Prerelease:Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire/Late Development

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.

To do: Cover: Try and find Famitsu sources. Find a "complete" version of the CoroCoro August 2002 issue 291, dated July 15; the current source has the Pokemon GBA page cut-off, five days before Pokemon Festa. Finish descriptions of the July-August prerelease content, and cover September-November content.

2001

December

Pokemon Heroes Teaser

At the end of the year, a teaser for the next Pokemon movie was posted showing ancient designs of Latios and Latias. Strangely, the shapes of the designs look different.

2002

January

The fifth movie, Pokémon Heroes is revealed to the public with a summer release, along with the revelation of Latias and Latios. It was also said that a new mainline Pokémon title for the Game Boy Advance featuring Pokémon from that movie would be released later this year, and would contain "over 350 Pokémon".

Wynaut is also revealed, but it has a blue color scheme, conflicting with its green appearance in the Famitsu issue.

March

The game was revealed in an issue of Corocoro, published on March 15, 2002.

Corocoro Issue #288

Much of the game was finally unveiled in an issue of Famitsu, after nearly a year without any new information. Duskull, Wynaut, and Volbeat were also revealed as Pokémon.

Location Images

Corocoro Issue #288	Final Game

• An Image of a completely unknown location, possibly Route 123.

Corocoro Issue #288	Final Game

• An image of Route 106 and Dewford Town. The water tileset is different from the final.

Corocoro Issue #288	Final Game

• An Image of another completely unknown location, possibly Route 120.

(Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20020628110012/http://pokemon2002.net/title1.html)

April

Corocoro Issue #289

Issue of Corocoro was released on March 15, 2002.

Logo Reveal

The temporary logo of Pokemon Game Boy Advance title was unveiled. Notably, it has water ripple effects within the font, giving a hint towards the land-and-sea theme of the game. It also bears some resemblance to the Pokémon Sapphire logo, except that the finalized logo is more crystal-like. Pokémon Sapphire was also technically the first to be developed out of the two, as it's internally identified as "Version 1".

Screenshots

Battle Sequence

Corocoro Issue #289	Final Game (JP)

Brendan encountering a wild Wynaut.

• The background is slightly duller in color, lacking the blue stripes at the top.
• The text box is more turquoise as opposed to a more green hue in the final.
• Wynaut's sprite was green, despite its finalized cyan coloration being revealed in January 2002 to coincide with the announcement of Pokemon Heroes.
• The Pokemon's health lacks an arrow.
• The player's back sprite is always in the "throwing Poké Ball" pose.

• 
• 
• 

Corocoro Issue #289	Final Game (JP)

Brendan's Azurill fighting against Wynaut.

• Azurill's back sprite was darker, closely resembling the palette of their appearance in Pokemon Heroes.

Corocoro Issue #289	Final Game (JP)

An early battle sequence between Duskull and Kecleon, containing a handful of differences.

• The HUD seems to be in an incredibly early state, lacking arrows for Pokémon.
• Duskull's sprite has less visible eyes and seems to have a different pattern on its back.
• Kecleon's sprite appears to look unfinished, as it lacks shading.
• As Duskull cannot be found at Level 10, and in a grassy area, it was likely put together via debug mode.

Locations

Corocoro Issue #289	Final Game

An earlier version of Petalburg City.

• The Gentleman NPC has gray-black clothing instead of brown in the final, likely due to having a slightly glitched palette. This may have also been adjusted to avoid any unintentional resemblance to Colonel Sanders, the mascot of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
• The paths are made of concrete rather than dirt.
• Notably, Pokemon Centers and the Pokémart stores have the same red-colored roofs. The latter was ultimately changed to blue, likely to avoid confusion.
• The trees around the town are the grouped type used in northeastern Hoenn, rather than regular single trees.
• The houses have extra bushes next to them.

Corocoro Issue #289	Final Game

An unknown cave. Possibly the 3rd room of Cave of Origin which requires you to use Flash to see.

Torchic Concept Art

A slightly later piece of concept art for the Pokemon Torchic, having two feathers on sides of the heads rather than a singular feather with an orange side.

April

Corocoro Issue #289

More information was revealed in Corocoro Issue #289, published on April 15, 2002. It was revealed that Professor Birch would appear.

Screenshots

Battle Sequence

Corocoro Issue #289	Final Game (JP)

A slightly later battle sequence.

• The "glitched bar" is no longer present.
• The menu text box is now green.
• First appearance of the Poké Ball graphic to indicate if an opponent Pokémon has been previously caught. The icon is black and white rather than the final red and white design.
• Azurill's front sprite was a bit darker and lacked the lighter colors.

Corocoro Issue #289	Final Game (JP)

The desert battle background was shown for the first time.

• Kecleon's sprite has been touched up, with the yellow color being changed a bit.

Corocoro Issue #289	Final Game (JP)

A slightly later battle sequence, this time in the water. Wynaut is using Mirror Coat against Wailmer.

• The water is more teal in color.
• Wailmer's sprite looks somewhat unpolished, lacking a proper outline and appearing as dark-blue and white rather than blue and ivory.

Pokédex

Corocoro Issue #289	Final Game (JP)

A first look at the Pokédex.

• The Pokédex background is more of a teal color compared to the neutral blue used in the final.
• Wynaut is listed as No.???, likely to avoid spoiling too much of the Pokédex.
• The "??" symbol is seen in this image. It would appear in the final game, unused.
• Duskull's Pokédex entry uses a placeholder one.
• There is no button for "Page" on the left, where the "cancel" option would be in the form of a button in that build.

Pretty Petal Flower Shop

Corocoro Issue #289	Final Game (JP)

An image of the Pretty Petal Flower Shop interior, with slightly different tilesets.

• The cash register is slightly different.
• The counter is brighter.
• There's a different doormat.

Pokémon Center

Corocoro Issue #289	Final Game (JP)

Corocoro Issue #289	Final Game (JP)

A first look at the Pokemon Center interior.

• The Nurse is wearing a hat in similar fashion to other iterations of her design; the final version has no hat at all.
• The attendants in the second floor do not have unique sprites yet, using the generic girl NPC instead.
• The PC was originally placed one half-step south of its final positions on both floors. The player sprite may have not overlapped the PC realistically enough at that spot. The shadowed floor tiles were adjusted to match this change.
• Both the up and down escalators have a shorter first step with a unique sprite.
• The seats are slightly different in design, have legs instead of a single base, and are red-and-green rather than the final red-and-yellow. There is also no sheen on the glass table yet.
• The early Gentleman palette can be seen again.
• The first dividing wall on the second floor has no text on it.

Littleroot Pokémon Lab

Corocoro Issue #289	Final Game (JP)

Corocoro Issue #289	Final Game (JP)

A view of Professor Birch's lab in Littleroot Town, nearly identical to the final game.

• The green chair at the north end of the room is placed one tile higher than in the final.

(Source: https://zoidsland.com/1rebyu-/koro02-5b.html)

June

Corocoro Issue #290

Released on June 15, 2002. Though not much information was revealed that month, two new screenshots were posted.

Corocoro Issue #290	Final Game (JP)

Brendan encountering Hitchhiker Lucas (Saburou) and Lady Brianna (Shiori).

• The owned Pokémon were originally stored within a "menu". This was likely removed in the final so it could be seen easier.
• Both of them have one Pokemon, whereas Hiker Lucas uses three in the final game.
• The Lady trainer class's sprite uses a slightly different pose.

Deciding on Names

The developers had a bit of trouble deciding on what the two opposite versions should be named. The initial name was to create something new whilst being reminiscent of the past, so they thought up of names based on minerals using Crystal as a prompt. They also wanted to use a name that would be localization-friendly.

Trademarks that were filed in June of 2002 are Pocket Monsters Topaz (ポケットモンスタートパーズ), Pocket Monsters Tourmaline (ポケットモンスタートルマリン), Pocket Monsters Amethyst (ポケットモンスターアメジスト), Pocket Monsters Moonstone (ポケットモンスタームーンストーン) and Pocket Monsters White Gold (Japanese: ポケットモンスターホワイトゴールド).

Ruby and Sapphire was a noteworthy idea in the end, due to the fact that only red corundum ores are called rubies and blue sapphires being the most valuable type of the lot, both of them standing out and contrasting one another. The idea was initially rejected by Game Freak due to going against the "soft reboot" nature of the game's development and the risk of it being rather difficult to get a trademark, but they ended up going with the idea in the end due to it being the only plausible option and eventually getting the trademark the following month.

(Source: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Core_series#Unused_trademarks)

July

Starters Leak

On July 16, 2002, details of a new Pokemon anime series were revealed, previously teased in the Pokemon Heroes movie. Notably, the finalized starters were also revealed then.

Pre-Pokemon Festa Build

New screenshots were unveiled at the time of the title revelation of Ruby and Sapphire, but they're from a slightly earlier build from the following Pokémon Festa 2002 event. The images were also posted at the beginning of the event, on June 20. One fansite says that the images date to July 14.

Screenshots

Battle Sequence

New screenshots were released, revealing new Pokémon and Double Battles. Arrows have now been added to Pokemon health.

Early July 2002	Final Game (JP)

A slightly later build of a Wild Pokémon Battle.

• Shoormish's sprite is slightly different from the final.
• Sharpedo's sprite appears to be based on an earlier design; the eyes are differently-shaped, the fin marks and teeth are sharper, and the star shape on the nose appears to be different. These elements may have later been reworked into its Mega Evolution in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
• Sharpedo cannot be encountered below Level 30 in the final game. The Pokémon data leak implies that Sharpedo may have planned to be a singular Pokémon rather than having a two-stage evolution, due to Carvanha not being present in the February-May 2002 data.
• Pelipper's sprite is more "blue". It was changed to a whiter shade in the final.

Early July 2002	Final Game (JP)

Early July 2002	Final Game (JP)

Brendan encountering a wild Shroomish and Wynaut.

• Notably, in this screenshot, Brendan is encountering two wild Pokemon, but such a feature never happens in the final. Wild Double Battles would appear in Generation IV.

Locations

Early July 2002	Final Game (JP)

Earlier Rustboro City, with some differences;

• The brick pattern was adjusted in the final, having the patterns switched.
• There didn't seem to be a gym on the bottom-right area.
• The lamppost above the gym was removed in the final.

Early July 2002	Final Game (JP)

Earlier Dewford Town.

• The house only has one tree. In the final, there are two trees.
• The earlier ocean tileset is still used.

Pokémon Festa 2002 Commercial

A commercial that was shown at the Festa event. Some clips are shown that aren't seen in the Televised Footage below.

(Video footage: RAI-GER)

Televised Footage

A few more differences can be found in the televised footage below, which played before theatrical showings of Pokémon Heroes in Japan.

Japanese Pokemon Wiki

Pokémon Festa 2002

Demo versions of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire were playable at Pokémon Festa 2002, held in various locations in Japan in July and August 2002. Admission to the events were free, but people had to line up to play the demos of the game.

Video Coverage

Japanese Pokemon Wiki

(Video footage: RAI-GER)

(Event location identification: ポケモンWiki)

Screenshots

The following photos are likely from Pokémon Festa 2002 as well, though it is unknown at which event location they were taken.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

The following differences can be found:

• The title screen is different, depicting May riding a bicycle with Latias flying beside her.
• There is no PokéDex available.
• Sharpedo has no ability, but it now uses his final design.
• Wynaut now appears in its cyan color scheme.

(Photos: POKEMON GBA)

August

Vigoroth Model Sheet

Model sheets of Vigoroth, dating to August 8, 2002 showing that the design was finalized despite not being officially revealed then. Vigoroth would appear in the first opening of Pokémon Advanced, Advance Adventure, which aired on November 21, 2002 in Japan.

Corocoro Issue #292

Released on August 15, 2002. Pokemon Contests were revealed, whilst Blaziken was shown in another page.

GBA Lineup 2002 Trailer

A trailer for the game included on a promotional DVD Nintendo gave out to customers for free in Japan. Certain differences can be seen here which are.

• Mugshots are used for trainers too which are only used for the Elite Four members in final.
• Lass battle sprite has a striped shirt. The blue stripes were removed for her final sprite.
• Twins overworld sprite is not what it is in final.
• Moves such as Scary Face and Surf were improved after this trailer visually. Surf looks less detailed and doesn't have the effect of filling the screen with water and Scary Face is positioned in the middle of the screen instead of on the Pokemon who uses it.
• The Seashore area on Route 109 has the umbrellas and the house positioned differently than final release.
• The Tuber Boy trainer's overworld sprite has longer hair.
• The contest room looks the same as other screenshots around this time did.
• Azurill's sprite was still sad.

Locations

Corocoro Issue #292	Final Game (JP)

Corocoro Issue #292	Final Game (JP)

An image of Route 109.

• The Seashore House is closer to the shore and Slateport City.
• The umbrella on the right was repositioned and recolored in the final.

Corocoro Issue #292	Final Game (JP)

In Lilycove City.

• The flowers on the left side of the Pokemon Center were removed in the final.

Pokémon Contest

Corocoro Issue #292	Final Game (JP)

Corocoro Issue #292	Final Game (JP)

Contest Hall in Fallarbor Town.

• Fallarbor Town has redder hill edges on the top-right part.
• The PokéBlock making stations are positioned differently.
• The entrance mat to the contest hall is different.

Corocoro Issue #292	Final Game (JP)

A Pokémon Contest sequence.

• The stage does not appear in the final.

Pokemon's Status Screen

Corocoro Issue #292	Final Game (JP)

Status screen of a Sharpedo.

• Sharpedo cannot be encountered at Level 22 in the final game, nor is it ever seen at a lower level due to it only evolving at Level 30.

Corocoro Issue #292	Final Game (JP)

Status screen of a Kecleon, where it was encountered on Route 119.

• Kecleon cannot be encountered at Level 21 on Route 119 in the final game. It is always encountered at Level 25.

Battle Sequence

Corocoro Issue #292	Final Game (JP)

Brendan encountering a wild Taillow.

• Brendan's "standing still" back sprite is now used.

Corocoro Issue #292	Final Game (JP)

Shroomish taking damage from Sharpedo's Ability, Rough Skin.

Corocoro Issue #292	Final Game (JP)

Shroomish using Mega Drain on Kecleon, activating its Color Change ability.

Later Model Sheets

Model sheets of Carvanha, Cacnea, Mightyena, and Seviper, dating to August 19-20, 2002 showing that the design was finalized despite not being officially revealed then. They both would appear in the first opening of Pokémon Advanced, Advance Adventure, which aired on November 21, 2002 in Japan.

September

Corocoro Issue #293

Released on September 15, 2002. The Hoenn Starters, PokéNav, and further contest elements were officially revealed.

Battle Sequence

Corocoro Issue #293	Final Game (JP)

Brendan encountering Poochyena.

PokeNav

Pokeblocks

Contest Status

October

Early	Final Game (JP)

In Mt. Chimney.

• Team Aqua Leader Archie's sprite used to just be a Team Aqua Grunt's with another palette.