Summary

  • Pokemon Emerald offers new endgame content like the Battle Frontier, enhancing the gameplay experience for fans of the series.
  • Authentic used cartridges can be costly, with prices online and in stores reaching hundreds of dollars for those looking to purchase.
  • Nintendo has not re-released Pokemon Emerald on modern platforms, making it a valuable and exclusive Game Boy Advance game for fans.

A Pokemon fan discovered a Pokemon Emerald Game Boy Advance cartridge in a dumpster. Pokemon Emerald is a Generation 3 Pokemon game and serves as the Pokemon Yellow/Pokemon Crystal equivalent for Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. Pokemon Emerald notably earned more mixed reviews from professional critics at the time of its original release, but it is now often pointed to as one of the best games in the series.

Like most "third" Pokemon games, Pokemon Emerald offers mostly the same experience as its immediate predecessors, but with some important additions and changes. Most notably, Pokemon Emerald features the Battle Frontier, which gives gamers significant new endgame content to experience. Unfortunately for those wanting to relive the original Game Boy Advance Pokemon Emerald game, authentic used cartridges can sell for ridiculous prices online and at secondhand stores, often totaling hundreds of dollars.

That's what makes the recent discovery by Reddit user SpawnOfPossession so exciting. The user, who works for the city they live in, noticed personal garbage dumped in their site bin. After using a shovel to move CDs out of the way, they spotted the Pokemon Emerald cartridge. They recovered the cartridge and replaced the battery. A save for someone named Dylan already existed on the cartridge and featured a level 32 Breloom, a level 32 Skarmory, a level 32 Machop, and a level 15 Seviper.

Pokemon Emerald Found in Dumpster

It's possible that this is a reproduced cartridge, which isn't worth as much, but if this is an authentic Pokemon Emerald GBA cartridge, this find is potentially worth a couple hundred bucks, based on recent eBay listings, anyway. Pokemon Emerald has never been re-released on any of the Nintendo Virtual Consoles or Eshop platforms, and so it remains a Game Boy Advance exclusive game 20 years after its original release.

Nintendo released some Game Boy Advance games on the 3DS, and it's also been releasing classic GBA games on the Switch Online service. However, the classic main series Pokemon games are still not available to play through Switch Online. If Nintendo ever decides to bring these old-school Pokemon games to Switch Online, hopefully Pokemon Emerald is one such game.

The closest one could get to a Pokemon Emerald experience on more modern hardware would be Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the 3DS remakes of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire that were released 10 years ago. Otherwise, Pokemon fans have to spend a lot of money to get a cartridge for themselves or potentially get lucky like SpawnOfPossession did.

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Pokemon Emerald
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Released
May 1, 2005
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WHERE TO PLAY

PHYSICAL
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Take on the might of Teams Magma and Aqua in this latest pulsating Pokémon adventure! In Pokémon Emerald, protect the world of Hoenn from Groudon and Kyogre, the mysterious forces of ground and water that are seeking to take over. Fortunately the power of Rayquaza - the sky - can help you. Even hardened Pokémon Trainers will need to be at their battling best, as Pokémon Emerald packs some of the toughest battles you'll have ever experienced.

Seek out all 7 of the all-new Frontier Brain competitors to track down every symbol in the Battle Frontier. Completely new areas of Hoenn will be revealed in this startling extension of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. Plus, using the Nintendo Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter, you can trade and battle wire-free with other players.

Or you can use the Game Link Cable to trade and battle with Pokémon Emerald, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. You can even link up to Pokémon Colosseum using the Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance cable!

ESRB
E For Everyone
Developer(s)
Game Freak
Publisher(s)
The Pokemon Company, Nintendo
Franchise
Pokemon
Genre(s)
RPG
How Long To Beat
31 Hours
Metascore
76
Pokemon Emerald
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