Pokemon Following Platinum

HeartGold and SoulSilver let every Pokemon walk behind you, and Platinum players have wanted the same thing ever since. Pokemon Following Platinum, made by Mikelan98 and AdAstra, finally delivers it: the first Pokemon in your party follows you through Sinnoh, and it can be any of the 493 species that existed at the time.

This is not a cosmetic sprite swap. The followers react to where you are and how strong your bond is, with emotes that show their mood, and many of the game's events were adapted so your partner appears in cutscenes instead of vanishing. The overworld sprites are the animated ones from HeartGold and SoulSilver, and Sinnoh-specific moments were handled too — your Pokemon slides down sand slopes with you, waters berries alongside you and lights the way in the dark Hearthome City Gym.

Beyond that, the hack deliberately stays close to vanilla. The story, maps and trainers of Platinum are fundamentally intact, so the difficulty is the same as the original game. The extras are quality touches: enhanced wild and trainer battle themes and an optional framerate unlock that speeds up slow areas and can be switched off.

Version 1.1.2, from November 2021, is the final release. A separate build adds the Fairy type, based on Mikelan98 and BagBoy's research, and the following system was later merged with Drayano's Renegade Platinum by another author as Following Renegade Platinum.

• Any of the 493 Pokemon can walk behind you
• Animated overworld sprites from HeartGold and SoulSilver
• Reactions and mood emotes based on location and friendship
• Story events adapted so your partner stays visible
• Sinnoh-specific interactions: sand slopes, berry watering, Hearthome Gym lighting
• Enhanced wild and trainer battle music
• Optional framerate unlock to speed up slower areas
• Optional Fairy type build

The follower is hidden in a few situations where the engine cannot support it, most notably in the Underground and while you are riding the bike. As soon as you step back into a normal area on foot, your partner returns.

If a follower seems to disappear elsewhere, check that the first slot in your party is a Pokemon that is not fainted — like in HeartGold and SoulSilver, the lead Pokemon is the one that walks with you.

Talking to your partner is worth doing regularly. Its reaction depends on where you are and how strong your bond has become, so the same Pokemon can respond very differently early in the game and near the League — a small touch that gives a long replay of Sinnoh plenty of little surprises.

Following Platinum is for players who want Platinum exactly as they remember it, just with more charm. Trainers, levels and encounters are those of the original, so it is a relaxed replay or an ideal first visit to Sinnoh.

If you want a harder game with every Pokemon catchable, Renegade Platinum is the better choice — and Following Renegade Platinum combines the two if you want both.

• Use a clean, English Pokemon Platinum ROM as the base.
• Choose between the standard and Fairy type builds before you start — they are separate files and you should not switch mid-save.
• Do not combine it with other Platinum hacks like Platinum Unlocked; they use a different base version and are not compatible.