Gwazi Magnum

When I first came to this site I saw no tutorials or anything on how to get a ROM, but plenty of ROM edits. Which led me to think this is what most people refer to when they say ROMs, those off of sites like coolroms. So when I mentioned said edits weren't working I simply got attacked for mentioning 'illegal ROMs' to where I was notified this site focused on ROMs directly off your cartridge. But I found no where on this site (or anywhere on the internet) that explains how to obtain such a ROM for the edits in this site to work. Are there any tools/programs I need? Do I run the risk of breaking my game cartridge? What steps are there to take to obtain a ripped ROM? etc.

I have an issue with the ROM. Pretty much the issue is (or appears to be) that there is no ROM. I downloaded through the link and extracted and all there is are the patchers and read me's. I can't find a ROM to open, and this doesn't have to do with the emulator because I can't find it when I view the file manually either. Edit: I tried downloading a soulsilver ROM and patching that (which from what I read may be what I was supposed to do, hence why no ROM was found. If this was the case please tell me). But I am just going to start the game now, are there any early indicators/changes in the game that I should look for to tell me if the patch worked or not? Sorry, I ran across this while trying to see if someone had an answer for my question already but... You don't recommend emulators? But this is a ROM, in the ROM section of the forums. Don't you need a emulator to be able to play said ROM?