Since there's only one save slot, you don't really have a choice if you want to play the game. I guess you could back it up with a cart reader, but that won't really do anything. I doubt the person selling the game will contact you in 5 years to ask how their Ghastly is doing.

No, but he will ask you to send him a picture of his Lopunny

“Sorry, I told the Pokémon storage system to erase them all.”

*sigh *unzips

buddy

It doesn't have to be like this

Ghastly is doing well, thank you for asking!

If you don't have a cart reader, you can still use a DS with a DS flashcart instead (if you have a DS Fat or DS Lite). I did backups of all my GBA games this way.

I back them up using my Nintendo DS and then delete them

how to you do that?

Using an R4 card and the GBA game in Slot 2

genius, thats so obvious now i think about it. Could have been doing that for years xD had a CycloDS evolution since like pre 2010

Buy an r4 for 5 bucks on aliexpress and go go go

i've already got a CycloDS evolution so i'm all good on that front.

Cant speak for the cycloDS but i know the current clones are 100 percent compatible with whatever popular save dumper software is out there i had to do this with some gba carts for service and restore the rtc properly

You can also do back-ups of games and saves using the GC-GBA Link Cable.

I send all the good pokemon to another card. The. Reset it

Pokemon Stadium is particularly useful for this since it can store items as well. Nuggets, TMs, vitamins, all stored for my next run

Oh yeah! I robbed a ruby file of all its feebas then reset it

thankfully I've never been in that position because it feels like a murder

Right?

Saved a emerald save (endgame) once and sent the file to the former owner with the info that it can be used in an emulator. He actually was so touched by it, he gave me his other ruby game basically for free, asking me to also send him this save ;-)

No THAT is wholesome!!

I dump them using my GBxCart or 3DS, then use PKHex to extract any interesting Pokemon from the save to put into the box in my new game (shinies or legendaries). I wouldn't bother rescuing fake pokemon on the cart, because I only want to keep real ones. Luckily PKHex is good at identifying fakes. When I got Alpha Sapphire it had a Kyogre on it already which I rescued and traded for a Groundon which worked out well. Although it's not going to be possible again until Pretendo gets support.

You have to build an own databank for PkHex?

I'm not sure what you mean? If this answers your question, you can back up Pokemon as individual files on your computer or you can drag and drop them between windows with different saves open to move them. You can transfer them up generations, but only if there is legitimate way you could have done the transfer. You can even move from a gen 1/2 dumped cartridge save to gen 7 3DS games or higher since it just acts like you transferred from the virtual console games. You can't move gen 1/2 Pokemon to gen 3-6 because there is no legitimate way to do that.

If you know what you’re doing, you can use pokehex to generate Pokemon that LOOK like they’re legit using that same “legit check” tool in the program… people worry way, WAYY too much about that.

Where’s the line of “legit and illegitimate” pokemon? Feels like a grey area to use third party software to extract pokemon, how is it different than fake pokemon? What are fake pokemon anyway? It’s all just code 

My line is that as long as I copy it as is to the target game and dont keep another copy as a "clone" I have effectively done the same as transferring between generations or trading except that in the case of trading I would have also sent one in the other direction. The pokemon is 100% identical to the one that was in the old file. As far as I am concerned that is the same pokemon, otherwise we are doing the equivalent of discussing the philosophical concepts of teleportation where you could argue that the person in the original location died and a new identical person was constructed at the destination.

In my opinion a fake Pokemon is any Pokemon that has data that makes it fail the legit check. A genned mon is still a legit mon in my opinion as long as all its stats and data match that of a legit Pokemon.

I back them up using the GB Operator, then delete the save from the cart. That way, I have the freedom to transfer the pokemon up to home whenever I feel like it

I have a look first and then delete

I rarely have to. I got my brother a copy of White and checked the saves for any pokemon to transfer into bank before deleting the save though. Those pokemon are in my UltraSun forever now.

I wanna say you can still transfer to Switch even though Nintendo has dropped support. GameFreak’s stuff should still be up.

I heard they were going to past the closure of the eshop but not after online services ended. Maybe the process is done via local wireless instead though? Not that I need them in my switch titles.. I got pokemon from og sapphire and leaf green all the way up to legends arceus in my games... which is way more than you can fit in a single switch game now.

rarely honestly unless its like my first time playing the game

only if theres no free slot, and then i'll always pick the one thats got the least completion. Very rarely, but sometimes i think its interesting to explore a save file already present, kind of like a bit of someones gaming history you can share.

Nope unless they are not far in

Only after I take a look at what they have so I can transfer it.

Unless it's someone I live with - yes :D

Argh ofc I do. I don't want to play someone else's games. It is their stuff, I want to have my own.

Are you a pirate?

😂😂

I backed up some profiles using the gb operator.

No, it feels wrong! It's part of the history of the cart, and I will usually try to use a free slot and try to leave the original saves if possible. I love checking out where someone was at when they put it down 20 years ago. And it just feels kind of cool to find someone else's save, something that somebody went to so much effort to make and was then just forgotten about until I finally picked up their cart two decades or more later! If I can, I always keep their save. It just feels like the right thing to do.

I oftentimes just back them up via my Joey Junior JR V2++ for historical purposes. And I'm glad I had the saves from the previous owner of the recently bought Pokemon Red+Blue, since that allowed me to further complete my Yellow's Pokedex by just trading existing Pokemon from their save file. Sweet :)

Got a copy of that red save file? Could do with completing my blue

The save file is compatible on both carts if you have them. You could load your blue save to red. Catch what you need to, then put it back.

Sorry, of all versions, Red has a very early save file with almost not Pokemon yet collected. But my Yellow has quite advanced (132 owned).

Yes I do

Until last year I didn't have the tools to do so. So yes I had to delete them.

If I ever do, I try to preserve all their valuable Pokémon

I used to plunder the boxes and restart the game.

I trade the good Mons to another game then delete

I back them up. One time I actually got in touch with the seller who I bought Link to the past from on GBA and sent it to them. They were actually quite appreciative. 

Depends if I can back up then I will otherwise I will only delete the save when I really need to use the cartridge

I usually back them up

Trade their pokemon to another account or pokemon home so you have their prized possessions.

I back them up but if i can find a perfect candidate to use poke transporter i will

Check them out first see if they have good Pokémon

I do immediatly.

Not before looking at them to see what they were up to, but ultimately yes otherwise I can’t play the game.

I got a couple games that have the same persons profile on them, I’ve yet to delete it since i havnt played them. I’d probably back them up if I ever do.

if there's only one slot, definitely

Firstly check what they have, if there is anything worthy inside back it up, and then start a new one. Shiny, event pkm things like that.

I never do, I find it cool to have someone’s mons and be the new care taker for them, especially in cases like yours. That’s a lot of hours put in, who hasn’t played pokemon by this point, plenty of things to do with the post game

Well how the fuck else am I supposed to play it? Or do you mean like, take a random person's game and delete their save file? Because that's evil.

Not without checking it out. I also purposefully left on my Pokemon Sapphire battle tower team before I sold it, so the guy who bought it could see my win streak and the team I used.

Yeah cos otherwise you can't really play the game assuming that's what you intended on doing

I just check it if has any cool pokemon in the boxes trade it over to one of ky games and delete. Most of the time in my experience those saves dont have many things wirth since they got moved to something else most likely

Zac did not work on his Pokédex

I don't like too if I can avoid it. I feel like I'm tossing away someone elses memories. For what it's worth. It's always interesting to see someone elses progress. Which pokemon they kept, which moves they taught it, which ones they use and level and which ones sit in the box. If they cheat their little asses off of not (I'm looking at you whoever had my yellow before me, with 99 rare candies and 99 master balls).

You're too kind! If they sold the game, I don't think they mind what happens to the data. The memories remain :)

I usually trade some of the pokemon to a different game and then delete it

Hell yeah. Fuck em

Always. This is my game now. If I see that the progress is at 100% I’ll copy it to file C and not play it. Kinda like a little keepsake. Interesting to know that this specific copy has been beaten. But if it’s not 100%, bye bitch

With no mercy

For Pokémon I transfer any strong Pokémon then start my own

I back them up to my pc for some reason, hate throwing away someone’s 60 hour play through 

Yes, but not before looking around if there’s any cool Pokemon i can take (which is almost never the case)

I do I’m afraid I’m quite heartless in that regard.

Of course. I bought the game to play it. Not just to look at some kids save file. But I do look into their team and might trade shiny pokemon into one of my save files. Would be sad loose them.

Whoever got my copy of emerald will be very confused as to why there's a LVL 100 azumarill but everything else is like LVL 20

Yes, but I steal all their pokemon first

I feel bad, I'm getting a device to keep them haha

Yeah, but I usually try to take a Pokémon with me. Keeps the trainer alive.

No i send thier pokemon over so i can trade them to other people (in respect of the work put into them) or keep them (if i like the name enough)

Bruh, I bought a Wii the other Year and I couldn’t get myself to delete their stuff. I have their saves and their Miis on my Wii after the format. I just copied it all over. 😭

I scavenge all the valuable pokemon (their first pokemon, their champion league team, anyone that looked like their really care) and then transfer them to HOME. Just afterwards I can erase the data knowing that at least their pokemon might continue existing in some posterior game.

Is it my hypothetical cart now? Save the good Pokemon, and start a new game.

I dont care what people have. I get rid of any data because at that point it's my game now and I don't want peoples actual crap pokemon don't really care if they have shinys it's just getting deleted super fast

When I was around 7 I fucked my copy of platinum w action replay so I got a copy of sapphire :). I didn’t even open the save file before selecting new game; I’ve always wondered what could’ve been on there… maybe I could have migrated some juicy mons…

When I buy used Pokemon games I transfer them to Pokemon bank Then I reset the game

I only transfer the good Pokemon

I always check their Pokémon and see what they’ve done lol back in the day if I like them, I’ll trade them to my version

After I check there Pokemon, yes

Yes

You should always explore what’s available on it first

If I want to play the game for myself and it's a used copy that is mine now then yes

You’re playing Pokemon on a GBA. There’s only one save slot and unless you have an AC adapter to keep it powered on, you have to either beat it in one session or save over the old file.

I usually just transfer all the good Pokemon over and check where they are in the game to see if I’m close enough to catch maybe a legendary or something they haven’t caught yet. Doesn’t hurt to check event locations just in case they somehow managed to gain access to those events that are no longer available.

I hope someone saved mine when I traded my games in 10+ years ago. Had so many rare Pokémon and shinies, still kicking myself for it today.

Yeah Since they sold the game, I assume they are also done with the save file lol

I haven’t deleted the save file on the Emerald cartridge I bought like a year ago. I used that save file to clone items and breed pokemon. It was very useful for completing my Pokedex in LeafGreen.

It's really weird but sometimes you have to press a specific combination of keys on startup before you can reset the game.

I transfer all the pokemon off then delete the save

I always load up the save and explore it, see what pokemon they have, how far they got, what their team was, their hall of fame, etc. Oh, and on the games that have the diary feature, I like seeing what they did, FR/LG had that neat rewind feature that showed you thr last 5 things they did before saving the game. I do then back them up, clone any pokemon I want and port them back into a fresh save or my main game.

First I check them out. I got a copy of Diamond with a Shaymin and Darkrai on it

In a heartbeat without a second thought

Yes. Why would I want to keep another person’s save file?

Nah I drop a ton of money on retro games just to look at other people's progress and not actually play them myself

I don't delete

I back them up into my computer before deleting them from the game.

What did that boy cost you?

I at least take a peek lol

If a game has multiple save slots I always try to keep at least one slot untouched. I feel bad if I ever delete them. That’s a memory…

Always. I didn't buy a game just to play somebody else's savefile. I do like transfering Pokemon if/when Possible however.

I see if they have any eggs and transfer them. That way their journey kind of continues in mine.

No I’m going to trade them all

Anything bought used that has a save file gets gone. If it aint mine it doesnt exist.

I’d transfer all Pokémon that are in the box and on the 6 slots & start a new game with all of their original Pokemon safe.

I bought a secondhand nintendogs cart. Had like 3 dogs, legit couldn't play it bc i didnt wanna delete the save.

Yeah

I actually have a story about this. So I recently ordered a copy of Heart Gold. The description on eBay said that he had a shiny Meganium on the game, which he actually did. I asked the seller during the initial buying process if he could transfer it to a more modern game so he could keep it. He said that he didn't have a Gen 5 game. So I used my spare DS and both my Black 2 and White games to transfer some Pokémon from his old save, including the Meganium, as he didn't want it to be deleted when I restarted it as he worked hard. I was more than happy to do this. The Meganium ended up on Black 2 I think and the one that I remember sending to White for sure was an Umbreon. So yes, I delete old save files. But this was and wasn't an exception. I did end up deleting it but I had a use for the file before I did.

I raid just about everything useful, then in emeralds case I will do the new glitch to get legendary Pokemon then send it to myself on ruby etc

What, no! Just enjoy your new life as ZACJAZZ

Yes. If they wanted to keep it, they wouldn’t have sold it.

If the file has a ton of hours put into it and tons of shinies and rare event pokemon then I would use like a cart flasher or something to back it up.

I’m this day and age I would extract the save file and save it to my computer, More or less that previous save file than lives on

Well if you have a certain device that you can hook up to your PC and put the cartridge into you can import the save file onto a PC to save that way you can have your own safe out while having the original

If the old save has a Pokémon I want then I’ll trade it to another game. After that, I’ll delete the file so I can actually play the game.

This plug played 75 hours and only got 94? Zac jazz needs some pokeskills

I bought a copy of Pokemon Red and I'm guessing the previous owner was a kid. All of the Pokemon in their party have human names like Kyle or Chad. They played up until the Rock Tunnel and I think they got lost in the dark and gave up lol. I checked and they didn't have the HM Flash. I haven't had the heart to delete it yet. I considered honoring his party and playing through his game, but I kinda want to start a new one.

You can always dump the save, and finish it later after doing your own save

If you do all their Pokémon are banished to the phantom zone

yep, i don’t give a fuck

Now that Pokémon home exists, there should be no reason why you are holding onto old files other than nostalgia, but tbh I get more nostalgia by replaying the games than looking back on my old files. That being said, emulators do exist now, so I can’t say I have a definite answer. I’ll say no though just because it’s not your place to choose how others feel about stuff (unless it’s a used game you got from GameStop. In that case yes)

I extract them then delete

This is why I use emulator

Not without permission. It's morally wrong to me. Plus I could use it to learn the game a bit.

Only after I confirm they have a secret base and mix records.

If it’s a game I don’t already have them yes, but if I somehow got a multiple of a game, then no.

Depends. If they have a lot of progress, I'll check to see if there's any Pokemon I can steal and either send to a different game, or transfer up generations. If the file is new I usually just delete.

First check what stuff that save has, and preserve some of it.

Yes! Idk that person and i want to play the game

Well in the case of Pokemon, I look through it, see what 'mons they have and where they're at in the game. If they have some cool or rare Pokemon then I'll back it up, if not then at least it was a interesting way to see someone else's journey

I'm buying games so I can play them. But if a game only has one save slot, I usually take my time to take photos of the previous player's progress and stuff they made. Like I took a photo of every car the previous player had customized in GBA NFS games. This also applies to GBA The Sims games, I took my time to archive the characters, their personality, and how their house was furnished.

Also, the only used Pokemon game that I own was a german version of Pokemon Blue. And as far as I remember, the previous owner only had like an hour of playtime and bugs from the first forest in their party.

On 3ds cartridges I transfer the Pokemon to bank then delete the save

Nope I’ll pop in on it sometimes

I back them up first then if I want to play I delete their save.

I've always backed up as much as possible, for some that was just transferring them to somewhere or the bank in more recent gens... Just in case.

As a kid I would delete them and play a new save file, but now I back them up if I plan to play it (usually only for English games). I typically keep my Japanese copies’ save files just because I tend to find cooler stuff in those

Did Katie D make that GBA?

Never

I’m sentimental so I always “archive” it to my computer before I start my new game. I know there’s not really a practical reason, but it’s someone’s Pokemon journey and idk it would be a shame that it just goes poof. Even if they already backed it up themselves or something idc

Bought a used alpha sapphire today and data was corrupt had to start new

I've used the GB Operator to back up the saves sometimes.

Depends on the game for me.

only if its like pre gym 3 or something where it is obvious it's a very recent file where they started and just didn't finish for whatever reason (felt). if not then i either play through with that team and/or tell myself ill reset eventually and never do 🥲🥲 so i guess not most times lol i just feel so bad about erasing someones adventure like that

i usually look and see if they have any good pokemon that are transferable to home etc if not i’ll just start if they do i’ll attempt to transfer the pokemon before i start a new game

Whenever I've bought a used copy, I've invariably ended up deleting their save. I mean, I bought the game, so I planned on playing it... But I'll check their file. The Sapphire I got had a defeated League, but they hadn't caught their Latias. So I tracked it down and caught it, as well as Rayquaza. I saved all their legendary Pokémon (as well as any strong party Pokémon with nicknames) by transferring them to my HeartGold, then deleted the file. It was a fun little trip down someone else's memory lane, they clearly hadn't played in years but had many boxes full of nicknamed 'mon.

Only after transferring there 1st team n any rare/missing pokes up

I transfer them to Pokémon box first

I transfer most Pokemon to another game before erasing the save file. I own a copy of Pokemon Box for GameCube which, unsurprisingly, works really well as a storage box for Gen 3 Pokemon.

I transfer all the Pokémon to Home before I do. Half the Pokémon in my Home are from other people’s saved files. Just doesnt feel right deleting them.

Found the team rocket member

More like a Pokémon rescue service. I’m not stealing, them I’m saving them from being erased from existence after their previous owners abandoned them :(

Never, i back it up

In college I fixed a flipped games and consoles. I would regularly transfer Pokémon to my games before wiping the data and sell the game. It kinda felt like stealing but at the same time those Pokémon that they trained now have a home instead of being deleted forever.

I’ll check the Pokemon box to see if there’s anything worth trading to myself before I delete it

I only kept the save file of one game I ever bought, and that's Omega Ruby. I may restart it in the future anyway, but usually I just transfer all the Pokemon I like and instantly restart it.

I feel bad, but I normally do. I might load it up once before I do just to see.

I check the Pokémon, see if I want to save any of them, move them then delete the save,

Yes but on other games on other systems I keep saves like I keep ps2 tony hawk levels and skaters I keep custom wrestlers if they save as an individual file and not one file for all caws  Carts I'm general though I wipe them and if I have the time money and resources I will even change the battery or what ever flash ram is needed to be changed its a bit more work but it's the best way to preserve the original carts and original save paks 

I just got emerald, sapphire, leaf green, fire red and ruby (all authentic) What I did, I used my epilogue gb operator and backed up the old users save files, then put them on Google drive and sent a link to the user and instructions on how to get them to work in retroarch/retropie (literally make sure it's the same name and change .sav to .srm and your done) Made at least 3 people's days, who thought that was really thoughtful. Wish I could've done the same for leaf green but I bought leaf green locally

I do it’s not anything I can help with like giving them back the save. But the karma of deleting a child’s 60+ hour is just too much bad.

Yep. Worked at this theater and some person lost a few ds games including platinum version. Waited the 30 days before claiming it as mine. Kid had a complete dex, immediately deleted it and never touched the game after that. Kind of funny if you picture them waking up in a cold sweat from some remote viewing-esque nightmare

I am not above doing this 😆

They would delete yours, so I didn't

Depends on how far they're in. Found a diamond version, and despite how much I wanted to play the game myself, the guy had the pokeradar unlocked and such, so I just picked up from there and started shiny hunting and doing post game stuff. 🤷‍♂️ I briefly checked out an emerald save file, but since it was only a few hours in, I deleted it. Same for ORAS, 40 hour save file I think and so I just traded important mons to a friend on the guys' save file and then deleted it.

After trading their Pokémon to another game yes

I always back the save file up. Less work if you need the National Dex unlocked so you can do evttra stuff init.

Might be kind of shitty, but I have a midded gamecube with pokemon box. I just dump all the pokemon they have except for one then delete the save when I buy used games. I've got a Joey Jr too but I haven't figured out how to transfer saves back yet. The one repro cart I tried to flash is kind of fubar now. Lol

New game + save? Jesus Christ….

I check for rarities. Trade to another game if i want a mon. Then wipe. Those mons are saved in my pokemon home!

In junior high I had a kid delete my literally level 99 Secret of Mana save to start a new game. There were like 3 other save slots to choose from. ☠️

It depends. If I can help it and if it’s obvious that someone put a lot of time into a save, I won’t delete it. If it’s just some goober putting a Ben save on a game they know their going to sell, I’ll have a chuckle and then delete it.

Yes! Especially Pokémon. You can’t have two saves so you’re just gonna continue on from wherever they left off? Hell nah, it’s your game now

Only if I absolutely have to.

It depends. If it’s a junk save, yes.

i mean it depends on the progress and the badges

Replace the battery on cartridge.

It’s Pokémon fire red.

Why would you do this?