Games
Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: Hoenn remade on 3DS with the Delta Episode
Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are the 2014 Nintendo 3DS remakes of the 2002 Ruby and Sapphire, set in Hoenn with eight gyms, Primal Reversion and 20 new Mega Evolutions. Omega Ruby pits the player against Team Magma and ends with Primal Groudon, Alpha Sapphire against Team Aqua with Primal Kyogre, and each keeps the Ruby and Sapphire split of wild species. They are used 3DS cartridges in 2026, with digital sales closed since March 2023 and online play since April 2024.
Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire on Nintendo 3DS: structure, versions, postgame and how to play in 2026. Drafted 8 Nov 2026.
Hoenn runs eight gyms to Steven at the Pokémon League
The player moves to Littleroot Town, where Professor Birch's child, May or Brendan, becomes the rival and a starter is picked from Birch's bag on Route 101. The family story runs through Petalburg City, where the player's father, Norman, is the fifth gym leader. One villainous team drives the plot in each version: Team Magma under Maxie in Omega Ruby, who want more land, and Team Aqua under Archie in Alpha Sapphire, who want more sea. Their plans wake Groudon or Kyogre in Primal form, and the player catches it in the Cave of Origin. Eight gyms lead to Victory Road and Wally's final rival battle. The Elite Four are Sidney (Dark), Phoebe (Ghost), Glacia (Ice) and Drake (Dragon), in that order, and the Champion is Steven Stone. The DexNav and the AreaNav on the lower screen replace the old map and encounter guesswork.
Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire keep the 2002 species split
The split follows Ruby and Sapphire. Omega Ruby has Seedot, Mawile, Zangoose and Solrock with their lines, plus Groudon in the story and Latios as the Eon Pokémon that carries the player in flight. Alpha Sapphire has Lotad, Sableye, Seviper and Lunatone with their lines, plus Kyogre and Latias. Both versions reach a long list of older legendaries through Mirage Spots after the credits, many of them split by version too. Trade evolutions include the older four and Clamperl, which becomes Huntail with a Deep Sea Tooth or Gorebyss with a Deep Sea Scale. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire trade with each other and with X and Y over local wireless between two 3DS-family systems. The internet trades closed with 3DS online play in April 2024.
Treecko, Torchic and Mudkip reach Roxanne, Brawly and Wattson
Treecko is Grass and evolves at 16 and 36 into Sceptile. Torchic is Fire and evolves at 16 and 36 into Blaziken, Fire and Fighting. Mudkip is Water and evolves at 16 and 36 into Swampert, Water and Ground. All three final forms have a Mega Evolution in these games, Sceptile and Swampert for the first time. The first milestones run in this order. Route 101, where the player saves Professor Birch with a starter from his bag. Petalburg City, where Norman sends Wally out to catch his first Pokémon. Rustboro City, where Roxanne's Rock gym gives the first badge; Torchic struggles there and Mudkip and Treecko win it easily. Dewford Town, reached by Mr. Briney's boat, for Brawly's Fighting gym. Mauville City for Wattson's Electric gym, which Mudkip's line ignores once it becomes Water and Ground.
The Delta Episode is the postgame's main story
After the credits the Delta Episode starts: a short story about a meteoroid on course for the planet, a woman named Zinnia and the history of Mega Evolution in Hoenn. It ends at Sky Pillar with Rayquaza, which can Mega Evolve without a stone if it knows Dragon Ascent, and then a trip into space to meet Deoxys. Elsewhere, the Battle Resort opens by sea with the Battle Maison and its four styles. Mirage Spots, reached by soaring on Latios or Latias, hold dozens of older legendaries split across the two versions. The Contest Spectacular, open during the main story, runs five contest categories with a Cosplay Pikachu. Secret Bases return with a QR code sharing option. The Elite Four and Steven offer rematches at higher levels.
Primal Reversion and new Megas centre the battle system
Primal Reversion is Groudon and Kyogre's version of Mega Evolution. Groudon holding the Red Orb and Kyogre holding the Blue Orb change form as soon as they enter battle, without using the trainer's one Mega slot. Primal Groudon becomes Ground and Fire with the ability Desolate Land, and Primal Kyogre keeps its Water type with Primordial Sea. Regular Mega Evolution works as in X and Y, from a Mega Bracelet that Steven hands the player around the fourth gym. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire add 20 Mega forms, among them Sceptile, Swampert, Gallade, Altaria, Salamence, Metagross and Latios and Latias. The type chart is the Generation VI chart with Fairy. The glossary entry is at /reference/glossary/#mega-evolution.
The DexNav finds hidden abilities and egg moves in the grass
The DexNav is a lower-screen app specific to Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Once a species has been caught in an area, the DexNav lets the player search for it, and a tail of grass or a ripple of water marks where it hides. The player sneaks toward it by sliding the Circle Pad slowly. Found Pokémon can carry a hidden ability, a held item, an egg move or a high individual value, and the chance rises with the search level for that species. Search level climbs with each encounter, so repeated searches on one route improve the results. For a player building a team without breeding, this is the fastest path to a hidden ability in Generation VI. The glossary entry is at /reference/glossary/#hidden-ability.
The Exp. Share switch decides how hard Hoenn feels
Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire keep the Exp. Share as the Generation VI key item. The player receives it early in the story, and with it switched on every Pokémon that sat out a battle gets half of the experience the active one earned. The result is a team that reaches each gym ahead of the leader's level. Combined with a Hoenn route network full of trainers, a run with it on is noticeably easy against Roxanne, Brawly and Wattson. A player who wants the gyms to push back can switch it off in the bag and rotate the lead. Later games removed the switch entirely. The glossary entry on levels is at /reference/glossary/#level, and the what-changed page for Generation VI lists the rule with the others.
The remake changed Ruby and Sapphire more than it changed Emerald
Against the 2002 games, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire add Mega Evolution, Primal Reversion, the DexNav, soaring over Hoenn, the Delta Episode and the Battle Resort. The type chart includes Fairy, which retypes Gardevoir, Mawile, Azumarill and Altaria's Mega form. The 2004 Emerald version added the Battle Frontier, and that Frontier is absent here; the Battle Maison is the only facility. Some Emerald additions appear, such as the Sky Pillar story beat with Rayquaza. Physical and special now follow each move rather than its type, as in every game since 2006. As of November 2026 no newer remake of Hoenn exists, and the 2002 and 2004 versions are played from their Game Boy Advance cartridges.
Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire went offline in April 2024
Digital sales ended with the 3DS eShop on 27 March 2023. Online play for every 3DS game ended on 8 April 2024, which closed the Global Trade Station, Wonder Trade, online battles and the Player Search System. Local wireless still works for trades, battles and Secret Base sharing between two 3DS-family systems. A used cartridge runs on any 3DS, 2DS, New 3DS or New 2DS; the games have no Nintendo Switch release. Pokémon Bank reads Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire directly and passes Pokémon to Pokémon HOME in one direction. Pokémon Bank can no longer be downloaded and ends service on 25 February 2027, so a transfer needs a 3DS that already has Bank installed and must happen before that date. Mystery Gift distributions over the internet ended with the online service.
| Species | Version |
|---|---|
| Seedot, Nuzleaf, Shiftry | Omega Ruby |
| Mawile | Omega Ruby |
| Zangoose | Omega Ruby |
| Solrock | Omega Ruby |
| Groudon (story) | Omega Ruby |
| Latios (soaring partner) | Omega Ruby |
| Lotad, Lombre, Ludicolo | Alpha Sapphire |
| Sableye | Alpha Sapphire |
| Seviper | Alpha Sapphire |
| Lunatone | Alpha Sapphire |
| Kyogre (story) | Alpha Sapphire |
| Latias (soaring partner) | Alpha Sapphire |
Partial list carried from the 2002 split; the official site says only that Team Magma leads Omega Ruby and Team Aqua leads Alpha Sapphire. Mirage Spot legendaries omitted.
| Order | Leader | City | Badge | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roxanne | Rustboro City | Stone Badge | Rock |
| 2 | Brawly | Dewford Town | Knuckle Badge | Fighting |
| 3 | Wattson | Mauville City | Dynamo Badge | Electric |
| 4 | Flannery | Lavaridge Town | Heat Badge | Fire |
| 5 | Norman | Petalburg City | Balance Badge | Normal |
| 6 | Winona | Fortree City | Feather Badge | Flying |
| 7 | Tate and Liza | Mossdeep City | Mind Badge | Psychic |
| 8 | Wallace | Sootopolis City | Rain Badge | Water |
Roxanne in Rustboro City and Norman in Petalburg City confirmed on the official Japanese character page (pokemon-jp-oras-chars), 8 Nov 2026. The other rows, badges, types and order still check.
5 checks before you act
- Delete any old save with Up, X and B held on the title screen.
- Pick the starter with Roxanne's Rock gym and Wattson's Electric gym in mind.
- Decide whether to leave the Exp. Share on and switch it off in the bag if not.
- Open the DexNav on the lower screen and catch one of each species per route to unlock searches.
- Set Battle Effects to Off in Options to shorten trainer battles on the long routes.
Read next
Sources read for this page
- ReadWriter's game knowledgeundated
- ReadPokéAPI Omega Ruby Alpha Sapphire version-group metadataread 7 Nov 2026
- ReadNintendo Support: Announcement of Discontinuation of Online Services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U softwareread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadPokéAPI species and evolution records, repository cacheread 7 Nov 2026
- ReadNintendo Support: Wii U & Nintendo 3DS eShop Discontinuation Q&Aread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadNintendo Support: Pokémon Bank End of Serviceread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadOfficial HOME service overviewread 7 Nov 2026
- Read『ポケットモンスター オメガルビー・アルファサファイア』公式サイト: ポケモンread 8 Nov 2026
- Read『ポケットモンスター オメガルビー・アルファサファイア』公式サイト: ゲームの楽しみread 8 Nov 2026
- Read『ポケットモンスター オメガルビー・アルファサファイア』公式サイト: 登場人物read 8 Nov 2026
- ReadPokémon HOME: Moveread 8 Nov 2026
- Read『ポケットモンスター オメガルビー・アルファサファイア』公式サイトread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadNintendo UK: Pokémon Omega Rubyread 8 Nov 2026