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Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen (FRLG)

Shiny Hunting Guide and Shiny Odds

Add to Watchlist

Best Pokemon Tier List
Best Teams to Beat the Story
Celadon Game Corner Guide
☆ Farm EXP, Money, and Duplicate Items!
Shiny Hunting Guide and Shiny Odds
☆ How to Get Lugia, Ho-Oh, and Deoxys

Shiny Hunting Guide

Get Shiny Pokemon by doing soft resets, the repel trick method, and repeatedly getting encounters in the wild in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen (FRLG)! See the best methods to increase Shiny odds, how to get them, if you can get shiny starters, and what they are here!

Best Methods to Find Shiny Pokemon

Shiny Pokemon Hunting Guide


Save and Soft-Reset

The best way to get Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is to soft-reset your game by pressing ABXY simultaneously on the Nintendo Switch.

Save your file just before you get a Pokemon, whether it's as a gift, purchase, or guaranteed encounter. Then, return to the title screen and re-open the save file in the hopes of getting a Shiny. Do note that this isn't guaranteed, so it may take you multiple attempts to get just one Shiny.

How to Soft Reset

Repel Trick Method

Walk Through Grass with Repels.png

To increase the chances of getting your desired Pokemon encounters, you can use the Repel Trick method by using a Repel item and having a high-level Pokemon in the first slot of the party.

Using this method, all wild Pokemon of a lower level will stop appearing, leaving only stronger Pokemon encounters. Take note that this only increases your chances of getting specific Pokemon you desire, and not the odds of getting a Shiny directly.

How to Use Repel

No Masuda Method in Gen 3

In both Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, the renowned Masuda Method is not yet available. As such, there is no way to truly increase the odds of getting a Shiny other than by encountering Pokemon multiple times.

How to Get Shiny Pokemon

Shiny Pokemon Hunting Guide












Randomly Encountered in the Game

Shiny Rattata

Shiny Pokemon are primarily encountered randomly, whether in the wild or through expected encounters. As such, you can try and increase the chances of getting Shinies by encountering them more often while playing or by restarting the game.

Shiny Starters in Pallet Town

Select Your Starter Pokemon

All Starter Pokemon
Pokemon FRLG - Charmander Charmander Pokemon FRLG - Bulbasaur Bulbasaur Pokemon FRLG - Squirtle Squirtle

You can get a Shiny Pokemon as soon as your first Pokemon. The starters, featuring Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle, are not shiny-locked, so you can get their Shiny Variants randomly!

How to Get Shiny Starters

Shiny Magikarp From the Salesman

Magikarp Salesman Location

Pokemon FRLG - Magikarp Magikarp

Inside the Route 4 Pokemon Center, you can purchase Magikarp for 500 Poké Dollars. This has a chance of being a Shiny Pokemon, albeit extremely low. If you do get it, congratulations, as you can get that red Shiny Gyarados!

Magikarp Salesman Location

Shiny Pokemon From the Game Corner

Celadon Game Corner Teller

All Gaming Corner Pokemon
Pokemon FRLG - Abra Abra Pokemon FRLG - Clefairy Clefairy Pokemon FRLG - Dratini Dratini
Pokemon FRLG - Scyther Scyther
(FireRed)
Pokemon FRLG - Pinsir Pinsir
(LeafGreen)
Pokemon FRLG - Porygon Porygon

If you've earned enough coins in the Game Corner found in Celadon City, you can purchase any of the Pokemon above aside from the version exclusives. You can save your game in front of the Prize Redemption Counter and reset it to hopefully get that rare Abra!

Celadon Game Corner Casino Guide

Shiny Eevee in Celadon City

FRLG - Eevee Location

Pokemon FRLG - Eevee Eevee

In Celadon City, there is a Lvl. 25 Eevee you can get in a hidden back entrance of the Mansion. You can potentially get its Shiny Variant and its multiple evolutions!

Celadon City Location Guide

Shiny Pokemon in the Fighting Dojo

Dojo Choice

Fighting Dojo Pokemon Choices
Pokemon FRLG - Hitmonchan Hitmonchan Pokemon FRLG - Hitmonlee Hitmonlee

In Saffron City's Fighting Dojo, you can choose to get a free Pokemon between Hitmonchan or Hitmonlee after defeating the Karate Master. Save your game before choosing one in case it isn't shiny!

Should You Pick Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan?

Shiny Lapras in Saffron City

Pokemon FRLG - Lapras Lapras

Lapras is given as a gift in Silph. Co of Saffron City after defeating your rival. This has an extremely low chance of being a Shiny Lapras.

Silph Co Location Guide

Shiny Omanyte or Kabuto in Mt. Moon

Fossil Location in Mt Moon

Fossil Pokemon Choices
Pokemon FRLG - Omanyte Omanyte
(Helix)
Pokemon FRLG - Kabuto Kabuto
(Dome)

After exploring Mt. Moon, you have the option to choose between the Helix and Dome Fossils. You can revive either Omanyte or Kabuto depending on your choice at the Cinnabar Pokemon Lab, with a very slim chance of it being a Shiny. Make sure to save before you revive it!

Which Fossil Should You Choose?

Shiny Aerodactyl in Pewter City

Old Amber from Scientist in Pewter City Museum

Pokemon FRLG - Aerodactyl Aerodactyl

Behind the Pewter City Museum, you can get an Old Amber item from a scientist. Bring this to the Cinnabar Pokemon Lab to revive it, but make sure to save before doing so!

To get behind the Museum, you must have Cut equipped by one of your Pokemon.

Pewter City Location Guide

Shiny Togepi in the Water Labyrinth

Pokemon FRLG - Togepi Togepi

You can get a Mysterious Egg item from an NPC in the Water Labyrinth if you have 5 or fewer Pokemon in your party. It will eventually hatch into Togepi while traveling, so save every now and then in case it hatches to get that Shiny Togepi.

List of All Egg Groups

Shiny Wandering Legendaries

Battle and Catch Raikou

All Legendary Dogs
Pokemon FRLG - Entei Entei
Bulbasaur
(Starter)
Pokemon FRLG - Raikou Raikou
Squirtle
(Starter)
Pokemon FRLG - Suicune Suicune
Charmander
(Starter)

Before giving the Ruby and Sapphire items to Celio in One Island, save the game as FireRed and LeafGreen determine if the roaming legendary dogs are shiny or not upon quest completion. Encountering them on its own is quite rare, however, and getting a Shiny Variant is even rarer.

How to Get the Legendary Dogs

Shiny Legendary Birds

Articuno

All Legendary Birds
Pokemon FRLG - Articuno Articuno
(Seafoam Islands)
Pokemon FRLG - Zapdos Zapdos
(Power Plant)
Pokemon FRLG - Moltres Moltres
(Mt. Ember)

All three of the Legendary Birds are found in designated locations and can be captured. Save just before challenging them to get a chance of getting Shiny Articuno, Shiny Zapdos, and Shiny Moltres!

List of All Legendary Pokemon

Shiny Event Legendaries

Ho Oh and Lugia Locations

All Event Legendaries
Pokemon FRLG - Lugia Lugia
(Navel Rock)
Pokemon FRLG - Ho-Oh Ho-Oh
(Navel Rock)
Pokemon FRLG - Deoxys Attack Deoxys Attack
(Birth Island)
FR Only
Pokemon FRLG - Deoxys Defense Deoxys Defense
(Birth Island)
LG Only

Lugia, Ho-Oh, and both Deoxys forms can also be obtained as Shiny Pokemon! Lugia and Ho-Oh can both be found on Navel Rock after obtaining the Mystic Ticket, while Deoxys can be encountered after getting the Aurora Ticket.

Depending on the version of your game, Deoxys can be caught as either the Deoxys Attack form for FireRed or Deoxys Defense for LeafGreen.

How to Get the Mystic Ticket

Shiny Odds and Rates

1 in 8192 Chance For All Pokemon

Estimated Calculation 1/8192

The odds for getting a Shiny in the Gen III games, namely FireRed and LeafGreen, are 1 in 8,192 Pokemon. There is no way to directly increase the chances other than RNG Manipulation, so the best way to capture one is by increasing the number of encounters you have with a Pokemon.

Can You Get Shiny Starter Pokemon?

Yes, Starters Are Not Shiny-Locked

All Starter Pokemon
Pokemon FRLG - Charmander Charmander Pokemon FRLG - Bulbasaur Bulbasaur Pokemon FRLG - Squirtle Squirtle

Starter Pokemon in FireRed and LeafGreen are not shiny-locked and can be randomly encountered upon choosing them. As such, you can try and increase your chances of getting one by doing multiple soft-resets!

How to Get Shiny Starters

What Are Shiny Pokemon?

Unique Pokemon with Different Color Schemes

FRLG - Shiny Rattata
Shinies are unique variants of a given Pokemon species, appearing randomly while encountering them in the wild or hatching Pokemon Eggs. They can also be received as gifts or when purchased from the Celadon Game Corner or the Magikarp Salesman.

How To Tell if a Pokemon Is Shiny

How to Identify Shiny Pokemon
Shiny Pokemon have different colors.
At the start of an encounter, a Shiny Pokemon will have a shiny, sparkling effect upon entering the battle.
Once captured, the Shiny Pokemon will display a Shiny Symbol on their summary screen.

Shiny Pokemon are characterized by having different colors from normal Pokemon, and a unique sparkling animation that plays before the battle starts. Once captured, Shiny Pokemon also display a Shiny Symbol on their information page in the form of a gold star (★).

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen Related Guides

Pokemon FRLG - TnT Slim

Beginner's Guides

List of Tips and Guides

General Guides
Shiny Hunting Guide and Shiny Odds All Gift Pokemon
Rival's Canon Name Protagonist's Canon Name
Lt. Surge Puzzle Guide All Move Tutors and Important NPCs
Best Gym Order -
How-To Guides
How to Get Shiny Starters How to Soft Reset
How to Trade How to Open the Main Menu
How to Find Hidden Items How to Use Key Items
How to Get the Bike How to Get Old Rod
How to Get Good Rod How to Get Super Rod
How to Get the Old Man Out of Route 2 How to Get to Three Island
How to Register Items to Select Key How to Use Potions
How to Use Repel How to Get Silph Scope
How to Get Gold Teeth How to Get Macho Brace
How to Get Coin Case How to Get the Mystic Ticket
How to Get the Aurora Ticket How to Get to Sevii Islands
How to Get the Poke Flute How to Stop Pokemon From Evolving
How to Evolve All Pokemon How to Wake Up Snorlax
How to Check Friendship (Happiness) How to Fast Travel
How to Win at Slots in the Casino How to Get the Legendary Dogs
How to Break Rocks and Other Obstacles How to Get Berries
How to Catch 60 Pokemon Fast How to Get All 3 Starters
How to Get to Resort Gorgeous How to Get Luxury Balls
Location Guides
Move Deleter Location Move Relearner Location
Where to Get The Running Shoes All Incense Locations
Amulet Coin Location Where to Find Lucky Egg and Odds
Yellow Flute Location VS Seeker Location
EXP Share Location Itemfinder Location
Rare Candy Locations Pokemon Day Care Location
All Professor Oak Aides Locations and Rewards Where to Buy Ultra Balls
Master Ball Location and Who to Use It On Name Rater Location: How to Change Nickname
All Rare Pokemon Locations Magikarp Salesman Location: How to Get Magikarp Early
Selphy Location and Rewards Net Ball Catch Rate and Locations
Nest Ball Catch Rate and Locations -
Status Effect Guides
All Status Effects Poison
Paralysis Burn
Freeze Confusion
Sleep -
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Get Mew? Best Natures for Starters
The Best Natures for Every Pokemon Which Fossil Should You Choose?
Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan? Mega Punch or Mega Kick?
Is There a Physical and Special Attack Split? Are There Fairy Types?
Can You Complete the Kanto Dex? Can You Complete the National Dex?
Can You Get a 4-Star Trainer Card? Can You Get Pokerus?
What are STAB Moves? Differences from the Original GBA Versions
How Long to Beat Best Eevee Evolution
Can You Get Umbreon? Can You Get Espeon?

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