Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire were the first two core Pokémon games released as part of Generation III. They premiered first in Japan in Novermber 2002, and then in North America, Australia, and Europe throughout the first half of 2003.
Ruby and Sapphire introduced players to the whole new region of Hoenn, which was filled with new Pokémon to capture and train. Hoenn had its own cities towns and landmarks, and its own Pokémon League.
Training hard and smart enough to beat each gym and eventually the Elite Four was quite a challenge. However, Hoenn has plenty of secrets to unlock for the more exploration minded trainers. There are even secrets to discover by cheating or glitching the game itself.
Certain dedicated Pokémon fans have brought to light numerous hidden locations and treasures.
Some of these are maintained in the Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Generation VI remakes. However, the remakes also introduced their own secret locations and hidden Pokémon.
With the subsequent generations, it’s possible to catch Pokémon in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire that Hoenn had never seen before.
For this list we’re taking a look at some of most unique, challenging and powerful secrets that the Hoenn region has to offer in both its original appearance and its remake.
Here are the 15 Hidden Locations in Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire That Only Experts Found!
MIRAGE ISLAND
In the original Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, there is a hidden location on Route 130 in the Hoenn region. It can only be visited under very special circumstances that have almost nothing to do with the gameplay itself. Instead, it depends on the game’s coding and a bit of luck.
Every day, the game generates two randomized environmental data bytes in the save file. If these bytes match the last two bytes of the personality value of any Pokémon in the player’s party, Mirage Island will appear right in the middle of Route 130.
The Island will remain there until the start menu is accessed again the next day and as long as the matching Pokémon stays in the player’s party. The chances of the match are ridiculously low at 1 in 65,536.
However, the player can increase the chances by simply having a full party up to 1 in 10,923.
There is an NPC in the northeastern hut in Pacifidlog Town who can tell the player whether or not Mirage Island will appear for them that day.
It is curious that the developers gave players a way to check for this specific hidden location. The Island itself is home to wild Wynaut Pokémon. It is the only location in the game where the player can find the Liechi Berry.
OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARIES OF MARINE CAVE
Marine Cave is a special location that only appears in Pokémon Emerald. Unlike most locations in Pokémon games, Marine Cave may appear in one of four different routes in the Hoenn region.
It pairs with Terra Cave. The player has to race to each cave when they appear to get a chance of capturing Kyogre in the Marine Cave or Groudon in the Terra Cave.
However, there is a glitch that makes Marine Cave even more special.
In the Generation III Pokémon games, there’s a traversal glitch called the Dive Glitch. If the player presses the B button at the right time while entering and underwater cave, the game will ask the player if they want to resurface while on top of the entrance.
Using this glitch, it is possible to resurface from the Route 104 entrance to Marine Cave and appear on a rock tile.
From there, the player can walk on the water but cannot return to the land. Also, by using the dive glitch on the Route 129 entrance to the Marine Cave, the player can access an area normally behind rocks.
You can’t go too far away from the proper area map due to invisible walls, but you can sneak into this area and pretend to ghost Kyogre.
HARD LANDING IN THE SKY PILLAR
In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, the Sky Pillar is one of the final locations in the game. It is the only place the Generation III games where the player may encounter and capture Rayquaza.
The Pillar cannot be reached by players until they defeat the Hoenn Elite Four and enter the hall of fame.
It also appears in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
In those games, the Sky Pillar can supposedly only be accessed by members of the Draconid people, like Zinnia. In the Delta Episode of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the player may also encounter Deoxys at the top of the Sky Pillar.
Climbing to the top of the Sky Pillar to reach Rayquaza is treacherous. There are five floors to the Pillar, each with a chasm in the center.
To reach the top, you have to walk around the wall of the Pillar to where the rocks don’t obstruct your path. However, there are cracked tiles on the floor that will give way and drop you down to the floor.
You need to use the Mach Bike to pass over these tiles with enough speed so you don’t fall.
One neat trick you can do is to stop on a particular cracked tile on the second floor to fall on top of a rock on the floor below. Fortunately, you can walk right off it.
SEALED CHAMBER
The Sealed Chamber is a highly secretive location in the Hoenn region in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. It also appears in the Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
In the games, there are legends about the Sealed Chamber but only a few people in Pacifidlog Town have any real information pertaining to it.
To reach the Sealed Chamber, you have to start surfing in Pacifidlog Town and head west along Route 134 until you reach a particular spot in the water.
If you dive at precisely the right spot, you will enter an underwater cavern.
At the bottom of the cavern is a message in brail inscribed on the wall, telling the player to “go up here.” If you do as the sing says, you will arrive at the Sealed Chamber.
Surfacing from anywhere else will bring you back to the main part of Route 134.
Within the Chamber are mounds of earth each with their own brail inscriptions. Based on the brail alphabet they offer the player, you have to follow the directions, including placing specific Pokémon in certain positions in your party.
If you do it correctly, it will trigger an earthquake throughout Hoenn and open the way to three separate locations where the Legendary Titans, Regirock, Regice, and Registeel, can be found.
LAND SURFING
Have you ever wanted to swim through grass fields like they were kelp or surf through the air as if it were waves in the sea? Well there is a way to do it in the Japanese versions of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.
Throughout the Pokémon games, your trainer may traverse the seas by mounting a Pokémon who knows the Surf move. They can ride their Pokémon to isolated land masses or underwater locations and step back on land seamlessly.
However, in the Japanese versions of Ruby and Sapphire, there is a way to make your trainer surf on land.
You have to use the Acro Bike to side hop north or south onto a tile adjacent to a water tile and press the A button at precisely the right frame. If done correctly, the Surf dialogue box will appear while the player is facing a regular land tile. Select “yes” and voila-- you will now be surfing on land.
With this bug, it is possible to sneak into some areas that are hidden the the player, such as the Fortree Gym.
Normally, you have to use the Devon Scope to detect the camouflaged Kecleon that blocks your path to the Gym. Using this trick, though, you can Surf in Fortree City and jump off your Pokémon from the bridge south of Fortree Gym and get in that way.
THE ONE TILE OF WALK-ON-WATER
The worlds of the core Pokémon games are made up of coded tiles. Each tile is coded with the properties of land or water, or where wild Pokémon may appear or not, and so on.
In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, there are multiple types of water tiles. These range from ocean tiles all the way down to puddle tiles.
Usually, ocean tiles require a Pokémon that knows Surf for the player to travel on them. Spaced throughout the watery routes are patches of shallow water tiles. These are tiles that they player can walk on instead of having to surf through.
On one shallow water patch on the southeast side of Route 134, there is one peculiar title that doesn’t behave like it’s supposed to.
At the bottom right of the patch there is jagged edge bordered by ocean. It’s possible to walk on one of those ocean tiles as if it were land or shallow water.
Stranger still, the tile treats the player like a current tile. Current tiles force the player to move in a specific direction when the player enters them. This current tile that looks like an ocean tile will push the player left back onto the shallow water patch.
Maybe it’s trying to tell us something.
FARAWAY ISLAND
Mew has always been one of the most elusive Pokémon in the games. Most of the time, it cannot be found naturally in the wild.
Mew was originally distributed as part of special promotional events held by Nintendo and Gamfreak. Besides this, the player has to use cheats or glitches to arrange an encounter with Mew.
However, in Pokémon Emerald, there is a place where the player may encounter and capture Mew without any cheats or glitches.
Outside of the Hoenn region proper lies Faraway Island. To reach the Island, players needed to bring a special item called the Old Sea Map to the S. S. Tidal port in Lilycove City.
The captain will declare that it’s impossible to travel to the spot indicated on the old map but a different NPC will volunteer to sail the player there.
Mew can be found deep within the Faraway Island forest. They player has to catch sight of Mew and follow it into the center of the map.
There’s also a sign on the Island with a faded journal inscription, expressing the hope that anyone else who finds the island will be kindhearted.
The Old Sea Map was only distributed to players in Japan as part of the 2005 Pokémon Festa Event. Players outside Japan would have to use a cheat to obtain a copy.
THE END OF THE TRICK HOUSE
Along Route 104 in the Hoenn region, there is one house that offers quite the slew of brain ticklers for aspiring trainers.
The so-called Trick House is the home of the Trick Master, a mysterious show boat who claims to be the greatest living mystery man in all of Hoenn.
In Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald as well as Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the puzzles inside the trick house are broken up into three parts.
In the first part, the Trick Master is hiding among the common furniture in the main room. Once the player finds him out, he will appear and invite the player into a second maze-like room.
The player has to find the scroll with a password hidden in the maze and bring it to the end. There, they will find a door that leads to another room where the Trick Master will be waiting to reward the player.
In the Generation III games, the player must acquire each of the Hoenn gym badges to unlock each successive puzzle in the trick house.
Some of the mazes in each puzzle require the use of certain field moves to progress, like Cut or Rock Smash. Other puzzles include quizzes about the game itself.
There are eight puzzles in total in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. If the player completes all of them, the Trick Master will depart the game world, leaving a note. He has set out on a journey to discover more tricks.
THE PATHLESS PLAIN
The Generation VI remakes of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, introduced special locations throughout Hoenn called Mirage Spots.
These special locations can only be found while soaring through the sky on the back of Latios or Latias. The player can spot these locations by a disturbance that appears over them such as a dimensional rift, a storm cloud, or a previously hidden land mass.
There are two types of Mirage Spots that the player can find: Daily Mirage Spots and Conditional Mirage Spots.
Any of the types of Daily Mirage Spots can be found on a given day, but Conditional Mirage Spots require specific preparations to be found.
The Pathless Plain is especially tricky to reach because it requires the player to have three Pokémon in their party with maxed out Effort Values of 510. Then the player has find the spot in the South of Route 131.
The player may encounter any one of the Swords of Justice Legendary Trio, Cobalion, Terrakion, or Virizion on the island depending on the day of the week that they find it on.
Cobalion appears on Sunday, Wednesday and or Friday, Terrakion appears on Tuesday and or Saturday, and Virizion appears on Monday and or Thursday.
THE NAMELESS CAVERN
The Nameless Cavern is another Conditional Mirage Spot that appears in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
It will only appear in game if the player meets certain conditions.
Specifically, the player must have at least three Pokémon in their party with maxed out friendship. Once they are in the party, the player must take to the sky on the back of Latias or Latios.
If the conditions for the Nameless Cavern are met, it can be found on the northeast side of Sootopolis City in the Hoenn region.
The mirage will appear over the sea in Route 126. After the player lands, the cavern itself is reminiscent of other subterranean locations throughout the game, like Verity Cavern, Valor Cavern, or Acuity Cavern.
The unique aspect of The Nameless Cavern is that the player may find one of the three Lake Guardian Legendary Pokémon during their visit-- either Uxie, Azelf, or Mesprit.
The Pokémon that appears is determined by the time of the day during which the player arrives at the Nameless Cavern.
From 4:00am to 7:59pm, Mesprit will appear. Between 9:00pm and 3:59am, Azelf will appear. Uxie has the shortest window, appearing between 8:00pm to 8:59pm
However, the player may change their 3DS clock to summon the desired Pokémon.
THE GNARLED DEN
To get to the Gnarled Den in Pokémon Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire is a multistep challenge.
The first step is to level up a Pokémon in your party to level 100. Then, you have to soar on the back of Latias or Latios and find the Mirage Spot called the Fabled Cave.
In the Fabled Cave, you may encounter either of the two primary members of the Legendary Tao trio, Reshiram or Zekrom.
You have to capture Reshiram or Zekrom and bring either one with you in your party. Only then will the Mirage Spot of the Gnarled Den appear.
If the conditions are met, the Gnarled Den can be found on the west side of Mount Chimney in the Hoenn Region.
You will land on a forest path that leads into a cave. Upon first entering the cave, you will be notified that the area is filled with a freezing pressure. This should hint at the Legendary Pokémon waiting ahead.
At the end of the cave, there will be a mysterious ring portal. If you follow the text prompt to stick your trainer’s hand inside, a battle with Kyurem will commence. The unique item called the DNA Splicers are also hidden on the left side of the cave.
STORM CLOUDS
The Storm Clouds are another series of sequential Mirage Spots that appear in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
Similar to the other Mirage Spots, the player must first summon Latias or Latios with the Eon Flute and take to the skies on their back, letting them soar over the region of Hoenn.
Storm Clouds are one of the Conditional Mirage spots in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. In order to make the Storm Clouds appear, the player must have a Castform Pokémon in their party.
With Castform in the party, the player may find the first Storm Cloud in the sky above Fortee City. Flying into the clouds will immediately trigger a battle with one of the three Forces of nature Legendary Pokémon, Tornadus in Omega Ruby or Thundurus in Alpha Sapphire.
However, there is a second Storm Cloud that will appear over Fortee City.
To unlock that one, the player has to have Tornadus and Thundurus in their party. This can only be accomplished through trading.
Flying through the second cloud with the first two Forces of Nature will let the player encounter Landorus. From there, they can capture Landorus and complete the Legendary Trio.
After all three are captured, the Storm Clouds will no longer appear.
DIMENSIONAL RIFTS
The Dimensional Rifts are arguably the apex of Mirage Spot progression on Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. To get all the value out of the Dimensional Rifts, the player has to go through several steps with multiple visits to other Conditional Mirage Spots.
The first step is to raise a Pokémon in your party to maximum friendship.
Then, you have to find the Mirage Spot called the Nameless Cavern and capture each of the Lake Guardians, Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit. You have to visit during the time of day when each of them will specifically be present.
With all three Lake Guardians in your party, you may search for the first Dimensional Rift Mirage Spots in the skies South of Dewford Town.
Flying through the Dimensional Rift with these requirements with trigger a battle with a member of the Legendary Creation Trio. Palkia will appear in Omega Ruby and Dialga will appear in Alpha Sapphire.
The player has to trade for which ever Legendary their version is missing if they want to visit the second Dimensional Rift.
If the player manages to have both Dialga and Palkia in their party, the second Dimensional Rift will open. Giratina in it's altered form awaits there. A worthy prize for such dedicated trainers.
THE ROUTE 119 SECRET BASES
The Generation III Pokémon games introduced a new mechanic to let players leave a personalized mark on the region of Hoenn.
Throughout the game world, there are hidden locations that the player can uncover and transform into secret bases for their trainers. These locations are hidden behind divots in rock walls, in trees, or behind clumps of grass.
The player must have a Pokémon in their party with the TM43 move Secret Power, to get the dialogue prompt to make a secret base.
For most secret bases, Secret Power isn’t the only special move you’ll need to reach them. For example, the various secret bases hidden throughout Route 119 require multiple unique moves and items.
First, you need a Pokémon that knows Surf to enter the water and a Pokémon that knows Waterfall to scale up the waterfalls.
Then, you need to use the Acro Bike to make the jumps across the segmented bike tracks. You wouldn’t want just any old passersby find your super-secret base.
Secret Bases come in a variety of layouts depending on their type and location. The player can add up to 16 decorations of their choosing. The player may run while inside their secret bases but they may not bike while inside.
THE SECRET ISLET, MEADOW AND SHORE
The Generation VI remakes of the Hoenn region games, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, added additional locations where the player can put their secret bases.
There are a trio of hidden locations made specifically to be hard to reach places. They are the Secret Islet, the Secret Meadow, and the Secret Shore.
None of the locations have any trainers, wild Pokémon encounters, or items-- they are just for offering secret bases.
To reach all three locations, the player must have a Pokémon that knows Surf and a Pokémon that knows Dive.
The Secret Islet is accessible by surfing from Route 126 and diving and resurfacing from the southwestern underwater area of the Route. The Islet has a single tree that the player can make into their secret base.
It’s best for players looking to make a fortress of solitude, minus the kryptonian crystals.
The Secret Shore is accessible from the underwater area of Route 129. This rocky beach has many hidden caverns waiting to be converted into secret bases.
Rounding out the trio is the Secret Meadow. The player has to reach it by surfacing from the underwater area of Route 130. The meadow has several secret base locations hidden among the cliffs with stair cases making convenient paths between them.
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Are there any other hidden locations in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire that you found? Let us know in the comments!