This OP Pokemon is actually terrible in FireRed and LeafGreen

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen on the Switch aren't exactly the kind of games modern fans might expect, as they were made during Gen 3 and not only lack many new quality-of-life features, but also have several lingering issues. An example is how Raikou and Entei disappeared from the game when they used Roar in battle before you caught them, but this is thankfully fixed in the Switch versions. Yet the games are mechanically different in a fundamental way from modern titles, to the point that Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreens type chart is a bit all over the place.

Not only does the game have Fairy as a type, but Dark and Steel are mostly absent until the post-game section due to trainers and gyms meeting 1:1 gates, and only a handful of Kanto animals got a type swap with Dark or Steel. Even worse, types work differently in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. Moves are not divided into physical and special damage, but the types themselves are:

Physical types in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen:
- Normal
- Fighting
- Poison
- Soil
- Flying
- Bug
- Stone
- Ghost
- Steel
Special types in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen:
- Fire
- Water
- Electrical
- Grass
- Ice
- Psychological
- Dragon
- Dark

What follows is that some Pokemon's battle performance is better or worse Fire red and leaf green compared to other games. The most glaring example is Gyarados, which goes from typically good to terrible.

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These 2 Pokemon Are The Secret FireRed and LeafGreen 'Version Exclusives' No One Is Talking About

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen have two secret “version exclusives” that can make playing through a version much less enjoyable.

Say goodbye to Gyarados in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreens best team should never include Gyarados if maximizing combat potential is something you care about. The reason is simple, and it's that Gyarados' incredible attack stats do very little for you. This is because while Gyarados has a BST of 540, with an attack stat of 125, water is a special type in Fire red and leaf greenand Gyarados' Special Attack stat is only 60.

It gets even worse though. Gyarados doesn't have access to any Flying-type moves in its learning set, meaning you'll never get any use out of its Water/Flying-type other than being immune to ground. Gyarados also learns Bite, which is normally good coverage for it, but since Dark is also a special type in the game, it also deals very low damage. As such, the best move in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen for Gyarados is:

Thrash (90 base power, 100 accuracy, normal type, physical)
Hyper Beam (150 base power, 90 accuracy, normal type, physical)
Earthquake (100 base power, 100 accuracy, ground type, physical)
Return/Frustration (damage based on friendship level, 100 accuracy, normal type, physical)

Why you shouldn't use Gyarados in FireRed and LeafGreen

This is a pretty sad set of moves for Gyarados Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenand it doesn't benefit from its types at all. You can use some water-type moves, but the damage is mediocre at best, and you'd at least need an EV investment in Sp. Attack. Even with Intimidate as an ability, these games have much better choices than Gyarados for water-type Pokemon i Fire red and leaf greensuch as Vaporeon.

Also, Earthquake is a rare TM that you only get once from Giovanni i Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenwhich means you cannot use it again. There are flaws to this, but in a normal walkthrough, a single-use Earthquake TM has far better candidates than Gyarados. In addition to that, Gyarados learns Dragon Dance, which increases the user's Attack and Speed stats by one step, but since water is special, it does not benefit from this unique and powerful move.

buying tm35 in pokemon firered and leafgreen

If you are looking for ways to make your Route 4 Magikarp in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen good, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. You can choose to build Gyarados as a Special Attack mon if you really want to use it, and it would at least be a good move coverage choice. With Surf, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt and Flamethrower you can still do decent damage – but if this is your strategy, please invest in Sp. Attack electric cars.