Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire beta

It has been suggested that this article be moved to Development leftovers of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. Please discuss whether or not to move it on its talk page.

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This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Add missing information, including from other sources such as the The Cutting Room Floor wiki, and add references to such (preferably reliable) sources

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Several things were originally going to be added to Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire during their development. Some were dropped or changed, and some of the dropped concepts of the prototypes can still be found in the internal data of the games.

Sources

Demo

Sharpedo's lack of ability. In the place where the ability description should be, it says "It doesn't have an ability."

A demo was available at the Pokémon Festa 2002 in Japan. There were prototypes of Route 104 and the Pretty Petal Flower Shop, which was "not yet open" according to the lady inside. There was also an unfinished version of the party screen, alongside a battle system more thoroughly developed in comparison to what was seen in older screenshots. When the battle starts, it is not possible to see how many Pokémon the Trainers have. Some moves, like Surf and Faint Attack, are depicted with different animations than those seen in the final release. It is also shown that Sharpedo has no Ability in the demo. This could mean that either not all Pokémon could have Abilities or that Sharpedo was yet to have an Ability determined in the final game. Given Sharpedo's low level in the demo, it could also mean that either Carvanha didn't exist at the time or that Carvanha's evolution method to Sharpedo was yet to be decided.

Nintendo.co.jp pages

This early page contains some screenshots of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire from an earlier stage of development.

• In Lilycove City, there are flowers behind the fence near the Pokémon Center. They are not found in the finished game.
• In Dewford Town:
  • There is a single tree behind the house near the town sign. There are two trees in the finished game.
  • There is a female NPC near the Dewford Gym. She was replaced by a Fisherman in the finished game.
• In Route 109:
  • The Seashore House is nearer to the Slateport City entrance in the website.
  • The Seashore House is also nearer to the sea (a small portion of the sea is visible in the screenshot).
  • The umbrellas are arranged differently in the screenshot.
• In Rustboro City:
  • A different building is shown in place of the Rustboro Gym.
  • In the website, there is one additional lamppost behind the building in place of Rustboro Gym.

This other page also features some early screenshots.

• In Sharpedo's summary screen:
  • The "Cancel" text is missing, which would be located at the top-right in the finished games.
  • The female gender symbol is white, like the Pokémon name and level. This symbol is pink for female Pokémon in the finished games.
  • The Poké Ball and markings are missing.
  • Sharpedo's front sprite has her teeth with more evenly spaced gaps both at the top and bottom jaws. In the finished games, Sharpedo has some teeth together, followed by some gaps.
  • Sharpedo's front sprite also has a dark spot at the bottom fin. The X mark at the top is not visible.
• In battle:
  • The qualifier "てき" (enemy) is used. It was used in the Generation I and II games, but not in the finished Generation III games.
  • Shroomish's front sprite has a different pose.
  • Shroomish's back sprite displays her whole body down to her feet. In the finished games, Shroomish's back sprite only displays the upper portion of its body.
  • The level 12 Shroomish uses Mega Drain, which would be learned on level 16 (except if the move was passed down via breeding).
  • Sharpedo is level 29, even though Carvanha evolves into Sharpedo starting at level 30.
• In Fallarbor Town:
  • The female NPC south of the Contest Hall is located 1 tile north of her position in the finished game.
  • The roof of the Move Tutor's house has tiles arranged in orange and brown horizontal stripes. In the finished games, the roof simply has a flat orange color.
  • There is a regular house in place of the Poké Mart.
• Inside the Contest Hall:
  • The counter is white in the website, while it's green in the finished games.
  • None of the four Contest Halls has exactly the same people as shown in the screenshot.
• In the PokéNav:
  • Wynaut's female symbol gender is blank. Once again, it would be pink in the finished games.
  • Wynaut is facing right in the screenshot. In the finished games, the Pokémon face left in the PokéNav screen.
  • The gender is located at the right of the level in the screenshot. It's the other way around in the finished games.

Pre-release

Pokémon

There were a multitude of changes to Pokémon included in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. A prototype of Torchic was nearly identical to the final design, aside from the large floppy ears in either side of its head. There was another design that shows Torchic inside an eggshell with lots of fluff on its neck. Another curious design depicted a creature with traits of both Latias and Blaziken, along with an unused Trainer. Concept art of Treecko also showed numerous designs for the Pokémon before the final design was decided, mainly with less elongated head shapes and a less rounded nose than the final design.

Groudon also had an earlier design where it had a different shape to its eyes, one more set of spikes on the torso, and one less spike at the end of its tail. One of the spikes on the neck was moved to the head on the final design, and overall shapes were much less sharp. Head details became much more elongated, and the super-ancient Pokémon signature body markings were absent.

• 

  Prototype Torchic

• 

  Another concept design of Torchic

• 

  Prototype Blaziken and unused Trainer

• 

  Concept art of Treecko

• 

  Prototype Groudon

Graphics

In some early screenshots, the roofs of Poké Marts are colored red instead of blue. The HP bar was also different from the final release. Some prototype sprites for several Pokémon were also shown, including Shroomish, Duskull, Wailmer, Wynaut, and Sharpedo.

• 

  Poké Mart with red roof and black-suited Gentleman in Petalburg City

• 

  Unused Pokémon Contest stage

• 

  Unused Pokémon Center workers hair style

"Enemy" word

In some early media, the qualifier "てき" (enemy) is used in battle. This word was used in the Generation I and II games as a qualifier for all opposing Pokémon. However, this qualifier was not used anymore in the finished Generation III games, which introduced separate qualifiers for wild Pokémon and for Pokémon owned by a Trainer.

Post-release

Pokémon

In the May 2007 issue of Nintendo Power about Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Junichi Masuda stated, "There's also a sea-slug Pokémon that we weren't able to put in Ruby and Sapphire that we were able to put in this one...", which suggests that the newly-introduced Shellos and/or Gastrodon were planned for Generation III instead of Generation IV.

Supporting this theory is the fact that internal data in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl reveals a back sprite for both Shellos and Gastrodon with a slightly different design, but no front sprite. Shellos's sprite is pink, like its West Sea variation, and seems to combine the West Sea variation's head with the East Sea variation's body, while Gastrodon's sprite is brown and looks like its West Sea variation, but with more rock-like protrusions on its body.

Unused Level Up Animation

By adding a frame of delay to the west.s file, the level up animation changes to flash the EXP bar.

By Flametix

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

Cries

The leaked Debugging Version 0509A prototype of German Pokémon Ruby revealed a sound test menu allowing to play two unused Pokémon cries in slots 266 and 269 on the Driver Test menu. These cries may have belonged to Shellos and Gastrodon. This sound test was later found in the final versions of Ruby and Sapphire, along with the same unused cries.

The cries of Generation III Pokémon are not stored in National Pokédex order or in index number order, instead going in a unique order from Kecleon to Chimecho, which like in the index number list, is located after all other Pokémon. This order remains in the final versions of the game, though normally unseen. Among the initial Generation III Pokémon cries in the audio data are the aforementioned Kecleon, Duskull, Latias, Wynaut and Azurill, which were also among the first Generation III Pokémon to be revealed.

Index no.		Pokémon		Types
HEX	DEC	MS	Name
0FC	252		Kecleon	Normal		Normal
0FD	253		Roselia	Grass	Poison
0FE	254		Torkoal	Fire		Fire
0FF	255		Electrike	Electric		Electric
100	256		Manectric	Electric		Electric
101	257		Duskull	Ghost		Ghost
102	258		Latias	Dragon	Psychic
103	259		Wynaut	Psychic		Psychic
104	260		Seviper	Poison		Poison
105	261		Sharpedo	Water	Dark
106	262		Zangoose	Normal		Normal
107	263		Azurill	Normal		Normal
108	264		Swablu	Normal	Flying
109	265		Altaria	Dragon	Flying
10A	266		???	???		???
10B	267		Taillow	Normal	Flying
10C	268		Swellow	Normal	Flying
10D	269		???	???		???
10E	270		Spinda	Normal		Normal
10F	271		Torchic	Fire		Fire
110	272		Combusken	Fire	Fighting
111	273		Blaziken	Fire	Fighting
112	274		Treecko	Grass		Grass
113	275		Grovyle	Grass		Grass
114	276		Sceptile	Grass		Grass
115	277		Mudkip	Water		Water
116	278		Marshtomp	Water	Ground
117	279		Swampert	Water	Ground
118	280		Pelipper	Water	Flying
119	281		Wingull	Water	Flying
11A	282		Banette	Ghost		Ghost
11B	283		Shuppet	Ghost		Ghost
11C	284		Lotad	Water	Grass
11D	285		Lombre	Water	Grass
11E	286		Ludicolo	Water	Grass
11F	287		Seedot	Grass		Grass
120	288		Nuzleaf	Grass	Dark
121	289		Shiftry	Grass	Dark
122	290		Carvanha	Water	Dark
123	291		Wurmple	Bug		Bug
124	292		Silcoon	Bug		Bug
125	293		Beautifly	Bug	Flying
126	294		Cascoon	Bug		Bug
127	295		Dustox	Bug	Poison
128	296		Ralts	Psychic		Psychic
129	297		Kirlia	Psychic		Psychic
12A	298		Gardevoir	Psychic		Psychic
12B	299		Slakoth	Normal		Normal
12C	300		Vigoroth	Normal		Normal
12D	301		Slaking	Normal		Normal
12E	302		Nincada	Bug	Ground
12F	303		Ninjask	Bug	Flying
130	304		Shedinja	Bug	Ghost
131	305		Makuhita	Fighting		Fighting
132	306		Hariyama	Fighting		Fighting
133	307		Nosepass	Rock		Rock
134	308		Glalie	Ice		Ice
135	309		Plusle	Electric		Electric
136	310		Minun	Electric		Electric
137	311		Surskit	Bug	Water
138	312		Masquerain	Bug	Flying
139	313		Skitty	Normal		Normal
13A	314		Delcatty	Normal		Normal
13B	315		Gulpin	Poison		Poison
13C	316		Swalot	Poison		Poison
13D	317		Numel	Fire	Ground
13E	318		Camerupt	Fire	Ground
13F	319		Barboach	Water	Ground
140	320		Whiscash	Water	Ground
141	321		Corphish	Water		Water
142	322		Crawdaunt	Water	Dark
143	323		Spoink	Psychic		Psychic
144	324		Grumpig	Psychic		Psychic
145	325		Trapinch	Ground		Ground
146	326		Vibrava	Ground	Dragon
147	327		Flygon	Ground	Dragon
148	328		Cacnea	Grass		Grass
149	329		Cacturne	Grass	Dark
14A	330		Baltoy	Ground	Psychic
14B	331		Claydol	Ground	Psychic
14C	332		Lunatone	Rock	Psychic
14D	333		Solrock	Rock	Psychic
14E	334		Feebas	Water		Water
14F	335		Milotic	Water		Water
150	336		Absol	Dark		Dark
151	337		Meditite	Fighting	Psychic
152	338		Medicham	Fighting	Psychic
153	339		Spheal	Ice	Water
154	340		Sealeo	Ice	Water
155	341		Walrein	Ice	Water
156	342		Clamperl	Water		Water
157	343		Huntail	Water		Water
158	344		Gorebyss	Water		Water
159	345		Lileep	Rock	Grass
15A	346		Cradily	Rock	Grass
15B	347		Anorith	Rock	Bug
15C	348		Armaldo	Rock	Bug
15D	349		Beldum	Steel	Psychic
15E	350		Metang	Steel	Psychic
15F	351		Metagross	Steel	Psychic
160	352		Bagon	Dragon		Dragon
161	353		Shelgon	Dragon		Dragon
162	354		Regirock	Rock		Rock
163	355		Regice	Ice		Ice
164	356		Registeel	Steel		Steel
165	357		Castform	Normal		Normal
166	358		Volbeat	Bug		Bug
167	359		Illumise	Bug		Bug
168	360		Poochyena	Dark		Dark
169	361		Mightyena	Dark		Dark
16A	362		Dusclops	Ghost		Ghost
16B	363		Sableye	Dark	Ghost
16C	364		Mawile	Steel		Steel
16D	365		Aron	Steel	Rock
16E	366		Lairon	Steel	Rock
16F	367		Aggron	Steel	Rock
170	368		Relicanth	Rock	Water
171	369		Luvdisc	Water		Water
172	370		Groudon	Ground		Ground
173	371		Kyogre	Water		Water
174	372		Rayquaza	Dragon	Flying
175	373		Salamence	Dragon	Flying
176	374		Breloom	Grass	Fighting
177	375		Shroomish	Grass		Grass
178	376		Linoone	Normal		Normal
179	377		Tropius	Grass	Flying
17A	378		Wailmer	Water		Water
17B	379		Zigzagoon	Normal		Normal
17C	380		Exploud	Normal		Normal
17D	381		Loudred	Normal		Normal
17E	382		Wailord	Water		Water
17F	383		Whismur	Normal		Normal
180	384		Snorunt	Ice		Ice
181	385		Latios	Dragon	Psychic
182	386		Jirachi	Steel	Psychic
183	387		Deoxys	Psychic		Psychic
184	388		Chimecho	Psychic		Psychic

Battles

Wild Double Battles were planned for the Generation III games in addition to the Double Battles against Trainers. This mode is incomplete, however, since the game only generates data for one wild Pokémon and copies the data of that Pokémon for the second wild Pokémon. It can be enabled by setting the battle mode flag to 0x0001.

Music

Some remastered Generation II music is present in the internal data.

• Route 38
• The background music used in the Pokémon Communication Center from Pokémon Crystal after the Mobile Game Boy Adapter is plugged in for the first time.
• Pewter City
• Battle! (Suicune)
• Radio Tower Occupied!

All of these themes are remixed from Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal and were likely made for testing the soundfont.

Pokémon Contest!, which plays during the appeals round of Pokémon Contests, is programmed in as both its full version and as four minor tracks which are combined to play the full theme. These minor tracks are next to the normal music in the internal data, indicating that they were initially intended to be used, though with what purpose is unknown.

Another theme in the internal data is a variation of Littleroot Town, which lacks the introduction and instead goes straight to the loop point.

By GoldenrodRadio251

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

By GoldenrodRadio251

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

By GoldenrodRadio251

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

By GoldenrodRadio251

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

By GoldenrodRadio251

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

By GoldenrodRadio251

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

Weather

The "four snowflakes falling" weather effect.

In the internal data, there is a weather effect for snowing that looks rather incomplete as it only has four snowflakes falling once, but seems like it was originally going to be used in the final release. A likely location for using this would be Mt. Chimney, as it might have been originally planned to be a snowy mountain instead of a volcano. The only way of activating this weather effect is by modifying the weather header for a certain map in the ROM.

Abilities

An Ability known as Cacophony was found within the internal data. No Pokémon has it legitimately; a Pokémon can only have this Ability by modifying its data. It is identical to Soundproof, another sound-based Ability, and it allows the Pokémon to avoid all sound-based moves. Since it is identical to Soundproof, it was likely scrapped due to redundancy, and some Pokémon that have Soundproof may have originally been intended to have Cacophony instead, such as Loudred and Exploud, which are well known for their loudness.

A Pokémon that has been modified to have Cacophony will regain the normal Ability it should have according to its personality value if it is migrated to a Generation IV game.

Trainers

Pokémon Sapphire contains some unused Trainer data for Archie, the leader of Team Aqua. According to the data, he was planned to be battled at some point where his team consists of a level 17 Huntail and a level 17 Sharpedo. He is also carrying two Super Potions. This may indicate that Archie was originally planned to be encountered earlier in the game and was intended to appear with a drastically different sort of team. Likewise, Pokémon Ruby contains unused data for Maxie, the leader of Team Magma, who has a level 17 Torkoal and a level 17 Camerupt. He also has two Super Potions.

Graphics

An unused sprite for a member of Team Aqua exists in the internal data and is identical to that of male Team Aqua Grunts with the exception of a mirrored body, modified coloration, the addition of a mustache, and a bandanna around the Grunt's left arm.

A prototype model of the sprite that is used for a Pokémon the player has not seen (yet) consists of two blocky, big and white question marks instead of the round and black one with a white circle and a white question mark.

There is also data for an unused tileset, which could have been intended for the Mossdeep City Gym or the Trick House.

• 

  Unused Team Aqua sprite

• 

  Unused default Pokédex entry sprite

• 

  Used default Pokédex entry sprite

Remnants of the demo

The alternative versions of Route 104 and the Pretty Petal Flower Shop still exist within the internal data of the final release, though the associated tileset data for the prototype of Route 104 has since been removed.

Battle! (Wild Pokémon), which was used for Trainer battles in the demo, was used for wild Pokémon battles in the final release.

Unused dialogue strings, associated with the Pokémon Festa 2002 demo, still remain in the final release. The text remains untouched in the Japanese versions but has been translated in the localized releases.

A video of the demo can be watched here:

By xdanielIDZD

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

Text

Pokémon AGB

Certain text refers to "Pokémon AGB", which appears to be a short form for "Pokémon Advanced Game Boy", the once tentative title for Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. They are presumably from the initial stages of development.

Message 1:

This is sample message 1.

Welcome to the world of
POKéMON AGB!
We hope you enjoy this!

Message 2:

This is sample message 2.

Welcome to the world of
POKéMON AGB!
We hope you enjoy this!

Message 3:

This is sample message 3.

Welcome to the world of
POKéMON AGB!
We hope you enjoy this!

Cable Club text

Unused copies of the first sentence of Cable Club welcoming the player to the Trade Center and Colosseum exist in the code. A third message welcomes the player to the Time Capsule, which is a feature exclusive to Generation II, the previous Pokémon generation; where players can trade a Pokémon from Generation II over to Generation I and vice versa.

Welcome to the POKéMON CABLE CLUB TRADE CENTER.
Welcome to the POKéMON CABLE CLUB COLOSSEUM.
Welcome to the POKéMON CABLE CLUB TIME CAPSULE.

No copy of text exists for welcoming the player to the Record Corner, which may imply that the record mixing feature was planned or implemented later in development.

Placeholder move texts

Placeholder battle texts for each type such as "Used a NORMAL move", "Used an ELECTRIC move" exist for when the player uses an (unused) move with the relevant type and an index number greater than the last valid move (0x162, Psycho Boost).

The texts include:

a NORMAL move
a FIGHTING move
a FLYING move
a POISON move
a GROUND move
a ROCK move
a BUG move
a GHOST move
a STEEL move
a ??? move
a FIRE move
a WATER move
a GRASS move
an ELECTRIC move
a PSYCHIC move
an ICE move
a DRAGON move
a DARK move

In the Japanese versions, the messages appear in the form of "(TYPE)わざ" (わざ being the Japanese term for move), with the exception of the ???-type's message being "はてなわざ" (meaning "question move"). Due to an unknown bug that does not occur in the Japanese versions of Ruby and Sapphire, using a Fighting or Electric type move with index number greater than 0x162 results in "What should (PKMN) do" and the 'Fight/Bag/Pokémon/Run' boxes being temporarily shifted up when the move is used, with blank space taking up the area where they are supposed to be.

By ChickasaurusGL

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

Discount sale

Unused text exists which seems to be for when a shop (possibly a Poké Mart or the Lilycove Department Store) is having a discount sale. Note that the Lilycove Department Store randomly holds a Rooftop Sale in the final games.

Welcome! We’re having a discount sale today!

"Closed today" text

Unused text exists for an NPC (or more than one NPC) laughing, mumbling and telling the player that some place or some thing is closed.

Fufufu...

Mumble, mumble...

Oh!

Closed today!

Pokémon choice text

Unused text exists for choosing a Pokémon, possibly a first partner Pokémon. In the final versions of Ruby and Sapphire, the text "Do you choose this POKéMON?" is used for picking a first partner Pokémon.

You like the \v4-type POKéMON \v2?

It contains a POKéMON!

Pseudo-Gym Leader

Unused text exists for a test battle with a "pseudo-GYM LEADER", which may have been used for development or a trial demo.

We’re making preparations.

I’m a pseudo-GYM LEADER for interviews.

Ready for a test battle.

Open question

Unused text exists for an NPC who asks what they should do today.

What should I do for fun today?

Debug menu texts

Leftover text strings remain from a debugging version of Pokémon Ruby, detailed below. Some of them are absent in the final release, though there are still references to some of these strings, such as Init comm. data, Set highest score, Reset highest score and Set all art museum items.

Debugging Version 0509A prototype

A German-language debugging version of Pokémon Ruby was apparently sold by a Nintendo representative to the prototype collector who uses the pseudonym "drx", who later released the ROM to the public. The ROM has many debugging features, which can be accessed by scrolling through a section presumably relevant to who developed that aspect of the game. For example, choosing WATANABE attempts to save the game, although it turns out unsuccessful, and selecting KAGAYA allows the player to view their Trainer Card, the opponent's Trainer Card or activate the slot machine interface.

The cries of Pokémon with index numbers 252-276 are playable in the 'Driver Test' menu, labelled as 'Debugging Version 0509A'. Although these Pokémon normally correspond with ?, they have the cries of existing Pokémon exclusively to the Driver Test (with index number 266 and 269), suggesting that they may have once been real Pokémon. The cries, Driver Test and overall Sound Test menu are still present in the final version of all the Generation III GBA games, but are inaccessible under normal conditions.

A video of this debugging version is available here:

By Gligar13Vids

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

The debugging functions are mostly documented here.

Limitations

Junichi Masuda stated on his blog that while developing Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Game Freak considered changing the number of Pokémon the player can have and the number of moves a Pokémon can learn but that the idea was later scrapped. It is currently unknown what sort of potential changes were to be made, and as of Generation IX, no changes like this have been made to the series.

References

Beta versions of Pokémon games

Generation I Red and Green • Yellow Generation II Gold and Silver (Spaceworld '97 demo) • Crystal Generation III Ruby and Sapphire • FireRed and LeafGreen • Emerald • Colosseum • XD Generation IV Diamond and Pearl • Platinum • HeartGold and SoulSilver Generation V Black and White • Black 2 and White 2 Generation VI X and Y • Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Generation VII Sun and Moon • Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon Generation VIII Sword and Shield Unreleased Pokémon Picross

This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.