Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire

"Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire" (Japanese: ポケットモンスター ルビー・サファイア, English: Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire) is the third generation game in the Pokémon series, developed by GAME FREAK and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It was launched successively from Japan on November 21, 2002.

On September 16, 2004, the enhanced version of "Pokémon Emerald" was launched in Japan.

On November 21, 2014, the Nintendo 3DS remake "Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire" was released in Japan.

Game play

The gameplay of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire is largely the same as its predecessor. Similar to other handheld games in the Pokémon series, this game also uses a third-person bird's-eye view, with three main screens: map, battle screen, and directory menu. In the directory menu, players can adjust the arrangement of the team, check the items in the backpack, change game settings, and view the Pokédex or save files. At the beginning of the game, players will receive a Pokémon, and can later use Poké Balls to capture more Pokémon. Players can use their own Pokémon to battle other Pokémon. When the player randomly encounters a wild Pokémon or fights a non-player character (NPC) in the game, the screen will jump to a turn-based battle screen. During battle, players can command Pokémon to use moves to fight, use props, replace Pokémon, or escape (but they cannot escape when fighting non-player characters). Each Pokémon has its own health value. When a Pokémon's health value drops to 0, it loses its ability to fight. When the player's Pokémon defeats the enemy's Pokémon, the player can gain experience points. Accumulating a certain amount of experience points can increase the level. Most Pokémon will evolve when they reach a specific level.

In addition to winning the battle, catching Pokémon is also a major element of the game. When fighting wild Pokémon, players can use Poke Balls to capture them. If the capture is successful, the Pokémon will join the player's team (if the team reaches six, it will be stored on the Pokémon Center computer). The factors that affect the success of the capture include the remaining health of the wild Pokémon, whether it is in an abnormal state, and the type of Poké Ball used by the player. The lower the health of the wild Pokémon, causing it to fall into an abnormal state, or using a higher-level ball, can increase the success rate of capture.

new elements

The most important change in the battle mode of this game is the addition of doubles battle, in which both parties use two Pokémon to participate in the battle. Certain moves can affect the enemy's two Pokémon at the same time. In addition, "characteristics" and "personality" are also important elements introduced in this game. Each Pokémon has one or two characteristics. Characteristics will have an impact on combat, which may be to improve one's own abilities, weaken the enemy's abilities, or change the weather and other factors. The timing of activation is also different. For example, the effect of the attribute "Intimidate" is to reduce the enemy Pokémon's attack by one stage when the Pokémon appears. The attribute "New Green" can increase the power of grass-type moves when the Pokémon's HP is less than one-third. Personality also affects a Pokémon's strength, but it affects the Pokémon's own qualities rather than providing additional effects during battle. Each Pokémon has a personality (there are 25 types in total). Personality will affect the improvement of various abilities and play a weighting role in calculating the value of each ability. "Appearance" is another new element in this game, which plays an important role in the Glam Contest. The Glam Contest is a mini-game in the game, in which Pokémon use certain moves and are scored by judges. Each Pokémon and each move has a demeanor. The Pokémon's demeanor can be improved by using "cubes", which are made from tree fruits.

Like the previous game "Pokémon Gold and Silver/Crystal", "Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire" will adjust the time in the game according to the real time and affect activities such as the rise and fall of tides and the growth of fruit. However, the difference is that the "Ruby" and "Sapphire" versions do not distinguish between day and night, and time will not affect the types of Pokémon that appear. Due to the different connection cables between GB and GBA, "Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire" cannot be connected to play or exchange with previous works (but it can be connected with subsequent GBA works "Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen").

Connections to other devices

"Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire" can be plugged into a separately sold Pokémon e+ card reader, and then various Pokémon e+ cards are scanned into the card reader. The trainer on the card will appear in the game to battle with the player. Players can also obtain precious tree fruits that are otherwise unavailable in the game. Players of the English version can obtain a special e+ card after participating in Nintendo-designated events. After scanning it into the game, players can obtain the special prop "Infinite Ticket" through the "Incredible Gift" function. This prop allows players to go to the southern island to capture Latias or Latios that are otherwise unobtainable. The Japanese version of the unlimited ticket can be downloaded directly when participating in the event instead of using the e+ card.

"Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire" can also be connected with the Nintendo GameCube games "Pokémon Gem Arena", "Pokémon XD Dark Tornado Dark Lugia" and "Pokémon Organizer". In the first two, players can connect to "Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire" to exchange Pokémon after reaching a certain score in the game. Players who pre-order "Pokémon Gem Arena" can receive the special Pokémon Jirachi and participate in the movie special screening of "Pokémon the Movie: Seven Nights of Wish Star Jirachi". The Pokémon Vault is nicknamed the "Microsoft Office for Pokémon" and allows players to store and organize Pokémon on the GameCube. In addition, in the European version of "Pokémon Channel", players can obtain Jirachi after gaining a certain score and transfer it to "Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire".