5 Incredible Facts About Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Everyone Forgets

There are so many Pokemon games that they seem to blend together. Since they all follow the same basic format, how could they possibly remain interesting and be successful title after title? The answer mainly revolves around adding new Pokemon to discover. In the case of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, there are no new Pokemon, only a few new Mega Evolutions. So, instead of adding new Pokemon, what do the main franchise’s sixteenth titles do to stand out? 

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are the pumped-up remakes of Ruby and Sapphire from 12 years prior. The games, released in 2014 by developer Game Freak and publishers Nintendo and The Pokemon Company, are available for the Nintendo 3DS. They are the beginning of the sixth generation of Pokemon games. While they follow the structure and include many of the features of other Pokemon games, they also add some surprising additions of their own. 

While they don’t reinvent the wheel, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire do a little extra here and there to enhance the overall Pokemon experience. To refresh all the doubters’ memories out there and prove that it’s not just all about the new Pokemon, here are five incredible facts about Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire that everyone forgets about.

Primal Reversion

The featured Legendary Pokemon in Ruby and Sapphire are Kyogre and Groudon. As Omega Ruby and Sapphire is a remake of those games, these two Pokemon get the spotlight again. This time, though, the stakes have been increased with Primal Reversion. Now, there is another form to push the limits of these two already strong Legendary Pokemon.

Primal Reversion is an ancient transformation process based on pulling power from nature and reverting these two Pokemon into their more beastly and powerful Primal forms. The player must give Kyogre a Blue Orb or Groudon a Red Orb to perform this transformation in or outside of battle. The result is a new light-enhanced look for the Pokemon, which seems to be glowing with energy. The Pokemon’s Ability changes, and their stats increase. In Groudon’s case, it even becomes a dual Ground/Fire-type instead of Ground alone. 

Take Flight

In previous Pokemon games, the player could travel through certain terrain or perform specific actions using a Move taught to an eligible Pokemon. This ingenious concept makes sense, furthers the relationship between the trainer and Pokemon, and makes having certain Pokemon a necessity. In Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, this aspect of the game soars to new heights.

The first step in the process is obtaining the Eon Flute from Steven. Once you have it, you can call Latios in Omega Ruby or Latias in Alpha Sapphire. They will then appear, and the player can fly anywhere they want on the map. You can travel the world like never before and control the Pokemon carrying you while doing it. While in flight, you can even encounter Flying-type Pokemon to battle and catch.

This ability adds a whole new dimension to Pokemon. Who knew we needed a Pokemon flight simulator? Soaring is fun, efficient, and required to get to the mysterious Mirage Spots that can appear in the game. 

Mirage Spots

If catching trainable monsters isn’t enough, now there are mysterious environmental phenomena to add to the mix. Mirage Spots, which first appear in Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, add a sense of supernatural mystique to the game. The unusual and mostly random occurrences include Storm Clouds, disappearing islands, and Dimensional Rifts. What lies in these strange manifestations?

Every 24 hours, a Mirage Spot occurs in Hoenn and disappears by the end of the day. A glowing red beacon indicates these spots while the player is flying around the map on Latias/Latios. It seems that within them are portals of unknown origin through which Legendary Pokemon will appear. There is also a guaranteed hidden item in each of these Spots the player encounters randomly in the game. 

Mirage Spot Location Types

• Caves
• Mountains
• Forests
• Islands

Hidden Items in Mirage Spots

• Red Shard
• Blue Shard
• Deep Sea Tooth
• Tiny Mushroom
• Big Mushroom
• Razor Claw
• Pearl
• Big Pearl
• Razor Fang
• Yellow Shard
• Green Shard
• Deep Sea Scale
• Heart Scale

Conditional Mirage Spots

Dimensional Rifts

Two large rifts appear in the sky over Hoenn as a result of the Mirage Spots. In the first Dimensional Rift that occurs, players can encounter Dialga or Palkia if they have Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit in their party. The player can face Giratina in the second rift if they have Dialga and Palkia in their party.

Storm Clouds

Above Hoenn over Fortree City, two black clouds mysteriously appear as a result of Mirage Spots. The player must have a Castform in their party when they interact with it to encounter Thundurus or Tornadus in the first cloud. When the player has Tornadus and Thundurus in their party, they will discover Landorus in the second cloud. 

Bring on the Hordes

Encountering a Pokemon in the wild or getting stuck battling a trainer can be an inconvenience and can result in Pokemon needing to be revived depending on the challenge. Usually, though, the player’s Pokemon are strong, and these encounters are not a serious challenge. Horde Battles make these encounters more interesting with a twist.

A Horde is a group of five Pokemon, either wild or owned by five different trainers. They are all exactly the same type of Pokemon. These Hordes will Battle the player’s single Pokemon together, resulting in a five-on-one contest. In the case of wild Hordes, once only a single Pokemon remains, the player can attempt to catch it like normal. These wild Horde Battles can be triggered rather than stumbled upon using Honey or Sweet Scent.

There are 94 possible wild Horde encounters in both Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. The Pokemon that are a part of these Hordes can vary, and not every Pokemon species will appear as a Horde. These Hordes are weaker groups of Pokemon in the area due to lower levels or lower tiers of evolution. They band together to attack the player as their only chance to possibly emerge victorious.

The trainer Horde Battles are all from Team Magma or Team Aqua. The group of five trainers will appear together, each with the same single Pokemon, and try to ambush the player all at once. There are four of these Horde Battles, with the groups of trainers either all using Poocheyna or Mightyena.

Possible Wild Horde Battle Pokemon

• Shuppet
• Kecleon
• Wingull
• Marill 
• Oddish
• Electrike
• Roselia
• Zigzagoon
• Skitty 
• Nincada
• Swablu
• Seedot
• Lotad
• Spinda 
• Skarmory
• Numel
• Macho
• Sandshrew
• Minun
• Plulse
• Magnemite
• Taillow
• Poochyena
• Aron
• Loudred
• Zubat
• Ariados
• Whismur
• Shroomish
• Wurmple
• Voltorb
• Mawile
• Sableye
• Makuhita
• Geodude 
• Spoink
• Slugma
• Grimer
• Koffing
• Golbat
• Spheal 
• Snorunt

Team Magma and Team Aqua

The two groups seem to focus on the environment and the relationship between Pokemon and humanity in their first appearances in Generation III games Ruby and Sapphire. Even in these first games, their ideals and opposing positions stand in contrast to other Pokemon antagonist groups, making them stand out. Team Rocket wants to capture or steal strong Pokemon to take over the world, while the more competent Team Plasma intends to free all Pokemon from their trainer’s bonds. 

Team Magma and Team Aqua’s positions have changed in Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. It seems their focus has been turned from the Pokemon to people, with one side being pro-society and the other calling for its destruction. Upon reemerging, Team Magma wants to give more space to humanity so people can expand civilization further without Pokemon getting in the way. In contrast, Aqua wants to expand the seas to wipe out civilization so that Pokemon can live free and rule the planet. 

These two teams have always been on opposite sides of the spectrum, but their evolved motivations here are strange and even more drastic. They transformed from conservationist or environmentalist groups to terrorists bent on the mass genocide of humans or Pokemon as a species. It’s a good thing the player is there to stand in their way!