pokemon d/p emulator legal?

Question

first whats a emulater? and i've seen videos on youtube where people go to different websites and download stuff and when everything is done a window comes up that looks like the a ds and u can actually play it.
here are the questions:
is it legal?
will it slow down or even mess up a desktop using windows xp?
is it even official(i can save and the journey is the same if it was on the ds?

thnks to people who help!!!

Answer 1

1. An emulator is a program that enables other software designed for a different computer to be used on yours. Emulators exist for many types of computers, handhelds, and consoles.

2. The emulator is perfectly legal. The games, known as ROMS, are not. They are not difficult to find, though.

3. No, it will not screw up your computer. It will slow it down while it is running, though, like a lot of games will.

4. No, it is not official. Legally, you must purchase a DS and a game in order to play it. But yes, you can save your game.

Here is a site where you can get emulators:

http://www.emulator-zone.com/