Pokemon Dark Rising

Pokemon Dark Rising takes FireRed's engine and points it at a much gloomier story. Released in 2012 by DarkRisingGirl, with DarkRisingKid as co-creator, it trades Kanto for the Core Region and trades the usual coming-of-age tale for climate disasters, a mysterious chosen-one dream and a villainous group led by someone known only as V.

Your journey begins in the hometown of Fells. In a dream, a powerful Pokemon chooses you to save the world; soon after, a package arrives and you meet that Pokemon in person. From there the plot leans on mystery more than most hacks of its era, and it is a big part of why Dark Rising is still remembered more than a decade later.

Mechanically, the hack squeezes 386 Pokemon from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova into the FireRed Pokedex. It also borrows newer moves such as Shadow Claw, Roost and Scald, hands some species their Dream World abilities — a Drizzle Poliwag or a Speed Boost Torchic — and moves many egg moves into level-up learnsets so you do not need to breed. Each of the eight Gym Leaders uses a signature Pokemon that you cannot obtain yourself.

Two other builds are worth knowing about. SinisterHoodedFigure, the creator of Emerald Kaizo, made a Kaizo edition of Dark Rising with bug fixes, new opponents, new moves and an extra area. In 2026, Lord Lucario released a remake with reworked Core region maps, more than 650 Pokemon, character outfits and Mega Evolution. Dark Rising 2, the sequel, adds the Fairy type, Megas and even Digimon.

• The Core Region, starting in the hometown of Fells
• 386 Pokemon from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova
• Eight Gym Leaders, each with a signature Pokemon you cannot catch
• Newer moves such as Shadow Claw, Roost and Scald
• Dream World abilities on some species (Drizzle Poliwag, Speed Boost Torchic)
• Egg moves from Gens 3-5 learned by level-up instead of breeding
• Nurse Joy and Doctor Roy in every Pokemon Center, with optional double battles for EXP
• Cameos from anime characters including Ash, Misty and Brock
• Kaizo edition by SinisterHoodedFigure with fixes, new enemies and an extra area

Dark Rising is best for players who want a story-driven hack with more edge than a typical Pokemon game. Gym Leaders lean on signature Pokemon you cannot get yourself, which makes them feel like real bosses, and the Nurse Joy / Doctor Roy double battles in every Pokemon Center give you a steady way to train between them.

If you want a true test, play the Kaizo edition. It is built by the same person who made Emerald Kaizo, and it rebalances opponents around a much harsher standard. If you want modern Pokemon and Megas, look at the 2026 remake or at Dark Rising 2 instead of the original.

• Patch onto a clean FireRed (USA/Europe) ROM with an xdelta tool — the original is distributed as xdelta, not IPS.
• Use the Pokemon Center double battles with Nurse Joy and Doctor Roy to level up without hunting wild Pokemon.
• Check level-up learnsets: moves you would normally breed for, like Dragon Dance on Tyranitar, may arrive naturally.
• Scout each Gym Leader's signature Pokemon before the fight, since you will not have seen it in the wild.
• Keep more than one save file; older FireRed hacks can have rare script bugs.

The original is DarkRisingGirl's 2012 release — start here if you want the story as it was written. The Kaizo edition by SinisterHoodedFigure is the hard-mode take. The 2026 remake by Lord Lucario keeps the Core region and the premise but expands the Pokedex past 650 species and adds Mega Evolution and outfits.

Dark Rising 2 is the sequel, also on FireRed, with the Fairy type, Mega Evolution, the physical/special split and Digimon alongside Pokemon. It was released as a beta, so expect it to be less complete than the first game.