Hey there.
I am NOT an experienced hacker, but this has been something I started working on in 2020, off and on.
Everyone knows about how easy X/Y are, and while there are "challenge hacks" of X/Y, I personally wanted to find a more 'rebalanced/fixed' version of the games that makes the games harder,
without the brutal difficulty said challenge hacks are known for; basically something closer to say Platinum or B2/W2 Challenge Mode (or BD/SP without the baked-in Exp. Share and affection). Turns out, those types of hacks aren't as common; the closest I could find was an abandoned hack and many theory-crafting videos/threads. So, I decided to make a light hack of my own essentially "fixing" the major boss battles, as well as a few minor stuff.
In short, this is a small and light "fixed/adjusted difficulty" hack of X/Y; the game is meant to be harder, but it's not a "challenge hack" in the traditional sense.
The summary of the major changes can be found in the Google Drive, but in short, most major battles have been changed either slightly or significantly (with either new Pokémon, better movesets, and/or held items. Higher IVs as well). A decent handful of minor trainer battles have gotten minor buffs as well (many trainers with only 1-2 Pokémon have received 1-2 more, especially in the Gyms and Victory Road). All the patterns of Vivillon can also be found in the wild.
There is also an optional patch to make wild "version exclusive" Pokemon present in both versions.
Wild Vivillon pattern locations:
NOTES:
- The game still isn't designed with keeping the Exp. Share on in mind. You may be a tad underleveled if you don't use it at all,
but leaving it on WILL make you very overleveled. I didn't want to give the game a huge level curve to balance out X/Y's non-scaling Exp. system. I recommend toggling it on and off when needed. If you want to impose level limits based on the Gym Leader's/Elite Four/Champion's aces, it goes as follows:
- The game still uses mechanics from Gen 6. I considered adding in Gen 7 onward mechanics (move changes, stat changes, ability changes, etc.), but ultimately decided against it.
- Don't bother using Writs in the Battle Chateau. As of update 1.9.8, I've increased the levels of the postgame Gym Leader/E4/Champion fights to match the Black Writ of Challenge; using any Writs messes up their movesets.
- Like many hacks/mods, you probably have to play on Version 1.0 of X/Y. Installing updates may make the game crash
, so just be wary of saving in Lumiose City; save in buildings rather than on the streets, just to be safe. If your game is updated and crashes occur, uninstall any updates (delete update files on your emulator or delete update data on your modded 3DS).
- The Mega Stone merchant in Coumarine only has his text altered
in English. If you're playing in another language, he'll still mention that he sells Incense rather than Mega Stones. English is my native language, and is the only language I speak fluently, so changing this would be difficult for me (I don't want to rely on Google Translate).
- While the difficulty of this hack is greater than vanilla X/Y, it's not
nearly as hard as other well-known hacks, as stated before. Because of this and because I haven't changed any Pokémon's stats/moves/etc., some Pokémon are still overpowered,
ESPECIALLY Aegislash and the optional Speed Boost Torchic (once fully-evolved). Be wary that using these overpowered Pokémon could easily trivialize the entire game.
- I'm sure it doesn't need to be said, but obviously Pokémon-Amie
will make the game easier, as with enough Affection, your Pokémon will get more experience, crit more often, occasionally survive with 1 HP, and sometimes shake off status conditions. Obviously it's part of the game, and I obviously can't stop you from using it, but just keep the effects of it in mind.
Screenshots
Be sure to check the FAQ doc; any question you may have might be answered there already!
Link to the files and documentation
Newest Update: Ver. 2.1.4 - (3/15/25)
Another Diantha adjustment. I felt like her Roserade being yet another hazard-setter was unnecessarily slow, so now it's more of a dedicated attacker with Expert Belt instead of Black Sludge, Energy Ball instead of Giga Drain, and Extrasensory instead of Toxic Spikes. This means that her team is overall more aggressive, with the exception of her Klefki lead.
Credits:
Made entirely with pk3DS, kudos to Kaphotics and SciresM!
r/pokemonROMhacks and my Discord server for suggestions and allowing me to bounce off ideas!
Buffel Saft; many of my evolution changes, purchasable Mega Stones, and a few misc. changes were
taken from inspired by Eternal X/Wilting Y!