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The additions begin from the box (or the title screen if you ignored the box).

Moments ago we spoke of some of the major new features introduced between Ruby and Sapphire and the games before these ones, X and Y. Now it would be fairly boring if Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were just reskins of Ruby and Sapphire with the legacy features added in.

Fortunately that isn’t quite the case, as the developers have made an effort to add in brand new features not seen in past titles. So without further ado, we’ll show you all the notable additions, with as few spoilers as possible (for more details, just read on ahead in our guide).

More to Mega Evolution¶

Upon glancing the cover of the games, keen-eyed fans may notice there’s something different about Groudon (Omega Ruby) or Kyogre (Alpha Sapphire). Those aren’t Groudon or Kyogre as you know them, but Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre .

The legendary duo can transform into their primal states mid-battle, not unlike Mega Evolution, through a method known as Primal Reversion . Like Mega Evolution, a hold item is needed to undergo Primal Reversion and you’ll be able to try it out once you encounter Groudon or Kyogre in your game.

Speaking of Mega Evolutions, there are 20 new Mega Pokémon in this game, starting from Mega Sceptile all the way to Mega Diancie. It’s also said that the legendary Pokémon Rayquaza holds a secret to Mega Evolution (of course, it Mega Evolves, but there’s more)…

Super Secret Bases¶

This is cheating slightly (if the above feature wasn’t already a cheat), because Secret Bases were already in Ruby and Sapphire. Super Secret Bases are the Secret Bases you knew and loved, but with a few fancy additions to make them really “super”.

For starters, you can now invite trainers you’ve met in other Secret Bases to become your Secret Pals. These pals will appear in your Secret Base and you can re-battle them once per day and borrow one of their special talents, which can be an instant Level Up or a free item.

How do you get other Secret Bases though? Well, you’ll automatically exchange Secret Base data if you StreetPass another person who’s played the same game or occasionally when you connect online via the PSS. You can also share Secret Bases via QR Codes.

Cosplay… Pikachu!?¶

We just mentioned Secret Bases, so we’ll quickly mention Pokémon Contests are back in as well, remixed slightly as Pokémon Contest Spectaculars (they love adding new words to make things seem cooler). So enjoy showing off your Pokémon’s toughness, coolness, etc. outside of battle.

After taking part in your first Contest, you will be gifted a very unique Pikachu, one who loves to cosplay (short for “costume play”, which is basically fancy dress). This Pikachu has 5 difference appearances depending on its costume: Rock Star, Belle, Pop Star, Ph. D. and Libre.

Each appearance is geared towards a particular Contest type; for example, Rock Star is Coolness. In addition to this, each costume enables Pikachu to use a move it cannot normally learn. The costumes also carry over to battle and Pokémon-Amie for some pretty silly situations.

Soaring the Skies¶

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Too much awesomeness… cannot… contain…

Towards the end of the game, you will receive the Eon Flute, allowing you to soar on the back of Mega Latios or Latias and fly across Hoenn (albeit, a scaled-down and simplified version) as you please. This is as awesome as it sounds.

Soaring effectively replaces the Fly HM (you still get the HM), so you can manually fly to any destination you’ve already visited, including routes and dungeons (although you can do the same with Fly). It’s slightly more time-consuming of course, but definitely more interesting.

There are some locations only accessible by soaring too - special places known as “Mirage Spots”. These mysterious areas are often home to Legendary Pokémon - in fact, you can expect to find every Legendary (not Mythical) from Johto, Sinnoh and Unova!

Delta Episode¶

Having defeated the Pokémon League and become the Champion, the game doesn’t quite end there. After the credits roll, there’s a brand new side-story dubbed the “Delta Episode”, where you must save the world from a new threat that’s poised to bring doom to Hoenn.

At the end of this lengthy episode, you will have the chance to catch Deoxys, a Mythical space Pokémon previously only available from limited-time events.