Generation 3 of Pokémon had a lot going against it at the time. The first two generations allowed players to transfer their Pokémon between them, but 3 on the Game Boy Advance would not. In addition, a lot of reviewers both then and now thought the region had too much water. Despite these hurdles, the region of Hoenn is still beloved by fans.
Fans loved the new evil team and the tropical vibe provided by the region. And that’s not even mentioning all the new Pokémon it brought. But the Hoenn region is as full of secrets as any other region. Some of this is trivia even some of the smartest Hoenn residents like Stephen couldn’t know.
Most Routes
Ruby and Sapphire were the first Pokémon games to release on the Game Boy Advance. All that new processing power needed to be taken advantage of. The world of Hoenn was made larger than before or since and ended up having the most route areas in the series.
In the games, routes are typically the passages connecting towns, dungeons, or other area types. Usually, they’re land-based, but there are plenty of water routes as well which is easily apparent in the Hoenn games. The sheer magnitude of routes helped make Hoenn feel big and interconnected.
Walda Pepper
Walda Pepper (also known as Ayano, among other regional names) seems like a textbook video game side quest. In Rustboro City in Pokémon Emerald you can find a young girl being looked after by her father. He says she’s very sick and upset, and he hasn’t been able to get her to smile. He turns to the player to make her happy, which will also be very hard for them.
Despite seeming like a standard quest of cheering up this little girl, guessing what needs to be said to her is almost impossible. The game needs a random series of characters in order to make her laugh. The sequence is randomly generated by the Trainer’s ID number. If the player does guess correctly, the father will give them a new wallpaper for the storage box.
Version Exclusive Gym Leaders
In retrospect, it took a long time for the Pokémon series to finally take version exclusive gyms to it’s fullest. Pokémon Sword and Shield were the first games to have version-specific trainers among the original game versions. But when it comes to different gyms within the same generation, that’s another story. Pokémon Emerald did that with the Sootopolis City gym.
In Ruby and Sapphire, Wallace was the ice-type master of that gym. But in the updated version, Emerald, he gave the position to Juan and moved up to become Champion. It’s the first time players ever saw movement within the ranks of the league like that. It wouldn’t be the last either, as it started a tradition that would be continued in future games.
Mossdeep White Rock
There isn’t much to the simple white rock placed outside the space center at Mossdeep. It’s a bit out of place compared to it’s surroundings and doesn’t seem to serve any purpose. Even if players try the toughest rock type Pokémon moves, it won’t budge. But it’s got more of a lore significance than a gameplay one.
It turns out the white rock is supposed to be a kind of monument. It holds a signifance to the people of the space center, despite not having a unique sprite. It’s supposed to symbolize their hopes that their rockets fly safely. Due to this unexpected backstory for this generic rock, it has become quite popular among Pokémon fans.
The Berry Glitch
Despite being called the berry glitch by the community, this glitch has more to do with time. Hoenn was unique when it debuted because the soil would allow players to plant berries. The game would use an internal clock to grow your bush over time. This was supposed to be a big feature that helped define Hoenn until the glitch.
The glitch was similar to the famous Y2K bug. The clock would essentially reset when it reached past 2001, after starting at 2000 by default. This meant that avid playing of the game for over a year would result in berries going ungrown. This glitch only appeared in the original Ruby and Sapphire, which Game Freak attempted to patch when it connected to other Gen II games.
Big on the TV
Most Pokémon games have a movie playing on the TV at the beginning. Nobody could forget the original’s reference to Stand By Me. The Generation III games also have a childhood classic playing. If one checks the TV in Littleroot, they’ll find a reference to Big.
The text displayed is “There is a movie on TV. Two men are dancing on a big piano keyboard. Better get going!” This a clear reference to the scene where Tom Hanks and his boss dance on the keyboard.
Greater Mauville Holdings
Mauville City may be one of the best cities in Pokémon‘s Hoenn, but it wasn’t always the most stylish. In the original game it was mostly characterized by it’s many entrances and it’s many elderly residents. Watson, the gym leader, wishes he had done more to renovate it. This renovation would be the work of a land development company called Great Mauville Holdings.
In the remakes Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, that renovation happened. The city becomes a more modern, modular space. This is the only successful work of Great Mauville Holdings, which Watson apparently works as foreman for. They’re also the reason that so many abandoned places with the Mauville name, like New Mauville and Sea Mauville.
Float Stone Easter Egg
In Rustoboro City in the Omega and Alpha remakes, one can find an ace trainer. He’ll give the player a Float Stone. It’s a pretty unique item that decreases the weight of the Pokémon that holds it, but players that focus on that will miss out on a clever joke.
If players return to the room after the Ace Trainer gives them the stone, they’ll see a hiker in his place. The hiker will remark that’s he’s put on a lot of weight recently. This is the same character, as it turns out. The true form was always the surly hiker but the Float Stone turned them into a svelt Ace Trainer.
Petalburg Paper Mario Connection
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire weren’t the only excellent RPGs Nintendo released in the early aughts. There was also the excellent Paper Mario series. The second in that series, The Thousand Year Door, is often considered one of the best. And it contains a possible connection to Hoenn.
There’s an early location in both games called Petalburg which is characterized by serene beauty and one of the party’s father live. It’s possible that this is some kind of reference to Hoenn by Paper Mario. It may not be, as while the locations share English names, they don’t share Japanese names. However, fans still like to comment on it; players can even find sun and moon stones near both.
Faraway Island
Mythical Pokémon have been the most elusive since the original Red and Blue. Most famous is still Pokémon Mew, the original predecessor Pokémon. While players originally had to find it at an event or glitch it into their party, Pokémon Emerald added another way. They could visit Faraway Island, which is full of mystery and is the habitat of Mew.
It’s possible that this island is not actually a part of Hoenn. It’s referred to as being far from Hoenn and can only be accessed by an NPC ferry service. There’s also an odd trait to the area that appears when you cut the grass. It displays the message “The feeling of being watched faded…,” which is quite ominous sounding and added to the island’s mystique.
