A clever Pokemon fan has retooled a Pokedex toy so that it can be used as a Game Boy Advance. The Pokemon toy was shown off running Pokemon Ruby flawlessly and shows what a little creativity and technical skill can pull off.

Pokemon Pokedexes have been sold as toys starting early on in the series' history. The Pokedex's appearance in-game and in the Pokemon anime inspired the toys, which typically allow players to look through Pokemon entries from a specific set of games. They also sometimes included additional functionality, like simple calculators. Some, like the one used in this build, were also capable of playing simple games based on Pokemon. However, playing a main entry to the Pokemon series on a Pokedex has never been possible, but that hasn't stopped players from modding Pokedexes into Nintendo DS devices, or in this case, a Game Boy Advance.

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Pokemon fan haihaisb shared a brief video demonstrating how the Pokedex works. According to the description, they took apart the Pokedex and put in the internal components of a Game Boy Micro within its shell. The video shows them inserting a copy of Pokemon Ruby and booting it up, and it seems to work flawlessly. Although the video didn't demonstrate how the build was completed, it's the second version they've made of this particular toy mod, and has replaced the left button with a thumbstick.

The creation is both impressive in its execution and ingenuity. There have been several iterations of the Pokedex as a toy over the years. This appears to be a 2005 release by Hasbro that was advertised as a talking Pokedex. The build using its shell is serving as a particularly nostalgic flashback for Pokemon fans who grew up in this era and owned (or simply wanted) this particular Pokedex toy.

Modding Game Systems Into Alternate Shells is Becoming More Common

Modders are constantly finding ways to pack hardware into alternate devices with mods like these. They're not limited to handheld devices, either. One fan recently got an entire Wii down to the size of a pack of cards, stunning players everywhere. The smaller the case, the more difficult it becomes to pack all the hardware into it, especially if cooling comes into the picture. In this particular build, a standard Game Boy Advance may not have been able to fit in the Pokedex, but the Micro was so small and light that it's a great choice for a modding project like this one.

Pokemon

Pokemon is a franchise that needs no introduction. One of the most successful media empires in history, Pokemon spans games, television, films, manga, merchandise, music, and more.

Created by

Satoshi Tajiri