A Pokemon fan has created a full software clone of the Pokewalker in the form of a phone app that connects to Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver.
Released in 2009 alongside the aforementioned Nintendo DS games, the Pokemon Pokewalker is a pedometer that was bundled with the beloved Johto remakes. Players who bought physical copies of Heart Gold and Soul Silber received a Pokewalker that would allow them to catch creatures outside of the game.
In Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver, players can transfer Pokemon between their games and the Pokewalker. The pedometer allowed you to level up your creatures, catch new monsters, and obtain items all through walking which earned you a currency known as Watts. It’s essentially a precursor to Pokemon Go.
As Pokewalker prices continue to climb, with some second-hand versions selling for over £150 on eBay, a fan has created a functional software clone for Android phones. While not as cool as the original Pokeball-style plastic peripheral, the app is a full clone of the tool, allowing you to train your creatures, catch new ones, and earn items.
Available right here on GitHub, the app requires you to run a ROM of Pokemon Heart Gold or Soul Silver through a modded DS to transfer your Pokemon over local Wi-Fi and sync your .sav file. While there are ways of doing this with original carts, such as dumping a save and reuploading it, that is significantly more hassle.
Just like the original hardware, this app uses your phone to count your steps and earn Watts which will unlock new routes and events. However, the Pokewalker has been expanded with the ability to catch all 1025 Pokemon within the app, although you can only sync compatible creatures to your Heart Gold and Soul Silver saves.
There’s also some quality-of-life experiences that go a long way towards making the feature easier to use. For example, you can now use the Pokewalker app to swap partner Pokemon from the box which means you don’t have to sync every time you want to train another creature.
Players who are also looking to get an edge will also be able to completely customise their shiny odds. This means that you can simply find a shiny Pokemon you want in the Pokewalker app, catch it, and send it back.
Unfortunately, there are no physical third-party Pokewalkers that can connect to Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver, but this is a decent option. Fans of the series are constantly working on new ways to restore old features or add new features to prior games, and that’s just one of the reasons why the community has lasted so long.
It’s worth noting that this project has been created with AI assistance. The developer notes that “bugs and device specific issues may remain” and that players should make backups of files just in case, although there aren’t any reports of issues so far.
