Nearly twenty-five years after the release of the original Game Boy Advance titles, it sounds like fans will soon be able to play Pokémon Ruby, Emerald, and Sapphire on a modern Nintendo platform.
The rumor comes by way of leaker Shpeshal_Nick, an online personality known for his correct Nintendo predictions. The details of the leak are scarce — the influencer says the retro titles are expected to drop sometime in September or October 2026. Despite the lack of specifics, there's circumstantial evidence that supports the rumor.
The timing for a retread into the generation that introduced double battles seems right. This year, both the Pokémon trading card game and Pokémon TCG Pocket are getting a Rayquaza-themed set called Delta Reigns in November. Making the games that introduced Rayquaza available to play would build hype toward those TCG releases.
Another aspect that lends credence to the rumor is the recent release of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen on the Nintendo eShop. In February, a dataminer discovered that both games had been programmed to check for the existence of Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. Though that generation of games was remade in 2014, there is no way to play the games in their original form on modern platforms. A new re-release could fix that.
Despite the bevy of leaks, it doesn't sound like Pokémon Winds and Waves are releasing anytime soon. An eShop version of the Game Boy Advance titles could help fill in the gap between now and the tenth generation of Pokémon games.
If the $19.99 price for FireRed and LeafGreen is anything to go by, a new port of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald could ostensibly be affordable. Though fans may expect such Pokémon ports to be a part of the Nintendo Classics program, there's good reason to believe this rumored set of games won't be a part of it. Nintendo Classics emphasize added features such as online multiplayer or new mechanics. A Pokémon port couldn't adopt such new features without potentially upsetting the wider ecosystem of rare monsters.
If this rumor is true, we'll probably know soon: Fall 2026 is just around the corner.
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