There’s a way to “catch ’em all” on PC. From classics like Red and Blue to Pokemon Black & White, you can try them with your keyboard and mouse machine. The question is, how to emulate Pokemon games on PC?
Emulators are third-party software on your computer, capable of running games from other platforms. After installing the software, you download “ROMs,” console game files.
Alternatively, you can find ROM sites that offer you to play these games online. In any case, we’ll need to learn about emulators and ROMs.
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How to Emulate Pokemon On PC?
To play Pokemon on PC, you must go through various steps. It’s an easy process, but it requires some sailing on the high seas.
These are the steps:
- Find a proper Nintendo emulator. That means choosing the one that emulates the console that holds the game you want to try.
- Download and install the emulator.
- Find a ROM site with the game you want to try. Then, download the ROM onto your PC.
- Open the ROM with the emulator and play.
That said, these steps will allow you to play Pokemon games from the classic Gameboy console all the way to the Nintendo DS. There’s a list of the saga’s main games in chronological order, alongside their platforms below.
Let’s review how to emulate Pokemon games on PC:
Find an Emulator
There’re reliable emulators for GameBoy, GameBoy Advanced, and Nintendo DS.
Emulating Nintendo 3DS or Nintendo Switch is less reliable and often more complex, so we’ll ignore these platforms for now.
If you’re looking for GameBoy Advance emulators, here’re the options:
| Game Boy emulators | BGB BizHawk |
| Game Boy Advance emulators | MGBA VBA BatGBA |
| Nintendo DS emulators | DeSmuME Drastic DS NDS Boy |
These emulators will allow you to run the games on the platform they promise. Moreover, some of these programs work for macOS and Linux on top of Windows systems.
Some emulators are also available for Android, and you can find them simply by searching “emulator” on the app store. For example, we recommend the DraStic DS Emulator for Android smartphones.
Lastly, you can also try downloading Project 64 if you’re looking for the Nintendo 64 Pokemon spin-offs.
Download and Install the Emulator
After you choose the option for the platform, download the emulator with the proper link.
Some of these will need installation. Others download a “.exe” file that opens the emulator immediately. So, this step ends with installing the emulator or opening the software.
Find ROM Site and Download ROM
Now, it’s time to find a ROM site to download the Pokemon game you want to play. Here’re the ones we recommend:
| GameBoy and Game boy Advance ROMs | ROMs Games |
| Nintendo DS ROMs | Gamulator |
Your mission is to go into these pages, find the game you want to play, and download it. The game you download will come as a ZIP file, so save it on your PC.
Open the ROM and Play
Lastly, here’s how to open the game on the emulator:
- Go to the game’s zip file.
- Copy and paste the game into another folder, like your download folder.
- Open the emulator and click on the File tab.
- Select Open.
- Click on the game file you copied in the Downloads folder.
- Play with your keyboard!
Every emulator is different, but they open the games similarly. That said, you can check the options of your program to see if it allows you to configure the keyboard buttons.
Some of the best Pokemon games debuted for the older consoles. Either way, here’s the list of Pokemon games in chronological order:
Can You Play Pokemon Games Without An Emulator?
Other options are available if you don’t want to use an emulator. There’s even an official option, and we’ll start there.
- Official Pokemon Trading Card Game: This is the same as the physical Pokemon trading card game. It features online battles with other players or AI players.
- Pokemon Planet: It’s a fanmade online Pokemon game with an original world and hundreds of Pokemon. You can catch the creatures, build up your team, and fight against AI or real trainers.
- PokeMMO: This is a fanmade Pokemon multiplayer game. It’s free to play and allows you to catch Pokemon and fight against gym leaders alone or in co-op. You can also fight against other players and level up your Pokemons.
Can You Emulate Nintendo 3DS And Nintendo Switch Games?
Because these are the newer consoles on Nintendo’s shelf, the options are more limited and flimsy.
We don’t recommend emulating games for these platforms; better said, we prefer if you researched on your own.
You can do it by following the same steps you saw above. Find an emulator and a ROM, and pair the two together.
