I Still Miss Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire's Best Feature Even After 21 Years

One of the best features in is something that I miss to this day, and I wish it could reappear in future entries. The first Generation 3 games were released for Gameboy Advance over 21 years ago, in March 2003. The titles starred by the Legendaries Groudon and Kyogre, respectively, introduced the region of Hoenn to players following the success of both Kanto and Johto before that. The Gen 3 games added a whole new set of features, taking advantage of the new hardware the franchise was running on after migrating from the Game Boy Color.

added an extra 135 new creatures to the National Dex and many of the powerful Pokémon from the Hoenn region are still considered top-tier choices for some competitive matters until now. Additionally, the duo of games also added new types of bikes and exploration challenges, as well as new weather conditions, and even Natures, which still play a big role in stat distribution. There were several improvements with the Gen 3 games, but one of them sticks out more than the others, especially due to the fact that it hasn’t been well-utilized since the games’ release.

The third generation of Pokémon games brought the series into a technically superior era. So what secrets does the Hoenn region contain?

One of the best features in was the presence of the Secret Bases gameplay mechanic, which allowed players to uncover hidden locations and turn those into their own little getaway. There were different types of Secret Base models that players could find and, more than that, they were fully customizable with a wide roster of Decoration items. This was a completely optional activity that had no impact on the main campaign whatsoever, but it was a fantastic feature to help players wanting to explore the path less traveled.

Additionally, upon the game’s completion, players could have extra hours of gameplay invested solely in optimizing the space with furniture and even searching for better accommodations.

One of the finest aspects of the