Pokémon Emerald Version

Pokémon Emerald Version (Japanese: ポケットモンスターエメラルド Pocket Monsters Emerald) is a sister game to, and is the fifth and final Generation III core series game. Like its predecessor,, it added many features not present in the earlier paired versions. It was released in Japan on September 16, 2004, in North America on May 1, 2005, in Australia on June 9, 2005 and in Europe on October 21, 2005.

It was the second highest-selling video game of 2005 in North America. It was also the third best-selling game for the Game Boy Advance, losing to the other Generation III games, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and.

Blurb
''The Hoenn region is unstable — Rayquaza has awakened! Your skills as a Trainer will be challenged like they've never been challenged before as you try to maintain balance between &. Prove your skill by earning Badges & gaining access to — the front line of Pokémon battling that offers a whole new level of competition. Never-before-experienced battles await you!
 * ''The third adventure with new episodes in the Hoenn region!
 * ''Tons of new features, including surprising plot twists and changes to where and how often you can catch certain Pokémon!
 * ''Use the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter to trade & battle between Pokémon Emerald and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen versions.
 * ''Expand your collection when you trade with a friend. Using a Game Boy Advance Game Link™, link up with Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire, Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen, or connect with Pokémon Colosseum using a Nintendo GameCube® Game Boy Advance cable. See instruction booklet for more details.

Gameplay

 * e-Reader support is removed from the international releases, requiring players to mix records with a Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed, or LeafGreen cartridge containing e-Reader-exclusive items in order to obtain them.
 * Groudon and Kyogre are now respectively captured at the new locations Terra Cave and Marine Cave and at higher levels.
 * The entrances to the Team Magma and Team Aqua Hideouts are not sealed after defeating Tate and Liza.
 * The Pokémon roaming across Hoenn, or, can be selected right after beating the Elite Four. The one that is not selected is available on Southern Island, requiring the promotional Eon Ticket.
 * The Legendary titans' puzzles are slightly different, though the same in principle.
 * Multi Battles are available outside link-cable battling, being featured in the Battle Tower with a computer player (or, using the Wireless Adapter, a human player), as well as through an in-game plot event at the Mossdeep Space Center, battling alongside.
 * Double Battles are more common as different Trainers can team up if the player is able to be spotted by two Trainers at once.
 * Gym Leaders may be rebattled in Double Battles, with new Pokémon on their teams that are not normally found in Hoenn.
 * The Trainer's Eyes in the PokéNav is replaced by Match Call, which integrated a calling system similar to the Pokégear cellphone.
 * ,, or may be acquired from Professor Birch after obtaining every Pokémon in the Hoenn Pokédex (excluding  and ).
 * is in its Speed Forme.
 * Abilities have new . For example, Abilities also have a role in breeding as and  speed up the hatching process if a Pokémon which has either Ability is in the party.
 * has a new item list; Pokémon pick up items based on their level.
 * Having a female Pokémon or of the breeding pair hold an  grants a 50% chance of passing down their nature to the hatched Pokémon when breeding.
 * Raising friendship and lowering effort values can be done with certain Berries.
 * Pokémon Contests are all held in Lilycove City.
 * Unlike, trade restrictions between games are in place. Trading with Ruby and Sapphire as well as with another Emerald only allows trading of Pokémon indigenous to Hoenn while the player possesses only the country's regional Pokédex, while the National Pokédex is required to trade with and . This restriction also includes Pokémon Eggs from Ruby or Sapphire regardless if it contains a regional Pokémon. However, trading with  only requires the Hoenn Pokédex regardless of the Pokémon being traded.
 * All the Gym Leaders from Ruby and Sapphire, including former Gym Leader Wallace, have upgraded Pokémon teams. Changes include the addition of Pokémon they did not have in Ruby and Sapphire, or in rare cases the removal of some of their previous Pokémon.
 * When encountering either of the villainous team leaders, the game will now play the encounter theme and battle animation of their respective team, unlike in Ruby and Sapphire in which they had no encounter theme and used the standard battle animation.

Areas

 * The passage between Verdanturf Town and Route 117 was widened. Route 118 was also modified slightly.
 * The Fossils (Root Fossil, Claw Fossil) in the desert are now found in a short-lived tower called Mirage Tower that sinks into the ground once a Fossil is chosen. However, the other Fossil can now be acquired after the Elite Four challenge.
 * Battle Tents replace Contest Halls in Verdanturf Town, Fallarbor Town, and Slateport City. Instead, Pokémon Contests of all four s take place in Lilycove City.
 * Another new battle area, the, greatly expands the existing Battle Tower. This is also the only place to find a wild and  (Inside Artisan Cave) in the Generation III handheld games.
 * The Desert Underpass and new areas within the Safari Zone appear, introducing 19 Pokémon native to Johto and Kanto. 12 of these Pokémon consist of Johto Pokémon that can only be found in this version other than the Johto Starters, Sudowoodo, and Smeargle, while the other 7 can also be found in FireRed and LeafGreen.
 * Terra Cave and Marine Cave, accessible only after defeating Elite Four, are home to Groudon and Kyogre, respectively. The caves are not fixed to one location, and in order to track them, it is necessary to investigate the unusual patterns concluded by the Weather Institute.
 * appears on Faraway Island, an island that is located remote from Hoenn. Reaching the island requires a special promotional item, the Old Sea Map, which was only distributed to Japanese players for a limited time.
 * While Team Aqua's hideout is at Lilycove City just like in Sapphire, Team Magma's hideout has been moved to a hidden cave at Jagged Pass and has been given a completely new design. Also, Team Magma Hideout is now where Groudon is first encountered.

Storyline

 * Both Team Magma and Team Aqua are featured as the villainous teams, each stirring trouble at different stages in the game. The objective of each team, to awaken and, respectively, is eventually fulfilled.
 * is prominent plot-wise, awakened in order to stop the destructive battle between Groudon and Kyogre. It is now the one out of the three ancient Pokémon that can be caught prior to the Elite Four challenge, while still at the same place and at the same high level as in Ruby and Sapphire.

Characters

 * and have slight changes to the design of their outfits, primarily from the change in color scheme from red to green (tying into the game being named "Emerald").
 * move boxes into Brendan's or May's house instead of (though the cries are not changed in the Japanese version due to an oversight, but this was corrected in the localizations).
 * A chases Professor Birch instead of a . In contrast, the first Pokémon Trainer fought after the rival has a Poochyena instead of a Zigzagoon.
 * Contest Lady, Quiz Lady, or Favor Lady in Lilycove Pokémon Center.
 * New Move Tutors added, including most of the ones in FireRed and LeafGreen (all but, and ), along with 15 others that teach moves previously acquired through Generation II TMs.
 * A new Gym Leader in the Sootopolis Gym, Juan, while its former Gym Leader Wallace is now the Pokémon Champion.
 * The former Champion Steven can be fought in Meteor Falls after the Elite Four challenge, with all of his Pokémon at exactly 20 levels higher than in Ruby and Sapphire.
 * Scott, a new character introduced in Emerald, will meet the player numerous times throughout the game, ultimately inviting the player to the after beating the Elite Four.

Graphics

 * Animated Pokémon front sprites return for the first time since . This feature was defined as standard for the core series Pokémon games ever since. Emerald is also the first game to have animated back sprites.
 * The cave floor design has slightly changed.
 * Every Gym has received at least a slight renovation due to the addition of Trainers for the option of Double Battles. Some of these Gyms received complete overhauls in their designs, such as the Mossdeep Gym, which was given a new, rearranged puzzle that the undefined must navigate through. All Gyms now have the Badge mounted on the wall behind the Leader.
 * The color of the 's room at the Elite Four was recolored from its original shade of purple to blue.
 * The text and required actions in Sealed Chamber have changed slightly.
 * The Legendary Pokémon battle intros include a different animation before moving into the battle scene. This animation involves the body patterns of the weather trio and the Legendary titans's braille eye patterns.
 * A young girl now blocks instead of a young boy.

Incorporated from FireRed and LeafGreen
Although Emerald is a modified version of, a number of changes occurred to make it more similar to.
 * Wireless linking with Union Room, as in FireRed and LeafGreen.
 * The Mystery Gift system from FireRed and LeafGreen is added, and relies on both e-Reader and Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter in Japan (e-Reader support was removed from overseas releases), being available alongside Mystery Events in the Japanese version.
 * A new battle area, Trainer Hill, which is similar to Trainer Tower found in FireRed and LeafGreen. Has support for the e-Reader in the Japanese version.
 * The wireless minigames Pokémon Jump and Dodrio Berry Picking were added and are found on the Game Corner in Mossdeep City, which replaces the e-Reader house from Ruby and Sapphire.
 * The Pokémon List interface was updated to match the one in FireRed and LeafGreen. The background color was changed but other elements like the larger bar and colon-less level indicator are unaltered. Field move entries also appear in the Pokémon List's menu after the entry for the 's status screen, as in FireRed and LeafGreen.
 * This creates some inconsistencies, however: the HP bar shown during the  is the smaller one from Ruby and Sapphire, and in the Japanese version, the HUD's level indicator also uses a colon for levels lower than 100 like Ruby and Sapphire (e.g.: Lv:45 as opposed to Lv45).
 * The text font has been changed to one very similar to that of FireRed and LeafGreen.
 * The counter for a move now changes color depending on how many points are left.
 * The two event locations from FireRed and LeafGreen, Navel Rock and Birth Island, make a return.
 * Altering Cave, from FireRed and LeafGreen, appears in Emerald.
 * Stars pop out of a Poké Ball after a successful capture, rather than no animation happening.
 * All of the music tracks from FireRed and LeafGreen were inserted into Emerald, but only a handful are actually used:
 * The caught Pokémon fanfare was changed to the one from FireRed and LeafGreen.
 * Navel Rock plays.
 * Altering Cave plays.
 * Battles with the non-Hoenn Legendary Pokémon and  in Navel Rock play  from FireRed and LeafGreen. Encountering and battling  in Birth Island also plays  and, respectively, like in FireRed and LeafGreen. The battle with  in Faraway Island plays a new theme exclusive to Emerald, , which is a more intense version of the aforementioned Battle! (Legendary Pokémon).

Missing Pokémon
These Hoenn Pokédex Pokémon are missing from Emerald and must be traded to the game from another Generation III game to be obtained. While  can appear in Emerald, the player needs to mix records with a copy of Ruby or Sapphire in order for Surskit to appear by way of swarming; otherwise, Surskit cannot be legitimately caught without the aid of another game.

These Pokémon can all be obtained in alone.

Compatibility
Emerald maintained the same levels of compatibility as its companion games and. Trading between each of these games is possible, but not with games from Generations and. This utilizes the traditional Game Link Cable, or alternatively, the GBA Wireless Adapter like in FireRed and LeafGreen.

While Emerald cannot trade directly with the Generation IV games, a player's Pokémon may be permanently transferred via Pal Park, and some of the Generation II Pokémon introduced into the Hoenn Safari Zone extension can be found using the dual-slot mode.

Reception
Many reviews criticized Emerald for being too similar to Ruby and Sapphire, with stating that "there simply aren't enough changes to make this a must-buy." However, gave the game a "Great" rating of 8.0/10, stating that there are "special, newly-created treats sprinkled throughout the experience to make experiencing this repeat worthwhile." Gaming magazine gave Pokémon Emerald a score of 34 out of 40. It holds a rating of 76.65% on, based on 29 reviews.

Sales
As of March 31, 2007, Pokémon Emerald has sold 6.32 million copies worldwide.

Japanese sales
Pokémon Emerald sold 790,527 units on its first week on the Japanese market, with a of 91.37%. By January 2, 2011, the end of its 329th week, it had sold 1,916,505 copies.

Music
The soundtrack contains all of the background music used in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (the basis for a majority of the music in Pokémon Emerald), composed by Junichi Masuda, Gō Ichinose, and Morikazu Aoki. However, the soundtrack does not include the remastered music from or the other unused music, all of which are present in the internal data of Ruby and Sapphire, as well as Emerald.

The entire soundtrack is present in the internal data of Emerald; however, only select pieces of music are used during gameplay.

Several music tracks exclusive to Emerald went officially unreleased until 2012, when they were included with the official soundtrack of. These Emerald-exclusive tracks comprise tracks 1-17 of Disc 4 of the soundtrack.

Trivia

 * and appear in Fiore after 's ending. The two seem to have been injured in a battle, which took place in Hoenn, according to Emerald.
 * The game uses a faulty implementation of the pseudorandom number generator used in Generation III and games, which allows literally identical personality values for a Pokémon even after multiple resets. The game neglects to reseed the PRNG on startup (only doing so when the adventure is begun), which means that the personality values of an encountered Pokémon follow a predictable sequence once the seed is found and/or forced.
 * Pokémon Emerald has many similarities with :
 * Both are the third versions of their respective storylines.
 * Both add a Battle Frontier in the place of the regional Battle Tower.
 * Both are represented by the final member of a Legendary trio which was not confirmed to be part of it beforehand.
 * Both share features with the remakes of their generation that are not present in the original paired games.
 * Both added the ability to rematch Gym Leaders after obtaining the National Pokédex.
 * Both allow the player to capture both of the game mascots from the original paired games.
 * Emerald was the last Nintendo game with a specially colored cartridge.
 * However, since Nintendo DSi-enhanced cartridges are black, is technically the last Pokémon game to have the color of its cartridge match its name.
 * Of note is that, in Japan, the cartridges of the Generation I games and used the generic cartridge color.
 * Emerald was the final core series game released on the of Nintendo handheld video game consoles.
 * Various retailers had a special tin with a Frontier Pass as a pre-order bonus with Pokémon Emerald.
 * During rematches with Roxanne, Flannery, and Winona; their Pokémon are male instead of female. The reason for this is unknown.