mr_pikachu, I’m really really thankful for your help!
Here’s what I did:
? -“But is it possible that because the battery was not soldered into the cartridge, the game itself is unable to draw power from it? That is, could the battery just be too loose after having slid it in? If that's the case, maybe there's a better way to secure it... not sure.”
Yeah, this is my suspicion too… I took a picture from the metallic structure of DWIII to show you (sorry by the bad quality of it…). It is different from the usual as you can see in the image above…
I’m sure it is connected to the two poles… one above, one down, cos this system compresses the battery against a metallic structure that is itself soldered to the base.
I really don’t know how to secure it better… the system already secures it… but this is the only possibility left…
√ -“You also may want to check to make sure the CR2032 3V model will work in this case.”
This was the model that I took from the cartridge… Of course it could be already changed by the person who had the game before me (it was bought in second hand)…
Truly, I don’t believe anyone could sell a game like this, unless it was damaged… Maybe the guy had already tried to replace battery, and he couldn’t!
Besides that, I noticed that the positive pole (+) was up (faced to me), and the negative pole (-) was faced to the chip base… which is contrary to your Pokémon batteries placement… It suggested me that the guy, who tried this before me, mistaken the position… But I already tried the two different ways, without success…
? - “but if it's not a battery problem then it would likely have to be something with the game itself. Let's hope it's the former.”
I thought that too, but would the game be playable if it was damaged? It could be, but this works fine! …except the savings… but is always a possibility…
√- Make a reset attempt (by trying the game without any battery, and then with the new battery... The game could have not noticed the new battery...)
I already tried it… didn’t work.
√- The new battery can be damaged (yeah, it actually happens once in a million!)
I took a battery from a pc, which is the same CR2032 3V model, to test with another battery, and it stills don’t work.
√ - I simply don't now how to save this... (It’s always a possibility)
“To save one's progress, the player must visit a Church (also known as a House of Healing in early North American versions) and talk to a priest or nun.” (wikipedia)
That’s what I do….
√ - wait one night with the new battery in, to… I honestly don’t know for what! Lol But I even tried this! Didn’t work…
Conclusion: I don’t know what else I can do… I think I tried it all! Uff… but it still don’t work.
Anyway, I must say that I really appreciate your help mr_pikachu! =)
Thank you!