In case you missed it, Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen are available on the Nintendo Switch 2 as standalone releases, complete with Pokemon Home compatibility, as well as the removal of the infamous glitch that made legendary Pokemon disappear if they use the move “Roar.”
Those who’ve never played the originals on the Game Boy Advance are learning first-hand how ruthless the Elite Four are, how mean your rival can be and how difficult finding shiny Pokemon can be, specifically how hard it is to land a shiny starter.
Because, unlike current games, which practically hand out shiny Pokemon, FireRed and LeafGreen have traditional shiny odds set at 1 in 8,192 Pokemon, or 0.012 percent odds. The only way to begin your journey as a Pokemon trainer with one of a shiny Charmander, Bulbasaur or Squirtle is to continually reset your game until it appears in Professor Oak’s lab.

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Go figure, there are players stuck in the thousands of resets still without a shiny. And until they get that elusive shiny, they will not start the game.
Pokemon FireRed And LeafGreen Will Test Your Patience For A Shiny Creature
Up and down the LeafGreen subreddit, you’ll find no shortage of players sharing their shiny starter journeys, one that requires hundreds upon hundreds of soft resets.
Take, for example, this player that underwent a whopping 12,108 shiny resets before finally getting Bulbasaur. Now, they say, they can finally play the game.
“At 1,327 for Bulbasaur RN, hope it isn’t that long,” one user wrote in response, hoping they too can finally begin the game.
On the other end, there are players wondering at what point do you simply give up. Having a shiny starter is neat, but if you’re stuck in the thousands, then is it even worth continuing on?
“Around 2 hours in, I realized I’d rather just play the game,” one user said.
Others say they’re in too deep to quit now and must see the shiny hunt all the way through.
“I didn’t give up. (I’m) too committed and spent too much time to give up now. Might as well see it through,” another commented.
Whatever the case may be, you absolutely do not want to be like this Pokemon trainer, who actually ended up with a shiny Squirtle, only to soft reset their game due to the muscle memory of continually being disappointed.
We don’t know whether to laugh or cry on behalf of this user. Probably both.
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