Generation III: Difference between revisions

Centering around {{game2|Ruby|Sapphire|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, due to using 4 hexadecimal places instead of 2 for all Pokémon, 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 {{game|Red and Green|s}} appearing as {{game|FireRed and LeafGreen|s}} on the Game Boy Advance, as well as [[Pokémon Colosseum]] and [[Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness]] on the [[Nintendo GameCube|GameCube]].

* Pokémon may now have one or two of 77 different [[Ability|Abilities]] which can change the tide of battle or affect out-of-battle gameplay.

* A brand-new region, [[Hoenn]], with its own set of eight [[Gym Leader]]s and [[Elite Four]]. Player characters are also different from before.

* Seven new {{DL|Poké Ball|Introduced in Generation III|Poké Ball}} variants, replacing those found in Johto.

* New [[villainous teams]], [[Team Aqua]] and [[Team Magma]], whose focus is on capturing the legendary Pokémon {{p|Kyogre}} and {{p|Groudon}}, respectively.

* [[Weather conditions]], introduced before, can now be found on the field and activate at the start of battle, while one more, hail, has been added.

* 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 effects of the first ten new Berries are similar to the ten Generation II Berries.

Being that there are only 17 types, and [[Kanto]] and [[Johto]], during Generation I and II, had [[Gym]]s specializing in 16 of them, all of the types of the [[Gym Leader]]s of Hoenn are the same as that of a Gym Leader in one of the previous regions. As before, all Gym Leaders give out Badges and [[TM]]s on their defeat.

{| class="roundy" style="margin:auto; text-align:center; background: #{{hoenn color dark}}; border: 4px solid #{{hoenn color dark}};" colspan=4 cellspacing="1" cellpadding="2"

! style="background: #{{hoenn color dark}};" colspan="5" | {{color2|{{hoenn color light}}|Hoenn League}}

! style="background: #{{hoenn color light}};" | {{color|{{hoenn color dark}}|Location<br><small>Japanese</small>}}

! style="background: #{{hoenn color light}};" | {{color2|{{hoenn color dark}}|Type}}

{| class="roundy" style="margin:auto; text-align:center; background: #{{kanto color}}; border: 4px solid #{{kanto color}};" colspan=4 cellspacing="1" cellpadding="2"

! style="background: #{{kanto color}};" colspan="6" | {{color|{{kanto color light}}|Indigo League}}

! style="background: #{{kanto color light}}; {{roundytl|5px}};" | {{color|{{kanto color}}|Gym Leader<br><small>Japanese</small>}}

! style="background: #{{kanto color light}};" | {{color|{{kanto color}}|Location<br><small>Japanese</small>}}

! style="background: #{{kanto color light}};" | {{color2|{{kanto color}}|Type}}

! style="background: #{{kanto color light}}; {{roundytr|5px}};" | {{color2|{{kanto color}}|Badge}}

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

While the opinion of the fandom shifts from time to time, Generation III is notable for drawing the most criticism for the series yet. The sense of a reboot when players were thrust into Hoenn (which excludes 184 of the older 251 Pokémon from availability) with no way to recover their old Pokémon drew ire from some fans. 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.

The third generation of Pokémon games were more directed towards nature and relationships. The three starters were collectively more symbolic to their elements than previous starters: {{p|Mudkip}} is based on a fish which thrives only in {{t|Water}}, {{p|Torchic}} is a chick (which, in the real world, needs warmth in order to hatch) holding its {{t|Fire}} internally, and {{p|Treecko}} is a gecko that lives only in forests with {{t|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 {{p|Kyogre}} or {{p|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 {{p|Corsola}} colony, even though Corsola cannot be found there in the games. With {{m|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 golems]] are more obvious of this; however, the version mascots all share a relationship as the [[weather trio]]. {{p|Latios}} and {{p|Latias}} are both Eon Pokémon that must be chased around the region. Pokémon such as {{p|Lunatone}}, {{p|Illumise}}, {{p|Plusle}}, and {{p|Wailord}} are related to other Pokémon, namely {{p|Solrock}}, {{p|Volbeat}}, {{p|Minun}}, and {{p|Relicanth}}, in relationships ranging from explicit to loose symbiosis, to intense rivalry in the case of {{p|Zangoose}} and {{p|Seviper}}.

| width="14px" style="background: #{{ruby color}};" | [[File:RubyTitle.png]]

| width="14px" style="background: #{{sapphire color}};" | [[File:SapphireTitle.png]]

| width="14px" style="background: #{{emerald color}};" | [[File:EmeraldTitle.png]]

| width="14px" style="background: #{{firered color}};" | [[File:FireRedTitle.png]]

| width="14px" style="background: #{{leafgreen color}};" | [[File:LeafGreenTitle.png]]

| width="14px" style="background: #{{ruby color}};" | [[File:Japanese RubyTitle.png]]

| width="14px" style="background: #{{sapphire color}};" | [[File:Japanese SapphireTitle.png]]

| width="14px" style="background: #{{emerald color}};" | [[File:Japanese EmeraldTitle.png]]

| width="14px" style="background: #{{firered color}};" | [[File:Japanese FireRedTitle.png]]

| width="14px" style="background: #{{leafgreen color}};" | [[File:Japanese LeafGreenTitle.png]]

* Generation III introduced the most Abilities to the series, with {{tt|77|including Cacophony}}.

**Include both a mother and [[Norman|father]] for the main character and the rival.

**Introduce two [[Weather trio|legendary]] [[Legendary golems|trios]].

**Introduce two {{pkmn2|Pseudo-legendary|pseudo-legendaries}}.

**Have multiple paired versions, one set of which is a set of [[remake]]s.

* Generation III has the largest number of total games, with fifteen. It is tied with [[Generation IV]] for the largest number of main series games, with five each.

* Generation III is the only generation not able to communicate with games from the previous generation.