FireRed hack: - Pokémon Gaia Version - The PokéCommunity Forums (2025)

Story

The storied Orbtus region was once populated by a prosperous civilization. They created several monuments to their gods and guardians. Their untimely demise was brought about by a series of disastrous earthquakes; all that remains of their society are their temples, idols and story, as relics of the past.

In the present day, local archaeologist and Pokémon Professor, Professor Redwood, has noticed an increase in the region's seismic activity. Propelled by a growing concern for Orbtus' safety, he seeks the assistance of new Pokémon Trainers with a flair for adventure in the rural Celanto Town, a seaside town near the mysterious totem poles, and your home! Will you, along with the help of the Professor and your rival, be able to prevent the earth from consuming the region once more?

Features

• The Physical / Special / Status split
• Pokémon from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos
• New moves and updated move sets, accurate to OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire, and with working effects and animations
• Modern competitive items like the Choice Specs, Assault Vest, Ability Pill, and more
• Modern abilities, ranging from Mega Launcher to Sheer Force
• An in-battle Mega Evolution system, with Mega Stones hidden throughout the region
• Fairy-type and the new type chart
• Updated Pokémon sprites
• Updated Trainer sprites and accurate over world sprites
• Original songs, like Windmist City's theme and the battle music for the Elder Knights
• Rock Climb and climbable walls
• Dive and underwater maps, fully ported from Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald
• Hidden Grottoes and Secret Temples, which reward exploration with rare items and Pokémon with unique move sets
• The Bug-Catching Contest
• The Battle Marsh, a Battle Maison-esque facility
• Sideways stairs
• Various quality of life changes:

Screenshots (as of v3)

Team

Special thanks and credits

Tools used

Awards

Frequently Asked Questions

• NOTE! The patching tutorials below refer to 1635, but 1636 should work fine as well!
• How do I play on a Windows computer?
  

  Spoiler: Instructions for playing Gaia on a Windows computer

• How do I play on an Apple computer?
  

  Spoiler: Instructions for playing Gaia on an Apple computer

• How do I play on an Android mobile device?
  

  Spoiler: Instructions for playing Gaia on an Android mobile device

• How do I play on an Apple mobile device?
  

  Spoiler: Instructions for playing Gaia on an Apple mobile device

• Can I reuse my save from previous versions of Gaia for v3?
  No. Unfortunately, creative decisions mean that saves from previous versions of Gaia will not be compatible with v3. You will have to start over.
• What about my save from v3? Will I be able to use that in future releases?
  Yes, forwards-compatibility is planned for saves from v3.

For more, check out the #faq Discord channel.

Locations and Info [SPOILERS!]

• Pokémon locations: https://bit.ly/GaiaPokemonLocations
  Also includes a list of unobtainable Pokémon!
• Item locations: https://bit.ly/GaiaItemLocations
  Also includes a list of Mega Stones, TMs and HMs, and where to find them!
• Changed evolution methods: https://bit.ly/GaiaEvolutionMethods
• Move Tutors: https://bit.ly/GaiaMoveTutors
• Discord: #general

Known Bugs

To see a list of known bugs, please visit the #known-bugs channel of Pokémon Gaia's Discord server. It is kept up-to-date with known bugs, and also indicates which bugs have been fixed internally (that is, bugs which have been fixed but the fix has not been released yet in a bugfix update). If you find a bug not at this link, please report it either here, in this thread, or in the #bug-reports channel of Pokémon Gaia's Discord server.

Download

• Gaia Beta v3.2
  Release date: 8th November, 2018
  Mirror Download: https://sphericalice.com/romhacking/hacks/gaia/pokemon_gaia_v3.2.zip
  Notes: v3.2 is a bugfix update for v3 (changelog). Saves from v3.0 and v3.1 ARE compatible with v3.2. However, as with v3.0, saves from versions v2.5 or before of Gaia are NOT compatible with v3.2. This beta ends after the credits roll in the Pokémon League, with all eight Gym battles, the full main story, and the Elite Four and Champion battles. Please read the included README.txt file for important information, or visit the Discord server linked above. On top of the purely new content added to this release, a lot of content has also been added in between Gyms, as well as lots of bugfixes from Beta v2.5, balancing, and in general the hack has a greater degree of polish. Saves from previous versions are NOT compatible with this version. There is no postgame in this release; there is a v4 planned which will tie up the loose ends of the story, as well as feature two new islands-worth of content, and more items, Pokémon and legendary encounters.

Randomizer

• Universal Pokémon Randomizer Gaia
  Release date: 12th June, 2019
  Mirror Download: https://www.sphericalice.com/romhacking/hacks/gaia/universal-pokemon-randomizer-gaia.zip
  Notes: This is a fork of Dabomstew's Universal Pokémon Randomizer with support added for Pokémon Gaia v3.2!

Wow. I must say, this look really interesting.
The game looks quite mysterious, based on the story and few screens that I've seen.

I especially like the totem pole screen and the relicanth wall screen.

Seems pretty interesting, but what really gets me is this:

Not only does the mysterious tablet in the middle look great on its own, but it melds so fantastically with the tiles around it that it gives the illusion of 3D. I love it!

Apart from that, I'm digging this hack. You don't see too many hacks that rewards and praises exploration the way this does, and the region and its past is so mysterious that the player will have no choice but to submit to their curiosity and do so. I'm interested in seeing more of this.

Whooo hooo! Another hack of yours, yet the tiles are amazing! Also..

Sweet, sweet titlescreen!

Loving the tiles <3 Hope to see more! ^^ asdfghjkl

itari said:

Wow. I must say, this look really interesting.
The game looks quite mysterious, based on the story and few screens that I've seen.

I especially like the totem pole screen and the relicanth wall screen.

Click to expand...

Thank you! Mystery is definitely the mood I want to establish with some parts of this game!

Andrut said:

This looks very curious!
I really like mystic storylines and I will be definitely checking this hack out. The screenshots look very intriguing, I love libraries, too. They put me in an unusual mood. I think it'd be a great idea to visit the library often and uncover new secrets with each visit.
- Fleece

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Thank you! That's a great idea, I was going to let you just read random books but making it change upon different visits would be an interesting gimmick!

Dark Sneasel said:

I saw this on romhack.me yesterday and I think it's awesome! This hack really has my attention.. but does this mean you stopped working on Cobalt?

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Thanks! Cobalt is on an indefinite hiatus, because, if I'm honest, I got bored with it. If, in the future, I feel like going back to it, I will, but that's a far way off at the moment.

machomuu said:

Seems pretty interesting, but what really gets me is this:

Spoiler:

Not only does the mysterious tablet in the middle look great on its own, but it melds so fantastically with the tiles around it that it gives the illusion of 3D. I love it!

Apart from that, I'm digging this hack. You don't see too many hacks that rewards and praises exploration the way this does, and the region and its past is so mysterious that the player will have no choice but to submit to their curiosity and do so. I'm interested in seeing more of this.

Click to expand...

Thanks! The tablet was actually an adaptation of this piece of pixel art made by the amazing Neslug -- all I did was turn it into a tile!

_Nex_ said:

O.o That looks so awesome!
I like the fake 3D tiles :)

Click to expand...

Thanks!

V.V said:

Whooo hooo! Another hack of yours, yet the tiles are amazing! Also..

Sweet, sweet titlescreen!

Loving the tiles <3 Hope to see more! ^^ asdfghjkl

Click to expand...

Thank you! The Ho-oh Temple tile was made by the amazing Cuddlesthefatcat. All I did to this tile was change the perspective slightly, and make it look older, and more deteriorated.

I'm glad to see so much positive feedback in such a short span of time! Here, have another screenshot:

Shinx said:

Looks interesting, I do wonder what the Dusty Tome is. I hope you realise how good your mapping is... because it is. Good luck and gods speed.

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Thanks! The Dusty Tome might have some significance.

AmazingCharizard said:

This looks really good and not 0815. But it looks like you won't change tiles(or use a rombase)? I wonder though; is there no such criminal syndicate or bigger antagonist or won't you reveal it just now? Just curious, you know :)

Click to expand...

Thank you! The tiles are staying the same, in the sense that I'm sticking with the FireRed-styled tiles. And, with regards to a bigger antagonist, who knows?

KDS said:

This looks to be awesome. I really like the the concept of Exploring an Ancient Civilisation. The name of the region is very cool. Good luck. :D

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Thanks!

bigmankane said:

looks great! who would the starters be?

Click to expand...

Thanks! I've actually mulled over what I want the starters to be quite a lot. For now, this is what I've decided on, though I do recognise that it might be quite flawed as I haven't really playtested them much for balance.

As of now, it seems like Yanma is easy-mode, with Swinub being the relatively standard starter, and Tangela being the hardest starter to train, at least to begin with. These are definitely not set in stone, but I think they're an interesting selection and fit in quite well with the ancient theme of the game (if you can work out why, good job). Their evolutions from Generation 4 will be included.

So Gaia finally sees the light of day :P

Everything is looking great, I especially love the totem poles and the Relicanth stone. Like Shix has said, your mapping is good and I'm looking forward to seeing more of Gaia in general. One suggestion though, I think you should move the camera down a tile or two in the screenshot with Professor Redwood. If you do that then you can get everybody in view and not have the textbox overlap the player/ rival.

Spherical Ice said:

As of now, it seems like Yanma is easy-mode, with Swinub being the relatively standard starter, and Tangela as the hardest (at least to begin with). These are definitely not set in stone, but I think they're an interesting selection and fit in quite well with the mood of the game (if you can work out why, good job). Their evolutions from Generation 4 will be included.

Click to expand...

ancient powerup

DrFuji said:

So Gaia finally sees the light of day :P

Everything is looking great, I especially love the totem poles and the Relicanth stone. Like Shix has said, your mapping is good and I'm looking forward to seeing more of Gaia in general. One suggestion though, I think you should move the camera down a tile or two in the screenshot with Professor Redwood. If you do that then you can get everybody in view and not have the textbox overlap the player/ rival.

Click to expand...

Thanks! That's a good point, I didn't notice that.

DrFuji said:

ancient powerup

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wow way to ruin the surprise for everyone I told you already nerd

jan2prado said:

This seems pretty interesting... and mysterious at that.. I LOVE IT!! Also Swinub is kinda One Evolution ahead of the other two unless Mamoswine isn't present in the game.. but good job :D I lililililililily like it :D

Click to expand...

Thanks! Swinub does indeed have one evolution more than Yanma and Tangela. However, the way in which it learns Ancient Power (ie through the move relearner) means that I'll be able to delay when Mamoswine is available to the player. In any case, it's likely I'll redo this selection of starters, but for now that will be what they are.

Samuraipizzacats said:

Those screenshots.. Wow! Looking forward to this hack(:

Click to expand...

Thanks!

Just some more screenshots of Phoena City.

jan2prado said:

I just looked their Base Stats up and found that it didn't really matter actually... Tangrowth had the BST of 535, Yanmega of 515, and Mamoswine of 530... but at their pre-evolutions Swinub is at a huge disadvantage having 250 BST while the other two had 435(Tangela) and 390(Yanma and a bit low at that) and I think Piloswine should replace Swinub with a BST 430 but then Yanma would fall behind.. In this way the game would be like Yanma - Hard, Piloswine - Medium, Tangela - Easy having a base 100 Sp. Attack and 115 Base Defense at that...

Click to expand...

Don't forget to take in their movesets and how the Spherical would plot out the storyline.