Pokemon Leak Reveals New Details on Gen 3

The source code for Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire has leaked online, and with it, previously unknown [...]

By Marc Deschamps

The source code for Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire has leaked online, and with it, previously unknown information about the game. Twitter user @eclipse_tt has sifted through the code, and discovered a handful of interesting things cut from the 2002 Game Boy Advance release. This includes information about Pokemon names that were later altered, as well as some information about a feature that would have allowed Pokemon to combine individual moves together in Double Battles. Overall, the data mine should be of particular interest for longtime fans of the franchise; there's a lot of new information to learn about what might have been!

For the uninitiated, combined moves were an interesting idea that would have added a bit more strategy to Double Battles in the game. Ruby and Sapphire were the first Pokemon games to add Double Battles, and the feature would have allowed two Pokemon to use moves that would have combined together. For example, Ember and Gust would have created a move called Heat Wave. The combined moves were in both the source code and in the final data, so this is not technically new news.

In addition to combined moves, the source code leak has revealed several details about the Pokemon in the game. Apparently, there may have been 68 additional Pokemon planned for the game. There were also a handful of scrapped names for Pokemon that made it into the final game. The following names were changed prior to the game's release:

  • Jirachi: Ganboo
  • Deoxys: Jiigen
  • Plusle: Bachin
  • Minun: Bachikone

The source code has provided plenty of other pieces of information as well, including unused Pokemon sprites, and unused animation. Pokemon Contests would have also been slightly different, as well. Contest judges had data for Favorite Pokemon and Favorite Move. Finally, a later release date was planned at one point for the games, but it appears that Ruby and Sapphire actually arrived in stores three months ahead of schedule!

It will be interesting to see if @eclipse_tt discovers additional information about the games. Since The Pokemon Company frequently recycles cut features in their games, it's rare to get behind-the-scenes information officially revealed. As such, data mines like this one are the only way for fans to discover more about the development process behind the games. It's a safe bet that none of the information turned up so far will end up in future games, but anything is possible! Perhaps further information will provide us with new info about cut or altered Pokemon, just as the Gold and Silver leak provided. Only time will tell!

What do you think about the information provided in the Pokemon leak? Is there anything you wish had made it into the final games? Let us know in the comments or share directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!

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