These 19 Pokemon are virtually impossible to shine hunt in FireRed and LeafGreen

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen were pretty weird remakes when they first came out on the Game Boy Advance due to their core experience being tied to Kanto, but had additional content with the Sevii Islands and a National Dex to fill with all the Gen 2 and 3 months. Things are even weirder with the Switch and Switch 2 ports, as the games have a questline tied to unlocking trade options with Pokémon Gen 3 games, but these aren't currently available on the Switch consoles, making the quest mostly redundant and Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen's National Dex impossible to complete. Still offer plenty of options for shiny hunters, even if the odds aren't great.

Arguably the best version for shiny hunting in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is the latter, as it gives you access to Staryu and Starmie, who have the Illuminate ability to encounter Pokemon more often. However, some Pokemon can't be found as shiny just by fishing or walking through the grass, and they can be some of the most painful hunts in the game. For example, shiny starters are only available via soft-reset, a method that is still relatively fast, but rather tedious and long. However, other Pokémon do not have this luxury, as they are only available through breeding, making them nearly impossible to shine hunt.

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Say goodbye to 19 shiny Pokémon in FireRed and LeafGreen

Most Pokemon found naturally in the Gen 3 Kanto remakes can be found in various areas, or at least with decent odds, making the shiny hunting process possible even if it takes you days. But Pokemon like Eevee in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen are either exclusive to in-game trades or to gifts, and only the latter can be soft-reset until they glow.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)

The others can only be bred for shiny hunting purposes, which means the process is even longer and more unlikely to yield good results. The list is as follows:

Farfetch'd: You get Farfetch'd in Vermilion City i Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen when you trade a Spearow to a little girl who lives south of the Pokemon Center. Since the Farfetch'd you get (Ch'ding) is shiny-locked, you can only get a shiny Farfetch'd after the match after unlocking the breeding.
Hitmonlee or Hit monchan (plus Tyrogue and Hit montop): You can get a guaranteed Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan in the Saffron City Fighting Dojo, and since these are gift Pokemon, they can be shiny. The problem is you only get one, and to get the other you have to breed a Tyrogue. The same goes for shiny Tyrogue and shiny Hitmontop.
Lickitung: The only way to get Lickitung is to trade in one of the exclusive versions Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen to an NPC on route 18 who wants either a Golduck (Fire red) or Slowbro (Leafy green). Like Farfetch'd, the trade is shiny-locked, so you can only get a shiny Lickitung via breeding.
Mr. Mime: Similarly, Mr. Mime an exclusive trade within Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenand you can only get one on route 2 by giving away an Abra. This animal is shiny locked and therefore requires breeding to find a shiny version.
Jynx (and Smooch): Jynx is one of the best Pokemon in Fire red and leaf greenbut it's also just from an in-game trade. You have to trade a Poliwhirl to an elderly man in Cerulean City for it, but Jynx is deadlocked. What follows is that you have to breed for a shiny Smoochum and then evolve it into Jynx to get it.
Vaporeon, Jolteonand/or Flareon: There is guaranteed to be an Eevee in Celadon City that is a gift, and thus can become shiny through soft reset. Assuming you receive a shiny as a gift and evolve it into one of the only three Eeveelutions in the game, the remaining two can only be found as shinys via breeding and evolution stones.
Pichu, Cleffa, Iggly buffand Wynaut: These four little Pokémon can only be found as shiny via breeding, as they don't spawn anywhere.
Togepi (and Togetic): While there is a guaranteed Togepi egg you can get, egg hatching is a terrible shiny hunting method in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. This is the only way to get Togepi outside of breeding, so both it and Togetic are very hard to find as shiny.
Elekid, Magbyand Azure: In addition to the difficulty of using breeding for shiny hunting, these three Pokémon are version exclusives. Electabuzz and Magmar in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen can only be found in the power plant i Fire red for the former, and in the mountain Ember in Leafy green for the latter, but their baby forms are breeding exclusive. Likewise because Marill and Azumarill are Leafy green exclusive, Azurill can only be found as shiny via breeding in this version.

Why Shiny Hunting via Breeding is terrible in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen

The biggest problem with breeding in these games is that there is no Masuda method or Shiny Charm, meaning the odds are 1/8,192. Not only that, but whether a Pokémon obtained through breeding is shiny is determined when the egg is received, not when it hatches. This means you can't soft-reset the moment the egg hatches, but rather you have to either reset to before you got the egg or get another egg. If that wasn't enough, Flame Body as an ability doesn't make hatch eggs faster in the Gen 3 Kanto remakes, so the process is even longer. For these reasons, shiny hunting can be a tedious process if breeding is involved, and can take so long that it's nearly impossible to do for multiple Pokemon.