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It IS the best gen, OP.
Ruby and Sapphire had a lot of great things going for them that people seem to ignore. The OST, for one, was spectacular, probably my favorite of any gen. There was a substantial amount of new Pokemon added, and the designs were high quality. I never understood why the gen 3 pokes seem to get so much hate, at least here. The starters, Sableye, Aggron, Manectric, Flygon, Tropius, Absol, Salamence, Metagross, the Regis, Fug, the Latis, Deoxys...I could go on and on, but I don't think any gen has as solid of a Pokedex as R/S/E.
The world was also incredibly comfy, even introducing secret bases for maximum "kid on an adventure" feel. No region has ever felt so alive to me. From the ash in Fallarbor to the treehouses in Fortree, to diving to reach Sootopolis, the towns all had a unique character to them. Even the routes had so much to explore, from the bike paths to the extra tall grass to the waterfalls with items hidden behind them. I put nearly 1,000 hrs into Ruby as a kid; I was completely immersed in that world. When Emerald came out, it kept everything that was awesome about R/S and made it even better, but that doesn't mean that the originals we're bad.
As for FR/LG, I love them too. They made RGBY accessible to new fans while keeping all the charm that made the originals great, and of course adding some new features like the Sevii Islands.
Yeah, gen 3 does have some flaws, biggest in my mind being some crappy sprites, but I still find myself replaying Emerald and FR/LG while all of my cartriges DPPT onward sit collecting dust.
