theSLAYER

Change your save size settings, then try again.

You need to use R4 to back up the ROM (it will be a .gba file), then play the load the .gba into Visual Boy Advance.

if your battery is dead, and the Lilycove sale is still active, you could just take your time to get to it, since time based events no longer advance..

Emulator. As in emulate your game. To emulate your game, you gotta dump your ROM of your game. You can't download ROMs from our site. You should google how to use an emulator to run Gen 3 games, and how to load your save file from your cart. If that is too tedious, then you shouldn't try to do all of this, and go to Lilycove normally. On average, it is possible to get all badges for Gen 3 within 7-14 hours. From the time you first posted to now, you could have completed the game already.

Manual save editing. If you gotta ask, I suggest you do the emulator method.

I recommend you buy the jig. While there's still potential for damaging your Switch, I think it's the least risky option, and also the easiest. If you want to see the other methods, check here: https://nh-server.github.io/switch-guide/user_guide/emummc/entering_rcm/

@jfsabdot1987 not creative discussion, thread moved. Read:

You can't RCM (as in your console doesn't seem to allow it and you tried), or you don't have the tools for it?

Back up your save, then use a save edit that can teleport you to Lilycove. Alternatively, back up the save from your cart, then play the save on an emulator, then use a cheat code to teleport you to Lilycove, save in the emulator, then inject that save back into your GBA game.

Instead of answering your questions (this and the one you originally had, before the edit), let me ask you this: Were you able to find homebrew or specific hardware that allows you to restore GBA ROMs to bootleg carts?

It's not about you being a "computer engineer". Read again: Skills relating to being a "computer engineer" weren't the kind of technical skills I was referring to; I was referring to the fact that you didn't understand me previously, which would imply that you have 0 knowledge when it comes to GBA games and fake carts. That's what I meant. Thankfully, being a "computer engineer" would probably help, since you probably have experience with hex editing and what not. However, if you don't know how to handle GBA data (especially a bootleg version of it), or how to reflash it properly, it is possible you'll mess up (Also, the fact that even though the save backing up feature didn't work, yet you somehow thought the save restoring feature would work, does not inspire confidence in me). The only help I'll be giving you, is rather simplified instructions, and I'm only doing it once. If you cannot figure it out, then there's that. And it's all at your own risk (including the fact that you may brick the cart). I'm also gonna put a disclaimer that I've never tried it on my own hardware before, cause I don't have it atm. You're gonna need to find a homebrew or specific hardware that allows you to restore GBA ROMs too. If you can't find it, treat it as "impossible to achieve". Else: 1. Back up the bootleg ROM (presumably using a NDS flashcart homebrew that can dump ROMs) 2. Extract the saves. (My tool should auto dump the saves in your bootleg ROM, and tell you the offsets [it is in the filename]. Keep in mind of the offsets for later). 3. Keep an extra safe backup of the bootleg ROM somewhere on your computer. This may be useful to reflash the cart if anything goes wrong (not guaranteed tho). 4. Pick one of the saves, and edit it with PKHeX. 5. Open the bootleg ROM in a hex editor. 6. Open the edited save in a hex editor. 7. Remember the offsets in part 2? These are offsets for the location of the saves in your bootleg ROM. Check the size of the save in those offsets. (Might be full size, might be halved) 8. If the size found were halved, then reduce the size of your save (the data opened in the hex editor). Try matching the save structure as found in your ROM: (Existing data structure here: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Save_data_structure_(Generation_III)#File_structure) Note: Bootleg ROMs might forgo Game save A, but have everything else intact. 9. Replace every instance of a save on your bootleg ROM with the data of the edited save. 10. When done, save the bootleg ROM. 11. Now try restoring the edited bootleg ROM into your bootleg cart. All done at your own risk. 12. Now try launching the game, see if it works, see if the edited save is in your game. This post sure seems wordy, I hope it can be of some help.

And I told you at your technical level, it's impossible. You get me?

I'm sorry, before we move on, what is it you want to do with the saves?

1

You can load the saves into PKHeX?

Images for Legendaries, Ultra Beasts and Mythicals that can be transferred to Sword & Shield, as of now:

To put it nicely and in a plain fashion: If you couldn't understand what I said in that reply, I can only assume you aren't technically skilled when it comes to the likes of GBA games and fake carts. As such:

I've edited that reply to you. I'm guessing you didn't see it. ><

read my first reply to you. and if it seems like a rather complicated response, focus on the last line of that reply

You do understand that you you didn't use the "dump the save" option right? That also means that the "restore the save" option won't work. That's because for bootleg carts, the "save" isn't stored in the save partition that retail carts normally use.

You make it sound as though you expect the edits on your computer to magically influence the save in the cartridge. Am I reading that right? Is there another way I can read this?

I get the feeling you didn't read page one. Below contains my reply to someone also asking how to reinsert an edited save back into the bootleg cart.

@MohakB Darkrai and Deoxys are not in SWSH presently. So yeah, "Incorrectly transferred from previous generation" means you incorrectly transferred it into SWSH from previous games. Cause you literally cannot have them in SWSH presently.

List of Guides regarding PID Mismatch Gen 3 (w/ Pokefinder): link Gen 4 (w/ Pokefinder): link Gen 8: link Gen 9 [Tera Raids]: link [Not recommended cause slightly outdated, but still here in case user can't get Pokefinder to function] Gen 3 and 4 (w/ RNGReporter): link View full tutorial