Generation III

Template:GenerationInfoBox Generation III (also sometimes known as the advance or advanced generation, most likely because they were playable on the Game Boy Advance) the was the third set of games introduced in the Pokémon franchise. It introduced 135 new Pokémon, the largest amount ever since Generation I (at the time of Generation III's release). This generation's first games were Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, followed by remakes of the original Generation I games Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen and finally ended with a third version of Ruby and Sapphire, Pokémon Emerald. The Generation III is currently sold in failed reaching/licensed countries, such as Libya, Serbia, Scotland

Chronologically, Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald take place in the same timeline as Generation I.

Gameplay

A Double Battle in Generation III.

The gameplay of Generation III follows the standards set by Generation I, with a child in a starting town obtaining their first Pokémon from the local Professor. However, keeping with the feature introduced in Crystal, the player can choose to be either male or female. A brand-new region, Hoenn, with its own set of eight Gym Leaders and Elite Four. The graphics got a complete overhaul, the cities beginning to have a slight 3-dimensional feel (that would not be completely achieved until Generation V), and the battles now had "battle-backgrounds" instead of the opposing Pokémon and their health bars being featured on pure white space.

The Pokémon storage system has changed from a crude, 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). Something different from the Pokémon Gyms, Pokémon Contests, were introduced, allowing for the player to show off their Pokémon in ways different from battles. This also introduced Contests Stats and Pokéblocks (replaced by the Poffin and Aprijuice in Generation IV). The Apricorns and Apricorn Poké Balls are completely removed from the game, and seven new Poké Balls are introduced. Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, while having a built-in clock, lack the day and night feature introduced in Generation II, and the day of the week is no longer tracked.

The Berries introduced in Generation II have been rejected in favour of Berries which grow 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. Two new villainous teams, Team Aqua and Team Magma two rival groups, whose focus is on capturing the legendary Pokémon Kyogre (Team Aqua) and Groudon (Team Magma), respectively. Generation III remains the only Generation with two villainous teams. Double and Tag battles (set to be topped by Triple and Rotation battles in Generation V) are also introduced.

Pokémon may now have one or two of 77 different abilities, many of which can be the reason why a player wins or loses a battle. In-bag sprites are also introduced in FireRed and LeafGreen, allowing players to see for the first time what many of their items look like. Also in FireRed and LeafGreen, Pokémon can be moved throughout the PC. Emerald also introduced Scott, and the very first Battle Frontier.

Starter Pokémon

In Hoenn, they kept to the model of Grass, Water, and Fire for the starter Pokémon, introducing Treecko, Mudkip, and Torchic respectively. One of these Pokémon is received from Professor Birch after saving him from a wild Poochyena (Zigzagoon in Emerald ) at the start of the game which, at the time, was a deviation from previously getting it in the professor's lab. This was also done in generation IV  & V where in Diamond/Pearl it was at a lake front inside a briefcase left behind by the professor Platinum had the professor giving them just outside Twinleaf Town, Black/White had them inside a present delivered by the professor to the players home, Black/White 2 had Bianca giving them from inside a container in Aspertia City.

Gym Leaders, Elite Fours and Champions

Hoenn

Gym Leaders

Leader	Type	HM	Place
Roxanne	Rock	Cut	Rustboro City
Brawly	Fighting	Flash	Dewford Town
Wattson	Electric	Rock Smash	Mauville City
Flannery	Fire	Strength	Lavaridge Town
Norman	Normal	Surf	Petalburg City
Winona	Flying	Fly	Fortree City
Tate & Liza	Psychic	Dive	Mossdeep City
Wallace or Juan	Water	Waterfall	Sootopolis City

Trivia

• So far, Generation III and Generation V are the only Generations not to have Eeveelutions.
• Generation III has the most amount of Pokémon with a Mega Evolution at 20.

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