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Pokémon Heart & Soul 2.0: The Johto Remake That Runs on Any GBA Handheld

2026-08-24 · News and analysis

Affiliate disclosure: This guide contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Learn more.

Pokémon Heart & Soul released version 2.0 on 22 August 2026, and it is the biggest change the project has made since it launched. The whole game was rebuilt on a new codebase. Old saves do not carry over.

If you have seen it described as a HeartGold mod, that is not quite right, and the difference matters for anyone reading this on a handheld site. Let us clear that up first.

The Short Version

Heart & Soul is not a hack of HeartGold or SoulSilver. It is a hack of Pokémon Emerald.

It rebuilds the entire Johto journey on Game Boy Advance hardware, then pulls content from both the Gen 2 originals and the Gen 4 remakes into that Gen 3 shell. You get the Gold and Silver structure, a good chunk of what HeartGold and SoulSilver added on top, and the conveniences the Emerald engine gives you for free.

It is built by a team working under the name PokemonHnS, and it is open source. The project is a decomp hack, meaning it is built from a decompiled source tree rather than by editing a compiled ROM. That is why the feature list is so much longer than a typical hack.

The practical upside for you is simple. This runs on a GBA emulator, which means it runs on anything. A HeartGold hack would need a DS emulator and a much stronger device. This does not.

What "Gen 2 Plus Gen 4" Actually Means Here

This is the part worth understanding, because plenty of Johto hacks exist and most pick one era.

The Gen 2 skeleton is intact. The Pokégear is here with the radio built into it, carrying the Crystal station lineup. Buena's Password came along too. Trainers register their numbers, call you back, and offer rematches or gifts. The roaming legendary beasts behave like roamers, not like static encounters.

The Gen 4 layer sits on top. Following Pokémon walk behind you. The soundtrack pulls from HeartGold and SoulSilver. The Kanto postgame follows the HGSS version rather than the thinner Gen 2 one, including the Kimono Girls and Eusine.

The Gen 3 engine pays for itself. Because the base is Emerald, the Battle Frontier came along with it. Battle Tents are in as well, and as of 2.0 they award Battle Points like the Frontier facilities do. That is a postgame Johto normally does not have at all.

The Pokédex covers Generations 1 through 3, plus later generation evolutions of those Pokémon. The Regis are the noted exception.

What Is New in 2.0

Version 2.0.0 published on 22 August 2026, with a 2.0.2 fix release the same day for a Game Corner crash. Here is what actually changed.

The whole game moved to pokeemerald-expansion. This is the headline. The project was previously on a different decomp base, and the rebuild is what unlocked most of the rest of this list. Gen 7 learnsets came with it.

The randomizer got much deeper. It can now draw from Pokémon across Generations 1 through 9, and it has a proper seeding system so a run can be repeated or shared. The Fairy type toggle now applies to moves as well as to Pokémon.

Rematches expanded. All the Crystal rematch trainers are in, unlocked after your third badge, and Kanto gained new rematch battles modelled on HGSS.

Kanto got a real pass. Many maps and tilesets were overhauled. Wild encounter levels were raised into the 40s, which fixes the long standing problem of Kanto feeling like a victory lap. Kanto also picked up in-game trades and new postgame content. Slowpoke tails regenerate once you beat the League.

A Hoenn radio station was added in Kanto. Leaving it playing in the overworld raises your odds of running into Hoenn Pokémon. It is a neat way to make the third generation part of the roster feel deliberate rather than incidental.

Roamers behave better. Entei, Raikou and the Kanto roamer now move independently, and they no longer actively dodge the route you are standing on. A sound cue and animation tell you when you have walked into one. In Kanto you pick which Lati roams, and the other one waits at Southern Island.

Shiny hunting is less painful. Shiny markers and related interface changes make it much easier to tell what you are looking at.

The Save Warning

This one deserves its own heading, because it will catch people.

Saves made before 2.0 do not work with 2.0. The developers state this plainly in the release notes. The rebuild changed too much underneath for old save data to survive.

If you are in the middle of a run, you have two options. Finish it on the version you started, or start fresh on 2.0. There is no migration path.

Back up whatever you have before you touch anything. Our save backup guide walks through doing that on a handheld.

One Hack Instead of a Stack of Them

The customization is the other reason this project stands out, and it is easy to undersell.

Most people playing romhacks end up juggling several versions of the same game. One patch for a harder run. Another for a randomizer. A separate build for a Nuzlocke. Heart & Soul folds all of that into settings.

You can toggle the physical and special split. You can turn the Fairy type on or off. You can adjust movepools, EXP rates, level caps, shiny odds, IVs, EVs and party size limits. Nuzlocke rules are built in. So are mono type runs and other challenge options.

Some of those can be changed later from a Pokémon Center, though only in the easier direction.

The effect is that one patch covers a casual playthrough, a purist Gen 2 run with the old damage rules, and a brutal capped Nuzlocke. You set it up at the start and play.

How You Actually Get It Running

Heart & Soul is distributed as a patch file, not as a game file. That is standard for the format, and it is the reason we can write about it at all.

You supply the base game. The patch modifies it. The base you need here is Pokémon Emerald, the US version, and the only source for that file we cover is a cartridge you own. Dump it yourself.

The patch is a UPS file, published on the developers' own GitHub releases page alongside the source code. The team also keeps a thread on the PokéCommunity forums where releases get announced and bugs get reported. Those are the two places worth looking. The download aggregator sites that rank for this game's name hand out pre-patched game files, which is a different thing entirely and not something we point people toward.

Applying a UPS patch takes a couple of minutes. We have written the process up already, so rather than repeat it here see How to Apply ROM Hacks and Translation Patches. It covers the tools on desktop and Android, and the checksum mismatch that trips most people up.

Which Handheld To Play It On

Hardware is not a constraint here, which is the nice part about a GBA hack in 2026. Every retro handheld sold in the last decade runs GBA at full speed. So the question is comfort, not power.

Vertical clamshells suit it best. GBA output is 3:2, and a device built around that ratio shows the game without letterboxing. The Anbernic RG35XX SP and RG34XX SP fold shut over the screen, which fits a game you will play in short bursts over a long time. Johto is a fifty hour trip if you do the postgame.

Check Anbernic RG35XX SP Price on Amazon

Whatever you already own is fine. A Miyoo Mini Plus, a TrimUI Brick or a Powkiddy V90 all handle this without effort. Do not buy anything if you have one of these in a drawer.

Save states help on a Nuzlocke. Not for cheating, for insurance against a crash eating a two hour session. Our save state management guide covers using them without corrupting a long run.

Steam Deck owners can run it through RetroArch or a standalone core. See How to Play GBA on Steam Deck for that setup.

Before You Start

A few honest notes.

Set your challenge options first. Some settings lock in at the start, and the ones you can change later only move toward easier. Decide what kind of run you want before you name your rival.

Kanto is not a cooldown anymore. With wild levels in the 40s and new rematch trainers, the postgame expects a trained team. Do not walk in with the six Pokémon that beat Lance and no plan.

It is long. Full Johto plus a HGSS style Kanto plus a Battle Frontier is a lot of game. That is the appeal, but go in knowing it.

This is a mature project, not a first release. Version 1.0 shipped in September 2025 and it has been patched steadily since. The 2.0 rebuild is a new foundation rather than a new game, and small fix releases are likely to keep coming.

The Nintendo Question

Worth addressing since it hangs over every Pokémon fan project, and we get asked every time.

ROM hacks distributed as patches occupy a different position than distributing a modified game file. The patch itself contains the developer's changes, not Nintendo's game. That is why the format exists in the first place.

Whether that is protection is not something anyone can promise you. Nintendo has an extensive takedown record and Pokémon is the property it defends hardest. As of August 2026 nothing has been issued against this project, and no precedent settles the question.

Our position on the base game file has not moved. Dump the cartridge you own. For the broader picture see ROMs and Legality, and for the current state of enforcement see Emulation Legal Status Mid 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Pokémon Heart & Soul?

It is a Game Boy Advance ROM hack built on Pokémon Emerald that recreates the Johto journey, blending content from Gold, Silver and Crystal with content from the HeartGold and SoulSilver remakes. It is an open source decomp hack made by a team working under the name PokemonHnS, and it includes the full Johto story plus a Kanto postgame.

Is Heart & Soul a HeartGold or SoulSilver hack?

No. Despite the name it is a hack of Pokémon Emerald, which is a Game Boy Advance game. That is why it runs on any handheld that plays GBA, rather than needing a DS emulator and a more powerful device.

What is new in Heart & Soul 2.0?

Version 2.0.0 released on 22 August 2026 and rebuilt the whole game on pokeemerald-expansion. It added Gen 7 learnsets, a randomizer that can draw from Generations 1 through 9 with seeding, Crystal and HGSS style rematch trainers, a Hoenn radio station in Kanto, overhauled Kanto maps with wild levels raised into the 40s, independent roaming legendaries, Battle Points from Battle Tents, and shiny marker improvements. A 2.0.2 release the same day fixed a Game Corner crash.

Do my old Heart & Soul saves work with 2.0?

No. Saves made before version 2.0 are not compatible with it, and the developers say so directly in the release notes. You either finish your current run on the older version or start a new save on 2.0.

What base ROM does Heart & Soul need?

Pokémon Emerald, the US version. The hack is distributed as a UPS patch that you apply to that file yourself. The only source for the base game we cover is dumping a cartridge you own.

Which handheld should I play Heart & Soul on?

Any handheld that runs GBA, which is effectively all of them. A vertical clamshell like the Anbernic RG35XX SP or RG34XX SP matches the GBA aspect ratio and suits a long game. If you already own a Miyoo Mini Plus or a TrimUI Brick, that is plenty.

Can I play Heart & Soul as a Nuzlocke or a randomizer run?

Yes, both are built in rather than requiring a separate patch. You can also adjust the physical and special split, the Fairy type, level caps, EXP rates, shiny odds, IVs, EVs, party size and mono type rules. Set them before you start, since mid run changes only move settings toward easier.