Building Momentum Before Misty
Previously on my FireRed and LeafGreen Shiny Badge Quest, I found my starter, Deku Baba the shiny Bulbasaur, and Frito the shiny Geodude.
With two shiny Pokémon secured on the team, I’ve technically met the threshold required to progress the quest. That said, there were still a few things to take care of before challenging Misty.
First up was getting Frito battle-ready by optimizing his EVs.
I decided to max out his Speed and Attack, which meant heading over to Route 22 to KO two Spearow with one Frito… or, more realistically, as many Spearow as I could find. Route 22 offers a surprisingly efficient training loop, with Spearow and Rattata providing Speed EVs, while Mankey contributes Attack EVs. It made for the perfect training ground.
Training instead of immediately taking on Misty also served another purpose. Skirmish Kanto was still active, meaning I could still earn points for my team if I happened to find another shiny. Of course, the odds weren’t exactly in my favor, especially considering I had already found two shinies well under odds.
After knocking out roughly 1,000 combined Spearow, Rattata, and Mankey, I didn’t encounter any new shiny Pokémon. That wasn’t surprising. If anything, it feels like the odds are due to swing the other way eventually. Still, Frito is now fully EV trained, and I’m in a strong position to move forward.
The events I completed, summarized in a haiku:
Crossed the Nugget Bridge,
Rescued Bill from an odd fate,
Team Rocket stole Dig!
Sigh. Poetry.
I’ll remind you of the deadline looming over this run: Safari Week. There was still a lot of story to push through before reaching Fuchsia City, but I was determined to get there in time.
With those story beats cleared and the team once again slightly over-leveled, it was time to take on Misty and earn the second badge.
Misty specializes in Water-type Pokémon, which puts Frito at a clear disadvantage. That said, Frito is both over-leveled and EV trained, so let’s be honest, the real challenge of this run is finding shinies, not winning gym battles. Second badge down.
Opening the Map
Now that I’ve secured the Cascade Badge, I can use Cut outside of battle to continue progressing. Of course, that means picking up the HM first, which sends us toward Vermilion City. Realistically, Vermilion is just a pit stop on the road to Fuchsia, which is now within reach thanks to Misty’s badge.
Let’s cover the next stretch the only logical way:
Healed the sea captain,
We’ll fight Surge another day,
Rock Tunnel is dark…
By skipping the Vermilion Gym for now, the game opens up in a big way, and so does the available encounter pool.
Preparing for the Grind
With that freedom, my focus shifted toward preparing for future shiny hunting events, with the most immediate being FireRed LeafGreen Showdown. Like Skirmish Kanto, it’s a team-based event where every shiny counts as a point, and the team with the most points walks away with bragging rights.
If I wanted to maximize my encounters for that event, I needed access to strong, repeatable hunts. That naturally led me to the Game Corner, which meant setting a new goal: make as much money as possible.
By building up a few hundred thousand Pokédollars, I could convert that into coins and soft reset for targets like Abra, Clefairy, Scyther, Pinsir, Dratini, or even Porygon. To get there, I caught six Meowth and committed to a Pay Day and Pickup strategy to generate consistent income.
These Meowth weren’t shiny, but I was fine with that. I had already caught a shiny Meowth during my LeafGreen Shiny Badge Quest years ago. I nicknamed one of them Honorary, as she took on a permanent role in funding the operation.
Meowth’s Pickup ability gives it a chance to find items after battle, including Nuggets, and when paired with Pay Day, it becomes a surprisingly effective money-making loop. It didn’t take long before I was generating a steady stream of income.
This strategy isn’t for the faint of heart, but if you’re willing to put in the time, you can turn nearly every battle into profit.
That’s just good business.
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To make the strategy even more efficient, I EV trained Honorary as a speedy physical attacker, which meant heading right back to Route 22. At this point, wiping out the local Spearow population has become something of a routine.
After another stretch of training, and doing my best not to phase on a shiny Spearow, Honorary was fully EV trained. Even then, I still didn’t have quite enough money to max out my coins, so I spent the remainder of Skirmish Kanto continuing to build toward FireRed LeafGreen Showdown.
When Preparation Pays Off
This preparation looked like shiny hunting, but let’s be honest, it wasn’t exactly efficient. Defeating every wild Pokémon with Pay Day is much slower than running away, but the payout made it worthwhile. For a while, I truly felt like a Pokémon entrepreneur.
Instead of returning to Route 22 yet again, I set my sights on Route 7 to avoid the risk of phasing on a shiny Spearow.
My goal wasn’t to find a shiny Pokémon, it was to make money. That said, if I happened to find another shiny… well, that would be tragic.
Route 7’s encounter pool includes Meowth, Pidgey, Oddish, and the rare Growlithe. On paper, it sounds incredible, but in practice, it’s one of the most dangerous routes in the game.
The problem comes down to Pidgey and Growlithe, both of which have battle-ending moves. Pidgey knows Whirlwind, and Growlithe knows Roar, meaning half of your encounters can end the battle instantly. If that happens on a shiny, it’s gone.
To avoid that nightmare scenario, I developed a simple plan: Taunt and Ultra Balls.
There was just one problem. Ultra Balls are only available in one accessible location at this point in the game: Fuchsia City. Which means, once again, it was time for some story progression:
Behind the poster,
Is a button we should press:
Taunt waits down the stairs.
That might be some of my best work, but it still doesn’t tell the full story.
Snorlax blocks the way,
But the flute opens a path,
To cross Cycling Road.
And just like that, I made my way to Fuchsia. Safari Week, here I come.
I invested some of my earnings into Ultra Balls so I’d be prepared for any fail-able shiny on Route 7. By this point, the Pay Day and Pickup strategy had paid off significantly. Honorary had reached level 87, thanks in part to a steady supply of Rare Candies from my Meowth squad, and I was earning a minimum of 435 Pokédollars per battle. Even better, Honorary could now learn Taunt, giving me extra insurance against Whirlwind and Roar.
With only a few days remaining in Skirmish Kanto, I decided to multitask by finishing preparations for FireRed LeafGreen Showdown. This stretch had only added a few thousand encounters, so I wasn’t expecting another shiny anytime soon.
And that’s exactly when it happened.
Out of nowhere, a shiny Pidgey appeared.
Fortunately, I was prepared. Honorary used Taunt just as the Pidgey attempted to Whirlwind the battle away. With the threat gone, I threw an Ultra Ball.
One shake. Two. Three.
Caught.
Another point for Team Red.
But now that I’ve caught Revali, the shiny Pidgey, I can’t help but think it would be great to train this Pidgey into a hard-hitting speedster.
…
I’m not sorry.
I’m heading back to Route 22, where my team and I have become something of a problem.
While training on Route 22, my Meowth army collected enough Rare Candies for me to evolve Pidgey into Pidgeot, earning me a first species badge on ShinyDex.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
Scott (Scotty) Greenhalgh is the founder and owner of Input Lag, an independent Nintendo-focused publication. Scotty brings a player-first perspective informed by years of hands-on experience with Nintendo games to his reviews, rankings, and editorial coverage. His writing focuses on how games feel to play, their long-term value, and the impact Nintendo’s creative and business decisions have on players.
Outside of Input Lag, he also creates Pokémon-focused content online under the name Gr3atScotty.
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That was such a good read, two pidgeys with one geodude.. doesn’t get old…