How Do I Install Pokémon Sinking Sapphire?

Pokémon Sinking Sapphire is Drayano’s difficulty and enhancement hack of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire. It expands Pokémon availability, strengthens major trainers, adjusts moves, evolutions, abilities, stats, and other mechanics, and makes all 721 Pokémon from Generations 1–6 obtainable during the game.

Sinking Sapphire is paired with Pokémon Rising Ruby, which makes similar changes to Pokémon Omega Ruby. The latest official release of Sinking Sapphire is v2.1.0, released on October 16, 2016.

Installing Sinking Sapphire is a little different from installing a typical GBA ROM hack. You do not simply apply a .bps or .ips patch to a ROM. The hack was designed as a set of modified 3DS game files loaded over Pokémon Alpha Sapphire using LayeredFS-style game patching.

This guide explains how to install Sinking Sapphire without downloading a pre-patched ROM or copyrighted copy of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire.

What You Need Before Installing Pokémon Sinking Sapphire

Before starting, you need:

• A legally owned copy of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire
• A personal backup of your game if playing through an emulator
• The Sinking Sapphire v2.1 mod files
• A program such as 7-Zip or another archive extractor
• Either:
  • Azahar on Windows, Mac, or Android
  • A Nintendo 3DS with Luma3DS
  • A compatible 3DS emulator on iPhone

You should also back up any existing Pokémon Alpha Sapphire save before installing the hack.

Sinking Sapphire uses the same save location as normal Pokémon Alpha Sapphire. Accidentally starting a new game or deleting your existing save can therefore overwrite progress from the original game.

What Base ROM Does Pokémon Sinking Sapphire Use?

Pokémon Sinking Sapphire is based on:

Pokémon Alpha Sapphire

The game uses Title ID:

000400000011C500

This Title ID is especially important because both Luma3DS and modern 3DS emulators use it to determine which game should receive the Sinking Sapphire mod files.

Sinking Sapphire Requires Alpha Sapphire v1.0

This is one of the most important parts of the installation.

Sinking Sapphire was designed around the original v1.0 release of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire.

Do not install the official Pokémon Alpha Sapphire 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, or 1.4 update when playing Sinking Sapphire.

The original Sinking Sapphire installation instructions specifically warn that Alpha Sapphire updates can override files used by the hack. This can cause anything from missing text and Poké Mart changes to the game failing to work correctly.

Nintendo’s final official Alpha Sapphire update was version 1.4, released on April 22, 2015.

Even in 2026, players have reported Sinking Sapphire features failing while the 1.4 update is installed. Removing the Alpha Sapphire update restored the missing hack changes.

Use:

Pokémon Alpha Sapphire v1.0 with no update data installed.

Where to Get the Official Pokémon Sinking Sapphire Patch

The original Sinking Sapphire release was published by Drayano on the Project Pokémon forums.

The official Project Pokémon thread still documents:

• Pokémon Rising Ruby
• Pokémon Sinking Sapphire
• Version 2.1.0
• The October 16, 2016 release
• Features
• Documentation
• Installation information

However, the original download link has been removed.

Project Pokémon moderators state that the link was removed because the archive contained files taken from the original game.

Because of this, Rom Professor does not link to the old archive, ROM mirrors, .3ds files, .cia files, .cxi files, or pre-patched versions of Sinking Sapphire.

You can still use the official Project Pokémon thread as the authoritative source for the hack’s version, creator, documentation, and installation requirements. Official Rising Ruby and Sinking Sapphire Project Pokémon thread

If you obtain the mod files elsewhere, make sure you are downloading mod or patch files only rather than a copy of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire.

A legitimate mod package should not be advertised as a ready-to-play Pokémon Alpha Sapphire .3ds, .cia, .cxi, or other complete game image.

How to Patch Pokémon Sinking Sapphire

Sinking Sapphire does not use the normal ROM-patching process seen with hacks such as Pokémon Unbound or Radical Red.

Instead, the modified game files are loaded over your existing copy of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire.

The original distribution contains a structure similar to:

Files

followed by:

Main Files

The contents of Main Files are what need to be placed in the mod directory for Pokémon Alpha Sapphire. The original installation instructions specifically tell players to copy the contents of this folder into the Alpha Sapphire Title ID folder.

Step 1: Extract the Sinking Sapphire Files

Locate your Sinking Sapphire archive.

Right-click it and choose:

Extract

or use an archive utility such as 7-Zip.

Open the extracted folder.

Locate:

Files

Then open:

Main Files

Do not try to launch anything from this folder.

These are replacement game files that need to be loaded through your emulator or Luma3DS.

Step 2: Make Sure Alpha Sapphire Works Normally

Before installing the hack, launch your personal copy of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire.

Make sure it reaches the title screen normally.

If the base game does not work before installing Sinking Sapphire, installing the mod will not fix it.

Close the game after confirming that it works.

Step 3: Remove the Alpha Sapphire Update

Make sure Pokémon Alpha Sapphire is running as v1.0.

If an update is installed, remove it before installing Sinking Sapphire.

The exact process depends on whether you are using Azahar or a real Nintendo 3DS.

We cover both methods below.

Step 4: Open the Alpha Sapphire Mod Folder

The correct game Title ID is:

000400000011C500

Modern Citra-derived emulators use a mod directory with a structure similar to:

load/mods/000400000011C500/

Luma3DS uses:

luma/titles/000400000011C500/

Step 5: Copy the Sinking Sapphire Files

Open the Sinking Sapphire:

Files/Main Files

folder.

Copy the contents of Main Files.

Do not copy the entire Sinking Sapphire download folder into your mods directory.

Paste the Main Files contents directly into:

000400000011C500

Your folder should not accidentally look like:

000400000011C500/Main Files/romfs/...

Instead, the actual mod folders should sit directly inside the Alpha Sapphire Title ID directory.

This is one of the most common reasons 3DS ROM hacks fail to load.

Step 6: Launch Pokémon Alpha Sapphire

Start Pokémon Alpha Sapphire normally.

The emulator or Luma3DS should redirect the appropriate game files to the Sinking Sapphire versions automatically.

You do not normally launch a separate “Sinking Sapphire ROM.”

Your existing Alpha Sapphire installation becomes Sinking Sapphire while the mod files are enabled.

How to Play Pokémon Sinking Sapphire on Windows

The best modern replacement for the discontinued Citra emulator is Azahar.

Azahar was created by merging the Lime3DS project with PabloMK7’s Citra fork and is now intended as the continued development platform for Citra-based Nintendo 3DS emulation.

Step 1: Install Azahar

Download Azahar from its official website.

Download Azahar

Install the Windows version.

Step 2: Add Pokémon Alpha Sapphire

Add your legally dumped Pokémon Alpha Sapphire game to Azahar.

Launch it once to verify that it works.

Close the game.

Step 3: Make Sure the 1.4 Update Is Not Installed

Sinking Sapphire needs Alpha Sapphire v1.0.

If you previously installed update data through your emulator, remove it before continuing.

Step 4: Open the Mod Folder

Find Pokémon Alpha Sapphire in the Azahar game list.

Right-click it.

Choose:

Open Mods Location

Azahar uses the same Citra-style mod structure:

load/mods/<Title ID>

For Alpha Sapphire that Title ID is:

000400000011C500

Azahar’s mod system supports replacement romfs, executable patches, and other game-mod files using this directory structure.

Step 5: Copy Sinking Sapphire Into the Folder

Open:

Files/Main Files

from your Sinking Sapphire files.

Copy everything inside Main Files.

Paste it into the Alpha Sapphire mod directory Azahar opened.

Close the folder.

Step 6: Start Alpha Sapphire

Launch Pokémon Alpha Sapphire through Azahar.

If everything is installed correctly, the Sinking Sapphire modifications should load automatically.

How to Play Pokémon Sinking Sapphire on Mac

The installation process on macOS is almost identical to Windows.

Azahar provides native builds for both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.

Download the current macOS build from the official Azahar website.

Download Azahar for macOS

Add your legally dumped Pokémon Alpha Sapphire game.

Make sure no Alpha Sapphire update is installed.

Right-click Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and choose:

Open Mods Location

Copy the contents of:

Files/Main Files

into the mod directory for:

000400000011C500

Launch Pokémon Alpha Sapphire.

The Sinking Sapphire modifications should now load automatically.

How to Play Pokémon Sinking Sapphire on Android

Azahar is also available for Android.

The developers currently provide both an official Google Play version and a separate Vanilla Android build. For most players, the development team recommends the Google Play version because it is easier to install.

Azahar on Google Play

Step 1: Install Azahar

Install Azahar.

Step 2: Import Alpha Sapphire

Add your legally dumped copy of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire.

Launch it once before installing any mods.

Close the game.

Step 3: Find the Azahar Mods Folder

Azahar’s mod structure uses:

load/mods/

Inside that folder, create an Alpha Sapphire directory named:

000400000011C500

The resulting directory should be:

load/mods/000400000011C500/

Step 4: Copy the Sinking Sapphire Files

Extract your Sinking Sapphire archive.

Open:

Files/Main Files

Copy the contents into:

load/mods/000400000011C500/

Do not leave the files inside an extra ZIP archive or unnecessary folder.

Step 5: Launch Alpha Sapphire

Restart Azahar.

Launch Pokémon Alpha Sapphire.

Sinking Sapphire should load automatically.

How to Play Pokémon Sinking Sapphire on iPhone

Nintendo 3DS emulation on iPhone is more complicated than it is on Windows, Mac, or Android.

Azahar does not currently offer a normal standalone iPhone application through its official download page. However, Azahar’s emulation core is available for iOS through other emulator projects.

One current option is Manic EMU, which includes an Azahar-based Nintendo 3DS core and is available on iOS.

Because iOS restricts Just-In-Time compilation in normal App Store applications, Nintendo 3DS performance can be significantly worse than on Android or desktop computers.

Installing 3DS mods on iOS is also more manual.

Manic’s 3DS file structure uses a mod directory following the same basic format:

3DS/load/mods/<Title ID>/

For Alpha Sapphire:

3DS/load/mods/000400000011C500/

Copy the Sinking Sapphire Main Files into that directory using the iOS Files app.

Then launch Pokémon Alpha Sapphire using the Azahar 3DS core.

Because iOS 3DS emulation and JIT support continue to change, Windows, Mac, Android, or an actual modded 3DS remain easier choices for Sinking Sapphire.

How to Play Pokémon Sinking Sapphire on a Nintendo 3DS

Sinking Sapphire was originally designed with real 3DS hardware in mind.

A Nintendo 3DS running Luma3DS can load the hack using LayeredFS without modifying the installed Alpha Sapphire game itself.

Step 1: Make Sure Luma3DS Is Installed

Your system must already be running Luma3DS.

The maintained 3DS modding guide is available here:

3DS Hacks Guide

Step 2: Remove the Alpha Sapphire Update

From the Nintendo 3DS HOME Menu, open:

System Settings

Then:

Data Management

Then:

Nintendo 3DS

Then:

Downloadable Content

Locate the Pokémon Alpha Sapphire update and remove it.

The original Sinking Sapphire instructions specifically require the game to run without the official ORAS updates.

Step 3: Enable Luma Game Patching

Power off the 3DS.

Hold SELECT while turning the system on.

The Luma3DS configuration screen should appear.

Enable:

Enable game patching

Press START to save and boot the system.

Luma’s game patching feature enables LayeredFS and external game-file replacement.

Step 4: Open the SD Card

Insert the 3DS SD card into your computer.

Open:

luma

Then:

titles

If the folders do not already exist, create them.

Step 5: Create the Alpha Sapphire Folder

Inside:

luma/titles/

create:

000400000011C500

The final path should be:

luma/titles/000400000011C500/

Step 6: Copy the Sinking Sapphire Files

Open:

Files/Main Files

from your Sinking Sapphire download.

Copy the contents into:

luma/titles/000400000011C500/

Put the SD card back into the 3DS.

Step 7: Launch Alpha Sapphire

Start Pokémon Alpha Sapphire normally from the HOME Menu.

Luma3DS will automatically load the Sinking Sapphire replacement files.

You are still launching your normal Alpha Sapphire cartridge or digital installation. Luma simply replaces selected files while the game runs.

Best Emulator Settings for Pokémon Sinking Sapphire

Sinking Sapphire does not require unusual emulator settings.

Start with Azahar’s defaults.

For most computers:

• Use Vulkan if it performs correctly on your GPU
• Try 2× or 3× internal resolution
• Leave CPU speed at 100%
• Keep hardware shaders enabled
• Avoid unnecessary cheats
• Do not install the Alpha Sapphire 1.4 update

On Android:

• Start at 1× or 2× internal resolution
• Use Vulkan on compatible devices
• Reduce resolution if the game slows down
• Avoid texture packs until you confirm the hack works

Azahar currently requires a reasonably modern 64-bit device. Its official minimum recommendations include Windows 10 or newer on desktop and Android 10 or newer for Android devices, with Vulkan 1.1 or suitable OpenGL support.

The most important “setting” for Sinking Sapphire is still:

Do not use the official Alpha Sapphire update.

How to Update Pokémon Sinking Sapphire Without Losing Your Save

Sinking Sapphire has not received an official update beyond v2.1.0.

That means most players will never need to update the hack itself.

If a future patch-only preservation release or compatible update becomes available, back up your save before changing anything.

On Azahar, right-click Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and open its save-data location.

The main Pokémon save is normally stored as a file named:

main

Copy that file somewhere safe.

On a Nintendo 3DS, use a save-management homebrew application such as Checkpoint to create a backup before modifying the Sinking Sapphire files.

When updating mod files, replace only the hack files.

Do not delete your save unless the new version specifically requires a new game.

Common Pokémon Sinking Sapphire Installation Problems

Sinking Sapphire Just Launches Normal Alpha Sapphire

The mod files are probably in the wrong directory.

Verify that your mod path ends with:

000400000011C500

Also make sure you copied the contents of Main Files rather than placing the whole Main Files folder inside the Title ID folder.

On a real 3DS, also confirm that Enable game patching is turned on in Luma3DS.

The Title Screen Didn’t Change

The original installation guide says a changed title screen is one of the easiest ways to verify that the hack loaded successfully.

If you still see completely unmodified Alpha Sapphire behavior, recheck the mod directory.

Poké Marts or Text Changes Are Missing

You probably have the official Alpha Sapphire update installed.

Sinking Sapphire expects v1.0.

Remove the Alpha Sapphire update data and try again.

This exact problem has been reported by players using the 1.4 update.

The Game Crashes at Startup

First remove any Alpha Sapphire update.

Then temporarily remove other Alpha Sapphire mods, cheats, texture replacements, or code patches.

Run Sinking Sapphire by itself.

If it still crashes, verify that the base Alpha Sapphire game launches normally with the Sinking Sapphire folder temporarily removed.

Azahar Doesn’t Detect the Mod

Check the directory structure.

It should resemble:

load/mods/000400000011C500/

with the Sinking Sapphire files directly inside.

Not:

load/mods/000400000011C500/Sinking Sapphire/Main Files/

Azahar retains Citra’s game-modding structure and expects game modifications inside each game’s Title ID directory.

Luma3DS Doesn’t Load Sinking Sapphire

Check:

SD:/luma/titles/000400000011C500/

Then reboot while holding SELECT and verify:

Enable game patching

is checked.

Luma3DS officially supports LayeredFS game-file replacement using exactly this luma/titles/<Title ID>/ structure.

My Existing Alpha Sapphire Save Appeared

This is normal.

Sinking Sapphire uses Alpha Sapphire’s normal save location.

Back up your original save before starting a Sinking Sapphire playthrough if you want to preserve it.

How to Verify Pokémon Sinking Sapphire Installed Correctly

The easiest check is the title screen.

The original installation instructions state that the game should display the modified Sinking Sapphire branding when the hack has loaded correctly.

You can also verify the installation by looking for obvious gameplay changes.

Sinking Sapphire includes substantially different wild Pokémon availability, stronger trainer teams, modified Pokémon characteristics, evolution changes, and other balance adjustments.

If the game behaves exactly like normal Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, the mod probably is not loading.

Pokémon Sinking Sapphire Installation FAQ

What game do I need for Pokémon Sinking Sapphire?

You need Pokémon Alpha Sapphire.

Rising Ruby uses Pokémon Omega Ruby, while Sinking Sapphire uses Pokémon Alpha Sapphire.

What version of Alpha Sapphire does Sinking Sapphire require?

Use Pokémon Alpha Sapphire v1.0.

Do not install the official Alpha Sapphire update.

Does Sinking Sapphire work with Alpha Sapphire 1.4?

Not correctly.

The Alpha Sapphire update can override files modified by Sinking Sapphire, causing features such as text or Poké Mart changes to disappear.

What is the Pokémon Alpha Sapphire Title ID?

The Title ID is:

000400000011C500

Is Sinking Sapphire an IPS or BPS patch?

No.

The original Sinking Sapphire release uses replacement game files loaded through a 3DS modding system such as Luma3DS LayeredFS or a Citra/Azahar-style mod directory.

Can I use Lunar IPS to install Sinking Sapphire?

No.

Lunar IPS is not the normal installation method for Sinking Sapphire.

Is Citra still required?

No.

The original installation guide was written around Citra, but Citra is discontinued.

Azahar is the modern continuation of Citra’s codebase and retains compatible game-modding functionality.

Can I play Sinking Sapphire on Android?

Yes.

Azahar has an official Android release and supports the same Title-ID-based mod structure used on desktop.

Can I play Sinking Sapphire on iPhone?

Yes, but installation and performance are less straightforward.

Modern iOS emulator applications such as Manic EMU include an Azahar-based 3DS core, but Apple’s JIT restrictions can significantly affect 3DS performance.

Can I play Sinking Sapphire on a real Nintendo 3DS?

Yes.

A 3DS running Luma3DS can load Sinking Sapphire through LayeredFS.

Does Sinking Sapphire come as a .3ds or .cia file?

The legitimate hack itself should be treated as a mod, not as a complete Pokémon Alpha Sapphire game image.

Do not download pre-patched .3ds, .cia, or similar copies of the full game.

Why was the official Sinking Sapphire download removed?

Project Pokémon moderators state that the original download was removed because it contained ROM-derived files.

The official forum thread remains available for information about the hack.

What is the latest version of Pokémon Sinking Sapphire?

The latest official version is:

v2.1.0

It was released on October 16, 2016.

Will installing Sinking Sapphire delete my Alpha Sapphire save?

Simply installing the mod should not delete the save.

However, Sinking Sapphire and normal Alpha Sapphire use the same save-data location, so you should always create a backup before starting the hack.

How do I uninstall Pokémon Sinking Sapphire?

On Azahar, remove the Sinking Sapphire files from the Alpha Sapphire mod directory:

load/mods/000400000011C500/

On a Nintendo 3DS, remove:

luma/titles/000400000011C500/

or disable Enable game patching in Luma3DS.

Your normal Alpha Sapphire game will then load without the Sinking Sapphire modifications.