22 Years Later, Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen Players Are Just Now Discovering a Double Battle Trick

Many Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen players have just discovered a quality-of-life option that allows them to see a Pokemon’s remaining HP in number form during Double Battles. Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen were originally released on the Game Boy Advance in 2004, serving as remakes of the original Red and Green games. Game Freak incorporated many changes that were introduced in Pokemon Gold and Silver and Ruby and Sapphire, including Double Battles, Running Shoes, and the presence of Dark and Steel-type Pokemon.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen were released on Nintendo Switch in February, in celebration of the franchise’s 30th anniversary. Since then, the remakes have attracted a lot of attention from both newcomers and those who have been with the series for decades. While the original Game Boy games were re-released on 3DS during the franchise’s 20th anniversary, Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen had never been offered on another platform.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Has New Free Downloads You Can Claim Right Now

Pokemon Legends: Z-A players can snag some new freebies starting today, but it takes a few steps before they can all be claimed.

A Welcome Feature in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen’s Double Battles

When players encounter a Double Battle in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, screen space quickly becomes a premium. With four Pokemon on-screen, there’s a lot less display room, and the HP numbers go away, with just the bar being displayed instead. While the bar gives players a visual idea of how much longer their Pokemon can last in battle, it’s not as accurate as having actual numbers. In a post on Reddit, user PSPMan3000 showed how players can press start to switch to a numerical display instead. The revelation came as a very big surprise to many other posters, who seemed to have no idea this was possible in the games.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

It’s not all that surprising that players might have missed this option in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. After all, there aren’t all that many Double Battles in the games. Since the feature wasn’t present in the original Red and Green, there are just a few places where there are opportunities to take on two Pokemon at the same time. On top of that, most Pokemon battles come down to selecting from a list of moves and pressing a single button. Unless someone points it out, it’s very easy to miss this Double Battle option, especially in a pair of games first released more than 22 years ago. In fact, there are a lot of things that are easy to miss in the games, including where to find HM02 in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen.

The 30th anniversary of the Pokemon franchise has been off to a pretty positive start, thus far. Between Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, Pokopia, and Pokemon Champions later this month, the release schedule for the series has been jam-packed. That’s a very good thing, as the next Pokemon generation won’t be released for quite some time. Pokemon Winds and Waves were announced for Nintendo Switch 2 earlier this year, but the games won’t be coming out until sometime in 2027. Naturally, fans are eager to see what the 10th generation will bring to the series, but only the starters have been revealed at the moment.

Fans clearly have no shortage of games to play right now, but many are still speculating about whether more old Pokemon titles might also make a comeback. Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald are all rumored for Nintendo Switch, but nothing has been confirmed at this time. Those three games would allow players to have the complete Game Boy Advance generation on one platform, and it would be possible to complete the Pokedex within the games through trades. Nothing has been confirmed just yet, but it certainly seems possible given the amount of interest these older games have been generating.