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Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire

Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire (Japanese: ポケットモンスター ルビー・サファイア Pocket Monsters Ruby and Sapphire) were the first Generation III games to be released — November 21st, 2002 in Japan, March 17th, 2003 in the US and July 25th, 2003 in Europe. It is based in the new Hoenn region and not only introduces new Pokémon and items, but also new features including Pokémon Contests and a Battle Tower. An expanded third version, Pokémon Emerald, was released two years later. Ruby and Sapphire became the best-selling Game Boy Advance games of all time.

New features

• A completely new region - Hoenn.
• 135 new Pokémon, bringing the National Pokédex number to 386.
• Over 100 new moves.
• Pokémon now have special abilities.
• New elemental type combinations such as Water/Grass and Ghost/Dark.
• Pokémon Contests that allow Pokémon to compete in five different areas.
• Running Shoes were introduced.
• A separate "icon" for each Pokémon, though the icons are the same for Spinda.
• Double battles which have two Pokémon go against two others.
• Another new list of TMs, with some staying from Generations I and II.
• Weather effects on the field in certain areas.
• A new weather condition - Hail.
• A brand new set of berries.
• A mixing records function, which can be performed with two to four players.
• A Pokéblock making function, which can be performed alone, or with up to four players.

Storyline

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

The trainer first starts when, as always, the player is asked by one of the Professors (in this case, Professor Birch) what gender he or she is, and what her/his name is. After that, the trainer will be in a moving van. This moving van comes from Johto, where the family first lived, but they moved after the trainer's father, Norman became leader of the Petalburg Gym. After the van has gone, he or she will enter a house (the house of the trainer, to be exact) and there will be Machoke movers carrying boxes. After some dialogue with the mother of the trainer, the trainer will have to meet Professor Birch, but he appears to be out in the field, so he must be found.

Upon encountering him, he will be chased by a Poochyena, and he will ask the trainer to take a Poké Ball out of his backpack, lying on the ground. Here, the trainer has to choose if he/she wants a Treecko, a Torchic, or a Mudkip. Furthermore, the usual story of the Pokémon game is followed, and the trainer gets some Poké Balls, and sets out to become a Pokémon Master (and of course, he or she's gotta catch 'em all).

Before the trainer leaves, however, he or she obtains the running shoes from his/her mother. The trainer then continues through Hoenn, defeating Team Magma or Team Aqua in places, depending on the version. Using Rock Smash, the trainer finishes the Rusturf Tunnel, he or she rescues the Wailmer in Lilycove City, saves the world from either Groudon (in Ruby) or Kyogre (in Sapphire), and does many other things, too countless to name.

Finally, the Elite Four is defeated, and just when Steven Stone crowns the trainer as champion, the rival interrupts, not realizing that the battle already has ended.

After that, the rival finds out the battle is already over, and Professor Birch comes in. He congratulates the trainer, and takes a look at the trainer's Pokédex. Then, the trainer is registered in the Hall of Fame, and the credits begin.

After the credits, the trainer starts back at his/her home in Littleroot Town. Downstairs, Norman will give the character the S.S. Ticket to take the S.S. Tidal over to the Battle Tower The player will also have the ability to encounter Rayquaza at the Sky Pillar, as well as finding either Latios* or Latias* roaming around Hoenn.

Pokémon

Version exclusives

Ruby 0273 Seedot Grass 0274 Nuzleaf Grass Dark 0275 Shiftry Grass Dark 0303 Mawile Steel 0335 Zangoose Normal 0338 Solrock Rock Psychic 0383 Groudon Ground

Sapphire 0270 Lotad Water Grass 0271 Lombre Water Grass 0272 Ludicolo Water Grass 0302 Sableye Dark Ghost 0336 Seviper Poison 0337 Lunatone Rock Psychic 0382 Kyogre Water

Glitches

Most Pokémon games had some glitches, as did these. There is the infamous berry glitch, which made most time based events, such as berry growing, impossible after the game had been owned for a year, or played for over a 100 hours. This glitch is able to be corrected, however, by downloading the berry patch from either the Pokémon Colosseum bonus disc, or FireRed, LeafGreen, and Emerald. In this game, it is also possible to catch several glitch Pokémon, such as ?????????? or Bad egg.

Compatibility

Unlike previous games, Ruby and Sapphire were not backwards compatible with Generations I and II. This prompted remakes of the original games, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. Trading between these games and the third Hoenn-based game, Pokémon Emerald, is possible.

While Ruby and Sapphire cannot trade directly with the Generation IV games Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, a player's Pokémon may be permanently transferred via Pal Park, and some Generation III Pokémon can be found using the dual-slot mode.

Reception

Both games were well received, receiving a perfect 5 star rating from GamePro, 1. IGN commented that they where a "wonderful GBA follow-up to the immense Game Boy blockbuster" 2. However, some reviews criticized the repetitive nature of the games, with Eurogamer commenting that "apart from the occasional tense battle with a Gym Leader and the more sophisticated opponents later on in the game, the constant fighting and collecting mechanic gets very tired, very fast" 3. The games received an average score of 82% on Metacritic

Awards

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire got the 10th spot on IGN's top 25 Gameboy Advance Games of all time.

Trivia

• Along with Emerald, they are the only games in the main series where the player cannot choose a name for his/her rival at the start of the game.
• They are also the only games in the main series where the rival is never encountered with his/her starter in final stage.
• After release, an unknown person hacked and distributed a version of Sapphire for Game Boy Color.
• They were released in Japan on the third anniversary of the Japanese release of Pokémon Gold and Silver.
• Ruby and Sapphire are the first main series games in which Kanto is inaccessible.
• Ruby and Sapphire's colors, along with Emerald's, are the same as Pokémon Red, Blue, and Green, the first generation games.
• Players encounter the least amount of in-game trades in Ruby and Sapphire, with only three total.

Template:Main series

This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.