The 20th anniversary of Pokémon is ever looming – we’re 14 days out (how time flies!) As we count down the days, our “Ask PC” column continues to share 20 days of significant memories from The PokéCommunity‘s Pokémon fans! Today we’re fast-forwarding to the present time — where the latest Pokémon role-playing series are Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, and they apparently contain too much water.

An unexpected announcement?

The announcement of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire was so sudden, that at first, some people, like Blue, found it hard to believe:

I remember I was in work on the day they just spontaneously announced the remakes. I was just scrolling through my phone whilst I was at my desk and I came across an article about Ruby and Sapphire remakes, which at first I didn’t believe was true. I had to make up an excuse to step away from my desk for a second just so I could properly read the article, but it turned out to be true and it got me really excited from then.

Looks like it’s time to return to Hoenn!

DexNav: the greatest feature ever?

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire introduced a new mechanic to the core Pokémon series’ gameplay: the DexNav. Using the DexNav, players can pick a Pokémon they’ve previously seen in the route to search for it (without the chore of finding it randomly). Hikamaru reflects on how it has made things easier for her:

My best moment so far would have to be finding so many great Pokémon using the DexNav. Some of my best include a Hidden Ability Thunder Fang Poochyena (who now kicks ass as a Mightyena), a female Hidden Ability Eevee (who’s now a Sylveon of mass destruction) and a Drought Vulpix (who is now a Ninetales). It’s always so fun using DexNav and discovering so much destructive potential on a Pokémon thanks to a move or ability.

Using the DexNav allows players to find Pokémon with rare moves, abilities or stats, as both Hikamaru and Starry Windy have made heavy use of:

Alpha Sapphire has its fine moments thanks to DexNav, given that I’m able to find several notable Hidden Ability Pokémon in its way. Thanks to it, I caught 2 shiny Pokémon along the way. The first being Plusle, which is surprisingly the 3IV Hidden Ability Pokémon that I encountered while training my Kyogre, and the second one being a shiny Marill that I discovered near the New Year of 2016 (it’s evolved into gold Azumarill now).

Let’s hope Hoenn hasn’t patented the DexNav and that we see it in other games too.

Great for serious battlers?

The Battle Maison and the added Move Tutors really allow for trainers to test themselves in challenging battles, as DarkWolf13 — who doesn’t usually battle competitively — concurs:

Thanks to the Move Tutors, I decided to expand my “army” of Pokémon to a super large scale and it took me a very long time to come up with the sets I wanted and alas, I got the best army I could ever assemble. […] You may expect to see a Mega Kicking Mega Charizard X from me if you ever encounter me in battle. Since I finished assembling [my army], I’ve been playing mock Maison battles non-stop and I really enjoy my setups for my teams. Trying to get the best variety of setups despite the fact that I don’t like battling competitively.

If only it could be harder:

If there was a 3DS emulator with some ROM hacking tools for Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire, I would love to modify the Maison Pokémon to give the Maison a major difficulty spike by allowing its trainers to Mega Evolve their Pokémon if they’re holding their Mega Stone.

With features like DexNav and the Move Tutors, you could conclude that the games really took the battling aspects seriously, as minoutsuba suggests:

For me, the most memorable thing isn’t a certain rare or random event but rather the very game itself. I mean, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are very memorable for me because they are the first Pokémon games in years where I took the breeding and battling seriously. I don’t know why, I’m just captivated by the state of the games now so much so that they compel me to perfect my Pokémon even if that’s a very painstakingly long job.

We’ll revisit people’s memories of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire at a later date. Stay tuned!

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire were released in all territories other than Europe on November 21, 2014. They were released in Europe on November 28, 2014. They are the third top-selling 3DS games, selling at 11.46 million units.

Cover image: The Pokémon Company
Edited by bobandbill.