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| Starters | Secret Bases | Abilities | Berries |
| {Emerald} Gym Leaders | {Emerald} Battle Frontier |
Ruby and Sapphire were the start of a new era of Pokémon games. They were the first in the Advanced Generation, and the first Pokémon RPG games for the Gameboy Advanced. Released in March of 2003, the game takes place in the brand-new world of Hoenn, which features breathtaking graphics and sounds. Not only did the games introduce a whole new region, they also brought 135 new Pokémon, bringing the grand total to 386 Pokémon.
With the arrival of the Advanced games came the arrival of many new features. 2 on 2 battling was introduced, where trainers each use two Pokémon at once. Abilities were added to each Pokémon, adding more originality to each species and providing interesting twists in battles. Natures were also added, giving every individual Pokémon the opportunity to be unique.
Contests are a huge addition to the games. Instead of battling, these contests focus on using moves in ways that will appeal to one of five categories: cute, smart, beauty, cool, or tough. Judges rate your Pokémon, and the winner receives a ribbon.
The PokéNav is the tool that replaces the PokéGear from GSC. It contains features such as the map and Trainer's Eyes, and also holds records such as ribbons your Pokémon have won and their condition for contests.
Unfortunately, these games are not compatible with any of the older versions, such as RBY and GSC. Many Pokémon from older versions aren't accessible in this game, but later games have the Pokémon available to them, so you can still complete the Pokédex.
Emerald Version is the third game in the Advanced series. The box features Rayquaza, and the cartridge is green. It was released in April 2005, after the release of Fire Red and Leaf Green.
In the beginning of the game, your character (you have the choice of a boy or a girl) is just moving in to Littleroot Town. Your rival in the game lives next door to you, and is the child of Professor Birch. If you chose to play as a girl, your rival will be Brendan. If your character is a boy, then your rival will be May. You and your rival will meet several times in the game for a battle. When you try to leave Littleroot Town, you'll run into Professor Birch, who is being attacked by a wild Pokémon. He tells you to choose a Pokémon from his bag to help him. The Pokémon you choose will become your starting Pokémon. You can then set off on your journey across Hoenn to collect eight badges and challenge the Elite Four.
In Emerald, both Team Aqua and Team Magma are involved in the sideplot. Unlike Ruby and Sapphire, there is not one good team and one bad team, but instead, they're both equally good and bad. You can capture both Kyogre and Groudon in this game, and you also play a part in stopping the epic battle between them by unleashing Rayquaza.
After you defeat the Elite Four, you may participate in completely different battle styles in the Battle Frontier.
About 200 hours into every Ruby or Sapphire game, a strange thing will begin to occur. Any berries you plant will take forever to grow, but they're really not growing at all. The couple on Route 123 will refuse to give you berries, even if it's been ages since they've given you some. Until you fix it, your berries will not grow, and the couple will not give you any more.
There is two ways to fix this glitch. The first is to download Jirachi from a Pokémon Colosseum Bonus Disc onto your game. The other method will require two Gameboy Advanced's (or one and a Gamecube with a controller and the Gameboy Player), a link cable, and a Fire Red or Leaf Green game cartridge. Obviously, you'll need the game that needs fixing, too.
First, connect the two systems with the link cable. Turn on the system with Fire Red or Leaf Green and hold Select and B once you're on the title screen. (X works instead of Select on the Gameboy Player.) The game will show you several screens with different instructions, such as plugging in the games and turning them on. When it tells you to, turn on the system with Ruby or Sapphire while holding Start and Select. The game will tell you it's updating the program. After it has finished, turn the game off and unplug the cable. If you've done this correctly, your game is fixed forever, and your berries will grow once more.
