Look, we’ve all been there. You’re staring at Red on top of Mt. Silver, your Typhlosion is barely hanging on by a thread, and you realize you just don't have the patience to grind another twenty levels against wild Ursaring. It's the classic Johto dilemma. Pokémon Soul Silver is arguably the best game in the entire series, but it’s also a massive time sink with a level curve that feels like climbing a vertical wall.
That is why soul silver rom cheats are basically a rite of passage for anyone playing on an emulator in 2026. Whether you're on DeSmuME, melonDS, or even a handheld like the Steam Deck, using Action Replay codes isn't just about "winning"—it's about making the game actually respect your time. But honestly, most people mess this up. They pile on twenty codes at once, the game freezes during the Elite Four, and suddenly that save file you spent forty hours on is a digital paperweight.
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The Codes That Actually Work (And Won't Break Your Game)
If you’re looking for the heavy hitters, you have to be careful with the "All Items" stuff. Usually, I tell people to stick to specific modifiers. If you want 999 Rare Candies, the standard Action Replay code for the US version (Game ID: IPGE-2D5118CA) is usually your safest bet.
You’ve gotta hold L+R to trigger most of these. For the Rare Candy fix, use:94000130 FCFF0000 B2111880 00000000 E0000B74 000000A0 03E70032 00000000 D2000000 00000000.
It sounds like a lot of gibberish, I know. Basically, it just tells the game’s memory to overwrite a specific slot in your "Medicine" pocket.
Then there’s the money problem. Running out of cash for Ultra Balls is a pain. The Max Money code is a classic:94000130 FFFB0000 62111880 00000000 B2111880 00000000 00000088 000F423F D2000000 00000000.
Just hit Select, and you're a millionaire.
I’ve seen a lot of people asking about the "Walk Through Walls" cheat lately. It’s fun for exploration but incredibly dangerous. If you walk into a loading zone from the wrong angle or skip a story trigger (like the Radio Tower takeover), the game might not know how to progress the plot. Use it to grab a shortcut, sure, but don't use it to skip entire gyms unless you want to get soft-locked.
The Shiny Hunt Shortcut
Let's talk about Shiny Pokémon. Some purists hate it, but let’s be real: 1 in 8,192 odds are brutal. If you want every wild encounter to be a Shiny, the code is massive—it’s basically a paragraph of hex data.
The thing is, shiny codes often mess with the "PID" (Personality ID) of the Pokémon. This can sometimes make the Pokémon "illegal" if you ever try to transfer it to later generations using something like PKHeX or PokeTransporter. If you just want a cool-looking Lugia for your playthrough, go for it. If you're planning on moving these to your Pokémon HOME account eventually? Maybe skip the encounter cheats and just use a 2x or 4x shiny rate modifier instead. It's way more stable.
Why Your Emulator Keeps Crashing
You're playing, everything is fine, then—black screen. Or the music keeps looping but the character won't move.
This happens way too often with soul silver rom cheats. There are a few reasons for this. First, Soul Silver has some pretty aggressive anti-piracy (AP) measures built in. Back in the day, the game would check if it was running on a real cartridge. If it failed, it would just randomly freeze or stop giving you Experience Points.
Most modern ROMs you find online are "AP Patched," but adding cheats can sometimes "break" the patch.
Another huge mistake? Leaving cheats on during transitions. If you have "Max Speed" or "No Random Encounters" active while you're walking through a door or starting a cutscene, the emulator has to process the cheat and the new area data at the same time. Sometimes it just gives up.
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My rule of thumb:
- Activate the cheat.
- Get what you need (the items, the money, the level).
- Turn the cheat off immediately.
- Save the game.
- Restart the emulator.
It feels tedious, but it's better than losing your progress. Also, if you’re using melonDS, make sure you have the BIOS files set up correctly. Cheats are much more stable when the emulator is actually mimicking the DS hardware properly rather than just high-level emulating the code.
The "Bad Egg" Nightmare
If you’ve ever used a "Capture Trainer's Pokémon" cheat, you might have seen a Bad Egg in your PC.
Do not hatch it.
Seriously. A Bad Egg is basically the game’s way of saying, "I don't know what this data is, so I'm just going to wrap it in a glitch." They can multiply, overwrite your other Pokémon, and eventually corrupt your save. This happens most often when people use encounter codes for Pokémon that aren't supposed to be in that area or when they use "forced" capture codes on Boss Pokémon.
If you find a Bad Egg, the best way to get rid of it isn't a cheat code—it's actually a tool called PKHeX. You’ll need to export your .sav file from your emulator, open it on your PC, and manually delete the egg. It's a lifesaver.
Experience Multipliers: The Better Way to Grind
Instead of just jumping to Level 100 with Rare Candies, which can leave your Pokémon with terrible stats because they haven't earned any Effort Values (EVs), use an EXP multiplier.
A 2x or 10x EXP code is way more natural. You still get the satisfaction of the battle, your stats grow properly, and the game stays somewhat challenging. To use these on most emulators, you'll need to find the "Action Replay" menu, hit "Add New Code," and make sure you're using the code that matches your specific region (USA, Europe, or Japan).
Actionable Next Steps
Ready to actually use these without nuking your game? Here is what you should do right now:
- Backup your save file. Find your
.savor.dsvfile in your emulator's folders and copy it somewhere else. Do this every single time before you enter a new code. - Check your Game ID. Most cheats are for the North American version (IPGE). If you’re playing the European version (IPGP), those codes will either do nothing or crash the game instantly.
- Use one code at a time. Don't be the guy who enables "Infinite Health," "Moonjump," and "999 Master Balls" all at once. The memory addresses in these old games are fragile.
- Get PKHeX. If you’re serious about "cheating" properly, this program is better than any Action Replay code. You can edit your save file directly, add items, and fix glitches without worrying about the game crashing mid-battle.
At the end of the day, Soul Silver is about the journey through Johto and Kanto. Cheats are just the shortcut for the boring parts. Just remember: save often, and don't get greedy with the hex codes.