TL;DR: If you like challenges, love battling & teambuilding with zero grinding, all within a fresh & unique package with tons of Quality of Life changes, this hack is for you. Pokémon Elite Redux is not just another difficulty hack. Its features combined are probably nothing you've seen before.
Hi, my name is Darky. I loved Pokémon games since I was 6 years old. I've been playing ROM hacks for many years now, and started making custom patches for myself to ROM hacks I loved many years ago.
When I played through Gaia, Unbound, Radical Red, Inclement Emerald etc., I wanted to create a game to cater to my taste - rebalancing everything for more fun & variety, while reducing grinding. I always loved battling most, trying out new strategies. This is a difficulty hack, which I tried to make as challenging as possible without giving the enemy too much unfair advantages. There is also an Easy Mode, which is explained below.
I always felt a bit limited by just having one ability per Pokémon at the same time. Then Exceeded came out, and I knew what I wanted to do, since Exceeded was lacking essential things for me (unique trainers, difficulty and QoL). What was originally just intended for myself to enjoy and in development for over 2 years now, I can proudly share my dream ROM hack with you.
Since this hack is based on Inclement Emerald / Yda patch (with permission from Buffel Saft & Yda 🤍), I continue the spirit of making the game open-source. You can use Elite Redux or parts of it and do whatever you want.
Up to 4 Abilities At The Same Time: Every Pokémon can have up to 3 switchable abilities along with up to 3 fixed ones (innates). This creates fun new strategies and endless replayability, as you can play many Pokémon in several ways. Imagine Gyarados with Moxie & Aerilate or Intimidate at the same time!
Every Single Trainer Has A Full Custom Moveset: Every Trainer party has been reworked manually, considering all new/changed abilities & moves. Most trainers have full competitive movesets with varying held items. Every rematch has been crafted individually for variety. You won't meet the same brain-dead Poochyena with Tackle everywhere ;-)
Unique Difficulty: Most strategies the AI uses, you can too. Be creative! Battle Style is always "Set". When choosing the Elite Difficulty, there is a good chance you will get slapped by the first Trainer if you're not prepared.
110+ New Custom Abilities: Featuring a total of over 370 abilities with around 50 changed/extended abilities, you will have lots of options to defeat the many challenges awaiting you. Also, all ability descriptions have been rewritten for more accuracy!
Reworked & Stronger AI: We revamped the AI to include all new/changed abilities & moves. Also, every Trainer now uses the smartest AI.
You can set EVs quick & easy on the Summary Screen.
Furthermore, you can change natures and abilities via Summary Screen.
You'll get a new Candy Box (unlimited rare candies) so you can switch teams often to try out new strategies. Rare Candies have Gen 8 mechanics, which means you can evolve at the Level Cap. You can either level up to 4 levels at a time or jump directly to the current Level Cap to save time!
Every Pokémon has 31 IVs by default. You can easily change Hidden Power types with the Type Gems.
You can set your Speed IVs to 0 (for Trick Room teams) or back to 31 with the new Iron Pill item.
All Poké Balls have a 100% catch rate. You can use any ball you like. Additionally, every ball is infinite use.
All held items stay on your Pokémon after battling - no more re-equipping Berries & Focus Sashes!