While Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen technically feature Pokemon from the first three generations, you won’t be able to catch or evolve most of them until after you’ve completed the main story. For most of the game, you’ll be limited to the original Kanto Pokemon – a mixed bag of iconic favorites and some less-than-stellar choices. For example, you can’t evolve Golbat into Crobat or Chansey into Blissey until you unlock the National Pokedex, and even catching Mewtwo takes a while. Though many Kanto Pokemon are well-known, some don’t perform very well in these Gen 3 remakes.
There are a few key reasons why certain Pokémon struggle in FireRed and LeafGreen. Unlike later games, these versions use the Generation 3 damage system where each type deals either physical or special damage, regardless of the specific move. This significantly impacts some Pokémon, making them much more or less effective. Additionally, some Pokémon have limited movepools and stats that don’t work well together, making them particularly weak choices. We’ve identified five Pokémon that are arguably the worst in these games, and we recommend avoiding them unless you’re a dedicated fan or looking for a serious challenge.
Say Hello to The 5 Worst Pokemon in FireRed and LeafGreen
It’s not always the Pokémon with the lowest stats that are the hardest to use in FireRed and LeafGreen. For example, while Gyarados isn’t very effective, it’s not due to poor stats – it can’t learn any Flying-type moves, and its Water typing doesn’t let it fully utilize its strong Attack stat. However, some Pokémon are just consistently weak throughout the Kanto remakes, and those are the ones we’ll be looking at now:
- Onix
- Lickitung
- Seaking
- Ditto
- Porygon
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Why You Shouldn’t Use Onix in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
Onix is a bit of a mismatch between how it’s shown in the anime and how it plays in the video games. The anime portrays it as incredibly strong, but its stats in the games tell a different story.
- HP: 35
- Attack: 45
- Defense: 160
- Sp. Atk: 30
- Sp. Def: 45
- Speed: 70
Onix is a surprisingly weak Pokémon despite its intimidating appearance. Even with a powerful move like Earthquake learned after defeating Giovanni in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, it doesn’t deal much damage because its base Attack stat is only 45. While it can learn strong moves such as Iron Tail, Double-Edge, and Rock Slide, Onix is easily defeated, especially by special attacks.
Why You Shouldn’t Use Lickitung in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
Lickitung is unique in FireRed and LeafGreen because you can only obtain it through trading. You’ll need to trade a Golduck (FireRed) or a Slowbro (LeafGreen) to get one, which isn’t ideal. Unfortunately, Lickitung is also quite slow (with a Speed stat of only 30), meaning opponents will often attack first. Its Attack and Special Attack stats aren’t very high either (55 and 60, respectively). While it has some bulk, it’s hard to recommend Lickitung when Snorlax is a stronger and more readily available Pokémon.
- Lickitung’s best STAB moves are Stomp and Slam, with the former having a base power of 65, and the latter a base power of 80 but an accuracy of 75.
- You could teach Mega Kick or Mega Punch to Lickitung to slightly improve its attacks, but neither is excellent.
- It learns many good moves via TMs, but they are always best used on other Pokemon.
Why You Shouldn’t Use Seaking in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
Seaking is a straightforward Pokémon from the Kanto region, but unfortunately, it’s considered one of the weakest. Its biggest issue is its average stats – while its Attack stat of 92 is decent, it struggles to utilize it effectively because Water-type moves are categorized as Special in these games. To make matters worse, every other Water-type Pokémon available in FireRed and LeafGreen performs better than Seaking.
- Blastoise is tanky and has a better learnset, with higher base Special Attack to make it easier to use Surf or Ice Beam.
- Golduck is faster and has much higher Special Attack, also with a good ability.
- Poliwrath’s Fighting type makes it better at dealing with Lorelei of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen‘s Elite Four, and it has better stats too.
- Tentacruel has amazing Special Defense and Speed, as well as better moves.
- Slowbro is slow, but it’s very tanky, and it has better offensive stats.
- Dewgong and Cloyster have Ice STAB moves for more damage with Ice Beam.
- Kingler is in a similar position as Seaking, but at least it has a much higher base Attack for physical moves.
- Seadra is faster and has more offensive power, and it also evolves in the post-game.
- Starmie is one of the best Pokemon in FireRed and LeafGreen and can solo the Elite Four.
- Gyarados has Intimidate and better coverage.
- Lapras is one of the best Water-type Pokemon in the game with better moves, and it learns Thunderbolt.
- Vaporeon has amazing stats and attacks.
- Omanyte and Kabutops have similar issues to Seaking, but they have superior stats.
Why You Shouldn’t Use Ditto in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
While Ditto plays a significant role in the world of Pokopia, it’s mostly a background Pokémon in the Generation 3 games set in Kanto. Here’s why:
- Imposter is a Gen 5 ability, meaning you have to manually transform Ditto by “wasting” a turn to use Transform.
- Ditto keeps its 48 base HP even when transformed, meaning it’s very likely it won’t survive long.
- Ditto’s base Speed of 48 means it will most likely not go first, which means it needs to take damage in its base form before transforming, possibly being OHKOed.
Why You Shouldn’t Use Porygon in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
Porygon isn’t very good in the Generation 3 Kanto games. This is due to a couple of reasons: first, Normal-type moves are physical in these games, and Porygon is designed to attack with special moves. Second, Porygon is quite slow, with a Speed stat of only 40, and its other stats are just average.
Despite learning Recover, the biggest problems for Porygon are:
- It can’t evolve into Porygon2 before the post-game.
- Its Tri Attack deals physical damage, making Dodrio the best user of this move.
- Shadow Ball and Hyper Beam only deal physical damage.
- Conversion and Conversion 2 are mediocre moves at best, as they require setup for possibly little to no benefits, depending on the fight.
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2026-03-27 16:36