These 3 Pokémon in FireRed and LeafGreen are a must have for all the best teams

This article was updated by Andrea Trama on March 23, 2026, citing another OP Pokémon. It was first published on March 14.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen are basically Kanto games, despite the addition of the Sevii Islands compared to Gen 1, and the fact that there is a National Pokedex that includes all mons up to Gen 3. This is important to note because the critters from Gen 2 and Gen 3 that you can find in the games will only be post-game, so while there are simply more champions to make and Elite tied to the main Kanto region and the first three islands of the Sevii archipelago. What follows is that Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen will make you rely on the Kanto Pokedex most of the time.

There are a lot of good Pokemon in the Kanto region, but it's worth noting that these are Gen 3 games, which means they follow the infamous “type split.” Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreens type chart includes all types except Fairy, and each type as a whole deals either physical or special damage with all of its moves, no exceptions. This naturally leads to certain Pokemon being stronger or weaker depending on their stats and learning sets. For this reason, there are three Pokémon that are arguably the best to use on any team, regardless of your starter, and they are Mr. Mime, Nidoking and Jynx.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen's intro screen showing Nidorino fighting Gengar, and Lorelei and Lance from the Elite Four

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Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen rare exclusives are not the same (and one version is much better than the other)

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen have two rare exclusives that should be balanced, but one is more accessible and powerful.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreens Mr. Mime Solo's The Elite Four

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen's Mr. Mime can be obtained via trade on Route 2 by trading an Abra with the NPC, which will always give you a Timid-nature Mr. Mime. This is important because Mr. Mime cannot be caught in these games in any way, and only comes from this trade, so a guaranteed Timid version of Pokemon means that it will be quite fast and potentially optimized if you train its EVs.

If you want to do that, you should battle Pokemon like Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Rattata, and Raticate to increase its Speed EVs, then take it to the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town to train its special attack against the wild Gastly and Haunter there. Regardless, Mr. Mime basically beat the Elite Four in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen solo, as it can learn Magical Leaf, Psychic, Thunderbolt and Calm Mind. This means that:

Mr. Mime can one-shot all of Lorelei's Pokémon with either Magical Leaf or Thunderbolt
Mr. Mime can one-shot all of Bruno's Pokémon with either Magical Leaf or Psychic
Mr. Mime can one-shot all of Agatha's Pokémon with Psychic
Mr. Mime can two-shot all of Lance's Pokémon with Psychic (or one-shot them if you use Calm Mind first), and one-shot Aerodactyl with Thunderbolt
Mr. Mime can one-shot Champion's Pidgeot with Thunderbolt, Rhydon with Magical Leaf, and Gyarados with Thunderbolt, and it can two-shot Blastoise with Thunderbolt (or one-shot after a calm mind) as well as Venusaur with Psychic (or one-shot after a calm mind)

You shouldn't sleep on Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen's Nidoking and Jynx

While you might frown at the mention of Jynx as one of the best Pokemon in the game, there are very good reasons for this choice. Each of these Pokemon brings something to the table that others can't, or their performance just isn't up to par. That doesn't mean you have to use them, but if you're looking for your best possible lineup for battles, then the best team in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen will use both.

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)

Why Nidoking is one of the best Pokemon in FireRed and LeafGreen

Nidoking is without a doubt one of the single best Pokemon in the Fire red and leaf greenas it is a Poison/Ground type with excellent movement coverage and good stats. On top of that, you can get it very early, as you can find male Nidoran on route 3, evolve it to Nidorino at level 16 before entering Mount Moon, and then grab a moonstone there to evolve it to Nidoking.

The best moves for Nidoking include:

TM 28, You — You get it in Cerulean City and then replace it with Earthquake
Combine — Nidoking learns it at level 22, then replace it with Megahorn
Megahorn — Nidoking learns it at level 43
Rock Slide – Move tutor inside Rock Tunnel, can only be learned once
TM 26, Earthquake – You get it after hitting Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreens Viridian City Gym
TM 24, Thunderbolt — You can buy it for 4000 coins in Celadon City Game Corner
TM 13, Ice Beam — You can buy it for 4000 coins in Celadon City Game Corner
HM 03, Surf — Get it in the Secret House in the Safari Zone Fire red and leaf green

While the Nidoqueen is also good, its stats favor lower Attack, Special Attack and Speed in favor of HP, Defense and Special Defense. There are some other notable differences, such as Nidoqueen learning Superpower instead of Megahorn, but Nidoking is better overall.

Jynx is secretly a powerhouse in FireRed and LeafGreen

Jynx is also a Pokemon you can get early on Fire red and leaf greenhowever, not directly as a meeting. To get it, you need to complete the Game Corner story in Celadon City and the Pokemon Tower story in Lavender Town, so you can get the Poke Flute and awaken the Snorlax south of Lavender Town. After that, you can get the Super Rod, which you can use on route 6, 22, and 25 to get a Poliwhirl, then trade it to an elderly man in the house to the left of the Cerulean City Pokémon Center for Jynx.

You can't shiny hunt Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen for in-game trades, and Jynx requires breeding to do so, meaning post-game only. This specific Jynx will always have a gentle nature, meaning it has -Def and +Sp. Attack.

The reason Jynx is so good in the Kanto remakes is because it has great types to handle some of the most problematic battles, and it has a great learning set. For starters, Jynx comes with Lovely Kiss, which you can use to put opponents to sleep with 75% accuracy. Then it learns Ice Punch at level 25, and since Ice is a special type, Ice Punch will always scale with Special Attack. Jynx can also learn Psychic, which you can get before hitting Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreens Sabrina, and even Koga, and it can learn moves like Ice Beam, Calm Mind, Thief, Water Pulse, and even Reflect and Light Screen.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen players need to be careful with button combination

You'll almost always want a Jynx in your playthrough if you're running a Nuzlocke run or if you want to optimize your strategy. These are the main battles where Jynx excels:

Erika: Jynx with Ice Punch at level 25 means you can easily get through Celadon City Gym with it.
Boil: If you get the Psychic TM in Saffron City before fighting Koga, you can easily beat its Poison-type Pokémon.
Sabrina: If you learn Jynx Thief and Calm Mind, then Sabrina can be a pretty easy fight.
Giovanni: Giovanni's Ground-type Pokémon are all easy to clear with a fast attacker like Jynx, with Ice being super effective against Ground.
Bruno: Jynx can easily clear Bruno's entire team with Ice Beam and Psychic.
Agatha: Much like with Koga and Bruno, learning Jynx Psychic can have you easily sweeping Agatha's team.
Lance: Lance uses a team consisting mainly of Dragon-types and Flying-types, and Jynx can usually one-shot three out of five mons (Dragonair and Dragonite), with the main problems coming from Gyarados and Aerodactyl.
Master: Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen's Champion uses a different team based on your starter, but Jynx can clear at least three out of six Pokémon (Pidgeot, Rhydon, and Exeggutor/Venusaur).