Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen players with over 85 hours in the game are currently leaving Oak's Lab

A Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen the player manages to leave Professor Oak's lab after 85 hours with the most prized starter. Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen has been out on Switch and Switch 2 for a month now, and one of the most popular and yet frustrating activities for fans has been shiny chasing their starters. Unlike most modern ones Pokémon game, the starters in the Gen 3 Kanto remakes are not shiny-locked, meaning you can soft-reset as many times as you like, and you'll always get a different Pokemon. But shiny chase starters come with their challenges, and these can be particularly frustrating and time-consuming.

To bring in a shiny starter Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenyou have to be quite lucky, as the odds are lower than in modern games. While shinys normally occur in 1 in 4,096 cases, the odds are i Fire red and leaf green is 1 in 8,192, meaning they are half as likely. On top of that, there is no Masuda Method or Shiny Charm in these games, meaning the odds are always 1 in 8,192 no matter what. For these reasons, the fact that a player managed to get their shiny starter in 85 hours is still quite an achievement, with an asterisk attached.

Shiny Charizard, Psyduck and Sandslash in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen

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Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen's best shiny hunting strategy is unfortunately exclusive version

Shiny hunting in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is always at full odds, but the best trick you can use is exclusive to one version.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen's Starter Shiny Hunting Method

Reddit user EggsEggsEggTentacion shared a post on Pokemon LeafGreen subreddit showing off their newfound shiny Bulbasaur after 85 hours of soft reset. This is an incredible find, as Bulbasaur also has the Modest nature, giving it more special attack and less attack. Modest happens to be the best nature for Bulbasaur in these games and many others, and Timid is also good. The thing is, while modern games allow players to change a Pokemon's nature, this is not the case for the Gen 3 Kanto remakes. Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreens type chart also makes Grass a special type, meaning Modest is the best you can get.

Many players are stuck in Professor Oak's lab in search of their favorite starter, and unfortunately it boils down to luck. Some fans get their shine after 500 resets or so, and others don't get one after over 100 hours of play. This can be quite frustrating as it's a shiny quest that you can't really repeat, unless you're willing to do so via breeding eggs in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreens post-game, which is probably even more time-consuming.

In the case of EggsEggsEggTentacion, however, 85 hours is a deceptive “average”. A soft reset usually takes about 30 seconds to do, so you can usually see two starts per minute, which means the statistical average time to get a shiny would be between 68 and 69 hours. 85 hours is still over that number, but what makes this hunt all the more impressive is that EggsEggsEggTentacion said they did this on two Switch consoles simultaneously, and stopped counting at around 22,000 soft resets. This means that EggsEggsEggTentacion was particularly unlucky for a long time, but they finally hit the jackpot with a shiny Bulbasaur of perfect nature.

Since a Pokemon's nature plays a large role in its effectiveness in battle, getting the right one is always a big advantage. Getting it on a 1-in-8 192 shiny is even more impressive, and it's extremely rare in Kanto remakes. One of the problems with shiny hunting starters in these games is that you can't really pause the game to do something else, since you can't explore the region without your starter in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. Still, the ability to then have a rare and awesome shiny starter for the entire game can be worth the hours spent in Oak's lab – especially if you get the perfect nature for your starter as well.