Muh new site

[Tombstoner]

sites.google.com/site/tombstoner28/
I may pay for better hosting in the future, but I really don't have much reason to as Google fits all my needs at the moment.
Anyway, this site mostly contains technical Pokémon stuff. I only put up unique or little-known stuff (so no already-done guides or that kind of thing.) Content includes:
- RBY EV training guide with lists of how many EVs the League gives
- documentation and download links for e-Reader stuff
- save battery restoration guide
- guide for RNGing in Pokémon RSE
Come check it out! Feedback is appreciated.

[ciel4]

I had only ever heard of the e-Reader in passing and had no idea that any of the pokemon games made use of it. A link or mention of how the pokemon games make use of it would be nice for those who don't feel like looking it up.

I was also unaware that cartridge batteries could be charged in a GBA SP. Is it necessary to use an SP specifically? Would an original GB Advance work too? Some mention of this would be appreciated in your article too.

On a related note, I just finished helping a friend replace the batteries in his Gold and Silver cartridges, (we used only tape, no soldering). Afterward his game would freeze at random times though the new battery was securely in place. Does anyone have any explanation for this? My friend makes do by saving often...

Another small suggestion: For the uninitiated, such as myself, RNG is rather ambiguous. Writing "Random Number Generating" at least once would save us a Google search.

Your RBY EV Training Guide is sweet! I wish I'd had that a year ago.

I like your cart disassembly page too.. Random fun.

It's cool you've featured Pokemon Cyan on your page. When I first downloaded it I had to look up how to get it to work. A simple guide and/or maybe a few links to the software involved (e.g. LIPS) in making it work would be nice for the less motivated.

[Tombstoner]

You need an SP, as that's the only one that loads GB/C and charges.
The guide was written for those who are familiar with the concepts of RNG, but I'll clarify it. I also made a small change to the e-Reader article.

[ciel4]

Thanks for the info. In the future I think I'll invest in an SP rather than replacing the batteries.

E-Reader cards can be used to obtain berries only available through the e-Reader (it probably alters the save somehow) as well as battle trainers (that's what the Mossdeep door is for.)

Berries too. I didn't see any info about that.

I think it's challenging to provide original content for pokemon games, but you've done so rather successfully.

[Torchickens]

Bookmarked.

Jul 19, 2011 19:58:12 GMT -5 ciel4 said:

I had only ever heard of the e-Reader in passing and had no idea that any of the pokemon games made use of it. A link or mention of how the pokemon games make use of it would be nice for those who don't feel like looking it up.

The games which have e-Reader cards are Ruby & Sapphire, FireRed & LeafGreen, Emerald, Pinball Ruby & Sapphire, Channel and Colosseum, and probably more?

There were also expansions for the Pokémon Trading Card Game, with cards compatible with the e-Reader; Expedition Base Set, Aquapolis and Skyridge respectively. Basically, you would scan them in to play minigames, like Construction: Action and Construction: Melody Box and add features to them, or sometimes Pokédex entries for your game. There were also special promotional cards released temporarily and in limited supply e.g. the McDonald's Pokémon-e Minimum Pack.

Main series Generation III games:

These are the Pokémon Battle e cards. The US, Canada and Australia only got the first set, and a handful of promotional cards, but Japan was the only place to get the five other packs, and most of the promotional cards, including even a couple distributed at Pokémon Scoop and World Hobby Fair with a program to fix the berry glitch.

The Ruby & Sapphire cards included the Pokémon Battle e cards series 1 and 2. These would add things a Trainer in the old man's house in Mossdeep City, depending on the card, alluding to the Trainer House. So I've heard, you could use Mystery Gift to change the Trainer in Generation III too, does anybody know how?

There was also a card for the Eon ticket, for the US version in the September 2003 issue of Nintendo Power and for a limited time at Toys "R" Us stores. Contrary to popular belief, the Regi dolls in Ruby & Sapphire are not actually unused per se, and were distributed through the "Decoration Present" battle-e card, but the Decoration Present card was Japan exclusive and was only distributed as part of a sweepstake for people who bought all 6 Japan-only battle e-cards, in total there were only 1000 winners.



Cards were also released to download special berries, replacing the data for the then unused Enigma Berry which acted as a placeholder. Unsurprisingly, you aren't able to enter the Cable Club or link with Colosseum with a special berry but you can Pal Park one to Generation IV where it will turn into the Enigma Berry, which was then given a use, and could later be obtained in Generation IV on Pokémon Battle Revolution.

The Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Battle e-Cards could replace the Trainer Tower Pokémon, the prizes and target times. A few of the Trainers in the non-Japanese versions use shiny Pokémon originating from the shiny Pokémon on these cards. Not to be confused with Altering Cave, which was planned to have changing Pokémon via Mystery Gift, but that never happened for some reason, and data to change the Trainer in Four House via Mystery Gift.

The Emerald Battle e-cards could change the Trainer on Trainer Hill (like how the previous FireRed/LeafGreen could change the Trainer Tower Trainers).

Colosseum e-cards:

The Pokémon Colosseum Double Battle e-Cards grant you access to extra battles in a number of Colosseums. If you scanned in all the cards from all four packs, you could get up to 3 extra shadow Pokémon (letting you have 51 instead of 48), including a shadow Togepi for clearing all Trainers on easy mode, a shadow Mareep for clearing all Trainers on normal mode, and a shadow Scizor for clearing all Trainers on hard mode.

Supposedly, there is data on the disc alluding to a seemingly unused 21st eReader card, according to the old Pokéfor site, but I don't know anything about it.

Channel e-cards:
These were for new templates to colour in, in Smeargle Paint including Pikachu and Kyogre lineart.

Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire e-cards:
These were basically like 'cheats', see bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Pinball:_Ruby_%26_Sapphire#e-Reader_Compatibility


Talking of "unused" dolls, there is a Manaphy Doll, Magnezone Doll and Lucario Doll in Diamond and Pearl. The Lucario Doll was apparently distributed in Japan, but does anybody know if the others were?

[ciel4]

I always feel a bit rueful about Nintendo events that I've missed. I guess it's no big deal, especially if there's a cheat or glitch way of accessing most of the items, etc. Still, it's not the same as obtaining them legitimately.

[Blaziken257]

I looked at your site, and I find it interesting, particularly the e-Reader and disassembled cartridges pages. I should try out the e-Reader stuff on an emulator sometime (I don't have any of the actual cards for it), and the disassembled cartridges look cool with the multiple colors (and not because it reminds me of the Pokémon Stadium 2 cart with gold in the front and silver on the back, although that's always a good thing).

Although... I do have to say that I tried the GBA SP battery trick on my Telefang cart (as you know, it's another game that uses an internal clock) back when you posted the site on my Telefang forum, and sadly, it didn't work for me (the clock still freezes when the game is not on). I don't know why it worked for you but not me, but I guess I'll have to replace the battery with more complicated methods sometime. I haven't tested this trick on my Gold or Crystal carts due to lack of a need (they still work perfectly after over 10 years).

[Tombstoner]

I don't know why it isn't working for you, but thanks!
I haven't updated in a while because I'm really not sure what new content there is to put. I have some pics of a disassembled DS lite, but you can find those easily.

[Torchickens]

Aug 3, 2011 13:48:20 GMT -5 Blaziken257 said:

I looked at your site, and I find it interesting, particularly the e-Reader and disassembled cartridges pages. I should try out the e-Reader stuff on an emulator sometime (I don't have any of the actual cards for it), and the disassembled cartridges look cool with the multiple colors (and not because it reminds me of the Pokémon Stadium 2 cart with gold in the front and silver on the back, although that's always a good thing).

Although... I do have to say that I tried the GBA SP battery trick on my Telefang cart (as you know, it's another game that uses an internal clock) back when you posted the site on my Telefang forum, and sadly, it didn't work for me (the clock still freezes when the game is not on). I don't know why it worked for you but not me, but I guess I'll have to replace the battery with more complicated methods sometime. I haven't tested this trick on my Gold or Crystal carts due to lack of a need (they still work perfectly after over 10 years).

This is also happening with me. The other week, I bought a Pokémon Crystal cartridge on a boot sale and played through it and enjoyed it, until the next day the save file deleted itself...

I tried Tombstoner's method, and started a new save file, saved and left the game on plugged in for four days, though for some reason, the screen eventually went white but I left it in anyway, until I got a glitch dimension, spawning the "This Game Pak is only compatible for Game Boy Color message" about 2 days later, though I continued to leave it in until the 4 days were up. I have just powered off the cartridge (to have the time be the correct within a minute!) and started a new game, albeit then I saved over and still had the charger plugged in, and saved again after unplugging it because I was a bit nervous.

Just now though, I've unplugged it and left the game off for 10 minutes, but when I come back to the Continue/New Game/Option screen, it still says 21:06, when it should say 21:15. Does this mean the save will just corrupt itself again after a few days if I leave the game standing with the power off?

[winmaster]

Aug 26, 2011 15:16:24 GMT -5 Torchickens said:

Aug 3, 2011 13:48:20 GMT -5 Blaziken257 said:

I looked at your site, and I find it interesting, particularly the e-Reader and disassembled cartridges pages. I should try out the e-Reader stuff on an emulator sometime (I don't have any of the actual cards for it), and the disassembled cartridges look cool with the multiple colors (and not because it reminds me of the Pokémon Stadium 2 cart with gold in the front and silver on the back, although that's always a good thing).

Although... I do have to say that I tried the GBA SP battery trick on my Telefang cart (as you know, it's another game that uses an internal clock) back when you posted the site on my Telefang forum, and sadly, it didn't work for me (the clock still freezes when the game is not on). I don't know why it worked for you but not me, but I guess I'll have to replace the battery with more complicated methods sometime. I haven't tested this trick on my Gold or Crystal carts due to lack of a need (they still work perfectly after over 10 years).

This is also happening with me. The other week, I bought a Pokémon Crystal cartridge on a boot sale and played through it and enjoyed it, until the next day the save file deleted itself...

I tried Tombstoner's method, and started a new save file, saved and left the game on plugged in for four days, though for some reason, the screen eventually went white but I left it in anyway, until I got a glitch dimension, spawning the "This Game Pak is only compatible for Game Boy Color message" about 2 days later, though I continued to leave it in until the 4 days were up. I have just powered off the cartridge (to have the time be the correct within a minute!) and started a new game, albeit then I saved over and still had the charger plugged in, and saved again after unplugging it because I was a bit nervous.

Just now though, I've unplugged it and left the game off for 10 minutes, but when I come back to the Continue/New Game/Option screen, it still says 21:06, when it should say 21:15. Does this mean the save will just corrupt itself again after a few days if I leave the game standing with the power off?

Yes, sometimes the clock doesn't work but there is still enough powr to retain the save. If you are serious about keeping your save, its best to break out the ol' soldiering iron. I was able to easily restore my Crystal's saving abilities with a new battery.