The Unwritten Rules of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen Explained

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen have been around for well over 20 years now, and while they are mere ports on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, they could still be someone’s introduction to the series or older generations as a whole. In fact, since these are Gen 3 games, they are very different from modern titles in many ways. This includes the fact that the type chart is divided into physical and special types, rather than moves, or the fact that there is no Masuda Method and no Shiny Charm to boost shiny odds. Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen don’t do any hand-holding, and sometimes you may not know where to look for some secrets, so it’s no wonder that newcomers can feel lost.

Some new players may not know that the “screen glitch” occurring when you have a poisoned Pokemon in your party is totally normal and intended, or that you can collect stars and stickers on your Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen trainer card as a way to customize it. Likewise, it may seem impossible, but one can theoretically beat the Elite Four with Magikarp, Caterpie, and other weak critters even if they’re your only Pokemon in the party and not fully evolved. There are even more of these deep-cut facts about the Gen 3 Kanto remakes that you may not know, and others that end up being unspoken, universal rules within the community.

Strongest Pokemon in FireRed & LeafGreen (& Where to Find Them)

Want to find the Strongest Pokemon in FireRed & LeafGreen? Here’s a list of the most powerful Species in the game.

Pick Pokemon LeafGreen Over FireRed if You’re Doing a Nuzlocke Run

Pokemon Nuzlocke runs are a popular form of unofficial, more challenging mode, where players use a set of rules that limit the number of Pokemon they can catch as well as make fainted Pokemon permanently removed from their party. However, if you’re looking for the best version of the game to start a Nuzlocke journey, LeafGreen is the play:

Pokemon LeafGreen‘s Starmie exclusive is one of the best Pokemon in the entire game, as it learns a plethora of good attacking moves (Thunderbolt, Psychic, Ice Beam, Surf), and it also learns Recover to heal itself.
Ninetales is arguably much better than Arcanine as a Fire-type exclusive because it learns Flamethrower at level 29, whereas you need to delay Growlithe’s evolution to level 49 for it to learn Flamethrower (which it doesn’t as Arcanine).
Slowbro is a good pick for Water-types despite being slow, and it’s better than Golduck for Nuzlocke purposes.

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)

Click on The TV Box to See Gender-Based Movie References in FireRed and LeafGreen

An interesting bit that comes with starting a new game in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is that you can click on the TV box in the player’s home on the first floor to get a short description about the movie that is playing. This is the same as in Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow if you play as a male character, with the reference being for Stand by Me, but if you play as a female character, you get a reference to The Wizard of Oz. After all, clicking on the TV inside the house is something most players do on their first few playthroughs.

Other interesting facts include that Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen’s post-game Unown include the exclamation mark and question mark variants for the first time in the series. Also, you can press Select (or Y on your Switch or Switch 2) while using Bill’s PC to turn the white hand that helps you deposit, withdraw, and move Pokemon around into an orange hand, which performs actions more quickly. Finally, you can get a Potion inside the playing character’s house before you get your starter.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen’s Thief TM is The Most Valuable Item You Get

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen‘s best moves may not include Thief from a perspective of raw power, but this move is an amazing asset you should use as often as possible. This is because of two reasons: it’s a Dark-type move, which is not super common in these games, and more importantly, it allows you to steal the opponent’s held item. There are not many held items in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen for you to find that are also useful in battle, but Thief can help, while also giving you a chance to get valuable items to sell. You can steal:

Tiny Mushroom and Big Mushroom from wild Paras in Mt. Moon with Thief, which you can then trade to the Move Reminder on Two Island in the Sevii Islands to make a Pokemon re-learn a forgotten or skipped move for two Tiny Mushrooms or one Big Mushroom.
Black Belts from the trainers in Saffron City’s Fighting Dojo.
Poison Barb from Arbok (5% chance that a wild Arbok holds it).
Soft Sand from Sandslash (5% chance that a wild Sandslash holds it).
King’s Rock from Poliwhirl, Slowpoke, and Slowbro (5% chance that they hold it).
Silver Powder from Venomoth (5% chance that a wild Venomoth holds it).
Magnet from Magneton (5% chance that a wild Magneton holds it).
Sharp Beak from Fearow (5% chance that a wild Fearow holds it).
Spell Tag from Haunter (5% chance that a wild Haunter holds it).
Hard Rock from Onix and Graveler (5% chance that they hold it).
Never-melt Ice from Dewgong (5% chance that a wild Dewgong holds it).
Thick Club from Cubone and Marowak (5% chance that they hold it).
Sitrus Berry from Raticate (5% chance that a wild Raticate holds it).
Sitrus Berry from the ace Pokemon of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen’s Elite Four and Champion.

Defeat the Elite Four and Enter Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen’s Hall of Fame 200 Times

Beating the Elite Four in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is no joke, as they pack teams of high-level Pokemon with good moves, but many players like to experiment with new challenges for this part of the game. If you’re looking for a challenge with the Elite Four, a good one to undertake is to beat them and the Champion 200 times, which unlocks two things at once:

Lorelei’s house on Four Island will have increasingly more plushies, as she gets one when she is too sad that she was beaten. You can unlock:
- Meowth
- Chansey
- Nidoran female
- Nidoran male
- Jigglypuff
- Lapras
Get the highest-ranked sticker for defeating the Elite Four from an NPC on Four Island, which occurs after beating the Elite Four and entering the Hall of Fame 200+ times.

Trick Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen For Infinite Safari Zone Time

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen‘s Safari Zone is timed, but not in the sense of having a cap on how long you can stay inside, but rather in terms of steps. You can only make 600 steps in the Safari Zone before the game kicks you out, but you can avoid this with a simple trick: use the D-Pad on your Switch. By light-tapping the D-Pad while in tall grass, your character will “move” in that direction without consuming a step, essentially turning around. This still triggers random encounters, though, which means you can theoretically stay there for as long as you like.