Pokemon Ruby vs Sapphire: Differences and Version Exclusives

Pokemon Ruby vs Sapphire changes more than the legendary on the box. The villains are different in Ruby and Sapphire, and 8 wild Pokemon in each game are missing from the other. The Hoenn gyms are the same in both, and so are the Elite Four.

Team Magma or Team Aqua

!A screenshot from Pokemon Ruby

Team Magma in Ruby and Team Aqua in Sapphire is the biggest difference between the two games. Ruby has Maxie as leader with Tabitha as an admin, and Sapphire has Archie with Matt. Their grunts change in the same places, with more than twenty trainers on each side swapped.

Maxie and Archie fight with similar teams. Both bring Mightyena and Golbat, and the last Pokemon is Camerupt for Maxie and Sharpedo for Archie, at level 25.

Which Pokemon only one version has

!A screenshot from Pokemon Sapphire

Ruby's list includes Seedot, Mawile, Zangoose and Solrock. Sapphire's includes Lotad, Sableye, Seviper and Lunatone. Zangoose and Seviper are the old rivals of Hoenn, one to a game.

| Only in Ruby | Only in Sapphire | |---|---| | Seedot | Lotad | | Nuzleaf | Lombre | | Shiftry | Ludicolo | | Mawile | Sableye | | Zangoose | Seviper | | Solrock | Lunatone | | Groudon | Kyogre | | Latias | Latios |

Groudon or Kyogre, Latias or Latios

!A screenshot from Pokemon Ruby

Ruby's legendary is Groudon in the Cave of Origin at level 45, and Sapphire's is Kyogre at the same level. The Southern Island adds a second split, with Latias in Ruby and Latios in Sapphire, both at level 50.

The gyms stay the same

!A screenshot from Pokemon Sapphire

Roxanne and Brawly lead the first two gyms in both games, and no Gym Leader changes along the way.

Which one should you buy?

Buy Ruby if you want Groudon and the Team Magma story. Buy Sapphire if you want Kyogre and the Team Aqua story. Ruby and Sapphire are close enough in difficulty that the villains are the real tie-breaker. We would take Sapphire (an aquatic cult is more fun than an angry volcano).