Pokémon Ocean Blue Is Shaping Up To Be The Perfect Kanto Experience

The tenth generation of Pokémon is finally on the horizon thanks to the recent reveal of Pokémon Winds and Waves, but it’s not the only adventure to keep an eye on. Along with the official entries, the fan community is always coming up with new games, typically in the form of ROM hacks of older titles. Pokémon Ocean Blue is one of the most exciting projects, and the latest updates elevate the fresh take on the Kanto region to another level.

Pokémon Ocean Blue developer PaperPauperPlayer shared a look at the evolution of Route 3 in the project, and it’s safe to see that the ROM hack has come a very long way. The initial route was notably barren and bland, but it’s now brimming with twists, turns, and tall grass. This look at the progress so far follows on the heels of recent major updates like character customization, which PaperPauperPlayer shared on Reddit at the end of 2025.

Pokémon Ocean Blue Has Come A Long Way

Just Look At Route 3

For an overview, Pokémon Ocean Blue promises to provide a “DEFINITIVE” take on the Kanto region, and PaperPauperPlayer (also known as DontJoelMe) is backing that up with a robust set of features. Ocean Blue adds Pokémon and mechanics from up to the most recent generation of games, overhauls the maps, and provides a new story based on the same starting premise. It also breaks down some walls to create a “semi-open world,” allowing players to choose between a couple of different starting directions.

Not only does Pokémon Ocean Blue currently look a lot better than when it started, but it also blows away a lot of the official presentation of the Kanto region. Reddit user MrBloomDoomed calls the new Route 3 “1000 times better than [the] vanilla one,” which has never stood out as one of the more memorable routes in Pokémon history.

It’s Not Done Just Yet

Patience Is A Virtue

There’s still work to be done for Pokémon Ocean Blue, but PaperPauperPlayer has overcome some of the most difficult hurdles already. A February YouTube video on the DontJoelMe channel covers his rebalance of every Pokémon, for example, setting up the potential for showdowns to play out in dramatically different ways in Ocean Blue.

The ROM hack doesn’t have a release date set just yet, but progress has been steady and transparent enough to feel optimistic about it arriving in a relatively timely manner. Hopefully, Pokémon Ocean Blue will end up being as good as all of its best ideas suggest.