Pokemon Golden Shield

By Admin 4 Min Read

Download Pre-Patched Pokemon Golden Shield NDS ROM Hack

Creator: cos_mino
Version: 1.5
Hack of: HeartGold
Released: November 15, 2025
Language: English
Status: Completed

Pokemon Golden Shield is an NDS ROM Hack by cos_mino based on Pokemon Heart Gold in English. And it is now available to download. It was last updated on November 15, 2025.

Table of Contents

Download Pre-Patched Pokemon Golden Shield NDS ROM Hack

Also, be sure to check out Pokemon Cool Spot Version

Description

Ever wondered how the Johto Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and Champion would battle using Galarian Pokémon and modern competitive tools? Golden Shield reimagines every major battle with new teams, strategies, and surprises while keeping the beloved structure of the original Johto adventure.

Rediscover Johto through a fresh new lens!

Features

Built on the hg-engine battle engine, including new moves, items, and abilities up to Generation 9
New Johto Pokédex built around the Sword & Shield Pokédex
Gen 8 wild encounters, plus updated trades, gifts, and eggs featuring Galar Pokémon
All trainers now use Pokémon from the Galar regional dex
Full documentation covering Pokédex changes, encounter locations, boss trainer teams, headbutt encounters, items, and more
Native hardware compatible: You can play Pokémon Golden Shield on real 3DS hardware
Reusable TMs for easier team building
HM removal (only Surf and Fly are required), with early access to Rock Climb
Story faithfully preserved, with script adjustments to fit the new Pokédex; fully playable through post-game
Aesthetic upgrades inspired by Gen 8 UI for a modern look and feel

Creator Note

The initial pokedex was made to be able to find direct Galarian pokedex counterparts for Kanto/Johto ones. Of course, there were gaps as not everything was a 1-1 replacement.

Certain fan favourites remain in the game; mons with weather abilities were added/remained to give the player multiple choices. Most of the pokemon really are in the Galar dex, with rare exceptions such as Unown which has Johto lore attached to it.

I have tried to make as much of the full Johto pokedex available before the Champion, this wasn’t always easy!

Some pokemon you will still need to travel to Kanto to get, but hopefully these aren’t the most interesting mons ever!

The national dex was not altered, so Hoenn/Sinnoh sound is not updated.

Known Bugs

On DeSmuME, there is a consistent graphical glitch which scrambles the overworlds (or colours them black). It’s not game-breaking and can be removed by opening and closing the Bag/Party menu, or walking in and out of a building. Likely a hg-engine bug (?) and out of my hands.
Tohjo Falls forces you to use surf under the waterfalls to get to the TM13 for Ice Beam. I don’t know why waterfall/walking permissions are scrambled!!
Glastrier and Spectrier walking overworlds may show up as something else due to not being able to code them in a straightforward manner.
On my 3DS, I had an issue with a double battle before Ecruteak City which caused my game to crash.
National Park bug contest and the Safari haven’t been touched and will yield Pokemon outisde the Golden Shield Dex!
Battles seems to be super slow on my DS Lite on an R4 card.

Screenshots

Useful Stuff

Documentation

Downloads

Mediafire

Mega

Credits

cos_mino

Source: Reddit

Admin November 21, 2025

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22 Comments

Lauren says:

December 31, 2025 at 2:23 pm

After the first battle , a Pokémon should get at least 70 experience points , not 3600 . Please fix it .

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Darx says:

November 30, 2025 at 7:53 am

How the hell do you get an Urshifu?? I have the Water Scroll but can’t use it..

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Ali says:

November 28, 2025 at 6:11 pm

bro can you add pokemon the new kanto new version

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- Admin says:
  
  November 30, 2025 at 11:47 am
  
  updated it
  
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Dave says:

November 28, 2025 at 1:53 am

Hi admin pls Upload Lazarus 1.1

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GGG says:

November 27, 2025 at 7:55 am

Too many damn bugs. After I named the rival the only screen I could see was the options screen.

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Nate West says:

November 24, 2025 at 8:32 pm

Moves like power trip are missing descriptions and did t seem to function correctly. The Steam Power ability did not activate when hit with water moves.

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Proto says:

November 24, 2025 at 8:12 am

Certain moves and abilities just don’t work, move descriptions are just blank. I like the idea but it’s lacking any modern mod qol changes you would expect.

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Sung Jinwoo says:

November 24, 2025 at 3:52 am

Alright, I’m not here to bash this or the creators. And also keep it in mind I have not played it yet. But I am wondering a few things, which I will get to momentarily. From the surface, here are some things that I’m noticing.
First, it looks like it’s supposed to be HeartGold reskinned as Shield. With the same story? Different characters? It’s somewhat confusing. Because if it’s supposed to be a sort of “demake” of Pokémon Sword & Shield, then why does everything look the same as a regular HeartGold? The characters are all the exact same. The overworld is the same. The city names and routes. So what is it? The story that is different? Is it like Shield’s story copied and pasted onto HeartGold? Keeping characters looking exactly the same but with different names to match characters from Sword and Shield, and some modified dialogue? Or is it more of a “basically HeartGold but with new Pokémon”?
If it is the former, I’d prefer to simply play Pokémon Sword and Shield on the Nintendo Switch. It’s the best way to play them right now. and if it is the latter, I would rather play HeartGold or SoulSilver even. Pure and unedited, in their natural states. Otherwise, I would at least go for enhanced versions of them that improve on what makes them so good, and adds necessary modernizations without removing old Pokémon or changing too many types with the exception of Fairy types, adding regional forms/evolutions, newer items and Poké balls and moves/TMs, removing HMs’ permanence, and other quality of life changes. Revamped graphics and UI, battle screens, Mega Evolution and other special transformations made into mega or standard evolutions… Improving the Safari Zone, reasonably more difficult rival, gym leader and Pokémon League teams. Things like that.

But adding a ton of new Pokémon, seems unnecessary to me. You’re either replacing existing Pokémon in the original game, or overcrowding it which often leads to many bugs and glitches in the GBA games. It might not be as bad in DS games, but I’m sure having 800 or 1000+ Pokémon is bound to cause issues still. It does seem like it might be only the Regional Dex from Shield, however. Again, replacing older Pokémon isn’t going to be fun for many, many people. Playing HeartGold, which looks and sounds like HeartGold, but not having access to certain Pokémon from it, would feel disappointing to me. Or lacking, at least. It being the exact (or nearly exact) same overworld, characters and everything, can only amplify that feeling.

So back to the one more important thing I am wondefing: If that’s all this is, why should I play it? I’m not sold at all, so far. That isn’t to say it’s not worth playing for anyone. Many will disagree with me. It might be the perfect game for certain people. Maybe it becomes someone’s favorite. That’s valid. I don’t consider myself that hard to please, but I’m not very interested in an awkward mix between games like this, which are so far apart, but the changes to the older game, the subject, aren’t as significant as most of the widely popular romhacks. Even the more ‘hidden gems’ that aren’t quite as mainstream. I could name a million examples of this. And I don’t want to call anyone here lazy. But if this is the complete, finished product already at v1.0, with no plans to make significant changes to the appearance of the game, then I don’t think it’s going to be on my radar at all.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure a lot of work went into this. No one was paid, it’s done during spare time outside of work/school/home and family responsibilities. I do at least want to say hats off to them for finishing a DS romhack, as we all know it is much more notorious for DS romhacks to be left hanging than it is for GBA and GB/GBC romhacks, or anything else pre Nintendo DS. And credit where credit is due, the sprites in battle look beautiful. They look pretty much exactly how I think they would if they were to be made in this era of Pokémon. Their overworld sprites look good as well. Zamazenta’s camera-facing overworld sprite is good. I see no problems with Inteleon’s.
However, that brings me to my next and final point. How sre their animations in battle? Do they move at all when sent into battle? Do their cries match up with the official games they were first introduced in? What about movesets? Are there working animations for newer moves generation 5 and up that these Pokémon learn? Or are cries and new move animations filled by those of older ones? And do they have their newer gen abilities, also working properly? Such as Mirror Armor on Corviknight. And when it comes to moves, Pyro Ball from Cinderace, or Obstruct on Obstagoon.

Well.. I do hope that whoever plays it enjoys the game for what it is. Unfortunately for now, and likely the foreseeable future, I’m going to have to skip it. I can see the appeal, but it just isn’t for me in particular. There are already a few HeartGold and SoulSilver romhacks that I added on my to-do-list which seemed a lot more appealing to me. But either way, congrats on seeing it through to the end.

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- Anto2b says:
  
  November 25, 2025 at 4:17 am
  
  I love this game, I play on iPhone but I have a problem at the end of the first league the screen stays black, can anyone help me?
  
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yu says:

November 23, 2025 at 12:19 pm

unfortunately there is no exp share all just normal exp share that u can buy in goldenrod……. i really like if romhack have level cap to not overlevel and have exp all from the start, hope in 2026 this is the norm for romhack cuz we are going 5 whole gen with exp all, why romhacker obsessed with the premitive and ancient way of leveling mon one by one we will never know

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- Sung Jinwoo says:
  
  November 24, 2025 at 4:25 am
  
  I believe it would be better to have an EXP All as a Key Item that can be turned on or off, depending on player choice, and also EXP Share and Lucky Egg held items you can get an unlimited amount of, with reasonable effort or Poké dollars required, in all romhacks where it could be implemented. EXP Candies would be a nice luxury as well.
  You can see it as primitive, that’s fair. But there is always going to be that appeal in grinding and working for strength and levels, and finally leveling up gives you more satisfaction, the more work you put in. That isn’t the only way you can get satisfaction from playing the games, of course. But there have always been those methods of grinding where you level up more quickly. Wild Chanseys and Blisseys, Using Lucky Eggs, sending out your Level 5 newly-hatched Pokémon against the Elife 4/Champion, and then switching them out turn 1, or just having them hold Exp Share in the back of your team and running thru the League the desired number of times, and many other ways. Saving up your rare candies that you found on the ground or with Pickup and using a bunch at a time on a higher leveled Pokémon. Like a Lv40 Swampert if you’re playing Sapphire, for example. These and many other methods, are ways to quickly level up, but it still gives some satisfaction dependent on how much work you put in. Saving all your rare candies and using them when your Pokémon hit Lv99, for a quick Lv100, after working hard to get to Lv99, was a common “trick” which also gives the most exp possible from a single use, for that Pokémon, or if it is a slow-exp gaining Pokémon like Magikarp or a legendary, that is the most you could possibly get for any Pokémon across the board. Many people have also made their teams in Secret Bases be a Lv100 Blissey or a full team of them, with or without attacking moves, for easy EXP farming.
  And just because it’s changing in newer official Pokémon games and modern romhacks, doesn’t mean that desire for the satisfaction from the grind is going to just magically vanish. It feels more real to a lot of us. I mean, watch the anime. The trainers weren’t just feeding their Pokémon some sweet candy and forcing them from Lv5 to Lv100 in a matter of minutes. They were training hard. Pushing their Pokémon and often themselves to their very limits and then surpàssing those limits, time and time again. Battling strong Pokémon and trainers and mastering their own abilities, strategies, moves and combos. They had to work hard on every single aspect. Not just “every single aspect except for the getting stronger/leveling up part”. No, that too. And if weren’t that way, the anime wouldn’t be as memorable or have been as enjoyable. And I don’t think the older games would have been either. Same for literally every other RPG with leveling/EXP systems
  The hard work pays off and it gets you to stick around longer and spend more time on it, rather than quickly finishing and then moving on and letting it collect dust forever. But I acknowledge wanting your time to be valued as a customer/player who paid for the game, or just not having multiple hours a day to grind certain things in one specific game. I don’t believe one or the other should be forced in any romhack. It’s not forced in modern games either, at least not yet.
  You still gain EXP from battles against wild Pokémon and trainers, as well as catching Pokémon, in the newer games. You can 100% get away with never using a single EXP candy or rare candy in the games of today, and be fine without any issues. Using them too much actually leads to overleveling, but so does grinding too much even without them. EXP Candies might not be present in future games, but gaining EXP from winning battles will ALWAYS be there. If they took that away in any games, I would not be very happy. Taking away candies would make others unhappy though too.
  I hope this will help you and others understand a little bit better. I’m not defending the choices any devs make in making grinding impossible, or saying they aren’t allowed to make it harder. But there is reasoning behind it. And if enough people ask for it, it’s possible they make a change.
  
  Though, there is reasoning for not adding Physical/Special Split, and I hate that (LOL) when it isn’t done thoughtfully; making every necessary optimization for an equivalent exchange. And they almost always get dozens of people asking them but remain extremely adamant on keeping it.
  
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  - yu says:
    
    November 25, 2025 at 2:07 pm
    
    lets be real, people gonna put rare candies cheat either way trust, but having exp all even as toggleable key item like you say make the gameplay feels natural and smoother without using cheat but significantly make the game progression faster(this is important becuz people rather use their time playing the original game and progress there like za and swsh more than wasting time on romhack where they play just for fun) so grinding in a romhack is redundant cuz u cant even transfer your mon to original game or home. thats why many popular romhack have exp all and the one who didnt (like this romhack) stay flop.
    
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    - notoriouscrobat says:
      
      November 29, 2025 at 7:16 pm
      
      yeah i hate rom hacks with no exp share all
      
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- Sulthonul Kaffah says:
  
  November 25, 2025 at 10:52 am
  
  IM agree with u
  
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Katri says:

November 23, 2025 at 12:20 am

If you give the rusty shield to zamazenta it will not tranform into his hero form

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notoriouscrobat says:

November 22, 2025 at 7:38 pm

Exp Share All ?

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yu says:

November 22, 2025 at 2:58 pm

have exp all or no?

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- rengoku says:
  
  November 29, 2025 at 7:17 pm
  
  nope all these nds rom hacks have no exp share all like the gba rom hacks
  
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dalton says:

November 22, 2025 at 10:52 am

any rare candy cheats?

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Ni says:

November 22, 2025 at 6:47 am

yo whats happening on this game i got so much xp i just battle 1 pokemon and got so much xp??

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Jason Broly says:

November 22, 2025 at 12:28 am

Feels strange playing at the original game speed, if anyone else needs it, here is a 60fps cheat, just enable it like any other cheat.

12000E28 00000000

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