These games were accompanied by the television series Pokémon Advanced, which aired from November 21, 2002, until August 28, 2003, in Japan.
The following list details the 135 Pokémon of generation III in order of their National Pokédex number.
[1] In these games and their sequels, the player assumes the role of a Trainer whose goal is to capture and use the creatures' special abilities to combat other Pokémon.
Some Pokémon can transform into stronger species through a process called evolution via various means, such as exposure to specific items.
Ruby and Sapphire features two "Mythical Pokémon" – Jirachi and Deoxys – both of which became available to coincide with their respective anime movies.
[86][87] In a later 2022 interview with TechRadar, Steranka answered that "Kecleon has unique properties in the main series games, abilities that no other Pokémon shares, so we want to make sure we do right by its original design when incorporating it into augmented reality.
An invisible Kecleon has a chance of clinging to a Pokéstop, at which point the player can tap on it in order to initiate an encounter with it.
The hashtag, "JusticeForKecleon" grew popular with fans of the series, and was used as a rallying cry for Kecleon's inclusion.
[97] Ben Sledge, also writing for TheGamer, stated that Kecleon's eventual inclusion in the game had an enjoyable implementation that was not tied to any in-game timed event, believing that its rarity in-game was an effective method of keeping the Pokémon interesting after its release.
[5][118][119] Contrastingly, some designs, including Breloom, Aggron, and the aforementioned Castform were praised for their coolness, with the large variety of unique legendary Pokémon also helping the third generation feel fresh and new.
[124] A popularity vote on the Pokémon subreddit featured Blaziken at 5th, joined in the top 25 by Gardevoir, Absol, Flygon, and Mudkip.