It can take you 69 hours to get shiny Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen starters

One of the biggest surprises in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen when they first came out on the GBA was that they allowed players to soft-reset their game to flash a bunch of unique Pokémon, including three starters. Since the Switch and Switch 2 ports are basically identical with just a few minor tweaks, many fans have been looking for their starter ever since the games came out on Pokemon Day. Unfortunately, some never left Professor Oak's lab, while others did quite quickly. How's the shiny hunt going? Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen they're all about RNG when it comes down to it, but in reality it's almost guaranteed to be worse than your last shiny hunt.

Problem with shiny hunting v Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is that you have no means of making the hunt easier. This is because the infamous Masuda breeding method doesn't work (and breeding is even unlocked late in the game) and there is no Shiny Charm, so every encounter is just full of chance. Not only that, but full odds in this case means 1 in 8,192, as opposed to 1/4,096 in modern games, where you can normally get the odds down to 1 in 512. On average, getting a shiny starter in Gen 3 Kanto remakes can take you about 70 hours, if not more.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen opening screen showing Nidorin battling Gengar and Lorelei and Lance from the Elite Four

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen rare exclusives are not the same (and one version is much better than the other)

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen have two rare exclusives that should be balanced, but one is more accessible and powerful.

It can take you weeks to find a shiny starter in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen

The best way to shiny bait fishing Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is as follows:

Start a new game
Choose the name of your trainer and opponent
After loading, immediately change the text speed to fast in the game options
Leave your house and head to the tall grass north of Pallet Town
Let Professor Oak guide you to the lab
Talk to Professor Oak and go to the table where there are three Starter Poke Balls
Save in front of the desired starter (on the left is Bulbasaur, in the middle is Squirtle, on the right is Charmander)
Select the starter
Skip his nickname to save time
Open the menu after your opponent chooses an appetizer
Check your Pokemon's summary to see if it is shiny
If not, press A + B + X + Y for a soft reset Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
Press A quickly or use the turbo controller to skip the intro
Choose to load into a saved file
Press B to skip the recap of your adventure
Rinse and repeat

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)

Once you've gone through a new game section and saved it before the starters, which usually takes one minute or less, the game reset process, selecting Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen starter and checking to see if it shines can take about 30 seconds if you are quick. Even less if you're very fast, and you could optimize it for a total of 26-27 seconds. But with an average of 30 seconds per reset, this means the following:

You see two starters per minute
That means 120 starters per hour
Since the odds are on average 1 in 8,192, you'll get your shiny starter after about 68 hours and 16 minutes, so between 68 and 69 hours, depending on whether you're very fast or take a little longer than 30 seconds to reset.

It's worth noting that Squirtle hunting will be slightly faster than Charmander hunting, which will be about one second faster than Bulbasaur hunting, and this applies to every reset. This is because your opponent in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen will choose their starter to counter yours, so Squirtle will make the opponent go to the Bulbasaur closest to their position in the lab, then Charmander will make them go to Squirtle and Bulbasaur to Charmander.

This is an average estimate, meaning you might get lucky and get a shiny starter in a few hours, or get yours after 100+. Unfortunately, there's no exact science, but if you want your first partner Pokemon to be shiny, keep in mind that you might have to be stuck in Professor Oak's lab for a long time.