Generation III

Title screen of Pokémon LeafGreen Version

Debut	EN	March 19, 2003
Debut	JA	November 21, 2002
Pokémon		386 (135 new)
Main games		Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald
Region(s) introduced		Hoenn, Orre, Sevii Islands (Kanto)
Other RPGs		FireRed and LeafGreen
Contains remakes of		Generation I
Battle arena games		Colosseum, XD
Storage games		Box
Side games		Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, Dash, Trozei!, Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, Ranger
End	EN	April 22, 2007 (1495 days)
End	JA	September 28, 2006 (1407 days)

The third generation (Japanese: 第三世代 third generation) of Pokémon games, commonly referred to by fans as Generation III, and also sometimes known as the advance generation, advanced generation, or the GBA Pokémon series, is the third set of Pokémon games released, and is described by some to be a "resetting" of the series.

It started with the games Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, later joined by Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (remakes of Pokémon Red and Green) and Pokémon Emerald (based on Ruby and Sapphire). This generation also includes the games Pokémon Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness.

Terminology

In the Generation IV game manuals, the term GBA Pokémon series refers to the Generation III Pokémon games.

History

Centering around Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald on the Game Boy Advance, released in 2002 and 2004 respectively (2003 and 2005 outside of Japan), Generation III broke from the continuous storyline that had been established between Generation I and Generation II, opting instead to move players to the Hoenn region, an island region disconnected from Kanto and Johto. The games themselves are incompatible with the previous two generations as well, initially causing many complaints due to the unavailability of many popular Generation I and II Pokémon in Ruby and Sapphire. This problem was remedied, however, between the release of Hoenn's paired versions and third version, with remakes of Generation I's Pokémon Red and Green appearing as Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen on the Game Boy Advance, as well as Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness on the GameCube.

Details in the Hoenn- and Kanto-based games hint that the storyline of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald is contemporaneous with that of FireRed and LeafGreen (and due to this, contemporaneous with Generation I as well), placing Generation III three years before Generation II and Generation IV, themselves contemporaneous. It is unknown where the storylines of Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness fall in the timeline, being five years apart from each other but making no reference to their time period relative to any of the main series games.

Advances in gameplay

Through its incompatibility with Generation I and Generation II, Generation III enhanced the Pokémon world the most yet, bringing about the most changes to the world of Pokémon. The advances include:

The addition of 135 new Pokémon, the most added since Generation I (at the time of its release), bringing the total to 386. Many new Pokémon have previously unseen type combinations, while two of them—Wynaut and Azurill—are related by Evolution to older Pokémon.
Two new forms of Unown are also introduced.
The addition of 103 new moves, bringing the total to 354.
Pokémon may now have one or two of 77 different Abilities, special attributes in addition to types and moves which can change the tide of battle and affect out-of-battle gameplay.
The Pokémon Storage System has changed from a text-based interface to a full-color graphical user interface. Boxes, while remaining at 14, now have 10 extra spaces, allowing for storage of 140 additional Pokémon (for a total of 420 Pokémon).
- It also now allows additional Pokémon to be captured without the need to change the active box of the PC, with the game now automatically sending newly captured Pokémon into a separate box rather than preventing the player from capturing any more Pokémon until the active box which is full is changed for one that isn't.
Battle backgrounds, which vary depending on where the player is.
The introduction of Pokémon Contests, where Pokémon show off their style in one of five Contest conditions, with Contest stats enhanced by Pokéblocks. Through this and other methods Ribbons can be won for Pokémon, which they will retain when transferred to later games.
A brand-new region, Hoenn, with its own set of eight Gym Leaders and Elite Four. The player characters are also different from the previous games.
Seven new Poké Ball variants, replacing those introduced in and exclusive to Johto.
In addition, the type of Poké Ball a Pokémon was caught in is now displayed in the summary page.
New villainous teams, Team Aqua and Team Magma, whose focus is on capturing the Legendary Pokémon Kyogre and Groudon, respectively.
Weather can now be found on the field and activate at the start of battle, while one more, hail, has been added.
Double Battles, where both sides use two Pokémon at a time, are introduced.
Communication capabilities with the e-Reader to activate certain events.
All handheld Generation III games have a framerate of 60, allowing for smoother animations.
Link trades and battles are now possible between Japanese and international releases due to the use of a worldwide character set. Due to the fact that online trading was introduced only in Generation IV, however, many players were not aware of this.

Major alterations from Generation II

A complete overhaul of the Pokémon data structure; Pokémon now have an individual personality value which can range up to a number above four billion. Abilities and natures, also newly introduced, are determined based on this value, as is a Pokémon's gender, while the IV system has been overhauled for greater variance (0-31 rather than 0-15 as it was before). Shininess is now based on a calculation between the personality value and Original Trainer's Trainer ID number and secret ID number with the same rarity.
- The introduction of 76 abilities, plus the unused Cacophony.
An overhaul of the Berry system introduced in Generation II: old Berries rejected in favor of Berries which grow individually as plants and can be picked and planted elsewhere. The Berries are now named after real life fruits instead of their "basic" names from the previous generation. The effects of the first ten new Berries are similar to the ten Generation II Berries.
Each Pokémon has its own status screen sprite, for ease of use in the party screen or PC.
The function of the built-in clock was greatly reduced:
- In Ruby and Sapphire, there are no cosmetic changes during different times of day and Pokémon appearances are not affected by time. Also, the day of the week is no longer tracked. The only features that depend on the time of the day are Eevee's friendship Evolutions and tides in Shoal Cave.
- FireRed and LeafGreen have no built-in clock at all.
The seven Poké Balls made from Apricorns, along with Apricorns themselves, are unavailable in Generation III.
In battle, passive damage (such as from poison, burn, and Leech Seed) is now resolved at the end of a turn, rather than immediately after a Pokémon attacks. In previous generations, such damage did not occur after a Pokémon, that would have taken passive damage, knocked out another Pokémon.
Animated Pokémon sprites introduced in Pokémon Crystal have been abandoned.

Further additions in FireRed and LeafGreen

Wireless communication between games (requires adapter boxed with FireRed and LeafGreen).
The ability to move multiple Pokémon in the PC at once.
The Sevii Islands, a collection of nine islands that contain many Pokémon otherwise only found in the Johto region.
Items are now visually represented with sprites.
The inability to deposit key items in the PC.

Further additions in Emerald

Multi Battles, where two opponent Trainers encounter the player at once and battle in a Double Battle.
A Battle Frontier, adding to the original Battle Tower, and featuring Trainers who head each facility.
Animated Pokémon front sprites have been reinstated. Unlike the animations from Pokémon Crystal, these new animations only have two frames (including the base sprite) and are accompanied by various visual effects to make up for it, such as distortions, rotations, color blending and so on. This will remain standard until Generation V.
- Back sprites don't have an additional frame, but are now also animated using the aforementioned effects.

Regions

Hoenn

Main article: Hoenn

The Hoenn region, situated somewhat southwest of Johto, was introduced in Generation III. It is more tropical than either Kanto or Johto, featuring rainforests, deserts, and volcanic caves, as well as areas deep underwater.

This region's geography is mostly rural on the interior of the continent, with major cities springing up near its ample coasts. Routes between the cities can be treacherous, with densely-forested area covering much of the land. Legendary Pokémon are said to have created the region long ago, with its shape reminiscent of a yin-yang symbol reflecting the balance between land and sea.

Several ancient ruins are found around the region; their purpose remains to be discovered by the player, though ancient writings found deep beneath the sea south of the region indicate that within them are ancient Pokémon who were sealed away due to their power.

First partner Pokémon

Like before, the first partner Pokémon trio follows the Grass-Fire-Water alignment, with new Pokémon Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip being the three Pokémon the player has to choose from to save Professor Birch from a wild Poochyena (Zigzagoon in Emerald) at the start of the game.

Treecko		Torchic		Mudkip
Grass		Fire		Water
	Grovyle		Combusken		Marshtomp
Grass		Fire	Fighting	Water	Ground
	Sceptile		Blaziken		Swampert
Grass		Fire	Fighting	Water	Ground

Gym Leaders

As in previous generations, all Gym Leaders give out Badges and TMs on their defeat.

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 Huen Town	Fire	Heat Badge
Norman センリ Senri		Petalburg City トウカシティ Touka 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

Main article: Kanto

Kanto, which in Generation II lacked some features from its original appearance, returned in a state closer to its original form in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, with all features from Generation I brought back and improved.

First partner Pokémon

As the Generation III games taking place in Kanto are remakes of Generation I games, the first partner Pokémon are the same as in that generation; they are the Grass-type Bulbasaur, the Fire-type Charmander, and the Water-type Squirtle.

Bulbasaur		Charmander		Squirtle
Grass	Poison	Fire		Water
	Ivysaur		Charmeleon		Wartortle
Grass	Poison	Fire		Water
	Venusaur		Charizard		Blastoise
Grass	Poison	Fire	Flying	Water

Gym Leaders

Like the first partner Pokémon, the Kanto Gym Leaders are also the same as they were before, with each giving out a TM for the player to use freely as well as their Badge.

Indigo League
Generation 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 Matisse	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 Kyou	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

Sevii Islands

Main article: Sevii Islands

The Sevii Islands, appearing only in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, are a smaller region without a Pokémon League where the player can journey later in the game. These islands make available many Generation II Pokémon to players of the Generation III games, and through events, allow for the capture of Generation II's game mascots Ho-Oh and Lugia and the mysterious Pokémon Deoxys.

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 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.

Sixteen spin-off Pokémon games are based on Generation III: Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, Pokémon Channel, Pokémon Dash, Pokémon Ranger, Pokémon Trozei!, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, Pokémon Advanced Generation: I've Begun Hiragana and Katakana!, Pokémon Advanced Generation: Pico for Everyone Pokémon Loud Battle!, Pokémon Advanced Generation: Pokémon Number Battle!, Pokémon Team Turbo, Pokémon Masters Arena, Pokémon Team Rocket Blast Off, Pokémon Poké Ball Launcher, Pokémon Seek & Find, and Pokémate.

Hoenn thematic motif

The third generation of Pokémon games were more directed towards nature and relationships. The three first partner Pokémon were collectively more symbolic to their elements than previous first partner Pokémon: Mudkip is based on a fish which thrives only in Water, Torchic is a chick (which, in the real world, needs warmth in order to hatch) holding its Fire internally, and Treecko is a gecko that lives only in forests with Grass. The main antagonists were either Team Magma and/or Team Aqua who want to expand the land or sea respectively. Once they awaken one of the Legendary Pokémon Kyogre or Groudon, the world is flooded by rain or dried by drought. It's up to the player to set nature back on course by defeating their version's mascot or capturing it. Hoenn's people are far more attuned to nature than previous regions: Fortree City is built alongside Pokémon in the trees, while Pacifidlog Town is built on wooden rafts in the sea atop a Corsola colony, even though Corsola cannot be found there in the games. With Secret Power, a player can make a Secret Base out of trees, caves, or clumps of grass.

There are far more Pokémon that share relationships with other Pokémon in this generation of games, especially the Legendary Pokémon. The legendary giants are an obvious example of this; however, the game mascots all share a relationship as the super-ancient Pokémon. Latios and Latias are both Eon Pokémon that must be chased around the region. Pokémon such as Lunatone, Illumise, Plusle, and Wailord are related to other Pokémon, namely Solrock, Volbeat, Minun, and Relicanth, in relationships ranging from explicit to loose symbiosis, to intense rivalry in the case of Zangoose and Seviper.

Reception

At the time of its introduction, Generation III drew criticism for its inability to receive Pokémon data from prior generations, as only 184 of the previously introduced 251 species were available. Some players perceived this as a "reboot" of the series. The game also saw a jump in newly introduced Legendary Pokémon, with 10 more introduced, a significant increase from Generation II, which only introduced 6, which also displeased some players.

Later games rectified this by allowing players to obtain Pokémon species unobtainable in Ruby and Sapphire, which could then be traded between the Generation III games. Emerald was lauded as a welcome addition to the series, which introduced the first Battle Frontier to the series. FireRed and LeafGreen brought back nostalgic fans who decided to pass on Hoenn's primary paired versions, as well as fans new to the Kanto region who had not experienced it on the Game Boy.

Title screens

English title screens

Pokémon Ruby	Pokémon Sapphire	Pokémon Emerald

Pokémon FireRed	Pokémon LeafGreen

Japanese title screens

Pokémon Ruby	Pokémon Sapphire	Pokémon Emerald

Pokémon FireRed	Pokémon LeafGreen

Trivia

This generation introduced the most Abilities to the core series, with 76 (77 if including Cacophony).
This is the first generation to:
- Introduce multiple Legendary trios (the super-ancient Pokémon and the legendary giants).
- Introduce gendered Legendary Pokémon (with Latias and Latios being the first two).
- Introduce a pure Ice-type and a pure Steel-type Pokémon.
- Introduce multiple Mythical Pokémon.
- Not introduce any new Evolutions for Eevee.
- Have version-exclusive Gym Leaders. In this case; Wallace and Juan who are the Gym Leaders of Sootopolis City in Ruby, Sapphire; and Emerald respectively.
- Not allow the customization of a rival character's name.
- Have multiple paired versions, one pair of which are remakes.
- Give the Elite Four its own battle music, as opposed to them sharing the same battle music as the Gym Leaders in previous generations. However, FireRed, LeafGreen, HeartGold, SoulSilver, Diamond, Pearl and Platinum still do this, with the latter three's Elite Four battle music having a lower pitch by one semitone.
- Use wireless connectivity.
- Feature the word "Pokémon" in the logos of the Japanese titles, alongside "Pocket Monsters".
- Have two unique sets of core series Pokémon games released in the same calendar year in Japan, with Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen and Pokémon Emerald releasing in 2004.
- Introduce two:
  - Villainous teams.
  - Pseudo-legendary Pokémon.
This is the only generation:
- To feature a mother and father for the main character and the rival.
- Where games from the previous generation cannot be communicated with.
- Where more than one year passed without a new Pokémon game released in Japan, with the total being two years (2003 and 2005).
- Whose spin-off title has received a remake.
- Where there is an even number of Pokémon in the National Pokédex.
- To run at 60 frames per second. The rest of the core series almost entirely targets 30 FPS, except that battles in Generation V target 60 FPS.
- To not introduce a dual-type Electric-type Pokémon.
This is the last generation to introduce a first partner Pokémon that later gained a gender difference.
This generation does not introduce any evolved forms of Pokémon from previous generations (a trait shared with generations V and VII), with the only cross-generational relatives being baby Pokémon Azurill and Wynaut.
This generation has the largest number of total games, with fifteen.
Starting with Generation III, Ken Sugimori's art style shows noticeable differences from that of Generation I and II. This can be seen when comparing the artwork for Red, Ethan, and Generation I and II Pokémon from their original games to that of those games' remakes.
Most of the Generation III Pokémon that are not in the Sinnoh Pokédex have only one sprite in the Generation IV games. Generation IV Pokémon received sprite updates in Pokémon Platinum, while Generation I and II Pokémon received updates in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver.
Almost all the backsprites of non-Generation III Pokémon are revamps of the backsprites in the Generation II games.
This is the longest generation in North America, lasting slightly over four years.
- This makes it the only generation to last longer in the West than in Japan.