When Pokémon made the jump to the Game Boy Advance with Ruby and Sapphire, it marked a new era for the franchise. This third generation didn’t just bring a vibrant splash of color; it introduced deep mechanical changes that fundamentally altered how players approached battles and team building forever.
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🧠 Abilities and Natures
For the first time, Pokémon now had innate Abilities. These passive traits gave each creature a unique edge in battle. For example, a Pokémon with the ‘Levitate’ ability would be immune to Ground-type attacks. Alongside this came Natures, which subtly altered a Pokémon’s stats, increasing one while decreasing another. These two additions meant that no two Pokémon were exactly alike, adding incredible depth to training the perfect competitive monster.
✌️ The Dawn of Double Battles
Ruby and Sapphire also introduced a completely new way to fight: Double Battles. Now, you could send out two Pokémon at the same time, opening up a world of new strategies. You could have one Pokémon support the other with status moves or combine their attacks for devastating effect. This format became so popular that it eventually became the official standard for competitive Pokémon tournaments.
These core changes, combined with the introduction of 135 new Pokémon and the tropical Hoenn region, made Generation III a pivotal moment. It laid the complex groundwork for the strategic, competitive side of Pokémon that is still thriving today.
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*The Story of Pokémon*. 9th ed., Future PLC, 2025.
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