Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen are arguably more difficult than modern games when it comes to the challenges they impose on players, which can be seen from the various Gym Leaders having decent teams all the way to the Elite Four and even the post-game. On top of that, Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen‘s type chart is split into physical and special types rather than doing this for every attack, so some of the Pokemon that would theoretically be good in Kanto are secretly terrible. Sure, you can solo the game with a Starmie by teaching it Surf, Psychic, Thunderbolt, and Ice Beam, but it’s not necessarily entertaining due to how easy it can be (and it’s also exclusive to LeafGreen).
For that reason, the best teams in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen often boil down to the same 15–20 Pokemon, give or take, and that’s counting some Legendaries, like Zapdos. Recently, a fan showcased on Reddit how they beat Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen‘s Elite Four with a bad team, and it’s something that can be achieved even with the worst Pokemon around. And as much as it seems impossible, you could technically beat the entire game with just a Magikarp and a nice amount of strategy.
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen’s Rare Exclusives Are Not Equal (And One Version is Much Better Than The Other)
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen have two rare exclusives that are supposed to be balanced, but one is more accessible and powerful.
How Magikarp Can Beat Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
Magikarp is often known as the most useless Pokemon of all time, and even if it’s iconic, it’s hard to argue against this when you realize it only learns moves like Splash, Tackle, and Flail in most games. That’s precisely the learnset it has in the Gen 3 Kanto remakes, making Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen‘s Magikarp awful in battle. It doesn’t help that Gyarados, despite being powerful in most games, is also bad in FireRed and LeafGreen because Water is a special type, and it doesn’t have Flying moves, rendering its high Attack stat mostly useless. Yet, Magikarp is an interesting case because of its stats and moves.
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Drag weapons to fill the grid
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In Gen 3 games, Magikarp has 20 HP, 10 Attack, 55 Defense, 15 Special Attack, 20 Special Defense, and 80 Speed as base stats, which means it’s really hard to make it do some damage in battles. Even worse is that it only learns Splash, which does nothing, Tackle, which does terrible damage, and Flail, which deals damage the lower the user’s HP is. Technically, Magikarp wouldn’t be able to do much, but you can beat the Elite Four with it with the following tricks:
- Before going into the Elite Four, stock up on Full Restore, Hyper Potion, X Attack, X Defense, X Speed, X Accuracy, Dire Hit, and Guard Spec., all of which can be purchased in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen‘s Celadon City.
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Go to the Move Deleter in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, located in Fuchsia City, in order to have Magikarp forget Splash.
- Magikarp learns Tackle at level 15 and Flail at level 30, but it knows Splash automatically at all levels.
- Level up Magikarp to at least level 90, and possibly train its EVs, mainly in Speed and Attack, so that it can easily go first and deal good damage. You can train Speed EVs with the VS Seeker in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen on Route 13 (Bird Keeper trainers) or fight Diglett and Dugtrio in Diglett’s Cave, whereas for Attack you can use the VS Seeker on Route 15 or fight Paras in Mt. Moon.
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen’s Elite Four Magikarp Strategy Explained
From there, you can face the Elite Four and the Champion in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. To do so, you should always start battles by using X Attack and X Defense multiple times, burning through Hyper Potions to heal Magikarp if needed. However, keep in mind that having low HP is good for Flail because it allows you to deal more damage. This strategy is mostly fine for Lorelei, Bruno, and Lance.
Instead, Agatha requires a bit more setup because you can’t damage Ghost-type Pokemon with Normal attacks, so Tackle and Flail will do nothing. This can be bypassed with Struggle, though, which all Pokemon use when they run out of PP for their moves. Struggle is typeless and deals physical damage, so you can purposefully run out of PPs during the fight with Lorelei and Bruno to have an easier time with Agatha. On top of that, you need Full Restores to avoid being KOed by Toxic from Gengar, as Struggle also causes recoil damage to the user.
After that, you can use Elixirs to recover Magikarp’s PPs and finally encounter the Champion. In this case, the strategy is identical, with the exception that you should use Guard Spec. to avoid having Magikarp’s accuracy being lowered by Pidgeot’s Sand Attack. Guard Spec. lasts for five turns, so you can use one and then use a few X Attack, X Defense, or X Speed before using it again. With all this, you can beat the Elite Four in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, and the Champion too, with just a regular Magikarp. It can be a fun challenge to try, and it can be equally rewarding in the end, but it also goes to show that with careful planning, all teams can be good in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen.
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
- Released
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September 7, 2004
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ / Mild Fantasy Violence, Simulated Gambling
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer
