Summary
It’s been more than 20 years since the Hoenn region was introduced to thePokémoncanon, brought to life through thePokémon Ruby and Sapphiregames for the Game Boy Advance. The third generation brought with it 135 newPokémon from the Hoenn region, while the games introduced double battles and Pokémon contests to the gameplay experience, building upon the game format the previous installments had laid.Ruby and Sapphirewere the precursors forPokémon Emerald, which is frequently lauded as one of thebest games in the franchise’s history.
But in a new post on X (formerly Twitter), it seems some new information on the well-loved Gen 3 games has surfaced. According toKmie_821on X, as shared by well-knownPokémonleaks accountCentroLeaks,RubyandSapphireweren’t the original names for the games set in the Hoenn region, though it seems Game Freak had decided on the general colors. KmiE_821 stated in a post that when looking through the game’s RS files,Gen 3’s titles were originally labeledIndigo VersionandCrimson Version.
Some of the source code appears to be in Japanese, though as KmiE_821 notes,these are not official translations, so it’s possible that these are not entirely accurate. That said, it’s confirmed that the RS files used “藍” and “朱” as placeholders for the games, though whether those were the original titles or the codenames used by Game Freak to prevent leaks isn’t clear, and The Pokémon Company hasn’t commented on this news.
I Still Miss Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire’s Best Feature Even After 21 Years
While there were several game-changing additions with Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire back in 2003, there’s one that could easily make a comeback.
Pokémon Gen 3 Datamine Also Finds Alternate Names For Teams Aqua & Magma
They Were Almost Called Team Marine & Team Tunnel
In addition to the possible alternate names forRuby and Sapphire, KmiE_821 andWobbuufound that there were different names in the source code for Team Aqua and Team Magma, the respective crime organizations in the games. According to Wobbuu,Team Aqua was originally called"Team Marine" and Team Magma was “Team Tunnel.”
It’s not entirely clear when these were changed, though when taking a closer look at the criminal organizations' Pokémon selections, these original team names make sense. Team Magma’s Pokémon selection doesn’t have as many Fire-type Pokémon as one would think, given the group’s name. Even Groudon, the Legendary Pokémon players catch near the end ofPokémon Ruby,is a Ground-type Pokémon instead of a Fire-type.
Team Magma Grunts also battle with rosters devoid of Fire-type Pokémon. Grunts often battle with a rotating selection of Zubat, Poochyena, and Numel, along with their subsequent evolutions. Zubat is a Flying/Poison-type, Poochyena is a Dark-type, while Numel is a Ground/Fire-type.Any member of Team Magma who fights with a Fire-type Pokémon only uses Ground-type moves, leaning into the original Team Tunnel name. A similar bit of irony occurs in Team Magma’s rival:Team Aqua doesn’t use any Water-type movesinPokémon Sapphire.
Of course, there isn’t much to confirm these leaks as legitimate, and Game Freak has remained pretty quiet when divulging details about thePokémongames' development process. What led to the developer’s decision to rename the games toPokémonRuby and Sapphireisn’t clear, but it likely paved the way for Gen 9’s titles,Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
