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Fairy Type
(Diamond/Pearl)

Author: Lmaokai
Credits: Yako (Platinum Guide) for which this guide is based one, and previous credits from that guide

This is a guide on how to add the Fairy Type (replacing the Mystery Type) in Diamond and Pearl, based on the Lite Version of Yako's Platinum Guide. I recommend you read through Yako's guide for more context regarding the edits, as this guide is more of a bare-bones version to inform of the equivalent Diamond/Pearl files and offsets.

warning

This guide is for the US version of Diamond/Pearl.

Implementing the Fairy Type requires Arm9 expansion, which is highly experimental for Diamond/Pearl and will not receive as much (if any) support as Platinum.

Please make a backup of your project before following this guide.

Tools and Resources​

  • DSPRE
  • Any Hex Editor
  • Google Drive containing files created by Yako for our convenience:
    • RGCN file containing the summary screen Fairy icon
    • RLCN, RECN, RNAN, and RGCN files containing the Pokédex Fairy icon

Table of Contents​

Part 1 - Making space for the new type chart​

Apply the Arm9 Expansion
Make a backup of your ROM. Then use DSPRE's Patch Toolbox to apply the Arm9 expansion to your project.

Move the move effect subscript table to a new location
Open up your game_DSPRE_contents/overlay/ folder. Find the file named overlay_0011.bin, open it in a hex editor, and navigate to offset 0x30F08. You should see the following bytes:

00 00 00 00 12 00 00 00 16 00 00 00 19 00 00 00 ...

This is the start of the move effect subscript table, which is 0x244 (580) bytes long, ending with the following bytes:

... F9 00 00 00 04 01 00 00 05 01 00 00 76 00 00 00

Select and copy this table (0x30F08 to 0x3114B).

Open up your game_DSPRE_contents/unpacked/synthOverlay/ folder. Find the file named 0009 and open it in a hex editor. Navigate to offset 0x1000 and verify that the next 0x244 (580) bytes are all zeros. Paste ("overwrite") the copied move effect subscript table at this location.

Save this file back to the game_DSPRE_contents/unpacked/synthOverlay/ folder.

Changing the pointer for the move effect subscript table to the new location
Return to the overlay_0011.bin file opened in the hex editor. Navigate to offset 0x1F084. You should see C8 E4 25 02. Change these bytes to 00 90 3C 02. Save this file back to the game_DSPRE_contents/overlay/ folder.

For reference, here are the surrounding bytes
FF FF 7F 00 C8 E4 25 02 38 B5 21 49 15

Save your project with DSPRE. Get in a battle and test as any moves as possible to make sure the game doesn't crash or produce graphical glitches.


Part 2 - Editing the type chart​

The Gen IV type chart
Now we have made space for a new type chart to add the Fairy Type interactions. Return to the overlay_0011.bin file opened in the hex editor and navigate to offset 0x30DB8. You should see the following bytes:

00 05 05 00 08 05 0A 0A ...

Modern type chart
This guide will be using the modern type chart. If you would like to create your own type chart, refer to the Editing the type chart section in Yako's guide for more information.

Below is the modern type chart provided by Yako. Since we will be using the Mystery Type to add the Fairy Type, we will use the Mystery Type's ID for Fairy Type interactions.

Copy the bytes for the modern type chart and paste it ("overwite") at offset 0x30DB8 of overlay_0011.bin and save it back to the game_DSPRE_contents/overlay/ folder.

Modern Type Chart (Fairy Type replacing Mystery Type)
00 05 05 00 08 05 0A 0A 05 0A 0B 05 0A 0C 14 0A 0F 14 0A 06 14 0A 05 05 0A 10 05 0A 08 14 0B 0A 14 0B 0B 05 0B 0C 05 0B 04 14 0B 05 14 0B 10 05 0D 0B 14 0D 0D 05 0D 0C 05 0D 04 00 0D 02 14 0D 10 05 0C 0A 05 0C 0B 14 0C 0C 05 0C 03 05 0C 04 14 0C 02 05 0C 06 05 0C 05 14 0C 10 05 0C 08 05 0F 0B 05 0F 0C 14 0F 0F 05 0F 04 14 0F 02 14 0F 10 14 0F 08 05 0F 0A 05 01 00 14 01 0F 14 01 03 05 01 02 05 01 0E 05 01 06 05 01 05 14 01 11 14 01 08 14 01 09 05 03 0C 14 03 03 05 03 04 05 03 05 05 03 07 05 03 08 00 03 09 14 04 0A 14 04 0D 14 04 0C 05 04 03 14 04 02 00 04 06 05 04 05 14 04 08 14 02 0D 05 02 0C 14 02 01 14 02 06 14 02 05 05 02 08 05 0E 01 14 0E 03 14 0E 0E 05 0E 11 00 0E 08 05 06 0A 05 06 0C 14 06 01 05 06 03 05 06 02 05 06 0E 14 06 07 05 06 11 14 06 08 05 06 09 05 05 0A 14 05 0F 14 05 01 05 05 04 05 05 02 14 05 06 14 05 08 05 07 00 00 07 0E 14 07 11 05 07 07 14 10 10 14 10 08 05 10 09 00 11 01 05 11 0E 14 11 07 14 11 11 05 11 09 05 08 0A 05 08 0B 05 08 0D 05 08 0F 14 08 05 14 08 08 05 08 09 14 09 10 14 09 01 14 09 11 14 09 03 05 09 08 05 09 0A 05 FE FE 00 00 07 00 01 07 00 FF FF 00

Part 3 - Assigning the type to moves and Pokémon​

Because we are replacing the Mystery Type (appearing as ??? in DSPRE), that is the type you will need to select to assign the Fairy Type to moves and Pokémon.

If you'd like, you can now test the new type chart. However, we have not updated how the type icons look in-game yet.

info
  • You can edit Text Archive 565 to change ??? to FAIRY, but this only affects DSPRE.
  • You should change the move Curse to a different typing, as it normally has the ??? type.

Part 4 - Changing the summary screen type icon​

Add the RGCN file containing the Fairy icon
Open your project in DSPRE and select the Unpack to Folder button (Tools > NARC Utility > Unpack to Folder).
Navigate to game_DSPRE_contents/data/battle/graphic/batt_obj.narc and unpack it somewhere. This will create a batt_obj folder with files 0000 to 0278.

In the files provided by Yako, there is a fairy_icon.rgcn file in the type_icon folder. Copy that file, paste it in the unpacked batt_obj folder, and rename it 0279.

Use DSPRE to pack the batt_obj folder back into a NARC file and save it to the game_DSPRE_contents/data/battle/graphic/ folder.

Changing the pointer for the icon to the new file
Open up your game_DSPRE_contents folder, find the arm9.bin file and open it in a hex editor. Navigate to offset 0xF8404. You should see AC 00 00 00, which is referencing file 172, the Mystery Type icon, in the battle_obj.narc.

For reference, here are the surrounding bytes
AE 00 00 00 AC 00 00 00 A2 00 00 00

Change AC 00 00 00 to 17 01 00 00 to point to the new 0279 file containing the Fairy icon we added to the battle_obj.narc.

Changing the palette used by the icon
While still editing the arm9.bin in the hexeditor, navigate to offset 0xF8445. You should see the byte 02. Change it to 01.

For reference, here are the following bytes
02 00 01 02 00 01 01 02 00 00 01 01 02 00 00 89 00 8A 00

Save the file back to the game_DSPRE_contents folder and save your project with DSPRE. You should now see the Fairy Type icon displayed correctly in the Pokémon summary screen.

For informational purposes, these are the Mystery Type palette and icon files
  • batt_obj_38.RLCN
  • batt_obj_172.bin

Part 5 - Changing the battle move selection palette​

Open up your game_DSPRE_contents/overlay/ folder. Find the file named overlay_0008.bin, open it in a hex editor, and navigate to offset 0x18A40. You should see the following bytes:

CD 75 FF 7F 7A 5A 17 4E B5 45 72 3D 30 31 ED 28 CB 20 FB 66 08 21 00 00 8C 31 B5 56 BB 53 0A 39

Replace it with the following bytes:

CD 75 FF 7F 7C 66 17 52 18 56 1B 5E 35 41 F2 38 B2 34 DD 6E 08 21 00 00 8C 31 B5 56 BB 53 0A 39

Save this file back to the game_DSPRE_contents/overlay/ folder and save your project in DSPRE. You should now see the updated battle move selection palette for Fairy moves.


Part 6 - Changing the Pokédex Type Icon​

Almost done!

Replacing four files
Open your project in DSPRE and select the Unpack to Folder button (Tools > NARC Utility > Unpack to Folder).
Navigate to game_DSPRE_contents/data/resource/eng/zukan/zukan.narc and unpack it somewhere. This will create a zukan folder with files 0000 to 0129.

In the files provided by Yako, there four files in the pokedex_icon folder - 0013.rlcn, 0088.recn, 0089.rnan, 0090.rgcn. Copy those files and paste them the unpacked zukan folder, replacing or deleting the original files and/or removing the file extensions if the other files in the unpacked folder do not have them.

Use DSPRE to pack the zukan folder back into a NARC file and save it to the game_DSPRE_contents/data/resource/eng/zukan/ folder.

Modifying the game's code to show the Pokédex icon
Open up your game_DSPRE_contents/overlay/ folder. Find the file named overlay_0016.bin, open it in a hex editor, and navigate to offset 0xE15C. You should see the following bytes:

11 28 38 D8 01 18 79 44 ...

Replace it with the following bytes:

01 30 70 47 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

Navigate to offset 0xE270, 0x10120, and 0x18150, and replace 11 21 with 00 21. Save this file back to the game_DSPRE_contents/overlay/ folder.

For reference, here are the surrounding bytes
  1. 0xE270 - FC 11 21 F0 60
  2. 0x10120 - 11 21 30 60
  3. 0x18150 - FA 28 68 11 21

Save your project with DSPRE and check the Pokédex entry for the Pokémon you changed to the Fairy Type.

Congratulations! At this point you should have a fully functional Fairy Type in your game!

Thank you to Yako, the authors of previous Fairy Type implementation guides, researchers of Arm9 expansion, the developers of DSPRE, and those working on Pokémon decomps for making this possible.