3rd Gen Strange game deletion

I'm getting back into playing ruby and sapphire but even if my game is saved the load screen says "the game can be played" but forces me to restart the game and deletes all saved progress. Is there a solution to this problem? I'd really like to play the game without worry

Do you have a picture of your game cartridge?
It may be one of the nearly perfect-looking bootlegs. I think only unofficial carts will give that message, and save files are not safe on them, they could clear at any time. Sorry this happened, if you bought the games recently I'd try to get a refund. :/

Have you tried just leaving it alone and trying again? I know it sounds like a weird solution, but I had a similar situation. My copy of Sapphire, that I bought when it came out so it was completely legit, suddenly just lost the save file. I bawled for an hour and then decided "well, I'm not going to get my progress back by sitting here crying, better just restart it and get it over with" and when I did, the save file was back. I don't know what the hell happened, but lol. So maybe just turn it back on and check?

Was it a battery issue? The Advance Carts didn't have batteries, did they? I know that a few boots that I was conned into buying had memory issues as well as playability issues.

Try cleaning the inside of your cartridge and try again Don't blow inside of it though since that will only make it even more damaged.