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GamesRadar
GamesRadar
Technology
Kaan Serin

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen Switch releases broken wide open by speedrunner who finishes them in under 3 hours and discovers the Legendary events are included

Key art for Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen showing Venasaur against a swirling green background, cropped for a header image.

Pokemon fans have been eating good lately. Not only did we get the reveal of Pokemon Winds and Waves yesterday, we also got to replay Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen on a modern system thanks to the new Nintendo Switch re-releases. But despite only being a day old, one speedrunner stormed through the games and found that two super rare events made the cut.

Before Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen dropped on the Switch, there was much speculation over whether Game Freak would include the events allowing people to catch three Legendary Pokemon: Deoxys, Ho-Oh, and Lugia.

Players of the original GBA remakes might remember these Legendaries were only available in specific regions back in the day, and only to people who attended certain in-person events. In the decades since then, folks were only able to get the tickets to these in-game events by editing their save files with a computer program.

The Pokemon Company didn't specify whether the Deoxys or Ho-Oh/Lugia events would return prior to the Switch re-releases, but we really didn't need the company to. One speedrunner finished the entire game in under 2 hours, 40 minutes, and found that the game automatically puts tickets to both the Deoxys and Ho-Oh/Lugia events in your inventory after you beat the Elite Four.

This is the first time in decades that Pokemon trainers will be able to farm a shiny version of the Legendary Pokemon via a totally legit route, which is doubly exciting now since FireRed and LeafGreen's Switch versions support Pokemon Home, letting you take your shiny Deoxys, say, into future generations.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen are on the Nintendo eShop right now for $20 each, while Pokemon Winds and Waves is due to launch exclusively on the Switch 2 next year.

Pokemon Champions brings pocket 'mon PvP to Nintendo Switch in April 2026 according to a flashy new live-action trailer, which also confirms mobile version coming "later this year"

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