Am I allowed to submit a run of emulation on a 2ds xl? Also, would having the text be in English make a difference for starting out speedrunning this game? Thanks!

I'm not super familiar with 3ds/2ds emulation, can you tell me what emulator you're using and link me a page where I can read more about it? If it's particularly accurate emulation I'll consider allowing it. Generally it's discouraged to use unofficial translation patches though. That said, even if it's not valid for leaderboards it's a fine way to practice starting off, and once you learn the few menu movements you need to remember it's not too bad to play with Japanese.