Kanto From the Other Side: Playing Team Rocket in FireRed
Most Pokémon stories ask you to stop Team Rocket. Pokémon FireRed: Rocket Edition flips that around. Built on top of Pokémon FireRed, it puts you in the uniform of a fresh Rocket recruit and tells a story that runs in parallel to the original, showing what the criminal underworld of Kanto gets up to while Red is away. It is a finished game, created by the PokéCommunity member colonelsalt, and its final 1.0.2 build dates from July 2021.
At a glance
- Based on: Pokémon FireRed (Game Boy Advance)
- Created by: colonelsalt, with music by Magnus Nyborg Berg and sprite and tileset work by strange_kid and Brolunite
- Released: 2021 (version 1.0.2 final)
- Genre: Role-playing, story-driven hack
- What sets it apart: you rise through Rocket ranks and steal Pokémon from the trainers you defeat
What makes it worth playing
The central hook is the rank system. As you climb through the organisation you gain access to more trainer classes, and with them the chance to take Pokémon from the opponents you beat. Familiar FireRed characters turn up too, sometimes acting against type, and they may challenge you to a fight.
- A morality system with optional side quests that reward both helping and double-crossing the people you meet.
- Mechanics borrowed from later generations: the Fairy type, the physical/special split and moves from generations IV to VI.
- Quality-of-life tweaks: running from the very start, using Fly early, and fewer random encounters in caves and on water.
The story wraps up shortly after the credits roll, so expect a focused adventure rather than an endless post-game.
Credit where it is due
The hack leans on a small art team for its look and sound: original music by Magnus Nyborg Berg, sprites and tilesets from strange_kid, key sprites such as the Rocket Admins from Brolunite, and a late-game track remix by Paul Aamodt Brandal. The Gen VI-style mechanics rely on a patch by MrDollSteak, which the credits thank.