Pokemon: Every Main Game Ranked Worst To Best

For every step Ruby and Sapphire took to advance the franchise forward, it took another step back.

Emphasising the technical nature of Pokemon battles by doubling down on the nit and grit behind the cutesy pocket monsters (natures, IV stats), the series' third generation added some more depth to competitive play. What's more, the introduction of two-on-two Pokemon battles helped shake up the franchise, keeping things fresh.

However, the games relied a little too much on the use of HM to navigate the world, with expansive water sections in particular garnering criticism from fans. However, every cloud has a silver lining, and Gen 3's over-reliance on water traversal gifted the world the 'too much water' meme, which is still flourishing in certain corners of the internet to this day.