GBA Pokemon cheat codes not working? (Mac)

[Lazar G]

I'm emulating Pokemon FireRed on my MacBook Air, and I started using some cheat codes. I used a cheat code to get a metal coat from the poke mart, and it actually worked! but now I'm trying to use a cheat code to get a Scyther wild encounter, and it's not working. Any reason for this?

I can link the cheat codes I am using if needed (I tried multiple)

[endrift]

The cheat code is probably broken. A lot of websites have really poor track records as far as "codes that actually work".

[Lazar G]

The cheat code is probably broken. A lot of websites have really poor track records as far as "codes that actually work".

that's kind of what I was suspecting. are there any reputable code sites or lists of codes that are known to work? specifically looking for codes for held items and wild pokemon encounters.

[endrift]

The best website I know of is gamehacking.org, but even it's not perfect. Alternatively, you could use a save editor like PKHeX instead.