With the debut of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen on Nintendo Switch, a whole new generation of gamers get to experience these Gen 3 remakes of Gen 1 for the first time, while others get to relive the nostalgia of a bygone era of the franchise. The games have some quirks, such as the lack of a physical and special attack split and a limited Pokedex. Aside from outdated mechanics, Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen has some interesting bits of lore tucked away that don't make sense in the modern series, and this weird side of the franchise is embodied by Gym Leader Lt. Surge.
Kanto Gym Leaders of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is a notorious gang for the series. Not only are they the original group of 8 trainers that players will need to defeat in order to reach the Pokémon League, but they also include characters like Sabrina and her notoriously tough Psychic-type Gym. Lt. Surge might not be the hardest gym leader in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenbut he may be the strangest that players will encounter in the Kanto region.
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen's best Pokemon is one of the worst in Legends: ZA
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen have a contender for the title of best Pokemon in the game, and coincidentally, it's one of the worst in Legends: ZA.
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreens Lt. Surge is one of the franchise's strangest characters
As the third gym leader in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenmost players will have a pretty solid team when they take on Lt. Surge in Vermillion City. His Electric-type team isn't too hard to beat, despite having a Raichu as his ace, and Pokemon fans have recently been pounding Lt. Surge for building his gym right next to Diglett's Cave, where players can easily catch a Ground-type Diglett and sweep his team. The strangest thing about Lt. However, Surge is his in-game background and connection to the wider world of Pokémon which throws a surprising wrench in the series' lore.
Lt. Surge blurs the line between the Pokemon world and the real world
GameRant Quiz
Start
Easy (15s) Medium (10s) Hard (5s)
Even if Pokémon the series is largely believed to exist in its own world, with regions inspired by places such as Japan, France, and the United Kingdom, none of these regions are referred to by their actual names. One would expect this to mean that none of the real countries exist within Pokémon world, but Lieutenant Surge begs to differ. His in-game nickname is “Lightning American”, which not only confirms that Lt. Surge is from the US and moved to the Kanto region sometime in the past, without the US being a cannon country in Pokémon lore.
Lt. Surge is the most violent gym leader in Pokemon
An iconic part of Lt. Surge's background is his time serving in the military and attaining the rank of lieutenant. In a conversation before his battle, he talks about how his Pokémon saved his life during the war, and other trainers in Lt. Surge's Gym talks about how he was their commander before. Although talk of war is not something unique to Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenthe war as Lt. Surge served in is likely different from that of 3,000 years ago which Pokemon Legends: ZAs AZ attended as the King of Kalos. It's strange to think about Pokémon world including guns, bombs, and tanks alongside the actual creatures themselves in a war, but the series never followed up on this one-off comment from Lt. Surge with more details on what caused this war and how it played out.
The Cherry on Top of a Weird Sunday is Lt. Surge's gym referencing a type that doesn't exist
Perhaps the strangest part of Lt. Surge's Gym has nothing to do with the gym leader himself, but instead comes from the trainer giving advice to newcomers when they enter the gym. Players who talk to the Gym Advisor in Vermillion City will hear about how to best approach Lt. Surge's electric-type team, consisting of:
-
Voltorb — Lv. 21
-
Pikachu – Lv. 18
-
Raichu – Lv. 24
The gym advisor mentions that the gym's electric types will deal super effective damage to water and “bird” type Pokemon. However, the bird type does not exist and is probably a case of a mistranslated flying type. Interestingly, the Bird type was originally planned for Gen 1's Pokemon Red and Blue before clipping for the Flying type. However, Bird-type remains in the code of these older games, and is actually the type of the infamous Pokemon Missingno glitch if players go through the work of breaking their game and catching it.
Bird/Water type Pokemon are poor matchups against Electric type.
166 missing Pokemon from FireRed and LeafGreen means Nintendo can't treat these releases as One-and-Done
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen are missing 166 Pokemon on Nintendo Switch, which may be fixed through other game releases in the future.
In the end, Lt. Surge a relic from Pokemon's early days
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen serve as the perfect time capsules for the franchise's early generations now that they're available on Nintendo Switch. These games allow players to experience the mechanics of Gen 3 that feel somewhat archaic by today's standards, while also seeing how the series' history has evolved over time. The fact that Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen committed to being faithful remakes of the Gen 1 games by including references to real countries such as the United States to show how Pokémon originally thought to exist in a version of the world that closely matches the real one. Since then, Pokémon as a series has moved away from being a reflection of the real world and has become more focused on being inspired by real places without literally including them in its canon.
- Released
-
September 7, 2004
- ESRB
-
All 10+ / Mild fantasy violence, simulated gambling
- Multiplayer
-
Online Multiplayer
