We have officially been attempting to catch ’em all in Pokemon games for 30 years now, because the franchise passes its third decade of games in February 2026, and we have caught loads of remakes and ports in that point, too! Some of the recent is the port of Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen for GameBoy Advance to Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.
But what’s actually different about FireRed & LeafGreen that warranted generation one remakes as early as gen three, and which versions of the games must you buy? Compare and contrast, and see which Pokemon game is true for you!
A Second Protagonist
Leaf, The Female Sprite
While the male character in the primary generation Pokemon games, Red, has long been synonymous with Ash Ketchum from the Pokemon anime, Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen brought a brand new female sprite to the sport as well when it brought us back to Kanto for the primary time.
The feminine trainer’s canon name is Leaf for this generation, tying in nicely with Red pulling his name from FireRed and keeping on theme in kind. It was the primary time we met Leaf, but it surely would not be the last we saw of her, with the feminine Pokemon trainer’s sprite appearing in loads of side games and spin-offs since her introduction.
The Sevii Islands
Plenty Of Johto-Based Fun
In the event you’ve passed through the troubles of clearing out the Indigo League, defeating each member of the Elite 4, and eventually stealing the title of Pokemon Champion for yourself, then you definitely’ve little doubt put loads of hours into Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen. But when you’re searching for more content post-game, take a look at the Sevii Islands to the south of Kanto.
Here, you will find seven individual islands that provide loads of opportunities to catch Pokemon from the Johto region which have turn out to be beloved parts of the Pokemon series since our first adventure to Kanto. This includes the Baby Pokemon, more Legendary Pokemon, the Mythical Pokemon from gen three, and lots more!
Modernizing Updates To Pokemon Stats
Type Changes, Updated Move Lists, And More
While there is no doubt that Pokemon Red & Blue laid the muse for what we all know and love today in Pokemon games because the very first entries in a long-running series, there was room for improvement over time, and many changes got here about within the second generation of Pokemon after Game Freak worked out some kinks with the primary game’s mechanics.
In Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen, you will see that your favorite gen one Pokemon have updated information based on what became of them in subsequent titles. Moves that were introduced in gens two and three were added to the suitable move sets, types that were added in Johto were factored into typing for the gen one Pokemon, and many extra stat boosts or changes in kind.
The Introduction Of Help Features
Newcomers Need No Longer Worry!
While it is simple to giggle about how in-depth the introduction in the primary generation Pokemon games will be sometimes, it is vital to keep in mind that Pokemon Red & Blue and the journey we took through Kanto inside them was the very first time anyone had played a Pokemon video game!
We have come a good distance since then, but Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen introduced plenty of the way to assist newcomers and returning fans alike master the mechanics of Pokemon. You’ll be able to access a help channel on any television, use the in-game help menu with the Switch’s bumpers, and lots more ways to make sure your adventure is the perfect.
The VS Seeker
Rematch Tons Of Trainers Around Kanto
Whether you are trying to keep helping your Pokemon grind out levels throughout the sport or try to make a bit of additional money to fill up before your next gym battle, the VS Seeker was added to Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen to permit you to intermitently seek challenges in the shape of rematches with trainers you battled already.
Once you’re outdoors after taking a certain variety of steps or a set period of time has passed, you will give you the option to ping nearby trainers and see who wants a rematch. They may have a special team than they did the primary time you fought, but a more difficult fight just means even higher rewards at the top.
Professor Oak is the one who tasked you with filling up your Pokedex as you enterprise through the Indigo League in Kanto throughout Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen, but he’s an older man based in Pallet Town who cannot manage to be in every single place abruptly to envision in your progress.
Enter Oak’s aides, six folks around Kanto in Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen that provide rewards for milestones achieved in your Pokemon journey. As you log increasingly more Pokemon, remember to stop in and check with them within the gates between big routes and cities, since they provide quite a lot of helpful items and tools as a reward.
Changes To Version Exclusives
Some Are Exclusives Now, While Others Are No Longer Exclusives At All
Pokemon has been putting out pairs of games in the identical generations that feature a handful of Pokemon in a single version not present in the opposite, and we see it again with Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen. While a lot of the version exclusives are the identical as they were in Pokemon Red & Blue, there have been some changes.
Mankey and Meowth were version exclusives in the primary generation of the games, but they were stripped of this status and given universal availability in each Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen. To switch them, 4 Pokemon were modified to be version exclusives: FireRed players will find Psyduck and Shellder periodically throughout the sport, while LeafGreen players will see Slowpoke and Staryu in those locations as an alternative.
Giving Gen One Pokemon Their Gen Two Evolutions
Let Your Original Pokemon Be Strong In Ways Never Before Possible!
Not every Pokemon gets an evolutionary form, and there have been way more of them in the primary generation of games than there are actually, with time allowing for The Pokemon Company and Game Freak to introduce evolutions for these Pokemon at a later cut-off date.
Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen have included these changes, and any Pokemon from the primary generation games that later received an evolutionary form can now evolve into them within the gen three remakes, provided you’ve got unlocked the National Dex first.
The Pokemon that received evolutions in Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen are:
- Slowbro can evolve into Slowking.
- Onix can evolve into Steelix.
- Chansey can evolve into Blissey.
- Seadra can evolve into Kingdra.
- Scyther can evolve into Scizor.
- Porygon can evolve into Porygon2.
On account of the shortage of an in-game clock in Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen, Espeon and Umbreon can’t be obtained. Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Flareon are currently the one Eeveelutions available in the sport, despit their debut in gen two as well.
Rebattle The Elite 4
It’s A Great Way To Grind Post-Game
The battles you are working as much as throuhgout your journey in Kanto in Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen are the fights with the members of the Elite 4 – X – and eventually the reigning Champion X. It’ll take loads of blood, sweat, and tears to grind your Pokemon to be high enough a level to combat these end-game trainers, however the primary game ends with their defeat ushering you to the title of Pokemon Champion.
In the event you’d like a brand new challenge, though, you will give you the option to ask for a rematch with any of the five characters named above. They may have a special, noticeably stronger roster the second time around, though, so don’t come back expecting the identical fight a second time!
The Introduction Of Necessary Stats
Abilities, Natures, And More
Though they’ve come to be thought to be staple stats in Pokemon games nowadays, there have been loads of stat additions on your Pokemon that were added to Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen, offering more insight than ever possible in Pokemon Red & Blue.
A Pokemon’s nature will determine how their stats grow as they evolve, with some natures gaining different stats than other Pokemon of the identical species, allowing you to actually home in on what sort of stats you need to spice up on your next battles. Abilities, meanwhile, are passive effects that permit your Pokemon do things like ignore a certain variety of damage, deal more offensive damage of their very own, and more. Finally, Held Items were made possible in Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen to offer your team things to assist boost their battle capabilities even further.