Onion GameSwitcher for Pokémon: resume and switch games

Navigate recent games

Onion also documents double-clicking MENU during play to switch to the previously played game. Use a disposable session to learn the difference between a single press and that shortcut.

Before switching Pokémon adventures

1. Make an ordinary in-game save at a recognizable location.
2. Record which game build and Onion profile you are using.
3. Open GameSwitcher and inspect the selected entry before resuming.
4. After returning, verify team and location rather than trusting a similar-looking overworld image.

This is a proposed check, not a physical-device observation. Use separate backups when playing multiple editions or patches based on the same original game.

Removed an entry with X?

The documentation says this retains the state. Removing a recent-game entry is therefore not a documented deletion of your Pokémon cartridge save. Reopen the intended game through its normal library and investigate the current files before creating new progress.

A different history can also reflect a different profile. Use the Guest Mode guide before concluding that an old adventure vanished.

Resume and Continue show different progress

Preserve states and cartridge saves before further writes. Record which route shows which team and location, then use the save-loading checklist to identify the active game, profile and core.

If the resumed session contains your newest progress and still works, save through the game's own menu before investigating updates or migration. If it resumes to a black screen, use the recovery guide rather than deleting the only state blindly.

Game library, resumed session and Continue: what each tells you

Think of these as three views of one setup. The library tells you which game entry you selected. GameSwitcher returns to a previous emulator session. Continue reads the progress available to the game at an ordinary start. Keep those observations separate when two adventures look alike.

For a Pokémon hack, include the release label in your notes. Two files based on the same original game can show the same town and sprites while belonging to different playthroughs.

How to open the game without its last state

Onion's Game List Options documentation supplies a specific route for this comparison. In the game's library list, select the intended entry and press Y to open GLO. Its Reset game action launches without the last state. The name sounds broad, but the documented purpose here is to skip that resumed state.

1. Before the comparison: if your resumed session is usable and has the newest progress, use Pokémon's own Save command first. Wait for the game to finish and preserve a separate backup.
2. Choose the same entry: return to the library, inspect its filename and open GLO for that entry.
3. Use Reset game: follow Onion's documented clean-launch action. Inspect the title screen before choosing a new adventure.
4. Select Continue: compare trainer, team and location with the session you recorded. If it looks wrong, stop before writing over it.

Read Onion's GLO action descriptions if your button has been reassigned in Tweaks. This procedure is a proposed verification sequence; it is not a recovery of progress that was never saved.

Choose the progress checkpoint before updating Onion

A recent-game preview is useful context, but the update checkpoint should be an ordinary in-game save you can recognize after a clean launch. If a resumed adventure and Continue show different progress, decide which checkpoint you intend to preserve before starting the update.

1. Preserve copies of the existing cartridge save and state before further writes.
2. Compare the trainer, location and party in the working resumed session with a clean Continue.
3. If the resumed session is the intended working adventure, save it through the game menu and wait for completion.
4. Close normally and confirm that clean Continue now shows the chosen checkpoint.
5. Make the separate card backup described in the Onion update guide.

Example: GameSwitcher shows a newly evolved teammate while Continue shows its earlier form. Resolve that difference while the old setup still works. Copying the state alone would leave the ordinary-save checkpoint unresolved. If the session is unstable or its identity is unclear, keep both copies and investigate before saving over anything.

Worked example: the party is newer in GameSwitcher

First retain the files that show both versions of progress. If the newer resumed session still plays normally, save inside Pokémon, then repeat the same-entry clean-start comparison. If the newer session is unstable, do not erase it merely to tidy the recent-games list.

Next check the active Onion profile and exact core. If either changed between observations, repeat the comparison consistently before diagnosing a damaged save. Use the save checklist for folder and filename investigation.

Choose the next step from the symptom

Once you have a working, verified in-game save, use it as the starting point for a later backup or migration. Keep the old build and state until the destination's Continue is confirmed.

Recover play activity without replacing Pokémon progress

The Onion FAQ describes versioned backups in Saves/CurrentProfile/saves/PlayActivityBackup/ and the active database at Saves/CurrentProfile/saves/playActivity.db. These concern playtime records, not the cartridge-save file for your adventure.

Use the documented backup sequence

1. Shut down normally and copy the current activity database and backup folder somewhere independent before changing the card.
2. Inspect the backup filenames and sizes. The FAQ’s procedure looks for a zero-byte database, then selects the highest numbered version before it as the candidate backup.
3. Make a copy of that candidate and name the copy playActivity.db. Retain its numbered original.
4. Place the working copy in the documented saves directory, preserving the previous active file outside that destination.
5. After returning to Onion, inspect the activity display and record what returned.

If no backup fits the documented sequence, stop before guessing a replacement. A nonempty file is a candidate, not independent proof that its database is usable. The separate temporary-database fix in the FAQ is mainly scoped to 4.2 beta users; do not apply it automatically to an unrelated installation.

Example: a freeze leaves the playtime display empty, but a clean Pokémon Continue still shows the expected trainer and party. Preserve the working game save. The missing activity calls for a database investigation, while the adventure already supplies its own progress check. Restoring playtime does not recover a battle or capture that was never saved.

Identify which history view needs attention

Finish with the result for the view you actually repaired. A restored thumbnail, playtime figure and newer party are three different observations. If more than one changed, retain the sequence so a later question can be traced to the relevant file or action.

Scope and reference

Onion 4.3 GameSwitcher documentation, checked 6 Oct 2026. Mini Plus overview · Gameplay speed controls.

This guide covers the documented UI. It does not establish state compatibility after a core or game update, battery behavior, or a completed physical-unit resume test.