Pokemon Orange

Plenty of hacks have tried to recreate the Orange Islands from the second season of the anime. Pokemon Orange by Pia Carrot (also known as Kuroko Aizawa and PiaCRT) is the one that won PokeCommunity's Hack of the Year in 2017, and it does it on a Game Boy Color engine built from Pokemon Crystal.

You play as a kid from Valencia Island who is tasked with delivering the GS Ball to Samson Oak, the professor's cousin, while running into the Orange Crew along the way. The story follows the anime's arc but is told in the format of a mainline game, and you can choose whether your character carries Indigo or Orange styling.

Almost the whole Orange Archipelago is here — only the island with giant Pokemon was left out. Regional flavour comes from Orange Islands variants and Alolan forms, the Crystal Onix shows up, and the famous Pinkan Berries actually work. A 20th movie-inspired event featuring Ho-Oh and Marshadow adds a modern twist.

Under the hood, Orange updates Gen 2 more than you might expect: Gen 7 base stats, refreshed learnsets, reusable TMs, new cries, Dive and Rock Climb, plus a Shiny Charm and Exp. All. There are two builds — a regular one and a PSS build with the physical/special split.

The original Orange is complete and playable, but its creator has since discontinued it because of its ageing codebase and bugs. Development moved to a ground-up rewrite called Pokemon Orange: Island Walker, which changes the story and gives Team Rocket a bigger role.

• Nearly the entire Orange Archipelago from the anime
• Orange Islands variants, Alolan forms and the Crystal Onix
• Working Pinkan Berries
• Anime-based story told in a mainline-game style; play as Indigo or Orange
• Ho-Oh / Marshadow event inspired by the 20th movie
• Gen 7 base stats, updated learnsets and reusable TMs
• Dive and Rock Climb as field moves
• Shiny Charm, Exp. All and new cries
• Regular build plus a PSS build with the physical/special split
• Clock Reset NPC for flashcart players

Orange is not built to be punishing. Its appeal is nostalgia and exploration: hopping between islands, finding pink Pokemon and reliving an anime season in game form. The Gen 7 stat updates and reusable TMs make team building more flexible than in Crystal.

It is a great pick for fans of the Orange League episodes and for GBC players who want a full island adventure rather than another Johto revisit.

Players who are sensitive to bugs should know the creator stopped work on this version because of them. Most people can still finish it, but expect a few rough spots.

• Patch a clean English Pokemon Crystal ROM.
• Choose the PSS build if you want moves to be physical or special per move, as in modern games.
• Use an emulator with save states, since the original codebase has known bugs.
• Bug Bite's effect is not implemented, so do not rely on it for berry stealing.
• On a flashcart, look for the Clock Reset NPC if the time gets out of sync.

Pia Carrot announced that the original Orange would no longer be updated and that a rewrite from scratch, Pokemon Orange: Island Walker, would replace it. The rewrite changes the story significantly, expands Team Rocket's role and plans new minigames.

Until Island Walker is finished, the completed original remains the version you can play from start to finish. Do not confuse either one with the GBA 'Orange Islands' hack on FireRed, which is a separate project.