Did I Actually Earn This Badge?
With the Shiny Badge Quest officially underway after finding Deku Baba, my shiny Bulbasaur, I ran into an unexpected question: did I earn the right to challenge Brock?
Shiny Badge Quests are simple in theory and can be painful in practice. You earn the badge after the hunt, not before it. But because Deku Baba showed up so quickly, I felt as though I had skipped a step. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I should find another shiny before even setting foot in Pewter City.
If you’ve followed my channel for a while, you know this challenge isn’t exactly new territory. I attempted a FireRed and LeafGreen Shiny Badge Quest back in 2021, which also began with a shiny Bulbasaur, Kokiri, at around 1,500 encounters. Back then, I chose to hunt again before Brock, targeting Mankey on Route 22. So, when my chat started suggesting the same thing this time around, it felt like history trying to repeat itself.
And that’s where the dilemma set in.
On one hand, shiny Mankey. On the other, the very real possibility of phasing on Spearow… which, respectfully, no thank you.
When the Math Stops Cooperating
The more I thought about it, the more I realized I couldn’t build this quest around quick wins. The odds in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen are 1 in 8192, but that number isn’t a promise, it’s a suggestion at best. I’ve seen hunts go double, even triple over odds. Sometimes, the game just decides it’s not your day.
Complicating things further, it had already been nearly a month since Deku Baba. A lot of that time disappeared into Pokémon Pokopia, and with Safari Week on the horizon, I had a real deadline. If I wanted a shot at hunting a shiny Exeggcute in the Safari Zone, I needed to make progress now.
At a certain point, the decision made itself. Waiting for another shiny before Brock was just too risky.
Start your own hunt
Purchasing through these links supports The Input Lag at no additional cost to you.
One Badge, Real Progress
So I went to Pewter City and challenged the rock specialist, Brock.
And, well… I had a Bulbasaur… a Grass-type.
You can probably guess how that went.
No disrespect to Brock, but it was less of a battle and more of a formality. One badge down.
With that, the quest finally opened up. New routes, new encounters, and more importantly, new choices. There were a lot of directions I could have gone next, but realistically, only one stood out.
It was time to hunt shiny Geodude, also known as Frito.
Frito is a big deal to my community, and it wouldn’t feel like a modern Gr3atScotty run without it making an appearance. That said, I didn’t think I had the time to wait for Frito to shine. Safari Week was the priority, so if I wanted to realistically reach the Safari Zone in time, I needed to keep progressing and challenge Misty with whatever I found.
I was going to give myself the best possible chance at Frito now, but if something else appeared first, I’d circle back later in the run.
The Hunt That Was Supposed to Be Long
While you can find Geodude in Mt. Moon, your odds improve deeper in the cave, where it appears at a 30% encounter rate. On top of that, B2F offers a 6% chance at Clefairy, which would be a great phase if things didn’t go my way.
I should mention that I technically shot myself in the foot by EV training Deku Baba early, which left it very over-leveled. If I had waited, I could have used the repel trick to increase Geodude encounters, but I digress. I was having fun, and that counts for something.
Around this time, I was also a featured content creator for Skirmish Kanto as a ShinyDex Ambassador. If I found a Kanto Pokémon, I wouldn’t just earn the right to a badge in-game and on the website, I’d earn points for my team. I was highly motivated.
After finally putting Pokémon Pokopia down and settling in to hunt with friends, I prepared for what I expected to be a long grind. I found Deku Baba in under 500 encounters, and deep down, I knew what that meant.
I was due for a drought.
Mathematically… I was destined for one.
So, imagine my surprise when this happened…
And just like that, everything fell into place. I earned a point for my team, secured a badge on ShinyDex.com, and found my target, Frito. More importantly, I earned the right to challenge Misty in Cerulean City.
My path forward was clear.
But before I challenge Misty, I have some EV training to do with Frito.
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.
WATCH THE MOMENT
Follow the Quest
