What are the best gen 3 Pokémon? It isn’t the easiest thing we’ve ever done, picking out the best gen 3 Pokémon, but damn if it isn’t necessary. Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire introduced some now classic mons, including a fiery chicken, a sand-dragon, a metal meteor-masher, and my personal favorite, one sleepy boy. With a few years now gone since the remakes and even more since the originals, we’ve taken a look at the 135-strong roster, picking out our favorites, the most iconic, and the biggest battlers (just in case they ever do port these games for Switch).
For more things gotta catch ’em all, see what we make of Red & Blue’s roster with our list of the best gen 1 Pokémon, gen 2 Pokémon, gen 4 Pokémon, gen 5 Pokémon, gen 6 Pokémon, gen 7 Pokémon, gen 8 Pokémon, gen 9 Pokémon. Or, if your eyes are on the future, see our guides to the next adventure with Pokémon Scarlet & Violet starters, Pokémon Scarlet & Violet legendaries, and Pokémon Scarlet & Violet new Pokémon.
Here’s the best gen 3 Pokémon:
Flygon
The aforementioned sand-dragon, Flygon, is not only one of the most consistently overlooked Pokémon in the third generation, but also across the ever-growing list of dragon Pokémon. Despite not having Salamence’s scorching attack power, Flygon’s unique-at-the-time typing made it a force to be reckoned with, before the fairies came along and ruined everything. Still, we love Flygon for its bugged-out design. Even if the poor thing can’t hold its own in battle these days, we’ll always have Route 111.
According to Flygon’s various Pokédex entries, it has a couple of nicknames, such as “The Elemental Spirit of the Desert” and “The Desert Spirit,” due to the sandstorms it can create, which it also happens to hide in. As such, it’s actually quite difficult to spot one in the wild. Sure, if you see a sandstorm heading your way, you can make an educated guess that Flygon is inside it, but that doesn’t mean you can see the ‘mon.
Dusclops
If you’ve never played a minute of competitive Pokémon you might not know this, but the ghost Pokémon Dusclops is something of a tank, and when I say something of a tank, I mean potentially one of the most frustrating tanks of the third-gen. With matching 130 def and special def stats, and a movepool that includes pain split, I lost count of the number of opponents I cheesed out of a victory with an unshakeable Dusclops, and I still prefer adding the stocky ghoul to my party to its fourth-generation evolution, Dusknoir.
Want to know something quite unsettling? Dusclops is said to be completely hollow on the inside, with its body acting like a black hole, sucking unsuspecting victims into the void. Well, it’s also kind of your fault if this happens to you, as you need to look into its body for the void to take you. As if that isn’t terrifying enough, Dusclops is able to hypnotize its foe, forcing them to do its bidding. One more thing before we go: it might even take your soul if you look at the strange movements of Dusclops’ hands. On that cheery note, we’re gonna move on.
To give this spooky ‘mon the boot, take a look at our ghost Pokémon weakness guide.
Spheal
Look. At. That. Boy. He’s sweet. He’s round. You can bounce him up and down. He’s everything you could ever want. Spheal won’t win you any gym battles by the time you can add it to your team, but it’s by far the cutest Pokémon across the third-generation roster, and it’s criminal that the Pokémon beauty pageants aren’t all immediately forfeit to any Spheal that enters.
One of the things we love the most about Spheal is that it prefers to move around by rolling, which is actually its fastest form of movement. Looking at this sweet ball of blubber roll about always makes me smile. Oh, and it’s also covered in fur, as if it couldn’t get any more adorable. If you’re ever unsure about whether or not Spheal is happy, just keep an eye out for clapping; if Spheal claps its fins, it’s a very happy lil ‘mon.
