Generation III
From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.
Generation III, also known as the Advance Generation, is the third set of Pokémon games released. It consists of Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed, LeafGreen, and Emerald Versions on the Game Boy Advance and Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness on the Nintendo GameCube. It appears to take place contemporaneously with Generation I.
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Advances in gameplay
The third generation, while incompatible with Generation I and II, boasts the most changes in the world of Pokémon. Many new Pokémon are added with brand-new type combinations such as Fighting/Psychic. The advances include:
- An increase in the graphics display and general appearance.
- A new, streamlined Pokémon storage system with a graphical user interface.
- Pokémon Contests are introduced.
- Pokéblocks are introduced.
- 135 Pokémon added to the Pokémon world, bringing the total to 386.
- 103 new moves, bringing the total to 354.
- New villainous teams involving one specific legendary Pokémon — Groudon in Pokémon Ruby and Kyogre in Pokémon Sapphire.
- Individual values (IVs) are increased from 0 through 15 to 0 through 31.
- Natures, which determine a Pokémon's stat growth, and can be affected by an item held by a Pokémon while breeding (Pokémon Emerald only).
- New environments can be explored: underwater, deserts, volcanoes, and tropical jungles.
- Wireless communication (only available in FireRed, LeafGreen, and Emerald).
- Nintendo e-Reader communication.
- Abilities, which can affect Pokémon inside and outside of battle.
- Berries have greater use; can be used for Pokémon Contests, regular battle, or in stat training (Pokémon Emerald, specifically).
- Double battles are available, along with a single Multi Battle (Pokémon Emerald only).
- Areas where weather is set before the Pokémon battle starts.
- Code preventing certain event legendaries from being hacked, since, if they are hacked, they always disobey the trainer.
Hoenn starters
Players of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald begin their journey in Littleroot Town with a choice of Treecko, Torchic, or Mudkip. The Grass-Fire-Water type triangle from previous generations remains, and the difficulty setting follows Generation I where Grass-type or Water-type Pokémon will serve to make the beginning gyms easier, whereas choosing the Fire-type provides an extra challenge.
Kanto starters
As the Generation III games taking place in Kanto are remakes of Generation I games, the starters are the same as in that generation; they are the Grass-type Bulbasaur, the Fire-type Charmander, and the Water-type Squirtle.
Gym Leaders
Being that there are only 17 types, and Kanto and Johto, during Generation I and II, had Gyms specializing in 16 of them, all of the types of the Gym Leaders of Hoenn are the same as that of a Gym Leader in one of the previous regions.
Hoenn
| Hoenn League | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Generation III | Region: Hoenn | |||
| Gym Leader Japanese | Location Japanese | Type | Badge | |
 Roxanne ツツジ Tsutsuji | Rustboro City カナズミシティ Kanazumi City | Rock |  Stone Badge | |
 Brawly トウキ Tōki | Dewford Town ムロタウン Muro Town | Fighting |  Knuckle Badge | |
 Wattson テッセン Tessen | Mauville City キンセツシティ Kinsetsu City | Electric |  Dynamo Badge | |
 Flannery アスナ Asuna | Lavaridge Town フエンタウン Fuen Town | Fire |  Heat Badge | |
 Norman センリ Senri | Petalburg City トウカシティ Tōka City | Normal |  Balance Badge | |
 Winona ナギ Nagi | Fortree City ヒワマキシティ Hiwamaki City | Flying |  Feather Badge | |
 Tate and Liza フウとラン Fū and Lan | Mossdeep City トクサネシティ Tokusane City | Psychic |  Mind Badge | |
 Wallace ミクリ Mikuri RS |  Juan アダン Adan E | Sootopolis City ルネシティ Rune City | Water |  Rain Badge |
Kanto
| Indigo League | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Generations I and III | Region: Kanto | ||
| Gym Leader Japanese | Location Japanese | Type | Badge |
 Brock タケシ Takeshi | Pewter City ニビシティ Nibi City | Rock |  Boulder Badge |
 Misty カスミ Kasumi | Cerulean City ハナダシティ Hanada City | Water |  Cascade Badge |
 Lt. Surge マチス Matis | Vermilion City クチバシティ Kuchiba City | Electric |  Thunder Badge |
 Erika エリカ Erika | Celadon City タマムシシティ Tamamushi City | Grass |  Rainbow Badge |
 Koga キョウ Kyō | Fuchsia City セキチクシティ Sekichiku City | Poison |  Soul Badge |
 Sabrina ナツメ Natsume | Saffron City ヤマブキシティ Yamabuki City | Psychic |  Marsh Badge |
 Blaine カツラ Katsura | Cinnabar Island グレンじま Guren Island | Fire |  Volcano Badge |
 Giovanni サカキ Sakaki | Viridian City トキワシティ Tokiwa City | Ground |  Earth Badge |
Other Generation III games
Pokémon Colosseum, for the Nintendo GameCube, features a new land called Orre where several Generation II and Generation III Pokémon are altered by two teams called Cipher and Team Snagem. Players must "snag" the "Shadow Pokémon" and cure them of their darkness. Once this is completed, the Pokémon may be transferred to the other Generation III games. Pokémon Colosseum is the first 3D Pokémon RPG. This game also features an advanced Stadium Mode similar to those of the Pokémon Stadium games.
Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen are remakes of the original Red and Green Versions, and return to the world of Generation I for an updated telling of its story.
Pokémon Box Ruby & Sapphire is another Generation III game for the Nintendo GameCube. It allows:
- Storage of up to 1500 Pokémon from Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed, LeafGreen and Emerald Versions.
- Playing Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire on the television through emulation.
Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, also for the Nintendo GameCube, follows a storyline that takes place a few years after the story of Colosseum. It allows for snagging of rare Generation I, II and III Pokémon as well, and includes a difficult-to-purify final Shadow Pokémon, a Shadow Lugia.
Generation III is the biggest generation yet, with five handheld games and three console games.
Trivia
- It is the only generation not to have a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series.
- In the soundtrack for Hoenn's games, there are around five unused themes, one of these is a remixed Route 37 theme from GSC. This may have been a music test, though it could have been an alternate theme for such routes as Route 116, but was left out during development.
- Generation III is the only Generation so far not to introduce any Eeveelutions.
- Generation III is the first Generation to contain main series games where Kanto is not accessible.
- Currently, this generation has the highest number of main series games named after precious jewels, namely, the ruby, sapphire, and emerald.
- Generation III introduced the most Pokémon that didn't evolve.
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