Pokemon Royal Sapphire (v1.7) GBA Download

“Pokemon Royal Sapphire” is a Completed GBA Rom Hack made by ShockinglyGongas. Explore a challenging Gen 3 experience with new starters, revamped maps, custom battles, and a rich postgame adventure.

Contents

Pokemon Royal Sapphire Completed GBA Rom Hack Description Features Changelog Known Bugs Game Related Stuff Download Pokemon Royal Sapphire Screenshots Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)Credits

Pokemon Royal Sapphire Completed GBA Rom Hack

Creator: ShockinglyGongas
Base ROM: Sapphire
Language: English
Released on: August 09, 2025
Latest Version: v1.7 Hotfix
Last Updated on: November 29, 2025
Status: Completed

Also Check Out: Pokemon Pisces

Description

Pokemon Royal Sapphire is a heavily enhanced and reimagined version of Pokemon Sapphire, offering a fresh experience while retaining the classic Gen 3 feel. Inspired by difficulty and quality-of-life improvements seen in hacks like Renegade Platinum, and expanded story elements similar to Gaia, this project reshapes Hoenn into something both nostalgic and new.

The hack features a reworked storyline that follows the original’s path but introduces new events, characters, and narrative depth. Core Gen 3 mechanics and the regional dex are preserved, creating a balance between familiarity and novelty.

Every map, encounter, trainer team, learnset, and major event has been carefully adjusted to enhance both gameplay and storytelling. Full details on the changes can be found below.

Features

Core Gameplay & Mechanics

Full Generation 3 mechanics (no Physical/Special split, no Fairy type, 1/16 crit rate, 2x crit damage)
Every trainer uses Expert AI (Gym Leader level difficulty)
AI does not use healing items like Potions or Full Restores
Stronger trainers use held items for added challenge

Region & World Overhaul

Entire Hoenn map redesigned for a fresh experience while keeping original story flow
Gym order and main progression remain unchanged
New routes, areas, and item scavenging paths added
Updated nostalgic Ruby/Sapphire style tilesets with a refreshed look

Trainers, Battles & Difficulty

All trainers fully reworked with new teams, moves, and items
Significantly harder boss fights with strategic team compositions
NPC dialogue rewritten across all towns for a refreshed experience

Story Changes

Expanded Team Aqua storyline with a larger role in the narrative
Archie, Matt, and Shelly are more important throughout the game
Team Aqua’s goal expanded to include Kyogre and Lugia
Team appears more frequently and is more central to the plot

Pokemon Changes

New starters: Hisui Sneasel, Hisui Qwilfish, Galar Slowpoke
Multiple regional forms included (Alola, Hisui, Galar variants)
Added Pokemon include Sneasler, Overqwil, Meltan, Melmetal
Removed Pokemon include Ditto, Farfetchd, Smeargle, Chimecho
Several ability reworks to improve balance and viability

Evolution and Move Reworks

Faster evolution levels across many Pokemon
Friendship evolutions occur very early (around level 10)
Trade evolutions adjusted to roughly level 40 to 42 equivalents
Most moves updated to 100 percent accuracy
Major move balancing including replacements for OHKO moves
Several move function changes for balance and gameplay flow
Adjustments to PP, power, and move distribution across Pokemon

Items, Shops, and Economy

Fully reworked Poke Marts with expanded item availability
Rare Candies and strong healing items available early and cheaply
Game Corner TMs are inexpensive and purchasable in bulk
No wild held items; items are obtained through overworld or shops only

Trades and Gifts

In-game trades fully updated with new Pokemon
Lavaridge Egg changed to Eevee

Visual and UI Updates

New blue themed battle interface
Updated trainer sprites for major characters and trainers
Improved overworld visuals and custom sprite edits

Pokemon and Balance Systems

No type changes; original typings preserved
Only starter lines receive stat adjustments for balance
Ability reworks applied to many Pokemon
Custom learnsets for improved gameplay balance
Evolution methods adjusted for smoother progression

Postgame Content

Gym Leader rematches on S.S. Tidal
Elite Four rematches in various locations
Multiple legendary and mythical Pokemon available
Secret boss fights including Maxie, Gongas, and Trick House finale
Fully completable Pokedex

Quality of Life Improvements

Rare Candies available early and in all Poke Marts
Healing items, Repels, and Elixirs widely available and cheap
Berries sold early in shops
Poke Centers include helpful NPC services like tutors and move deleters
Multiple TMs available per purchase and at low cost
Improved documentation tools for encounters, trainers, and mechanics

Shiny and Extras

Shiny odds increased from 1/8192 to 1/2048
Full documentation and tools included for gameplay assistance
Some minor known shiny issues may exist

Changelog

Version 1.7 Hotfix

Added Pre-status NPC in mauville
Added Move tutor in Fortree
Fixed tileset issue in 116

Version 1.7 Overhaul & Vanity – Last Update

New Starting Screen
Battle HUD is now Dark blue instead of grey
Can no longer softlock through PC Glitching in the lab
The Scanner and The Choice band/Extra leftovers are only accessible Post Waterfall instead of Post Dive
Updated colors on may/brendan slightly
New Front Sprite for Alolan Raichu, Alolan Sandshrew and Alolan Sandslash
New Back Sprite for Alolan Raichu, Alolan Sandshrew and Alolan Sandslash
Abandoned Ship has been expanded with new scripts and optional story.
Rusturf Tunnel has been expanded.
115 Trail has been expanded with new scripts and optional story.
Route 122 Has a new script and event.
Removed Head Smash at level 78 from Hisui Arcanine, moved to 80
Added Head Smash to Hisui Growlithe at 75
Removed Swift at level 9 from Hisui Electrode
Added Frenzy Plant to Hisui Electrode at 72
Entei Can now Learn Overheat
Lowered Solarbeam PP to 3
Lowered Thunder PP to 8
Lowered Heat Wave PP to 5
Removed a Solarbeam TM From Safari Zone in place of Dragon Claw
Alolan Raichu now learns Thunder Wave at 26, Light screen at 41
Flareon’s Learnset has been entirely overhauled, Early Flamethrower, Now gets Earth power and Sacred Fire
Espeon now learns Crunch at 59
Gorebyss now learns Mist Ball over Psychic
Venomoth now gets Compound Eyes
Exploud now learns Brick Break, Extrasensory and Icy wind through scale
Exploud now can learn all Elemental Punches
Exploud now gets earlier moves, and Swords Dance at 70
Seismic Toss now correctly can be given to a ton of pokemon
Substitute Lowered to 3 pp
Seaking now gets Waterfall at 36, Megahorn at 40, Aqua jet at 1
Goldeen now gets Aqua Jet at 1
Luvdisc learnset has been completely redone
Piloswine Now gets blizzard at 51 and Bulk up at 55
Poliwag now evolves at 18 instead of 25
Plusle and Minun now both learn Volt tackle at 72
Swalot now learns Flamethrower at 47
119 Wilds PC House has a Nurse lady like 111 Valleys
129 Islands slightly expanded
Magcargo is now Blaze/Shell Armor instead of Blaze/Flame Body
Gligar is now Hyper Cutter/Marvel Scale instead of Hyper Cutter/Sand Veil
Swellow is now Guts/Early Bird instead of Guts 100%
Sneasler learns Superpower at 71 now instead of 70
Sneasler learns Sky Uppercut at 62 now instead of 54
Qwilfish no longer gets Learnset Night slash nor Toxic
Qwilfish now gets Crunch at Lv24 and Reversal at Lv27
Removed Level 1 Scale Reversal from Primeape, replaced with Counter
Replaced Sea Incense in Victory road f1 with the Dragon Fang
Added Sharp Beak to Abandoned Ship’s Library
Changed Mawile, Tropius, Exploud, Absol, Kecleon, Scyther, Electabuzz, Magmar, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Arboks Sprites
Fixed Dialogue issue in the Mt.Pyre Postgame Archie interaction
Bug Buzz and Flash Cannon Descriptions updated
Overheat is no longer Contact unlike vanilla gen 3

Version 1.6.0.6 – THE CLEANUP UPDATE!

Removed 117 Hidden item
Removed Lavaridge Hidden item
Changed where a trick house NPC is
Removed Full restores from 3 trick house NPCs
Fixed [Maingame] No Oxford comma in Oldale NPC
Fixed [Maingame] Mossdeep NPC That explains TL’s Gimmick
Fixed [Maingame] Sidney’s Dialogue missing an “a”
Changed Route 131’s Grunt to a Boat
Changed Levels on a Certain Postgame team (Lv 88 -> Lv 98) [Postgame]
Fixed Gongas’ Dialogue [Postgame]
Fixed Evergrande’s First sign
Fixed a certain “a isle” typo to “an isle” [Maingame]
Fixed Shoal Cave having 3 walkable walls
Slightly changed shoal cave to be a bit more walkable
Swimmer Finger now correctly mentions route 121 instead of 122 when talking about Gentleman Walter [Maingame]
Fixed Route 133 having an unusable stair
A Certain Postgame NPC that was previously just a meme, now has a FIGHT that will help with your Dex! [Postgame]
Bone rush now actually displays the right Description
Roxanne now displays edited dialogue in the Tidal [Postgame]
Brawly now displays edited dialogue in the Tidal [Postgame]
Flannery’s Post-dialogue in the Tidal is now edited [Postgame]
119’s Corner has been slightly edited [Maingame]
Mystery Tomb’s Corners have also been slightly edited [Postgame]
DualWingBeat’s description no longer has a typo
Meltan and Melmetal’s descriptions have both been fixed [Postgame]
(Battle Tower Event) no longer Makes you reread their dialogue in the postgame Post-the fight [Postgame]
Battle tower now has a grass area to help with Dex completion [Postgame]
You can now fight a certain Postgame event Capture without being blocked by another [Postgame]
Dex Completion Certificate now has a custom Message for Royal Sapphire
Victory Road Sun room has been slightly changed visually [Maingame]
Victory Road Ice room Puzzle has been slightly changed [Maingame]
Victory Road Base room now has a shortcut so its easier to get back to the start from the end [Maingame]
Mt.Pyre Quest and outside are now EXTREMELY obvious, for those who may still have confusion. [Maingame]
Added an NPC to route 111 [Maingame]
Latias now holds the Soul Dew [Postgame]

Version 1.6.0.5

Fixed weird bug where Shiny Voltorb/Electrode were outright not in the game (???) They are now 🙂
- Changed electrode’s boxsprite
  - Added everstones to Rustboros mart
  - Added escape rope to Rustboros mart

Version 1.6

Fixed shoal cave nevermeltice puzzle
Fixed MULTIPLE tile movement wrong permissions
Wallys dad gives SLUDGE BOMB instead of a duplicate surf
You can no longer ignore Archie storyline in aqua hideout till the end of Tate&Liza split
Visual bug where you had 7 badges before Tate&Liza fixed
Sealed chamber now also requires dig like intended
Slowking slowbro learn sludgebomb through tm
Raichu now learns psychic
Added move relearner in lavaridge
Added move deleter to Fallarbor
Added move deleter to Petalburg
ALL Move descriptions should be in.
Oldale sponsor spot npc also mentions deleters now
Sandslash, sandshrew, alolan exeggutor, slowpoke tms list fixed
NATIONAL DEX IS OBTAINABLE THROUGH TALKING TO THE Route 101 “VERSION” NPC!
Added an Azumarill trying to smash the 108 rock before brawly as better blockage so theres no confusion!
Renamed Route 102 -> 102 Path
Renamed Route 105 -> 105 Sea
Renamed Route 116 -> 116 Trail
Renamed Route 119 -> 119 Wilds
Renamed Route 109 -> 109 Beach
Cut Tree in PETALBURG WOODS Will now disappear post beating brawly for Quality of life
Fixed minor tile error on 105
Fixed sealeo’s learnset, no longer gets draco meteor
A certain Postgame event NPC shown in maingame now has dialogue instead of being speechless
(Apparently this makes it funnier)
FIXED RIVAL 119 SPRITE TURNING INTO Odd PID Event Sprite
Rock Smash rock in Rusturf tunnel is destroyed post-wattson so you can’t softlock (with RMash)
Added dive spot that was gone in 124
Sneasel now learns rock smash after it has 4 moves so you get the choice of adding it
DualWingBeat now does contact like intended
Fixed route 104’s north fences visual bug
Added a PC to more houses next to their TV
Added PCs to Prof Birch’s lab so its easier to hatch a certain egg in LITTLEROOT
Added “League Champ Royal Sapphire 1.6” Text After hall of fame.
Changed “Welcome to the HALL OF FAME” to “ROYAL SAPPHIRE HALL OF FAME!”
Added “Magma hideout” background to Flannery’s gym fights
Fixed Infinite Entei/Regirock glitch
Changed solarbeam to 5pp
Wally no longer says “RALTS” instead of KIRLIA in verdanturf

Version 1.5.1

can no longer lock yourself in 123 by accident
You can no longer fight the glacia rematch pre e4

Version 1.5

Fixed 2 Certain Legendaries in postgame not being obtainable due to a glitch
Giga drain pp is now 8
Fixed tile errors in Fortree
Fixed Cycling road tile errors
Fixed oldale mart not selling candies Post Rival fight
Fixed some move descriptions
Added PCs to Resting houses (111 Valleys now has a PC so you dont have to rock smash everytime)
Battle frontier no longer softlocks you if you dont have a teleport or fly mon
Fixed bellossom/vileplume not getting weatherball
Fixed grunt sprite during the fight near pacifidlog isle

Known Bugs [All minor, no major important ones!]

May/Brendan sprite display as red in the Region Map
May sprite displays as red in the Introscene/Outro
Some Shinies got side-effect palette changes // Sneasel/Slowking/Golduck/Sandslash are some.
[Trick House] Trick House Question Robots ask VANILLA Questions!
[Postgame] Putting Mew in the Daycare Will create Eggs that will crash your game (Why would you put mew in there anyway)

Move Changes Document

Download Pokemon Royal Sapphire

MEDIAFIRE

MEGA

Previous Versions

Screenshots

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why No Physical Special Split
Great question! It boils down to 3 Factors in my explanation and reason:
1. This is a Binary hack! It uses the tools gamefreak gave us. If you want a bigger explanation on why this makes adding the split more complicated or outside unbalanced, watch KingCradi’s Video on it! It’s very much the same explanation I’d give.
2. I wanted to keep the Generation 3 Ruby Sapphire feel intact. Same mechanics, basically the same game as base. I want to self myself from other rom hacks and most nowadays don’t use these mechanics so I wanted to stay true to the source material!
3. Adding the split would mean I’d need to add SEVERAL moves to compensate for the lack of Physical or special moves for most types, and since this is binary, I cannot simply “Add” moves. Instead, I updated ALL learnsets to make More physical leaning mons learn Physical moves, and Special mons learn more special moves! + The game is all balanced around the old mechanics! So no worries there.

Is There a Hard Level Cap?
There is NOT a hard level cap. The reason behind this one is pretty simple:
It’s a binary hack, so I am limited and can’t add it.
Either way, there is no need for hard caps!
The game is not hard enough for me to feel like people should be capped at a certain level, and since I want the game to be aimed at both casual play and challenge runners, I felt that option would be way better for the player to make.
Finally, I will add that the game scales up, so the trainers won’t be near the next gym leader’s Level once you start a split. and you can play the game with that in mind without feeling the need to grind so much or candy your pokemon right away after beating a gym leader. Though its recommended you check the Documentation to know the trainer’s levels! (Or don’t, and have fun! <3)

Why No Infinite Candy/Repel?
Same reason yet again, Binary. I cannot add these key items. HOWEVER, I have played around this limitation by adding rare candies and repels to every single PokéMart for 1 PokéDollar! So this should never be something you have trouble withs you see in decomp hacks

PS: You can also get infinite candies in the Player’s home by talking to the GameCube

Where Can I Report A Bug?
Join Gongas’ discord and post your bug in the #✧rs-bug-reports✧ .
MAKE SURE TO READ THE CHANNEL RULES in the Bug channel’s pinned messages.
You can find the link to said discord down below in this post.

Are There Fairy Types?
Nope, full generation 3 mechanics and tools, and this includes No fairy type.
I could in fact add this one, it’s not a binary limitation, but it would also come with the same issues as the Physical special split; There’s no fairy moves, and I can’t just “add” moves.

Why Not Add Gen 4+ Pokémon?
It’s binary! So I can’t just “add” mons, i’d need to replace some to add some.
But since I started the project I already knew I didn’t want post generation 3 pokemon in the game besides the regionals and one exception, but some exceptions people regularly ask are the Gen 4+ EVOS such as magnezone, farigiraf, gallade. The issue with these is the powercreep. They are not balanced for the generation 3 hoenn pokédex and the game’s balance would not be great with them.

Are There Type Changes?
Nope, Not a single one. All types are the same as vanilla pokemon.

Are There Stat Changes?
Only the Royal Sapphire Starters (Slowbro Sneasler Qwilfish) And their evolution line had their stats changed to be more in line with each other and have an average instead of Overqwil having a way higher BST than Slowbro-Galar, for more information on these (7 Mons) that had their stats changed, just check the Pokemon Changes in the Royal Sapphire Main Hub sheet, linked down below.

Why Add Rare Candies?
Grinding should be optional! This is a rom hack, and I want everyone to have fun. Not only that but having them free for player use will also greatly help with challenge runs and less boredom. There’s no EVs in the game, so you’re not missing out on any kind of EV gaining by Not grinding! If you do grind though, there’s infinite lucky eggs you can buy in rustboro and more exp shares in the map.

Where Can I Find Resources For X / Y?
The Links below have all the resources from the game. If you need anything else or are confused, join the discord and ask in ✧rs-casual✧ or ✧rs-nuzlockes✧, people there will help you out.

Do I Gain EVs? What about the Trainers? (Effort Values)
There are NO EVs. The Enemy Trainers DO NOT use them, and I incentivize the players to use rare candies, so I felt like removing EVs was always correct. The game was also balanced around this decision!

Where Can I Find X or Y Pokémon?
Use the Encounter Sheet linked below! If you can’t find something and take too long and are unsure if there’s a pokemon missing or a wrong typo in the document, please report it in the Discord (which you can find the link to down below) and send it in ✧rs-bug-reports✧!

Will You Keep Updating The Game?
I will update the game for bugs and for balance changes if those are needed. I do not plan on making a 2.0 one day, if anything this game will see a 1.1 and a 1.2 eventually if needed, but no major updates outside bugs and glitches that completely break the game.
I do have plans to eventually revisit the game to make a “Challenge mode” and “Easy mode”, but that is not something I want to think about for a while unless theres extremely high demand!

How Can I Support You?
Subscribe to my Youtube, Follow my Twitch, and join my discord! You can keep up to date on all my projects and stay up to date on all things royal sapphire as well as my nuzlocke or runs through the game or any other games, as I love to create In the scene. If you don’t want to, that’s okay too, but I hope you enjoy the game! 🙂

Credits

Gongas – Hey It’s me 🙂
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!