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

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen were recently re-released on the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, much to the delight of new fans and veterans alike, who can finally play in the Kanto region of the 2004 games. However, these are direct ports of Game Boy Advance titles, which come with both good and bad. Players can still enjoy Sevii Islands and iconic Gen 1 content with Gen 3 gameplay, but completing the Pokedex may be a challenge or downright impossible, at least for the National Dex. If you really want to catch them all, you'll need to trade locally with other players, e.g Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenExclusive version 's cannot be found in the opposite version.

That's the problem Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen they don't really have a clear winner with exclusive releases, as one might argue LeafGreen it's better because it includes Slowpoke and its evolutions, so you could go to the Gen 3 games if and when they get re-released, since those pets aren't available there. On the other hand, FireRed it has Arcanine, which is one of the best mons in Kanto, and overall has some more popular pets. When it comes to rare exclusives, there are mainly two: Electabuzz and Magmar. However, only one of them is catchable early and the other is mostly for completing the Pokedex.

Shiny Charizard, Psyduck and Sandslash in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen

The best strategy for catching Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is unfortunately an exclusive version

Shiny hunting in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is always at full odds, but the best trick you can use is exclusive to one version.

Pokemon FireRed defeats LeafGreen with its rare version of the exclusive Pokemon

The exclusive versions in each game can change your gameplay to some extent, especially for some of them, so choosing the right version for you can be as important as choosing the best appetizer. Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. Interestingly, you can only encounter a lot of exclusive creatures before you finish the game, as some of them are from Gen 2 or 3 and fill the National Dex. The problem is that while you can get Electabuzz easily and relatively early FireRedyou will have to wait some time to catch Magmar inside LeafGreen.

Arrange the covers in the correct US release order.

Easy (5) Medium (7) Hard (10)

FireRed Exclusives	Place and time	LeafGreen Exclusives	Place and time
Ekans	Already on route 4	Sandshrew	Already on route 4
Arbok	Evolve Ekans or late game	Sandslash	Evolve Sandshrew or late game
Special	Already on route 5	Vulpix	Already on route 8
Gloomy	Develop an Oddish or middle game	Ninetales	Develop Vulpix
Vileplume	Evolve Gloom	Bell	Already on route 5
Psyduck	Fishing with Super Rod soon	Weepinbell	Evolve Bellsprout or mid game
Golduck	Develop Psyduck or mid game	Victreebel	Develop Weepinbell
Growlithe	Already on route 8	Slowpoke	Fishing with Super Rod soon
Arcanine	Evolve Growlithe	Slow bro	Evolve Slowpoke
Shellder	Fishing with Super Rod soon	I'm old	Fishing with Super Rod soon
Cloister	Evolve Shellder	Starmie	Evolve Starya
Scyther	Already in Celadon City	Magmar	Mt. Ember (late game)
Electabuzz	Power Plant (mid game)	Pinsir	Already in Celadon City
Bellossom	After the game	Marill	After the game
Whooper	After the game	Azumarill	After the game
Quagsire	After the game	Slowdown	After the game
Murkrow	After the game	Misdreavus	After the game
Qwilfish	After the game	Sneaky	After the game
Scissors	After the game	Remoraid	After the game
Delibird	After the game	Octillery	After the game
Skarmory	After the game	Cushion	After the game
Elekid	After the game	Magby	After the game
		Azurill	After the game

Pokemon FireRed's Electabuzz is miles better than LeafGreen's Magmar

While Electabuzz is available in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen's Power Plant, which is accessible immediately after getting the HM for Surf, Magmar is only found in Mt. Ember. In FireRed, Electabuzz has a 5% power plant encounter rate, but you can use a level 35 Pokemon as the lead in your party and any Repel, so only Electabuzz can spawn since the rest of the Pokemon are lower levels. Meetings at the Power Plant are as follows:

Pikachu (both versions, level 22-26, spawn rate 25%)
Magnemite (both versions, level 22-25, spawn rate 30%)
Magneton (both versions, level 31-34, 10% spawn rate in FireRed, 15% in LeafGreen)
Voltorb (both versions, level 22-25, spawn rate 30%)
Electabuzz (FireRed only, level 32-35, spawn rate 5%)

Mt. Ember Entrance, Ponyta Spawning zone

It follows that Electabuzz is much more available than Magmar by a huge margin, as the latter is also a 5% encounter, but only found in Mt. Ember, which will be available at least after defeating Blaine. In contrast, you can only get Magmar in front of the Viridian City Gym Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenwhich is also far from ideal for use in Magmar as it goes against ground-type Pokémon.

Why you shouldn't use Magmar in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen

More importantly, Electabuzz is still a very good Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreeneven though Raichu is outmatched in most things, and even though he has a special use due to his ability to learn Psychic that Raichu doesn't have. Electabuzz is great at working with many types of water FireRed and LeafGreenas well as Lorelei and Agatha among the elite four, with some very good uses against Lance and Champion.

Instead, Magmar is vastly outclassed by Arcanine as a Fire type Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreeneven if you only count the mons available in LeafGreen, Ninetales' move pool and higher speed stat make it a better choice overall. Additionally, Magmar is walled off by Lorelei, Bruno, and Lance, and can only do anything against Agatha if you teach him Psychic. He'll usually have a hard time against Champion as well, and before you even out and train properly before the Elite Four, Ninetales or Charizard are miles better anyway.