Development:Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

This page details development materials of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.

This page or section details content from the May 2020 Nintendo Leak. Check the May 2020 Nintendo Leak category for more pages also sourced from this material.

This page or section details content from the October 2024 Game Freak Leak. Check the October 2024 Game Freak Leak category for more pages also sourced from this material.

Sub-Pages

Unused Graphics Found within the source code leak.

Screenshots

Several screenshots were included in development documents used to help translate the games, showing an earlier stage of development.

Introduction

Documents	Final

Oak's sprite was redrawn. A couple of the hiragana letters were readjusted, most notably the "て" (te) character. The gradient in the background is also smaller.

Documents	Final

Early sprites for the male playable character and the rival. Notably, the rival's sprite looks much closer to the original games' appearance. Also, the final game does not give any suggestions for the player's name, unlike Pokémon Red and Blue.

Interestingly, in the early screenshots the names suggested for the player belong to Blue and the names suggested for the rival belong to Red. This suggests that the screenshots were taken from LeafGreen.

The early screenshot for Blue's name has the dialogue say "きみの　ライバルの　なまえは．．．？", meaning "Your rival's name is...?" The original Gen I titles, as well as the final games, have "．．．えーと？　なまえは　なんて　いったかな？", which seems less like a placeholder message and fits better with the theme of Oak forgetting Blue's name.

Fame Checker

Documents	Final

Oak's pose changed slightly in the final, with brown hair instead of grey and different-colored clothes; this sprite remains in the final games' ROMs, unused. The document image uses the message "テストです………" (This is a test).

Teachy TV

Documents	Final

The Poké Dude character who gives tutorials to the player via the Teachy TV key item had his hairstyle revamped in the final version, with visible sideburns added.

Oak's Lab

Documents	Final

• As seen in the Fame Checker screenshot, Oak's hair was originally grey instead of brown.
• The Pokédex uses its Gen I design.

Battles

Documents	Final

• The Kanto starters still use their backsprites from Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, most noticeable with Squirtle.
• Under the "What will ___ do?" text is the string "おや Ver200" (Parent Version 200).

Documents	Final

• Red's back sprite is using the overworld palette here instead of the final games' lighter palette.
• The sprite of Venonat in the documents is unique and has not been seen before.
• The options for "bait" and "rock" are different.