code.ips file? I downloaded the standard version and was following the instructions but that file doesn't seem to be in the folder. I can see that the file is present in the rebalanced folder.

 

[Buffel Saft]

Lucario really lacking in steel moves. Its only option currently is Iron Tail at the heahea beach tutor, which is very inaccurate. That's it until level fifty two for Bullet Punch and seventy for Meteor Mash. Or Flash Cannon allll the way on Poni Island (you weren't joking when you said usum's TM distribution is awful LOL). Plus it doesn't learn Iron Head via tutor, which is very unfortunate.

I'd say give it Smart Strike in the low 40's perhaps? And probs move Metal Clawup a bit so its not a level 1 heartscale move (maybe evo move?) or move Bullet Punch a little lower. Just spitballing here-- I'm literally running Hidden Power Steel for a stab move rn lmao


Also on a similar note to Return never being used on Tauros, I'm pretty sure the AI also never clicks Infestation in any situation on Plumeria's Toxapex. Likely due to the AI reading resisted Scald as doing more damage than even a super-effective Infestation, due to the low base power. It doesn't really read the added trapping/chip damage affect.

Maybe change that to something more useful? Venoshock could work well with baneful bunker, or toxic for all the funni poisoning lmao.

Between the early Brick Break TM, Aura Sphere on evolution and the Iron Tail tutor (IMO the accuracy's not that bad given how strong it is and how early you can get it) Lucario is already very strong early on, I don't really want to give it even more options. I guess I could give Riolu Metal Claw by level up as that's a thing in gen 8 though.

Smart Strike is only learned by things with horns so it doesn't really fit Lucario (I guess the hand spikes work but it's a bit of a stretch).

The AI will use Infestation if you have water absorb or a 4x resistance (Game Freak still hasn't updated the AI to account for gen 4 and up abilities, so it won't handle Storm Drain or Dry Skin).

Hi, just wondering does the standard version not have the code.ips file? I downloaded the standard version and was following the instructions but that file doesn't seem to be in the folder. I can see that the file is present in the rebalanced folder.

Hi, yeah the standard version doesn't need a code.ips file. This is mentioned in the latest install guide, but it seems I forgot to update the copies of it in the standard version download folders, so they're missing that part.

 

[Uhcfr3ak]

Hello,
i have an question about installing the game. So i just tried to do the installation thing with citra and CIA. On my screen it sais Files couldn't load or something "we didnt find the file" Prismatic moon What did i wrong

thanks.

 

[Buffel Saft]

Hello,
i have an question about installing the game. So i just tried to do the installation thing with citra and CIA. On my screen it sais Files couldn't load or something "we didnt find the file" Prismatic moon What did i wrong

thanks.

Hey, could you post a screenshot of the error? I need a bit more information to help (e.g. is citra giving you the error or something else?)

 

[Jk Howling]

Between the early Brick Break TM, Aura Sphere on evolution and the Iron Tail tutor (IMO the accuracy's not that bad given how strong it is and how early you can get it) Lucario is already very strong early on, I don't really want to give it even more options. I guess I could give Riolu Metal Claw by level up as that's a thing in gen 8 though.

Smart Strike is only learned by things with horns so it doesn't really fit Lucario (I guess the hand spikes work but it's a bit of a stretch).

While Aura Sphere is utterly busted that early on, with all due respect, I don't at all see how giving it an actual decent steel move in it's 40's would break it further? Players have options like Huge Power Iron Head Mawile or Flash Cannon Magnezone at their disposal by that stage of the game- and imo, getting something strong early on shouldn't prevent it from getting anything else til level seventy-freaking-two.

I suggested Smart Strike because it felt like the only decently balanced and sensible option. Anchor Shot, Gear Grind and Steel Wing make even less sense and are even stronger, Metal Claw is weak and won't be very useful beyond level 30's, and Flash Cannon or Iron Head are too strong (though I'd LOVE to see it get one of those in the 50's or from tutor, but alas..)

And while Iron Tail is strong, having a 1 in 4 chance to miss is just... not fun. Not fun at all. I'd like to have at least a slight choice of steel moves- and having 70bp/100acc as an option vs 100bp/75 acc seems fairly balanced to me. You're losing power but gaining accuracy. The only other move I can really think of is maybe Mirror Shot, which is 65bp.

The AI will use Infestation if you have water absorb or a 4x resistance (Game Freak still hasn't updated the AI to account for gen 4 and up abilities, so it won't handle Storm Drain or Dry Skin).

Huh, didn't think bout that.
Still seems extremely niche, but tbf you can't be a threat to all 700+ pokemon in the game lmao.



Also, on an unrelated note, a player on discord found a quirk with a Route 3 trainer who has a Cottonee. It seems to have over 510 evs, with 252 in defense, 252 in special attack, and an extra 30 evs in HP. Unsure if intentional or if they were meant to be ivs rather than evs haha.

That person is currently working on trainer documentation (moveset, evs, items) for non-important trainers, so might be more lil quirks like that when they've worked on it a bit more.

 

[Buffel Saft]

While Aura Sphere is utterly busted that early on, with all due respect, I don't at all see how giving it an actual decent steel move in it's 40's would break it further? Players have options like Huge Power Iron Head Mawile or Flash Cannon Magnezone at their disposal by that stage of the game- and imo, getting something strong early on shouldn't prevent it from getting anything else til level seventy-freaking-two.

I suggested Smart Strike because it felt like the only decently balanced and sensible option. Anchor Shot, Gear Grind and Steel Wing make even less sense and are even stronger, Metal Claw is weak and won't be very useful beyond level 30's, and Flash Cannon or Iron Head are too strong (though I'd LOVE to see it get one of those in the 50's or from tutor, but alas..)

And while Iron Tail is strong, having a 1 in 4 chance to miss is just... not fun. Not fun at all. I'd like to have at least a slight choice of steel moves- and having 70bp/100acc as an option vs 100bp/75 acc seems fairly balanced to me. You're losing power but gaining accuracy. The only other move I can really think of is maybe Mirror Shot, which is 65bp.





Huh, didn't think bout that.
Still seems extremely niche, but tbf you can't be a threat to all 700+ pokemon in the game lmao.



Also, on an unrelated note, a player on discord found a quirk with a Route 3 trainer who has a Cottonee. It seems to have over 510 evs, with 252 in defense, 252 in special attack, and an extra 30 evs in HP. Unsure if intentional or if they were meant to be ivs rather than evs haha.

That person is currently working on trainer documentation (moveset, evs, items) for non-important trainers, so might be more lil quirks like that when they've worked on it a bit more.

So my reasoning is this: it's super broken early on, and super broken late game if you use the mega stone, so having a mediocre mid-game helps to balance that out a bit. Removing that just makes an already strong Pokemon even stronger, if that makes sense? Also, at the time I didn't know pk3DS could reorder moves, so Meteor Mash just got slapped on near the end of its level up moves because that was easier than rearranging its entire moveset, unpacking the level up moves garc, copy-pasting its new moveset over its Mega's moveset (they're separate because game freak), and then repacking the garc. I guess that'd be the actual reason it doesn't get Meteor Mash sooner😅 . Anyway, how about I just give it its gen 8 learnset instead? That'd move Swords Dance to a more reasonable level than 19 and give it Meteor Mash at 48.

Mirror Shot is reasonable but also has terrible accuracy (85% on a 65 BP move? Why?).

Yeah that's definitely not intentional haha. Looks like all the trainers on Route 3 have pretty ridiculous EV spreads for that point in the game, though the others are at least legal. I might've taken the whole "rising stars and ace trainers are stronger" thing a bit too far with them. Hope that person is aware of pk3DS's ability to dump the trainer data to a text file; that's a lot of documentation to type up otherwise! I can almost guarantee they'll find more mistakes like that if there's one that early on.

 

[Uhcfr3ak]

Hey, could you post a screenshot of the error? I need a bit more information to help (e.g. is citra giving you the error or something else?)

I know what i did wrong. I dont have the 1.2 Update so you cant help me at all.

 

[Jk Howling]

So my reasoning is this: it's super broken early on, and super broken late game if you use the mega stone, so having a mediocre mid-game helps to balance that out a bit. Removing that just makes an already strong Pokemon even stronger, if that makes sense? Also, at the time I didn't know pk3DS could reorder moves, so Meteor Mash just got slapped on near the end of its level up moves because that was easier than rearranging its entire moveset, unpacking the level up moves garc, copy-pasting its new moveset over its Mega's moveset (they're separate because game freak), and then repacking the garc. I guess that'd be the actual reason it doesn't get Meteor Mash sooner😅 . Anyway, how about I just give it its gen 8 learnset instead? That'd move Swords Dance to a more reasonable level than 19 and give it Meteor Mash at 48.

Mirror Shot is reasonable but also has terrible accuracy (85% on a 65 BP move? Why?).

Utilizing gen 8's learnsets does sound better tbh. I'm not super familiar with swsh (I prefer romhacks lol) but just skimming them, it feels like they found a much better balance for levelup sets. Maybe it's because of the wild area giving you much earlier access to a wide variety of mons? It definitely seems like a better base to use though with the adjustments they made, though I think it'd still need some editing due to the heavy amount of level 1 moves (love how they went from gen 7 having the heartscale tutor at the literal end of the game, to swsh having it free and accessible from any pokecenter LOL) but otherwise seems p nice.

Yeah that's definitely not intentional haha. Looks like all the trainers on Route 3 have pretty ridiculous EV spreads for that point in the game, though the others are at least legal. I might've taken the whole "rising stars and ace trainers are stronger" thing a bit too far with them. Hope that person is aware of pk3DS's ability to dump the trainer data to a text file; that's a lot of documentation to type up otherwise! I can almost guarantee they'll find more mistakes like that if there's one that early on.

I believe they're dumping from pk3ds and reformatting things but I'll have to double check haha. Also we've very much noticed the scariness of rising stars and ace trainers! I'm always terrified of running into the trainer with the Horsea- 252 spatk, modest, and buffed 85bp/100acc Octazooka is downright murderous😭Route 12 is equally terrifying. I discovered the hard way in my nuzlockes that there's a trainer with 252 spatk adaptability normal gem Porygon-Z, and another with 252 spatk z-solar beam Delphox. May my Primarina rest in peace.