Nintendo Switch ports of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire look even more likely after official account shares suspiciously HD footage of the GBA games

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire might join their handheld third-generation siblings on a journey to the Nintendo Switch - at least, that's what fans think after an official channel posted what looks like a HD version of the classic games that are definitely not running on a Game Boy Advance.

Earlier today, an official Pokémon social media account shared a 30-second, suspiciously crisp clip of Wingull, the player-controlled trainer and Mr. Briney chasing each other around in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.

The Pokémon official account has posted a clip of Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire being played on an unknown emulator 🤔 https://t.co/aHDTy1F2Dl

Alarm bells immediately went off in the brains of many Pokémon fans. "This is an official account tweeting out high-res gameplay from Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire," YouTuber That Bald Gamer tweeted. "Since these graphics aren't possible on their original official hardware, I'd say this essentially means Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire ports are coming to the Nintendo Switch in some fashion."

Adding more fuel to the fire is the fact that Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 recordings automatically captures footage from the last 30 seconds of gameplay, which is exactly how long the video above lasts. And official channels normally don't use emulated versions of older Pokémon games in promotional clips - the video above is almost definitely not from the games' original 2002 release.

As noted by Kotaku, dataminers found that this year's Nintendo Switch ports of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen seemingly included ROM support for all third-gen mainline games too, including Sapphire, Ruby and the expanded Emerald. This certainly doesn't outright confirm that HD Ruby and Sapphire ports are on the way, but it does suggest some work has already been done in that direction.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen's Switch re-releases were also immediate best-sellers on the system, selling upwards of 4m units in their first six weeks alone. Not bad for two-decade-old remakes, eh? I imagine another opportunity to explore Hoenn would receive just as warm a welcome, if the price is right.