Pokemon FireRed, LeafGreen players are resetting their game until they are shiny

In case you missed it, Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen are available as standalone releases on the Nintendo Switch 2, complete with Pokemon Home compatibility, as well as removing the infamous glitch that made legendary Pokemon disappear if they used the move “Roar.”

Those who never played the original on the Game Boy Advance will learn first hand how brutal the Elite Four can be, how mean your opponent can be and how hard it can be to find Shiny Pokémon, especially how hard it is to land a Shiny Starter.

Because, unlike current games, which practically only allow Shiny Pokémon, FireRed and LeafGreen have traditional Shiny odds set at 1 in 8,192 Pokémon, or 0.012 percent odds. The only way to start your journey as a Pokemon trainer with a shiny Charmander, Bulbasaur or Squirtle is to constantly reset your game until it appears in Professor Oak's lab.

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Are Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen really worth $20 on Switch? It's complicated…

Two classic Game Boy Advance Pokémon titles are coming to the Nintendo Switch.

Go figure, there are players stuck with thousands of resets still without the shiny. And until they get that elusive glow, they don't start the game.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen will test your patience for the shiny creature

Up and down the LeafGreen subreddit, you'll find no shortage of players sharing their shiny starter journeys, requiring hundreds and hundreds of soft resets.

For example, take this player who went through 12,108 shiny resets before finally getting Bulbasaur. Now, they say, they can finally play the game.

“At 1,327 for Bulbasaur RN, hope it's not that long,” one user wrote in response, hoping they too can finally start the game.

On the other side, there are players wondering at what point you leave the bus. It's neat to have a shiny starter, but if you're stuck with thousands, is it worth continuing?

“After about 2 hours, I realized I wanted to play the game,” said one user.

Others say they are in too deep to leave now and must see the shiny prey all the way through.

“I haven't given up. (I'm) too committed and spent too much time now to give up. Can see it too,” commented another.

After all, you definitely don't want to be like this Pokemon trainer, who ended up with a really shiny Squirtle, only to soft reset his game due to constantly frustrated muscle memory.

We don't know whether to laugh or cry on behalf of this user. Probably both.