Best Pokémon Emulator 2026 — Which Emulator for Each Generation

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Each Pokémon generation requires a different emulator because the games run on different Nintendo hardware. Here is the complete quick-reference:

Generation I remakes (FireRed / LeafGreen) and Generation III (Ruby / Sapphire / Emerald):
Hardware: Game Boy Advance → Emulator: mGBA (Windows/Mac/Linux/Android) or Delta (iPhone). No BIOS required for most games.

Generation IV (Diamond / Pearl / Platinum, HeartGold / SoulSilver) and Generation V (Black / White / Black 2 / White 2):
Hardware: Nintendo DS → Emulator: melonDS (Windows/Mac/Linux). Fast and accurate; optional firmware dump for full DS WiFi features.

Generation VI (X / Y, Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire) and Generation VII (Sun / Moon, Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon):
Hardware: Nintendo 3DS → Emulator: Azahar (formerly Lime3DS, Citra successor). Download from azahar-emu.org. Requires a aes_keys.txt key file dumped from your own 3DS.

Generation VIII (Sword / Shield, Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl, Legends Arceus) and Generation IX (Scarlet / Violet):
Hardware: Nintendo Switch → Emulator: Eden. Requires prod.keys and firmware files dumped from your own Switch.

Classic Game Boy (Gen I: Red / Blue / Yellow) and Game Boy Color (Gen II: Gold / Silver / Crystal):
Emulator: mGBA (supports GB and GBC in addition to GBA) or RetroArch with the Gambatte core.

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mGBA is the recommended GBA emulator for all Pokémon GBA games (FireRed, LeafGreen, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald).

Setup: Download mGBA from mgba.io. Load your ROM (File → Load ROM). No BIOS is needed for GBA Pokémon titles, though an optional GBA BIOS improves audio timing.

Save types: Pokémon GBA games use flash save chips. mGBA detects save types automatically. If your game loses saves on close, check Tools → Settings → Game Boy Advance and set Save Type to Flash 128k for Emerald/FireRed/LeafGreen.

Real-time clock (RTC): Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald use an internal clock for daily events (Berry growth, tides in Shoal Cave). mGBA emulates RTC using your PC clock — no extra setup needed.

Cheats (GameShark / Action Replay): Go to Tools → Cheats. Click the + button and choose Action Replay or GameShark. Paste the code and enable the checkbox. Wildcard encounter codes and Rare Candy cheats are the most commonly used.

Pokémon trading between two GBA games: mGBA supports link cable emulation between two instances on the same PC. See the dedicated guide: mGBA link cable — how to trade Pokémon.

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melonDS is the best emulator for DS Pokémon games (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, SoulSilver, Black, White, Black 2, White 2).

Setup: Download melonDS from melonds.kuribo64.net. Load your DS ROM. For most Pokémon titles, no firmware is needed — melonDS uses a built-in firmware by default. For full Wi-Fi features (Global Trade Station, online battles), you need to dump your DS BIOS and firmware files: run Config → Emu Settings → DS-mode → Use external BIOS/firmware and point to your dumped files.

DS multiplayer (local wireless): melonDS supports emulated local wireless between two instances on the same PC. Go to File → Boot ROM in both instances, load the same game, and connect via Config → Multiplayer. This enables Union Room, GTS, and wireless battles without a real DS.

Save files: melonDS uses .sav files in the same folder as the ROM. Back up this file to preserve your save. The format is compatible with hardware save managers for transferring saves to/from a real DS cartridge.

Pokémon Gen V (Black / White): These games work well in melonDS. If the game runs slowly, enable JIT recompiler under Config → JIT Recompiler for a major speed improvement.

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3DS Pokémon games (X, Y, ORAS, Sun, Moon, USUM) — Azahar (Lime3DS/Citra successor):

Citra was discontinued in 2023. The maintained successor is Azahar (azahar-emu.org). Setup requires an aes_keys.txt file dumped from your own 3DS (using GodMode9). 3DS Pokémon games generally run at full speed on any mid-range PC made after 2018. Pokémon X/Y run at 60fps with hardware renderer enabled; Sun/Moon may dip on very old hardware.

Pokémon HOME backup (3DS games): Pokémon can be moved from emulated 3DS saves to Pokémon HOME using PKHeX (an open-source save editor) as an intermediate step. PKHeX reads melonDS and Azahar save files directly.

Switch Pokémon games (Sword/Shield, BDSP, Legends Arceus, Scarlet/Violet) — Eden:

Eden (successor to Yuzu) is the recommended Switch emulator. Pokémon Sword/Shield and BDSP run well at 60fps on a modern PC with a dedicated GPU. Scarlet/Violet are notoriously poorly optimized even on real hardware — expect 20-30fps on mid-range PCs. No mods are needed for performance; Eden's Vulkan backend gives the best results.

Eden save sync with Android: If you play on both PC and Android (Eden Android), you can sync saves using Syncthing. See: Eden save sync PC ↔ Android guide.

PKHeX for save editing: PKHeX (projectpokemon.org/pkhex) works with all emulator save formats — mGBA .sav, melonDS .sav, Azahar .sav, and Eden .sav. It supports legal Pokémon generation, EV/IV editing, and Pokémon HOME compatibility checking.