How To Get The Master Ball in Pokémon FRLG

Challenging Giovanni at Silph Co. in Pokémon FireRed
Master Ball
# Location Repeatable?
1 Silph Co. Building—Reward from the Silph Co. President after you defeat Giovanni inside Silph Co. No

In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, the Master Ball can only be obtained by saving the Silph Co. President after beating Giovanni in the Silph Co. building.

But before being able to enter the Silph Co. building, you have to defeat Rocket HQ in Celadon City, and clear the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town.

Then before facing off against Giovanni, you will have to take on your rival as well as a series of Rocket Grunts. So this will be quite a task!

Prerequisites

If you’re already far along in the story, then you’ve probably completed a few of these prerequisites already. If not, then I’m sorry to say that there are no real shortcuts here.

All of these steps need to be completed before you can even enter Silph Co. and take on Giovanni for your Master Ball.

Step 1: Defeat the Rocket HQ in Celadon City’s Game Corner and obtain the Silph Scope.

Outside of Celadon City’s Game Corner / Pokemon FRLG
Outside of Celadon City’s Game Corner

Step 2: Use the Silph Scope to get to the top of the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town and get the Poké Flute from Mr. Fuji.

Outside of the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town / Pokemon FRLG
Outside of the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town

Step 3: Get the Tea from the Tea Lady in Celadon Mansion.

Getting the Tea from the lady in Celadon City / Pokemon FRLG
Getting the Tea from the lady in Celadon City

Step 4: Give the Tea to a guard so you can cross into Saffron City.

One of four entrances to Saffron City (This one is below Cerulean City) / Pokemon FRLG
One of four entrances to Saffron City (This one is below Cerulean City)

Step 5: Once in Saffron, make your way to Silph Co.

Outside of Silph Co. in Saffron City / Pokemon FRLG
Outside of Silph Co. in Saffron City

Step 6: Grab the Card Key on the 5th floor and use it to take the teleporter on the 3rd floor.

Step 7: Defeat Giovanni and talk to the Silph Co. President for your Master Ball.

Receiving the Master Ball from the Silph Co. President / Pokemon FRLG
Receiving the Master Ball from the Silph Co. President

Defeating Giovanni

Giovanni can be a bit hard to deal with, especially if your Pokémon aren’t over-leveled.

Keep in mind, that you’re going to be facing him immediately after facing your Rival and another Grunt. So unless you pack an Escape Rope (or have Dig), you’ll be at a disadvantage.

Giovanni’s Silph Co. Team

Pokémon Level Typing
Nidorino 37 Poison
Kangaskhan 35 Normal
Rhyhorn 37 Ground, Rock
Nidoqueen 41 Poison, Ground

Giovanni Counters

Three of Giovanni’s Pokémon are weak to Ground-type attacks (Nidorino, Rhyhorn, Nidoqueen). So if you have a move like Dig, you’ll easily knock out three of his Pokémon.

Kangaskhan’s only weakness is Fighting-type moves, so hopefully, you have one on deck to make quick work of this tank.

Water-type moves will also be quite useful in this fight since Nidoqueen and Rhyhorn are both Ground-types and weak to Water.

Best Pokémon To Use The Master Ball On

Now that you have the Master Ball, what should you use it on?

There are quite a few Legendary Pokémon to choose from in FireRed and LeafGreen.

Many players opt for the obvious choice and save their Master Ball for Mewtwo, but there are some other options to consider.

Roaming Beasts

Raikou, Entei, or Suicune will roam around Kanto at random once you’ve obtained the National Pokédex and have beaten the game.

Among those 3 Legendary Beasts, only one will be roaming in the wild – and that is based on your starter Pokémon’s weakness.

No matter which one you get, I guarantee it will be extremely hard to find. Which means you should try everything you can to catch them when you do find one.

Tip: In FRLG there is also a bug with Entei and Raikou. When one of these Pokémon use “Roar” to run away, they will disappear permanently. So it is best to just use your Master Ball on them to prevent that.

Max IV Legendaries (Soft Resetting)

If you chose Charmander as your starter, then you don’t have to worry about Roar because Suicune doesn’t have it. Or maybe you’re just not that interested in the roaming beasts.

Either way, this means you can save your Master Ball for another Legendary Pokémon.

Mewtwo, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres all have set spawn locations.

If you’re interested in obtaining max IV Pokémon, the easiest way to do so is by using the Master Ball and soft resetting. Here’s how:

  1. Save your game before encountering the Legendary Pokémon
  2. Encounter and catch the Pokémon with your Master Ball
  3. Check its stats and Nature to see if it’s strong enough for you
  4. If not, press A+B+start+select to reset your game without turning off your device and then jump back to Step 2

ReOcelot

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A jack of all trades when it comes to gaming. I can sit down for hours in a casual playthrough of Pokémon, or I can spend months trying to hit Diamond in League of Legends. I love and appreciate everything about games, and love sharing that passion with my readers.

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