Pokemon Save Structure
Pokemon NDS Structure
Boxed Pokémon in the games Pokémon Diamond Pearl and Platinum are stored in a 136 byte or 236 byte structure. All unencrypted values are stored in little-endian format. The game encrypts the data when it is stored into save data. Party Pokémon have additional values to hold current battle stats and conditions. The information below describes the Pokémon data format.
Checksum
The checksum serves two purposes:
- It validates the data after decryption, and
- It serves as the encryption key for the data.
The checksum is calculated in three steps:
- Split the unencrypted data from offsets 0x08 to 0x87 into two-byte words,
- Take the sum of the words, and
- Truncate the sum to 16 bits.
Block Shuffling
The 128 bytes of Pokémon data are split into four 32-byte blocks for shuffling. The blocks are shuffled according to a shift value derived from the personality value. Given the personality value pv, the expression yielding the shift value is:
- ((pv >> 0xD) & 0x1F) % 24
The right shifting (pv >> 0xD) is equivalent to a division of 8192.
To shuffle the blocks, take the four blocks of unencrypted data, A, B, C, and D. The blocks shall be rearranged in the encrypted data according to this table:
| Shift Value (decimal) | Block Order |
|---|---|
| 00 | ABCD |
| 01 | ABDC |
| 02 | ACBD |
| 03 | ACDB |
| 04 | ADBC |
| 05 | ADCB |
| 06 | BACD |
| 07 | BADC |
| 08 | BCAD |
| 09 | BCDA |
| 10 | BDAC |
| 11 | BDCA |
| 12 | CABD |
| 13 | CADB |
| 14 | CBAD |
| 15 | CBDA |
| 16 | CDAB |
| 17 | CDBA |
| 18 | DABC |
| 19 | DACB |
| 20 | DBAC |
| 21 | DBCA |
| 22 | DCAB |
| 23 | DCBA |
Encryption
The encryption uses the pseudorandom number generator (PRNG), a linear congruential generator. Elements of the PRNG can be described with the recursive function:
- X[n+1] = (0x41C64E6D * X[n] + 0x6073)
To decrypt the data, given a function rand() which returns the upper 16 bits of consecutive results of the above given function:
- Seed the PRNG with the checksum (let X[n] be the checksum).
- Sequentially, for each 2-byte word Y from 0x08 to 0x87, apply the transformation: unencryptedByte = Y xor rand()
- Unshuffle the blocks using the block shuffling algorithm above.
To encrypt the data:
- Shuffle the blocks using the block shuffling algorithm above.
- Seed the PRNG with the checksum (let X[n] be the checksum),
- Sequentially, for each 2-byte word Y from 0x08 to 0x87, apply the transformation: unencryptedByte = Y xor rand()
Unencrypted bytes
| Offset | Contents |
|---|---|
| 0x00-0x03 | Personality value |
| 0x04-0x05 | Unknown |
| 0x06-0x07 | Checksum |
Encrypted bytes
Block A
| Offset | Contents |
|---|---|
| 0x08-0x09 | PokeDex National Index |
| 0x0A-0x0B | Held Item |
| 0x0C-0x0D | OT ID |
| 0x0E-0x0F | OT Secret ID |
| 0x10-0x13 | Experience points |
| 0x14 | Friendship (Steps to Hatch if an egg) |
| 0x15 | Ability |
| 0x16 | Markings |
| 0x17 | Country of Origin |
| 0x18 | HP Effort Value |
| 0x19 | Attack Effort Value |
| 0x1A | Defense Effort Value |
| 0x1B | Speed Effort Value |
| 0x1C | SP Attack Effort Value |
| 0x1D | SP Defense Effort Value |
| 0x1E-0x23 | Contest stats |
| 0x24-0x25 | Ribbon Set 1 |
| 0x26-0x27 | Ribbon Set 2 |
Block B
| Offset | Contents |
|---|---|
| 0x28-0x2F | Move Set |
| 0x30-0x33 | Move PP |
| 0x34-0x37 | Move PP Ups |
| 0x38-0x3B | Bits 0-29 - Individual values HP ( [0-31] << 0 ) |
| 0x3C-0x3D | Ribbon Set 3 |
| 0x3E-0x3F | Ribbon Set 4 |
| 0x40-0x41 | Bit 0 - Fateful Encounter Flag Bit 1 - Female Bit 2 - Genderless Bit 3-15 - #Alternate Forms (Form Index << 3) |
| 0x42-0x43 | Unknown |
| 0x44-0x45 | Egg Location (Platinum) |
| 0x46-0x47 | Met at Location (Platinum) |
Block C
| Offset | Contents |
|---|---|
| 0x48-0x5D | Nickname |
| 0x5E-0x5F | Hometown |
| 0x60-0x63 | Contests |
| 0x64-0x67 | Unknown |
Block D
| Offset | Contents |
|---|---|
| 0x68-0x77 | [[Original Trainer|OT Name] |
| 0x78-0x7A | Date Egg Received |
| 0x7B-0x7D | Date Met |
| 0x7E-0x7F | Egg Location (Diamond/Pearl) |
| 0x80-0x81 | Met At Location (Diamond/Pearl) |
| 0x82 | Pokérus |
| 0x83 | PokéBall |
| 0x84 | Bit 0-6 - Met At Level Bit 7 - Female OT Gender |
| 0x85 | Encounter Type |
| 0x86-0x87 | Unknown |
Battle Stats
Country of Origin
Markings
Encounter Types
Ribbons
DP stores the ribbon data as bitfields in 16-bit words. Given below are the bytewise representations of the ribbon bitfields:
Ribbon Set 1
| Bit | Ribbon |
|---|---|
| 0x25 & 0x01 | Sinnoh Champ Ribbon |
| 0x25 & 0x02 | Ability Ribbon |
| 0x25 & 0x04 | Great Ability Ribbon |
| 0x25 & 0x08 | Double Ability Ribbon |
| 0x25 & 0x10 | Multi Ability Ribbon |
| 0x25 & 0x20 | Pair Ability Ribbon |
| 0x25 & 0x40 | World Ability Ribbon |
| 0x25 & 0x80 | Alert Ribbon |
| 0x24 & 0x01 | Shock Ribbon |
| 0x24 & 0x02 | Downcast Ribbon |
| 0x24 & 0x04 | Careless Ribbon |
| 0x24 & 0x08 | Relax Ribbon |
| 0x24 & 0x10 | Snooze Ribbon |
| 0x24 & 0x20 | Smile Ribbon |
| 0x24 & 0x40 | Gorgeous Ribbon |
| 0x24 & 0x80 | Royal Ribbon |
Ribbon Set 2
| Bit | Ribbon |
|---|---|
| 0x27 & 0x01 | Gorgeous Royal Ribbon |
| 0x27 & 0x02 | Footprint Ribbon |
| 0x27 & 0x04 | Record Ribbon |
| 0x27 & 0x08 | History Ribbon |
| 0x27 & 0x10 | Legend Ribbon |
| 0x27 & 0x20 | Red Ribbon |
| 0x27 & 0x40 | Green Ribbon |
| 0x27 & 0x80 | Blue Ribbon |
| 0x26 & 0x01 | Festival Ribbon |
| 0x26 & 0x02 | Carnival Ribbon |
| 0x26 & 0x04 | Classic Ribbon |
| 0x26 & 0x08 | Premier Ribbon |
Ribbon Set 3
| Bit | Ribbon |
|---|---|
| 0x3D & 0x01 | Cool Ribbon |
| 0x3D & 0x02 | Cool Ribbon Super |
| 0x3D & 0x04 | Cool Ribbon Hyper |
| 0x3D & 0x08 | Cool Ribbon Master |
| 0x3D & 0x10 | Beauty Ribbon |
| 0x3D & 0x20 | Beauty Ribbon Super |
| 0x3D & 0x40 | Beauty Ribbon Hyper |
| 0x3D & 0x80 | Beauty Ribbon Master |
| 0x3C & 0x01 | Cute Ribbon |
| 0x3C & 0x02 | Cute Ribbon Super |
| 0x3C & 0x04 | Cute Ribbon Hyper |
| 0x3C & 0x08 | Cute Ribbon Master |
| 0x3C & 0x10 | Smart Ribbon |
| 0x3C & 0x20 | Smart Ribbon Super |
| 0x3C & 0x40 | Smart Ribbon Hyper |
| 0x3C & 0x80 | Smart Ribbon Master |
Ribbon Set 4
| Bit | Ribbon |
|---|---|
| 0x3F & 0x01 | Tough Ribbon |
| 0x3F & 0x02 | Tough Ribbon Super |
| 0x3F & 0x04 | Tough Ribbon Hyper |
| 0x3F & 0x08 | Tough Ribbon Master |
| 0x3F & 0x10 | Champion Ribbon |
| 0x3F & 0x20 | Winning Ribbon |
| 0x3F & 0x40 | Victory Ribbon |
| 0x3F & 0x80 | Artist Ribbon |
| 0x3E & 0x01 | Effort Ribbon |
| 0x3E & 0x02 | Marine Ribbon |
| 0x3E & 0x04 | Land Ribbon |
| 0x3E & 0x08 | Sky Ribbon |
| 0x3E & 0x10 | Country Ribbon |
| 0x3E & 0x20 | National Ribbon |
| 0x3E & 0x40 | Earth Ribbon |
| 0x3E & 0x80 | World Ribbon |
Save File Location
The party Pokémon are stored in the save file beginning at offset 0x00098 for the first small block, and 0x40098 for the second small block. Each party Pokémon is 236 bytes in size. Pokemon in the daycare center and pal park also consist of 236 bytes.
The PC storage Pokémon are stored in the save file from Box 1 to Box 18. The offset starts at 0x0C105 for the first big block and 0x4C105 for the second big block. Each PC stored Pokémon is 136 bytes in size.