Emerald Arena.

Your first real-time Pokémon battle.

You’ll need

Your own unmodified Pokémon Emerald USA/Europe .gba, a Game Boy Advance emulator, and a computer with Internet access.

Get v0.11.0 on GitHub

Saved on this browser

Based on the creator’s instructions.
Installation not tested by Junction.

4 steps

Open the setup
Download Emerald-Arena-0.11.0.zip from the release. Extract it, then open Prepare-Emerald-Arena.html in a desktop Chrome, Firefox or Safari browser.
Prepare your game
Choose your original Emerald .gba. Keep the page open while it prepares, then select Download game.
Load a fresh save
Open Emerald-Arena-0.11.0.gba in your emulator. Use a separate, fresh save for practice; keep existing saves backed up and separate.
Start a practice fight
Highlight NEW GAME and press the button mapped to SELECT. In the field with Charizard, press L + R together.

Controls & saving

In a fight: Direction buttons move. A attacks. B + a direction dodges. START pauses. These are GBA buttons; check your emulator’s bindings.
L and R: Map them to separate buttons you can press together. In the field they start practice; during battle they aim a Poké Ball.
Save and return: Save through the game’s field menu. Practice uses real HP and PP, so visit a Pokémon Center between fights.
Updating later: Back up your in-game .sav and import a copy for the new version. Some emulators need matching game/save names. Don’t reuse emulator save states across versions.

If something doesn’t work

The usual introduction starts: For the practice team, highlight NEW GAME and use SELECT instead of A with a separate fresh save.
The ROM is rejected: Use an original USA/Europe .gba. Other languages, ZIPs and previously patched games are unsupported.
Setup stalls: Check your connection. Extract the ZIP and open its HTML in an actual desktop browser with JavaScript enabled.
A classic battle appears: Some moves and encounters still use the original battle system. The practice team has supported moves.

Full creator guide Reviewed October 3, 2026