The most obvious new addition is the new 135 Pokémon you can catch and train, including a huge addition to the Ghost, Dragon, Steel, and Dark types, which had very little critters in the last two generations. It also brought new attacks and items, including a very nice buff for Fire-types, which were nigh useless in the last two generations (including the fabled “most picked” Charmander, which only got relevant starting with Gen. III). It also brought abilities; a new feature inspired by “Pokemon Powers” from the Pokémon Trading Card Game, they made a huge impact on battling, giving a whole new asset to many underused mons as well as adding a certain quirk to others. Best examples being Slaking, an ultra-powerful Pokémon with stats on the same level as legendaries but is terribly crippled by its Truant ability, or Shedinja, with not very impressive stats and a single 1HP but with Wonder Guard that makes it invincible to all attacks but ones it’s weak to. It was really fun to experiment with new mons. #279 Pelipper #280

Ralts #281 Kirlia #282 Gardevoir #283 Surskit #284 Masquerain #285 Shroomish #286 Breloom #287 Slakoth #288 Vigoroth #289 Slaking #290 Nincada #291 Ninjask #292 Shedinja #293 Whismur #294 Loudred #295 Exploud #296 Makuhita #297 Hariyama #298 Azurill #299 Nosepass #300 Skitty #301 Delcatty #302 Sableye #303 Mawile #304 Aron #305 Lairon Moving on to Ruby and Sapphire themselves, as expected, they were very amazing and successful games. But sadly, not all was as colorful as the graphics; they were what you could call a “double-edged sword” with many things that worked and backfired at the same time.

For starters, we have the graphics. The newer software with obviously better graphics made it possible to include some really impressive locations, each of them beautifully done, which is why it’s not really that strange when people were mildly disappointed to spend a huge chunk of the game with a blue void of “too much water” instead of all those beautiful environments. Second, the new Pokemon. With all the changes made in this new Generation, Game Freak really had fun not only in designing them but also in making them very unique with special skills and themes. Though at the same time, the total amount of existing Pokemon was too big to put into the games, so when fans couldn’t find many of the familiar mons, they were rather distressed that they couldn’t catch some of their favorites in this new, prettier game. Some even grew worried their beloved classic critters would be forgotten and less used in future games (which actually sparked the group we know as “Genwunners” today). #306 Aggron #307 Meditite #308 Medicham #309 Electrike #310 Manectric #311 Plusle #312 Minun #313 Volbeat #314 Illumise #315 Roselia #316 Gulpin #317 Swalot #318 Carvanha #319 Sharpedo #320 Wailmer #321 Wailord #322 Numel #323 Camerupt #324 Torkoal #325 Spoink #326 Grumpig #327 Spinda #328 Trapinch #329 Vibrava #330 Flygon #331 Cacnea #332 Cacturne And lastly, the features. The new region (and more importantly, new system) has meaty new features, some minor ones like leaving footsteps in the sand or having a reflection in the water, and some bigger ones, like the Pokemon Contests, Secret Bases or PokeNav. But for some reason, the developers did not include the fan-favorite Day/Night cycle. It’s said that was because they wanted this feature to be exclusive to Generation II, thus making it still relevant. Yet understandably, all fans would rather see this particular one explored more in future games rather than abandoned in an older game.



Still, the games were very successful for a reason, despite certain flaws or mishaps. What it did good, it did VERY good and is rightfully loved by the fanbase to this day. #333 Swablu #334 Altaria #335 Zangoose #336 Seviper #337 Lunatone #338 Solrock #339 Barboach #340 Whiscash #341 Corphish #342 Crawdaunt #343 Baltoy #344 Claydol #345 Lileep #346 Cradily #347 Anorith #348 Armaldo #349 Feebas #350 Milotic #351 Castform #352 Kecleon #353 Shuppet #354 Banette #355 Duskull #356 Dusclops #357 Tropius #358 Chimecho #359 Absol #360 Wynaut #361 Snorunt #362 Glalie #363 Spheal #364 Sealeo #365 Walrein #366 Clamperl #367 Huntail #368 Gorebyss #369 Relicanth #370 Luvdisc #371 Bagon #372 Shelgon #373 Salamence #374 Beldum #375 Metang #376 Metagross #377 Regirock #378 Regice #379 Registeel #380 Latias #381 Latios #382 Kyogre #383 Groudon #384 Rayquaza #385 Jirachi #386 Deoxys