Generation III

The third generation (Japanese: 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 "" of the series.
It started with the games , later joined by (remakes of ) and (based on Ruby and Sapphire). This generation also includes the games Pokémon Colosseum and .
==Terminology==
In the Generation IV game manuals, the term GBA Pokémon series refers to the Generation III Pokémon games.
==History==
Centering around 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 appearing as 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 , 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— and —are related by Evolution to older Pokémon.
* Two new forms of are also introduced.
* The addition of , bringing the total to 354.
* Pokémon may now have one or two of 77 different , 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 and , respectively.
* Weather can now be found on the field and activate at the start of battle, while one more, , 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 system has been overhauled for greater variance (0-31 rather than 0-15 as it was before). 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 , plus the unused .
* 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 , 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 's friendship Evolutions and tides in Shoal Cave.
** have no built-in clock at all.
* The seven Poké Balls made from Apricorns, along with Apricorns themselves, are unavailable in Generation III.
* In , passive damage (such as from , , and ) 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 have been abandoned.
===Further additions in ===
* 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 , adding to the original , and featuring Trainers who head each facility.
* Animated Pokémon front sprites have been reinstated. Unlike the animations from , 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===
The Hoenn region, situated somewhat southwest of Johto, was introduced in Generation III. It is more tropical than either Kanto or Johto, featuring , , 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 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 , , and being the three Pokémon the player has to choose from to save Professor Birch from a wild ( in ) at the start of the game.
					
					
					
====Gym Leaders====
As in previous generations, all Gym Leaders give out Badges and TMs on their defeat.
				
				
				
===Kanto===
Kanto, which in Generation II lacked some features from its original appearance, returned in a state closer to its original form in , 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 , the , and the .
							
							
							
							
							
							
====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.
			
			
			
===Sevii Islands===
The Sevii Islands, appearing only in , are a smaller region without a Pokémon League where the player can journey later in the game. These islands make available many to players of the Generation III games, and through events, allow for the capture of Generation II's game mascots and and the mysterious Pokémon .
==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.
 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 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: is based on a fish which thrives only in , is a chick (which, in the real world, needs warmth in order to hatch) holding its internally, and is a gecko that lives only in forests with . 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 or , 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 colony, even though Corsola cannot be found there in the games. With , 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. and are both Eon Pokémon that must be chased around the region. Pokémon such as , , , and are related to other Pokémon, namely , , , and , in relationships ranging from explicit to loose symbiosis, to intense rivalry in the case of and .
==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 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===
		
		
	
	
===Japanese title screens===
		
		
	
	
==Trivia==
* This generation introduced the most to the core series, with 76 (77 if including ).
* This is the first generation to:
** Introduce multiple Legendary trios (the super-ancient Pokémon and the legendary giants).
** Introduce gendered Legendary Pokémon (with and being the first two).
** Introduce a pure and a pure Pokémon.
** Introduce multiple Mythical Pokémon.
** Not introduce any new Evolutions for .
** 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 and 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 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 and ), with the only cross-generational relatives being baby Pokémon and .
* 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 . This can be seen when comparing the artwork for , , and and 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. received sprite updates in , while Generation I and II Pokémon received updates in .
* 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.
==Related articles==
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