I’ve recently started playing Pokémon FireRed via emulator because I’ve always loved the Pokémon series and the world around it. I’m currently around Lavender Town and the nearby routes, but the process of leveling up my Pokémon feels really grindy and repetitive. I’m trying to have a balanced team type-wise and have a fast-travel Flying type, but some of my favorites ended up low level since I didn’t know better early on. Also, with so many Pokémon species, it’s a bit overwhelming to decide who to catch or keep without constantly looking things up. Some types feel confusing or just underpowered.
I really want to enjoy the game but this grind and complexity are kind of putting me off. Does anyone have tips for making this less tedious or is this older style of gameplay just not for me? Any beginner-friendly advice is welcome too, even though I’ve read some basic guides already.
4 Answers
If you’re playing anything from Gen 6 onwards, there’s usually an Exp Share that gives experience to your whole party, which helps a lot with grinding. Unfortunately, FireRed is from an earlier era where you had to share experience with only Pokémon that fought.
The original Pokémon games, especially FireRed which remakes Gen 1, are known for being pretty grind-heavy compared to newer ones. You’ll definitely get used to type matchups more as you keep playing, and you won’t usually have one of every type on your team. If you’re getting beat a lot, it’s probably because your team is weak to certain types, so try to adjust for that.
Planning your team before diving deep into the game is a solid move. Picking 6 Pokémon and prepping their moves helps. As for grind, sometimes you just have to power through, but if it feels unbearable, you might like newer games like Scarlet and Violet that are more forgiving and less grind-centric.
Yeah, Gen 1 games had a pretty old-school JRPG grind. That’s why in later games, Exp Share became a default item and then even permanent to reduce that. Also, about moves and stats: in FireRed all moves of a certain type are either physical or special, which can be confusing. For example, Thunder Punch is special in FireRed, even though it feels like a punch and should be physical. This means some Pokémon who are physical attackers might struggle with moves that don’t use their Attack stat. Later games fixed this by splitting moves into physical or special individually, so Pokémon like Hitmonchan can better use their signature moves.
Thanks, that’s good to know! After FireRed I was thinking about moving on to Emerald and then the Gen 2 remakes. Do those games feel less grindy? Also, any tips to make grinding less painful in Gen 1 itself?