8 Pokémon FireRed And LeafGreen Details Players Most Appreciate As Adults

One of the most popular games from my childhood is Pokemon FireRed. This game added to the already amazing formula of the first games in the Pokemon series. The Kanto region contains many of the most popular Pokemon, even today, with classics like Team Rocket to begin with that I and many others consider my children.

These games, which have been remade and reworked for many generations of consoles now, are great. I’ve revisited them more times than I care to admit, but there are always new details and conversations to answer. The world, even in these early games, was much more physical than most people imagine. It takes a keen eye, almost that of an adult, to find some of the fine and wonderful details in these games.

8

Gym Guy’s Gambling Addiction

Memorable NPC and Fun Story

Everyone remembers the Gym Guy. Whether you used to talk to him as a kid (and I usually didn’t bother), this man is constantly standing in every gym in every game, except for one. In Celadon City, home of Team Rocket’s infamous gambling corner, the gym guide is found in the fields crying, recalling his lack of magical powers as the reason he can’t win the slots.

His breakdown and inability to stick to his position is a memorable joke that many children, including me, never experienced. But when I saw this in a recent game, I had to have a good cackle. A break from the formula with good reasons behind it.

7

Gender references

The First Thing You See Depends on Gender

Most people will not pay attention to other small details that can change in different implementations of FireRed and LeafGreen depending on something as trivial as gender. Many players will not see this because every time they play they choose the same gender for their character. However, the first thing players can see in the game changes depending on what they choose.

That is, the TV in the player’s bedroom at home. It has a brief reference to it that changes depending on the player’s character. If the player is a boy, the TV show Stand By Me references the line about “four boys walking on a railroad track.” However, if the player is a girl, the TV references The Wizard of Oz instead, saying a line like “a girl in pigtails walking down a yellow brick road”. These subtle changes are interesting, and NPCs have different colored conversations depending on their gender. Many of these things, many players never catch. I know I never chose to play as a girl the first time!

6

SS Anne Truck Reference

Only Adults Remember These School Rumors

Former FireRed and LeafGreen players and the Pokemon community, at large, really remember hearing the rumors when they were young. A truck at the docks near the SS Anne is said to have a Mew hidden inside it. This rumor went around for a long time, and later another way was found, albeit a bit of a cheat, on how to start a battle with Mew somewhere else.

However, these long-running rumors about Pokemon Red & Blue led Game Freak to add a sneaky reference to FireRed and LeafGreen. The truck lives in this version, and when players click on it, they are rewarded. However, instead of getting a Mew, they are instead given a Lava Cookie, which is useful but a little disappointing under the circumstances. Since most young players will not remember the rumours, they would have no reason to find this trick attractive.

5

Pokemon Klepto

Pokemon NPCs are known for being weird

Children who play Pokémon games are not overly interested in what NPCs say, unless they give the player a useful item or Pokemon. However, adults have loved over the years to collect the many times an NPC comes out with something unusual, and the FireRed/LeafGreen games are no exception to this rule.

My personal favorite for example is the scientist at the Cinnabar Island gym who talks about sometimes getting an uncontrollable urge to steal Pokemon from others. This interesting interaction sparked many ideas from fans. While Team Rocket tries to steal Pokemon from others, this random encounter is a fun and unusual moment that represents an NPC interaction that will go over the heads of young players.

4

Snorlax Leaves Remains Behind

ItemFinder is Incredibly Useful

As a kid, things like ItemFinder weren’t parts of the game that I took seriously. I probably never used it until I was an adult. The extra worry of trying to check everywhere like a beach metal detector enthusiast didn’t appeal. Of course, this was stupid, and many young players will miss important information by not paying enough attention to the search.

One of my favorite things in any Pokemon game is Leftovers. I didn’t get that it was a few generations thing. This item, when possessed by a Pokemon, will always restore some health. For an almost identical thing, there are two copies available if the player searches the places where Snorlax slept after he moved on. A very useful pair of items that can be a real lifesaver in big battles, most kids who play these games won’t scan carefully enough with ItemFinder to know about them.

3

Trainer Tower’s Secret Shiny

Pokemon Adults’ Favorite Time

Everyone loves to find shiny Pokemon. It has become a playground in itself. However, it was still rare to see any when FireRed and LeafGreen were released. That’s why it’s so special (and so little known) that there’s an opposing trainer that’s guaranteed to have a shiny Espeon. This trainer can be found in a secret room in the Trainer Tower (one of Sevii’s post-game islands).

Shiny Pokemon is a great prize, and even though players can’t have one, it’s nice to see one from as far away as FireRed and LeafGreen. Although children can hunt for shinies, the dedication required to get the most out of this practice means that it is probably more fun for an adult to search and find this particular secret.

2

Lorelei’s Coping Mechanism

Plushie Collection Inspired by Sadness

The Elite Four seem intimidating in name alone. Some of the best trainers in the Kanto region seem like angry people who are there to cause you repeated failures. However, there is more to them. Lorelei, the first member of the Elite Four who likes Ice-type Pokemon, has an additional story that follows the end of the main quest line.

If players reach Four Island in FireRed or LeafGreen, they will be able to help Lorelei, who can be found in the Icefall Cave, trying to deal with the remnants of Team Rocket. In addition, the player can visit his house and see his plushie collection. The big secret most players (including adults) won’t know is that his collection grows when a player returns to defeat the Elite Four.

A retail therapy to deal with her failure, Lorelei will get access to a Lapras plushie if the player defeats the Elite Four 200 times! This is a graduate’s dream, it takes an incredible amount of dedication, and it’s not something most kids would ever imagine. I admit, I haven’t run the milestone myself, but I understand Lorelei, as a collector of Lapras gear myself.

1

The Ultimate Sticker Collection

Can You Complete Everything There Is?

The hardest challenge to complete that most players won’t even know about in FireRed and LeafGreen is to get all the coach card stickers from the person on the bottom of Island Four. He offers collectibles that are frequented by great players, and that I never knew about until I revisited these popular games.

But the stickers are not easy to open. Players will have to do a huge amount of grinding, from hatching 200 eggs to beating the Elite Four 200 times and even winning 100 link battles. After twenty years of playing these games, I can confidently say that I have not experienced any of those things in my entire gaming time combined! These challenges are the ultimate goal for the FireRed or LeafGreen player who likes to spend hours grinding through a single game for achievements.

Released

September 7, 2004

The ESRB

Everyone 10+ / Moderate Fantasy Violence, Simulation Gambling

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