When playing with Pokemon GBA ROM hacks and activating cheats for Pokemon Game Boy Advance games can sometimes be tricky.
Some readers complain that our listed cheat codes don’t work for them, while others say it works, however, they noticed some weird glitches.
What could be the main reasons for this? In my over ten and counting years of experience playing different Pokemon game titles and Pokemon ROM hacks using many emulators across several devices, there are several possible reasons why a particular cheat cannot work.
And what we are going to discuss in this article. I made a list of common problems players may have when using cheats and created guides to help them fix these problems.
Reasons Why Cheats Don’t Work as Expected and How To Fix Them
Note: This article applies to Pokemon GBA games but can also be applied to other related games on Game Boy Advance.
You Missed Entering and Activating the Required Master code
Solution: Some cheats need to have a master code enabled before the main cheat, so when a cheat requires a master code, add it first before the main cheat. You can find more information by reading this guide.
The Cheat Isn’t Compatible with your Pokemon Game Version
Solution: Double-check your game title. See our collection of Pokemon game cheats.
You Have 1.1 ROM Version
Solution: Look for the V1.0 ROMs, as this version supports most of the cheats. You can easily find downloadable ROMS by a simple Google search, but most ROMs have version 1.1.
Unfortunately, most cheats will not work for this version. Please keep in mind that we don’t share rom files or give out information about roms. Sharing rom files is considered piracy.
Your Emulator Does Not Support GameShark Code, Action Replay, or CodeBreaker
Solution: Use recommended emulators such as My Boy for Android users, Visual Boy Advance for Windows (Use this version), Delta Emulator for iOS users, or mGBA for Mac users.
You entered the cheat code in the wrong format
Solution: Some emulators, such as open emu, require “+” to be entered to separate a line of code. Read FAQs, Instructions, and Help articles regarding your emulator.
You have the Free version of Emulator
Solution: The popular GBA emulator for Android – My Boy, offers a paid and free version of the app. The free version works perfectly, but you may need to pay for the premium version if you use cheats.
But if paying for the app is not an option now, the simple trick of adding multiple-liner codes as a separate cheat works well in many cases.
Too Many Enabled Cheats
Your ROM will get confused when too many cheat codes are activated at once, and this could result in various bugs, glitches, random crashing, and game freezing.
Solution: Disable unused cheats and activate only the cheat you need.
You Have Chosen the Wrong Cheat Type
This problem is prevalent in emulators that don’t have “auto cheat type” detection feature, and chances are, you have chosen the wrong cheat type.
Solution: The quick solution for this is knowing the appropriate type for your cheat; it could be GameShark/Action Replay, or Code Breaker.
Common Cheating Problems
Question Mark Sprite on Encountered or Caught Pokemon?
This is a common issue for two possible reasons; First, more likely that you entered the wrong Pokemon encounter code. Second, the Pokemon code and sprite don’t exist in the game.
This issue happens a lot when playing ROM hacks. Solution? Double-check if the code or the Pokemon exists in the game.
Glitchy Name for Captured Pokemon
This bug usually happens when using the shiny Pokemon cheat, and the possible reason it occurs is that cheating is not fully supported in Pokemon GBA games.
But there is an effective fix for this problem that has been tested for many players.
Solution: To fix the glitchy Pokemon name, you must disable the shiny cheat just before capturing a Pokemon or give your it an empty name.
Item Not Appearing in the PokeCenter?
You entered the item cheat, and after checking your PC, there’s nothing in there. Or perhaps your chosen item is not on the list. There are a few possible reasons for that.
- You have v1.1 rom version. Solution: Find and use v1.0 rom version.
- Emulator or the game not recognizing the item cheat. Solution: Go in and out of the PokeCenter at least five times, and recheck your PC.
Invalid Cheat Messages
There are three possible reasons why this error message pops up.
- Wrong cheat type
- Wrong cheat code
- Empty spaces before or after the code
Solution: Select the correct type for that cheat; the majority of cheats are either CodeBreaker or Action Replay codes type, so if the first one didn’t work out, switch to the other one.
Be sure to check the cheat if it is compatible with your game version. For FireRed-based rom hacks, typical FireRed cheats could work, and for Emerald-based rom hacks, regular Emerald cheats could also work.
Empty spaces could also result in an invalid cheat issue. When copying a cheat, make sure not to include empty spaces. When entering the cheat, make sure to eliminate any empty spaces before and after the code.
Conclusion
It’s frustrating when you can’t activate a cheat, and there are plenty of reasons why this thing is happening.
Hopefully, the solution and information above give you the insights to solve your problem finally.
Just in case the solution above doesn’t work, feel free to drop your comments below, and I will do my best to help you as humanely as possible.
I’m playing Pokemon Unbound on an emulator called John GBA Emulator. My phone is a Tecno Spark 30 Pro, and I’ve been trying different cheats, but none of them work.
The cheat I’m looking for is the 100% catch rate cheat for Pokemon.”
Hey Marquitos, welcome here. Try switching to MyBoy, as it works very well with cheats.
I’m trying to playing Pokemon ruby version, USA 1.0 but. The Shiny gameshark works but it is locked on just male encounters, there’s any fix to this?
Hey Nero, welcome. Unfortunately, there’s still no known fix for the shiny cheat locking the Pokemon’s gender and nature. This is actually a common issue with many mainline Pokeon games.
Hi, admin the mega stone cheat it doesn’t work on my Pokemon unbound v2.1.1.1 but the unlimited money and master ball it really works please fix this. thanks!
I am playing Pokemon unbound .when I first started playing the money cheat and tm cheat worked in the pokemart . Now the money cheat is active but any item or tm cheat is not popping up in the store . Tried turning off all cheats/deleting and adding back . Still no Tms are popping up .
legendary encounter(master code) not working (pokemon fire red rocket edition)
Hey Deadx, welcome! How about the other cheats, did they work for you? If the cheat requires a master code, make sure to add it first before adding the main legendary encounter cheat. You can also try restarting your emulator, as this helps clear any cheat data stuck in memory. Let me know how it goes on your side.
Hey,
I’m using the delta pokemon emulator and I’m trying to cheat in a Gengar for myself in pokemon emerald. I’m putting the code in as a code breaker type, here’s the code:
25214170 0AB256A2
B6AA909F 8B413A65
2E7B7A58 D0781742
D52902CA 343CF38A
Also I should mention I’m on IOS and it’s an iPhone 13.
But whenever I enter the code and apply it my game moves at half speed and then it freezes and I have to reload it. Sometimes it just freezes when I’m walking around but it always freezes once I get an encounter but it freezes like as the grass is starting to show yk? But I can’t find a way to fix it.
I don’t have any other codes active when I do this as well.
So what should I do?
Hey Finnian, thanks for providing all those details, it really helps with troubleshooting. Just a heads up, the cheat you are trying to use is not a CodeBreaker code but an Action Replay code, so make sure you are adding it under the correct cheat type. Once you select Action Replay and enter the code, it should work properly. Let us know in the comments if you are still running into any issues and we will do our best to help you out.
I’m sorry I don’t know why I said code breaker. I put in as an action replay code and it’s still not working that way. It has the same issues I described earlier. What might be the problem?
I just tried out the No Encounter cheat, I haven’t even enabled it but it worked, problem is, even I removed the cheat, I can’t encounter a single pokemon just by walking. Excluding trigger encounters such as Headbutt-ing trees or using rods
Hey Dane, welcome here. Here’s how you can fix it. First, disable all cheats in your emulator. Save your game, return to the main menu, and then close the emulator. This helps refresh any cheats that were previously applied. After that, open the game again and it should return to normal.
I have V1.0 I enter the encounter any pokemon perfectly fine, all other cheats work. but when I try to encounter any pokemon I want, the game freezes every single time
Hey Bill, perhaps there are other cheats enabled besides the Pokemon encounter cheat that causing the game to confuse and freeze. What I can suggest is, saving your game progress using the in-game save (not save states), then completely close and restart your emulator. After that, activate again the Pokemon encounter cheat.
Key items disappeared. Need help bringing them back. Pokemon crystal.
If you have previous saves of your Pokemon Crystal game prior to activating the cheat, you can just use it. There’s no other way to undo this once it is saved.
I typed In an all items code I found and now my TM case is glitched and I can’t teach any moves, including but not limited to Cut…
Hi CJ, unfortunately this is one of the drawbacks of using cheats. This issue is common in many Pokemon GBA games, and it’s also the reason why I rarely include “all items,” “all Pokeballs,” or “all TM/HM” cheats. If you saved your progress before applying the cheat, you’re safe and can simply revert to that file. But if you saved after activating the cheat, there’s no reliable way to undo the changes. I’m really sorry about that.