Decades Later, Pokemon Never Capitalized on Its Best Feature Introduced in Ruby and Sapphire, But Winds and Waves Could Fix This
The Pokemon series has seen numerous iterations, improvements, and step backs, but all through it, there is a single feature introduced in Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire that I fell in love with. Yet, somehow, nearly seven generations later, it has barely been used despite how popular it has become with a large portion of the Pokemon community and how important Generation 3 was to the game. Ruby and Sapphire introduced Pokemon abilities, weather, Pokemon natures, contests, new Pokemon, and of course, the feature I am talking about, double battles. Double battles completely changed how the game played, but Game Freak failed to take advantage of this.
Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire introduced battles in which each trainer could have two Pokemon fighting simultaneously, adding moves that supported partners or struck multiple targets. The concept became incredibly important to competitive Pokemon, yet the main RPGs have continued to revolve predominantly around traditional one-on-one encounters. Now, Pokemon Winds and Pokemon Waves are taking the series exclusively to Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027, giving Game Freak an opportunity to use the improved hardware and finally make double battles the primary way to play in a mainline game.
Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire Created a Better Kind of Battle
Double battles fundamentally changed how players could think about Pokemon combat. Instead of simply asking which attack would deal the most damage to the Pokemon standing opposite yours, players had to consider two allies, two opponents, targeting, positioning, and interactions between moves and Abilities. As a kid, I simply mashed the A button on whichever attack was the strongest, but double battles changed that and actually made me stare at my Game Boy Advance screen to strategize. It was an excellent expansion on the one-on-one battle system.
I remember Double battles feeling like special events whenever they appeared. Seeing four Pokemon on the battlefield immediately made an encounter look larger and feel more impressive. But more importantly, battles become more strategic. Suddenly, I had to consider whether one Pokemon could protect another or whether an attack might affect multiple combatants. That basic idea opens countless strategic possibilities because Pokemon moves and Abilities can interact in ways that simply cannot happen when only one creature from each team is active.
Competitive Pokemon shows how deep that system is. Double battles became part of official competitive play in tournaments. The format proved capable of supporting high-level competition, and Pokemon Champions continues that tradition by offering both single and double battles. Looking back, you would think that double battles played a huge role in Ruby and Sapphire, but the truth is that the game that introduced them hardly used them. A handful of trainers and a single gym were all the attention that the new format was given, which is a complete shame.
Pokemon Has Never Fully Capitalized on Double Battles
That competitive success makes the series’ approach to its single-player campaigns frustrating. Double battles have continued appearing throughout the franchise, but the traditional Pokemon journey still primarily teaches players to approach combat through individual matchups. The format that provides some of the series’ richest strategic interactions often feels secondary during the adventure itself, despite having existed since the Game Boy Advance era. Some games don’t even include it at all.
There is an obvious missed opportunity here. A Pokemon game with the entire adventure built around doubles would be so thrilling and more in-depth. A Gym Leader could build strategies around weather, terrain, spread attacks, redirection, or supporting a partner. Regular Trainers could teach players those concepts gradually instead of leaving them to discover advanced strategies after finishing the story. Pokemon already has the mechanics required to make these encounters work. The games simply need to make greater use of them, similar to Pokemon Colosseum.
It could also change how players build their teams. In a traditional Pokemon battle, I usually look at each party member largely in terms of what it can accomplish individually. Double battles encourage another question: what can this Pokemon do for the partner standing beside it? Suddenly, support moves, Abilities, speed control, and combinations between party members become much more interesting. A mainline campaign designed around that could make building a Pokemon team feel like assembling an actual unit rather than selecting six strong individual fighters.
Pokemon Winds and Waves Could Finally Make Double Battles Shine
Pokemon Winds and Pokemon Waves are releasing exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2, meaning Game Freak can take full advantage of this new hardware. The Pokemon Company has confirmed an open world consisting of windswept islands, a vast ocean, distinct ecosystems, and environmental obstacles that players will overcome alongside Pokemon. Nothing announced so far confirms a larger role for double battles, but a new generation on new hardware provides the best opportunity to rethink how battles work in the mainline series.
Nintendo Switch 2 hardware could also allow Game Freak to make larger encounters more visually impressive. Instead of four Pokemon simply standing opposite one another in relatively confined spaces, battles could better incorporate the environments surrounding them. The islands and ecosystems already seen in Winds and Waves provide a beautiful and exciting backdrop for encounters involving multiple Pokemon. A pair of wild Pokemon defending territory together or Trainers coordinating partners could make the world itself feel more dynamic while giving double battles greater importance.
After more than two decades, double battles should no longer feel like an afterthought living beside the main Pokemon experience. Ruby and Sapphire introduced a system strong enough to become integral to official competitive play, yet the RPG campaigns have never consistently built themselves around everything it can offer. Pokemon Winds and Pokemon Waves do not need to eliminate single battles to change that. They simply need to treat double battles as a fundamental part of the adventure. Doing so could make Pokemon battles more strategic, make team building more rewarding, and finally capitalize on one of Hoenn’s greatest ideas.
Do you think that mainline Pokemon games should fully adopt double battles? Join on the discussion on the ComicBook Forum!