GameBoy Pokémon - Celadon Version (Hack) GB ROM

[CSmith327]

Game Description:​

Hack Credits:​

Released by: TotalTS
Type: Improvement Tweaks/Extra Content/Altered Graphics
Status: Complete
Language: English
Patch Version: v1.0
Date: 30 May 2026

Source and details: https://github.com/TotalTS/pokeceladon/

Link to PokéCommunity forum thread: https://www.pokecommunity.com/threads/pokémon-celadon-version.542446/

This hack is designed as an upgrade to the original Pokémon Red, Blue, and Green, aiming to enhance the classic experience and expanding it with new content. It features a personal pick of improved graphics, restored elements, expanded events, and a post-game with new areas and challenges.

This hack is intended to be played in Super Gameboy mode to appreciate a variety of new graphics and palettes.

Features:​

CORE MECHANICS, ENHANCED GAMEPLAY & QOL

• Gender Selection.
• Skateboard: A new way to travel! Match the Bike’s speed and jump over ledges in reverse.
• Speed boost: Press B to move faster while walking, cycling, skating, or swimming.
• Field Moves: Use SURF, CUT, and STRENGTH by interacting directly with the overworld. No menus required.
• Swap Pokémon positions instantly by pressing SELECT in the party menu.
• Added a USE/QUIT prompt before throwing Pokéballs to avoid accidental throws.
• New trainer classes: Female Rocket, (from sequels) Rookie and Yujirou (from prototypes).
• There’s a new room with a healing bed in S.S. Anne.
• Trainers in Gyms now have dialogue after you earn a badge or reach the post-game.
• If you have badge(s) Guards have shorter texts on Route 23.
• Nurse at Silph Co. 9F still heals you after beating Team Rocket.
• Restored PC on Celadon Hotel.
• You can use the Phone to call Mom at Celadon Mart 1F.

UPGRADED GRAPHICS

• New sprites, new palettes, Gen 2-style party icons, custom Super Gameboy border.
• Unique surfing sprites for Lapras and Pikachu.
• New Oak intro sprite.

OPTIONAL SIDEQUESTS

• Battle Yujirou early at 2nd floor of Route 22 Gate for a strategic TM19 gift!
• You can have all 3 starters like in Pokémon Yellow.
• Obtain a Rocket Suit after Nugget Bridge. Use it to skip Team Rocket battles or even steal enemy Pokémon (ends the battle instantly).
• An NPC in Rock Tunnel uses FLASH for you without needing the HM.
• If you visited Lavender Town and you have the Rocket Suit on, you can skip the Guards at the Gates of Saffron for the cost of ¥1000 Pokédollars. Without the need of giving them drinks.
• Celadon University: A new location, graduate to earn a Diploma and a unique Magikarp with Dragon Rage.
• Reunite Erik and Sara in the Safari Zone to earn a Free Pass.
• Mew under the truck.

Post-Game:​

YOUR NEW HOME

• Move out of Pallet Town! Visit the Celadon Hotel to set your new residence in any city (including the Summer Beach House on Route 19).
• Decoration: Interact with the Gameboy in your room to arrange your Pokémon Dolls.
• Visits: Your new home feels alive! Daisy might drop by for tea to heal your team, or Bill might visit to grant you access to his secret Garden.
• Pidgey Rewards: Keep an eye out for a friendly Pidgey that occasionally leaves gifts.

NEW QUESTS

• S.S. Anne: The cruise ship returns with a deck full of new trainers.
• New location: Snorlax Mountain at Route 22, (not technically a mountain, but rather a cave) where you can find wild LV. 30, 60, and 90 Snorlax.
• Rematch Gym Leaders as many times as you want (Yujiro replaces Giovanni).
• Catch all 151 Pokémon to unlock a battle against Professor Oak at the League.

ALL ACCESSIBLE AFTER SELECTING A NEW HOME AND TALKING TO BILL:

• Complete your Pokédex in brand-new “out of bounds” areas: Bill’s Garden, Mystery Cave, and extended Routes 0, 1, and 21.
• Find the Secret Long House on Route 25 to receive the Skateboard!
• Recover missed rewards with NPCs in the Mystery Cave: get the alternate Mt. Moon Fossil (Dome/Helix) and the Fighting Dojo Pokémon (Hitmonlee/Hitmonchan) you didn’t choose.
• Visit the Museum on Route 1 West to see prototype and rumored Pokémon.

VERSION EXCLUSIVES & COMPLETION

• Celadon Version is split into Red and Blue editions. While each maintains its original exclusive encounters, all 151 Pokémon are obtainable in the post-game by exploring the Mystery Cave and Bill’s Garden.

Note: for best results use an emulator with full Super Game Boy support such as Mesen, mGBA, VBA-M, or Sameboy. The bios file for Super Game Boy 2 (SGB2.sfc) will be shared by me in a comment for those that don't have it already.

​

Download Links​

• Pokémon - Celadon Version (Hack) GB ROM

 

[CSmith327]

Additionally, as per the Uploader Note, the Rom is best experienced using a SGB compatible emulator. While it does bring color into the game, the constant SGB border (shown in all of the screenshots) is a waste of good screen space, and my efforts to remove it ended up borking my emulator's display settings an color pallet. If you play this game and are thinking about removing the border, don't bother. It was far more trouble than it was worth, and prompted me to reinstall mGBA just to get the default settings back. If anyone knows of a method to remove the SGB border while maintaining the extended color palette, please share! I'd love to know how.

I think you can use the emulator GBE+ to play it with the changed palette but without the border. I was going to recommend using it in my description but I was unable to figure out how to enable SGB borders in it. I think it supports the changed colors but not the borders. Unless it was due to it being a custom made border? Either way it had the palette but not the border like you wanted. Although you just lose that screen space altogether instead of any kind of extended display. It's whatever I guess. The Team Rocket stuff seems cool but I think Pokémon Red++ is a better improvement hack for 1st gen that makes it like a DX version of it

 

[Aheqao]

This was an extremely curious experience in my history with Pokemon Rom hacks. Having read the changelog prior to starting up my playthrough, I sought the opportunity to play as a female character who would throw herself into a life of crime as a Team Rocket member after receiving the Team Rocket Suit on Nugget Bridge! Perhaps the origin story of the same character I played as in Crystal Clear! This addition allows for some interesting interactions over the course of the game, but ultimately feels quite a bit undercooked. Being able to steal opposing Trainers' Pokemon (even Gym Leaders!) allows access to some Pokemon much earlier than when you would normally have access to them. However, it also can make Gym Battles much more lackluster, as the battle is concluded as soon as you catch a single Pokemon on their team, such as the lead. The Rocket Suit also makes many of the typical Team Rocket encounters skippable, but doesn't do much to change the main storyline.

Beyond that, the gameplay is pretty typical of the base Red and Blue versions; and while there are a great deal of quality of life changes, I found myself wanting for many that were not included, which are often found in other Red/Blue hacks: Increased Inventory and Reuseable TMs being the most missed. But the friction didn't end there. I found early on after Misty that the rear battle sprite for Starmie is bugged (see attached pics). It was the only one I found to have the issue, but it was a shame for it to occur with one of my favorite Gen 1 mons. Additionally, as per the Uploader Note, the Rom is best experienced using a SGB compatible emulator. While it does bring color into the game, the constant SGB border (shown in all of the screenshots) is a waste of good screen space, and my efforts to remove it ended up borking my emulator's display settings an color pallet. If you play this game and are thinking about removing the border, don't bother. It was far more trouble than it was worth, and prompted me to reinstall mGBA just to get the default settings back. If anyone knows of a method to remove the SGB border while maintaining the extended color palette, please share! I'd love to know how.

But when it was all said and done, the Rom was a perfectly serviceable experience, especially when mentally approached as a prequel to my Crystal Clear playthrough. It culminated in taking on the Elite Four and the Champion with a single graphically-glitched Starmie, and resulted in me stealing each of their ACE Pokemon! I didn't bother much with the postgame additions (beyond an 8th Gym rematch) but the game does have some interesting additions worth taking a look at, like the Celadon Hotel, the Department Store Phone, Beach House, and S.S. Anne revisited. As this is version 1.0, I'll be interested in seeing further improvements to the game, and polishing up some of its rougher edges.

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

Lol I meant to put May. How did I miss that? Thanks for pointing that out

Sure.

 

[CSmith327]

Under the Hack Credits section I noticed it says Date: 30 June 2026, so it's pretty cool to get a rom hack in the future now in the present.

Lol I meant to put May. How did I miss that? Thanks for pointing that out

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

Under the Hack Credits section I noticed it says Date: 30 June 2026, so it's pretty cool to get a rom hack in the future now in the present.

 

[nemomen]

Oh nice, I've been looking to play something like this!

 

[CSmith327]

or use Bsnes for all your super gameboy needs (what i use)
just open the super gameboy rom with it then provide the compatible GB rom and you are good to go out of the gate

Ah you're right, I forgot about just using SNES emulators for SGB compatible roms. That's a good idea too

 

[gxm]

I recommend using Mesen or mGBA for desktop or RetroArch with cores that support SGB (mGBA, VBA-M, and Sameboy) or the mobile mGBA app for this game. Just make sure to set them up with the SGB bios and toggle on the features for it in the options of the emulator.

Here's the system bios file for Super Game Boy 2 like I promised in the description (make sure to leave it unzipped):

or use Bsnes for all your super gameboy needs (what i use)
just open the super gameboy rom with it then provide the compatible GB rom and you are good to go out of the gate

 

[CSmith327]

Is there a physical / special split?

I've not tried this yet, but since they didn't mention something as major of a gameplay change as the split on either the Github page or the PokéCommunity forum post then I doubt it has it. Which is a shame since that really adds a lot more depth to the gameplay. But then again maybe it does have it and they failed to mention it? I'll have to try this out tomorrow for myself.

Q: How many upgrade hacks does Pokémon need?
A: Yes

Well to be fair Pokémon Let's Go Eevee and Pikachu for Switch was kind of a shitty remake of Red/Blue/Yellow. I hated the way you had to manage leveling up Pokémon and how you caught them. Because there was no wild battles it made it a lot harder to level them up. The only worthwhile thing in that game was being able to play with and pet your Eevee. That was like the most adorable thing I think I've ever seen in a video game. Like no joke, that was cute af. Eevee's voice actress was super cute and endearing. So having upgraded tweaks to GB Red/Blue or GBA FireRed/LeafGreen is a decent alternative I guess. I personally liked the romhack Pokémon Red++ but I don't think it's on the Repo.

 

[RageBurner]

I really love enhancement hacks like these for Pokémon, nice catch, @CSmith327.

 

[CSmith327]

I recommend using Mesen or mGBA for desktop or RetroArch with cores that support SGB (mGBA, VBA-M, and Sameboy) or the mobile mGBA app for this game. Just make sure to set them up with the SGB bios and toggle on the features for it in the options of the emulator.

Here's the system bios file for Super Game Boy 2 like I promised in the description (make sure to leave it unzipped):

 

[DarioEMD]

Q: How many upgrade hacks does Pokémon need?
A: Yes

 

[AlmaElma123]

Uploading fire as always~

This is why you are one of the best uploaders here~

 

[CrestfallenAnon]

Is there a physical / special split?