Pokemon Surprising Sapphire

Introduction: "Pokemon Surprising Sapphire" is a fan-made ROM hack of the official Pokemon Emerald for the Game Boy Advance. It is not an official Nintendo product. The game takes place in the Hoenn region, but with a heavily altered narrative and map layout. Visually, it retains the standard GBA sprite style of the base game, though some areas and character sprites are modified.

Gameplay & Mechanics: The game offers a non-standard selection of starter Pokemon, typically including Pikachu, Eevee, and Marill. It is known for its high and often erratic difficulty, featuring Gym Leaders and trainers with over-leveled teams, making it less suitable for a standard Nuzlocke run. It does not implement the Physical/Special split from Generation IV, nor does it add the Fairy type. The core mechanics remain those of Generation III, though many movepools and type matchups are altered, sometimes incorrectly.

Key Features:

• Radically altered story progression and map connectivity, often requiring the use of HM moves like Fly to bypass intended routes.
• Extensive roster changes, adding many Pokemon from Generations I and II to the Hoenn dex, but with frequent graphical and stat errors.
• Numerous bugs and glitches, including broken scripts, soft-locks, and corrupted text, which are characteristic of its unfinished and unstable development.

The hack is primarily known in the community for its chaotic design and serves as an example of an early, experimental modification.