A wave of returning players is spending dozens of hours inside Professor Oak’s lab in Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen, repeatedly restarting their games to chase one of the most time-consuming prizes in the series: a shiny starter. The renewed obsession is being fueled by the games’ recent Nintendo Switch release (after originally launching on Game Boy Advance in 2004), and it’s gotten big enough that at least one community has stepped in to manage the flood of posts.
Here’s what’s happening, why it matters to shiny hunters, and what it says about the current Pokémon moment—where classic remakes are trending again while newer releases like Pokémon Pokopia dominate the conversation elsewhere.
What’s Driving Players to Stay in Oak’s Lab
According to reporting from GameRant, many FireRed and LeafGreen players are “soft resetting” at the very start of the game—before leaving Pallet Town—over and over to try to open a Poké Ball containing a shiny Charmander, Bulbasaur, or Squirtle.
The key detail is that this hunt happens before the adventure properly begins. Players are effectively choosing to spend their early playtime in the opening room of the game, repeating the same short sequence and restarting if the starter isn’t shiny. GameRant describes players putting in “dozens of hours and thousands of resets,” with some sharing images of shinies that allegedly took “up to 10,000 resets” to obtain.
Because these resets are often spread across multiple sessions, the time investment can add up quickly—even if the player never saves a file that actually leaves the lab.
GameRant also notes that Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen are experiencing a “major resurgence in popularity,” helped by the surprise announcement that they were coming to Nintendo Switch ahead of the franchise’s official 30th anniversary Pokémon Day livestream, and by the games’ Switch release date of February 27.
The Math Is Brutal: 1 in 8,192 Odds
The reason this trend is so extreme is simple: the odds are punishing.
GameRant cites the shiny odds for starters in FireRed/LeafGreen as one in 8,192, which works out to a little over 0.01% per attempt. That’s the classic Generation 3 shiny rate—meaning every reset is essentially a fresh roll at long odds.
And unlike later Pokémon games, players can’t stack the deck early with modern shiny-boosting tools. GameRant specifically points out that methods like the Masuda Method or items like a Shiny Charm won’t help before leaving the lab, making the grind “all the more intense.”
The result is a uniquely front-loaded kind of dedication: players are investing huge time before they’ve even started building a team, collecting items, or progressing the story.
Community Fallout: A Megathread to Reduce Clutter and Toxicity
When a trend gets big enough, it starts reshaping community spaces—and that appears to be happening here.
GameRant reports that the shiny starter hunt became such a large movement that moderators of the Pokémon FireRed subreddit created a megathread to reduce clutter and “cut down on toxic behavior,” with moderators vowing to delete other new posts dedicated to the subject.
That’s a notable escalation. Shiny hunting has long been a staple of the Pokémon community, but the combination of a high-profile re-release and a highly visible “starter shiny” chase seems to have created a surge of similar posts—screenshots, reset counts, and progress updates—enough to require active moderation.
Not Just Starters: Legendary Shiny Hunting Is Part of the Moment Too
While starter shiny hunting is the headline, GameRant notes that legendary Pokémon are also drawing heavy time investment from shiny hunters in FireRed and LeafGreen.
In the same report, one fan shared an image of a shiny Ho-Oh, claiming they reset 2,500 times to get the encounter. GameRant adds that legendary shiny hunting “doesn’t seem to be nearly as popular as starter shiny hunting right now,” but it still demands similar persistence.
Separately, GameRant’s guide coverage reinforces a key point for legendary hunters: Mewtwo is not shiny locked in FireRed/LeafGreen. In its Mewtwo location guide, GameRant states that players can save at Mewtwo’s lair and repeatedly soft reset to attempt to encounter a shiny, noting that “since the Shiny Charm is not yet implemented in Generation 3, players can only acquire Shiny Mewtwo by chance in battle.”
In other words, the same “reset until it shines” mindset applies well beyond Oak’s lab—though the starter hunt is uniquely famous because it happens at the very first meaningful choice in the game.
Why This Matters Now: Switch Re-Release Meets Old-School Shiny Culture
The broader significance here is the collision of two forces:
- A classic Pokémon re-release on Nintendo Switch, bringing a large audience back to a Generation 3-era ruleset and shiny odds.
- Modern social sharing, where reset counts and shiny screenshots spread quickly and encourage others to join the chase.
GameRant frames the current moment as a resurgence for FireRed/LeafGreen, which originally launched in 2004 for the Game Boy Advance. The outlet also describes the games as retelling the story of the original Pokémon pair released eight years earlier, with sharper visuals and gameplay updates over the original Game Boy games, including Pokémon spanning Generations 1–3.
That combination—nostalgia plus visibility—helps explain why players are willing to “waste” time in Oak’s lab. For many, the shiny starter isn’t just a rare cosmetic variant; it’s a personal trophy that defines the entire run from the first minute onward.
And because each reset is a clean roll with the same odds, the hunt becomes a test of patience rather than progression. GameRant even contrasts this with “pity systems” in gacha games, noting that shiny hunting for starters isn’t something developers built with a safety net—more attempts increase total chances, but each individual reset remains 1/8,192.
Release, Platforms, and Who Made the Games
Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen originally released on September 7, 2004 for Game Boy Advance, per GameRant’s game information. GameRant lists Game Freak as the developer, with The Pokémon Company and Nintendo as publishers.
GameRant also reports that the games have now released on Nintendo Switch as of February 27.
What Remains Unknown
- Exact mechanics of the Switch release (e.g., which features are included, how saves and resets behave on Switch, and whether any emulation/collection framework is being used) aren’t detailed .
- Sales figures or player counts behind the “resurgence” aren’t provided—only the characterization that popularity has surged.
- Pricing for FireRed/LeafGreen on Nintendo Switch is not stated in the provided reporting.
- The available reporting references a “Pokémon FireRed subreddit” megathread response, but does not specify when it was created or provide the exact moderation language beyond the summary.
As shiny hunting culture continues to collide with re-releases and social media momentum, Oak’s lab may remain the most famous “starting line” in Pokémon—especially when the rarest version of your journey begins with a Poké Ball that sparkles.
