Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald Time Events
When the player first starts the game, they will be prompted to set the time on the wall clock located in the player character's room. The time of day controls the tide in Shoal Cave and the evolution of Eevee into Espeon or Umbreon. Some events are only available once a day, becoming available again after the clock passes midnight. This page provides information about the events that are tied to the clock.
Daily Events
These events require the start of a new day, but do not require a specific time of day.
- The Lottery Corner in Lilycove Department Store can be played once a day.
- The man in Pacifidlog Town that looks for Mirage Island will change the personality value he is using once a day.
- If the player has mixed records with someone and received a Secret Base Trainer for the other player, the Trainer can be battled in the Secret Base once a day, unless the player mixes records again.
Several people in the overworld give the player Berries once a day when spoken to.
- The easternmost girl in the Pretty Petal shop can give away one Cheri, Chesto, Pecha, Rawst, Aspear, Leppa, Oran, or Persim Berry.
- A girl near the Berry soil on Route 111 will give away a Razz Berry.
- A man south of Lanette's house on Route 114 can give away one Razz, Bluk, Nanab, Wepear, or Pinap Berry.
- The Berry Master on Route 123 can give away a random two of Pomeg, Kelpsy, Qualot, Hondew, Grepa, Tamato, Cornn, Magost, Rabuta, or Nomel Berries.
- The Berry Master's wife on Route 123 can give away a Cheri, Chesto, Pecha, Rawst, Aspear, Leppa, Oran, Persim, Lum, or Sitrus Berry for any random phrase. For special phrases, she will give away special Berries one time only: Spelon for GREAT BATTLE, Pamtre for CHALLENGE CONTEST, Watmel for OVERWHELMING LATIAS, Durin for COOL LATIOS, and Belue for SUPER HUSTLE.
- A Beauty on the southwest part of Route 120 will give away a Berry depending on the player's Trainer ID. If it ends in 0 or 5, the player gets a Figy Berry; 1 or 6 gets Wiki, 2 or 7 gets Mago, 3 or 8 gets Aguav, and 4 or 9 gets Iapapa.
- A man in the northeast part of Lilycove City can give away one Cheri, Chesto, Pecha, Rawst, Aspear, Leppa, Oran, Persim, Lum, or Sitrus Berry.
- Kiri in the southwest part of Sootopolis City will give away two Berries, except when abnormal weather is present or, in Emerald, when Groudon and Kyogre are fighting. One will always be a Figy or Iapapa Berry, and the other will be one of Pomeg, Kelpsy, Qualot, Hondew, Grepa, Tamato, Cornn, Magost, Rabuta, or Nomel Berry.
A small handful of limited-time events will be available for one day only. These events are announced a few days in advance on Hoenn TV, and there will be broadcasts on subsequent days telling the player how many days are left until the event is active. The following events can be seen on the TV:
After defeating the Elite Four, engaging in a battle has approximately a 0.5% chance to start a swarm. The following day, the player must watch TV to learn about the swarm, which will activate it. Once activated, it will last until the end of the day after the activation occurs.
Time Events
Berry growth is tied to the number of hours that pass after planting the Berry. This Bulbapedia page lists the number of hours required to grow a Berry tree. Watering a planted Berry does not impact growth time.
Shoal Cave's tide varies between high and low depending on the time of day. The different tides give the player access to different areas of the cave. High tide is from 9:00-2:59 (AM and PM), and low tide is from 3:00-8:59 (AM and PM). It is possible the intention here is for high tide to correspond to when the hour hand is 'high' on the clock and low tide is when the hand is 'low'.
If an Eevee is traded into Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald, it can evolve into Espeon between 12:00 PM-11:59 PM (12:00-23:59) and Umbreon between 12:00 AM-11:59 AM (0:00-11:59).