Pokemon Royal Sapphire

Pokemon Royal Sapphire is a fan-made RPG that builds on the foundation of Pokemon Sapphire but pushes it much further. Instead of just replaying the same story, players will notice a tougher challenge, rebalanced battles, and new quality-of-life updates that make the journey feel more modern while still holding onto the familiar atmosphere of Gen 3. The game takes inspiration from other well-known difficulty hacks and blends that depth with a wider, more connected storyline.

The Hoenn region has been completely refreshed. Maps are redesigned, encounters feel more strategic, and every trainer has been given new lineups that require smarter decisions in battle. Even move sets and character interactions have been rewritten, so the pacing feels different from what long-time players might expect. It keeps the structure of the original adventure but adds enough twists and changes so that it feels like rediscovering the region for the first time.

If you want to try it without setting up anything complicated, you can play Pokemon Royal Sapphire quickly and for free at kbhgames.com right in your browser.

Features

Core Mechanics (Gen 3)

• Authentic Gen 3 rules: no physical/special split, no Fairy type, crits are 1/16 for 2x damage.
• Expert AI for every trainer, identical switch logic to Gym Leaders.

Starters, Regional Forms, Roster Changes

• New starter trio: Hisuian Sneasel, Hisuian Qwilfish, Galarian Slowpoke (Poison cores into Fighting, Dark, Psychic).
• Regional forms used for: Voltorb, Electrode, Growlithe, Arcanine, Exeggutor, Sandshrew, Sandslash, Raichu, Slowpoke, Slowbro, Slowking, Sneasel, Qwilfish.
• Added: Sneasler, Overqwil, Meltan, Melmetal.
• Removed: Ditto, Farfetch’d, Smeargle, Chimecho.

World and Presentation

• Every map redesigned while preserving the original route order and story beats.
• New or revised areas for key items, HMs, and story events.
• Custom-edited tiles built on Ruby and Sapphire’s set.
• Updated overworld sprites for Gym Leaders, player characters, villain teams, and many NPCs.
• Battle UI recolored in blue to match Sapphire’s identity.

Expanded Team Aqua Storyline

• Expanded Team Aqua arc.
• Matt, Shelly, and Archie appear more often, pursuing Kyogre and Lugia to expand the ocean with eternal rain and deep waves.
• Many NPC dialogues rewritten to enrich towns and lore.

Trainer and Boss Design

• Every trainer team, move, and held item handcrafted for higher difficulty.
• Reference point: similar challenge curve to Renegade Platinum.
• Boss fights fully rebuilt with deeper rosters and stronger sets.
• No potion use by AI; smarter sets and items instead.

Balance and Pokémon Changes

• No global stat or type overhauls.
• Starter lines (Sneasel, Qwilfish, Slowpoke) tuned to starter parity.
• Widespread ability updates to lift underused species
  • Examples: Sharpedo with Speed Boost, Slowbro with Shell Armor, Furret with Thick Fat.

Evolution Changes

• Many evolutions come earlier
  • Example: Slugma now at 20.
• Friendship evos at 10.
• Former trade evos evolve in the low 40s based on power.

Moves and TMs Changes

• About 90% of moves set to 100% accuracy.
• PP adjusted for balance; setup PP reduced.
• OHKO moves replaced
  • Horn Drill → Drill Run
  • Sheer Cold → Draco Meteor
  • Guillotine → Bullet Punch
• Additional tweaks
  • Spit Up heals like Recover
  • Teleport works like Baton Pass with -6 priority
  • Waterfall and Surf base powers swapped
  • Strength and Cut types changed
• Full move change document included.

Item & Mart Changes

• PokéMarts sell Rare Candies, Max Repels, Great Heals, and more at much lower prices
  • Rare Candies cost 1 Poké Dollar.
• Game Corner TMs are very cheap and give 5 copies per purchase.
• No wild held items; Thief and Covet removed. All Items are obtained via overworld and shop NPCs.

Trades and Egg Modifications

• All 3 in-game Trades and Lavaridge Egg have been changed!
  • Rustboro City: Sentret -> Sandshrew Alola
  • Fortree City: Pikachu -> Wynaut
  • Pacifidlog Isle: Electrode Hisui -> Larvitar
  • Lavaridge Gift Egg: Eevee!

Documentation and Tools

• Complete docs for trainers, items, learnsets, encounters, move changes, Trick House, postgame, resources, and credits.
• Included calculator and Lua script for exports, pre-statusing, and IV checks.

Full Completable Postgame

• Gym Leader rematches on the S.S. Tidal.
• Elite Four rematches across Hoenn.
• Multiple catchable legendaries and mythicals.
• Battle Tower secret Maxie fight.
• Secret boss vs. Gongas.
• Final Trick House level with a hidden boss.
• Pokédex completion supported.

Quality of Life Improvements

• Rare Candies in the player’s GameCube and in most PokéMarts.
• Full Restores, Max Repels, Max Elixirs widely available.
• Berries stocked as soon as they are relevant.
• Sponsor Corners in Poké Centers with tutors, shops, and deleters.
• Prices adjusted so common items are easy to afford.
• Multiple copies of most TMs awarded.
• Learnsets tailored to soften the lack of a physical/special split.
• Ability and evolution method tweaks to lift weaker species.

Increased Shiny Odds

• Increased from 1 in 8192 to 1 in 2048.
• See Known Issues for any shiny oddities.

Credits

ShockinglyGongas (Creator)

• Buggford – Map Reconstruction Team / Playtesting Team / Encounters Group
• Llamarizzi – Map Reconstruction Team / Playtesting Team / Documentation
• E Man – Map Reconstruction Team / Playtesting Team
• Ordeaux26 – Map Reconstruction Team
• Damnittom – Map Reconstruction Team
• Bagon – Documentation, Data Insertion, Playtesting Team
• Viktrick – Playtesting Team, Documentation, Calculator Help
• Dreammeme0 – Playtesting Team
• Luducolo – Playtesting Team
• Vylegon – Playtesting Team
• Haven – Creator of HexManiacAdvance, the Tool used to create Royal Sapphire.
• Defa – HMA Story Script Help
• YeahPotato – HMA Story Script Help
• bonzosbunker – Gastly Sprite
• thedarkdragon11 – PokéCommunity Sprite Bank
• StarGaazar – Tauros, Heracross, Mew, Pidgey, Dewgong, Rattata Sprites
• Drayano – Thank you for handling my goofiness everyday and being a huge inspiration <3
• SinisterHoodedFigure – Most decisions & Kaizo Dev research were used as great inspiration.
• Skeli – Creator of Pokémon Unbound and CFRU, Unbound is a Genius inspiring hack.
• Rain – Creator of Pokémon Lucid, greatly helped me during the start of development.
• Pinkyj98 – Creator of Pokémon Sippy Cup Sapphire, great feedback and inspiration.
• SphericalIce – Creator of Pokémon Gaia, Story and Map were insane inspirations.
• HZLA – Creator of the HZLA Dynamic Calc, greatly helped create the RS Calc.
• IndigoNull – Made the LUA SCRIPT to help with Challenge runs!