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Pokémon FireRed: Rocket Edition turns the usual Kanto journey around: you play a Team Rocket grunt, build your team by stealing Pokémon from defeated trainers, and follow missions that run alongside FireRed’s familiar story. Use the 15 checkpoints below to find your place in the story, and keep the rank and bounty rules in mind as you decide which trainers to challenge and which Pokémon to take.
Before you start
Rocket Edition is a completed ROM hack of Pokémon FireRed by colonelsalt (Sondre Agledahl), not an official Nintendo release. Its story follows a Rocket grunt through Kanto while Red pursues badges. The creator’s project repository describes the hack and links to its download.
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Pokemon FireRed Version | $149.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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POKÉMON GO: THE ULTIMATE HUNTER'S GUIDE 2016: Expert Edition: AN UNOFFICIAL PLAYER'S GUIDE | $1.99 | Buy on Amazon |
To play, you need to own Pokémon FireRed for Game Boy Advance and supply a clean FireRed v1.0 ROM as the patch input. The official Rocket Edition download page offers a browser patcher that produces a patched .gba file, as well as a raw .ips patch for use with a patching tool such as Lunar IPS. It recommends VBA-M for Windows and MyBoy for Android. Check that page for current setup details.
How do you steal Pokémon?
After winning a trainer battle, you may take one Pokémon from that trainer. The limit is one Pokémon per trainer ever, so the choice matters: you cannot return later and take a second one from the same opponent. You start with a Rattata, and trainer battles are especially important because wild encounters are much less frequent than in standard FireRed.
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- Join up to 39 other wireless Trainers in the Union Room for a free-for-all, or connect with just two or three in the Direct Corner
- Prove yourself in the region's Pokémon League while single-handedly bringing down Team Rocket - then open up all-new storylines with unexpected twists
- Bring the Pokemon you capture in Fire Red to the worlds of Leaf Green, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, or Pokemon Colosseum for more challenge
Which trainers you can steal from depends on Rocket rank. You can use the VS Seeker to revisit trainers after your rank makes them eligible, so an earlier opponent who was off-limits may become a team-building opportunity later.
What each Rocket rank unlocks
- Grunt: children and elderly people.
- Admin: adds women and teenagers to eligible targets.
- Executive: everyone except Gym Leaders and the Elite Four.
- Boss: everyone.
How does bounty work?
After Lance’s television broadcast, stealing Pokémon raises your bounty. The system presents competing incentives: police reward a clean record, while Rocket administrators reward thefts. A high bounty can also cause Poké Marts to refuse service. Exact thresholds and reward amounts are not established in the available guide, so treat the choice as a trade-off rather than aiming for a particular number.
Story-order walkthrough: all 15 checkpoints
The guide organizes the story into these 15 checkpoints. They are a way to locate your progress, not a claim that every optional activity or trainer fight is included.
- Starting out: Celadon City HQ and areas without mission gates.
- Mission 1: Mt. Moon; the first story boss is Red.
- Mission 2: Cerulean City and Nugget Bridge.
- Mission 3: Vermilion City and the S.S. Anne.
- Mission 4: Lavender Town and Pokémon Tower.
- Mission 5: Viridian City.
- Pallet Town: Oak’s lab and Daisy.
- Cinnabar Island: the Pokémon Mansion.
- Saffron City: the Silph Co. takeover.
- The eight Kanto gyms.
- Viridian Forest.
- Cerulean Cave: Mewtwo.
- Pallet Town again: Oak’s secret lab.
- Routes 22 and 23: Lance and the League guards.
- Indigo Plateau: Agatha, Red, and Oak.
The guide reports 335 fights across those listed parts. It also counts 339 trainer fights overall, but four cannot be assigned to a checkpoint from its available location data; consult its separate trainer listings if you are looking for a specific opponent.
Opening checkpoint: Mt. Moon and Red
In Mission 1, the guide places Red on Mt. Moon B2F. It lists his six Pokémon at levels 22–25, with a level-25 Charmeleon holding Charcoal; Pikachu holds a Light Ball, the other four Pokémon hold Sitrus Berries, and Red carries four Super Potions. The same guide describes Mt. Moon wild encounters as rare and level 2–6, while Route 3 encounters are level 17–20. These are guide-listed details for the version it covers, not independently tested battle results.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What changes from standard FireRed?
Rocket Edition changes more than the viewpoint. The current guide reports Fairy type, physical/special move categorization, later-generation moves and abilities, running, early access to Fly, and substantially reduced wild encounter rates. Together with the theft system, those changes make trainer battles a central way to expand your team and move through the game.
The guide covers version v1.0.2 (dated 2020-04-09, with a dialogue edit dated 2021-07-11). It reports a scope of 77 areas, 386 Pokémon, 19 bosses, and 339 trainers. These are the guide publisher’s figures; its tables are described as data read from the released game, rather than a complete official game manual. For route-specific encounters, trainer teams, or directions, use the relevant checkpoint and trainer pages rather than assuming the overview contains every detail.
Quick Recap
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