Getting the Stick (Held Item) in Pokémon FRLG

by ReOcelot

In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, the Stick can only be obtained by trading a Spearow to the girl NPC in Vermilion City (located in the house next to the Pokémon Fan Club).

The girl trades you a Farfetch’d for the Spearow, and the Farfetch’d you get is holding the Stick. There are no other ways to get this Stick held item anywhere else in the game.

Tip: Wild Spearow can be found on Route 11 right next to Vermilion City, you can trade one with the girl immediately after you catch one.

Prerequisites

There are not many prerequisites for getting the Stick:

Be able to reach Vermilion City
Have a Spearow in your inventory

All you need is a Spearow and a dream.

The Farfetch’d trade is one of the easiest trades in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. Spearows can be caught right next to Vermilion City (and many other locations throughout the game), so it is very easy to find one!

How To Get the Stick

Step 1: Finding Spearow

If you head to the right of Vermilion City, you’ll find Route 11.

There’s a ton of Tall Grass on Route 11, and you have about a 35% chance of encountering a Spearow here.

Looking for Spearow on Route 11 to trade for Farfetch’d

So just run around the grass on Route 11 until you find a Spearow, and catch that Spearow.

You can just toss regular Poké Balls at the Spearow to catch it, no Great Balls or anything fancy necessary.

Catching Spearow on Route 11

Other Spearow Locations

Just in case you want to catch your Spearow somewhere else, I’ll list out every location you can find them.

If you’re wanting the Stick, there’s a good chance you also want Farfetch’d. So you should know that the Farfetch’d you receive will be the same level as the Spearow you catch.

Route 11 is easy to get to and has a ton of Spearows, but they’re quite low level.

If you want a stronger Farfetch’d, I recommend heading somewhere like Treasure Beach or Kindle Road.

Below is a list of all locations where you can find wild Spearows to capture:

All Spearow Locations
Location	Level	Encounter Rate
Route 22	3 – 5	10%
Route 3	6 – 8	35%
Route 4	8 – 12	35%
Route 11	13 – 17	35%
Route 9	13 – 17	35%
Route 10	13 – 17	35%
Route 16	20 – 22	30%
Route 17	20 – 22	30%
Route 18	20 – 22	30%
Treasure Beach	31 – 32	30%
Kindle Road	30 – 32	25%
Mt. Ember	30 – 32	15%
Cape Brink	31	20%
Route 23	32 – 34	15%
Water Path	44	20%
Ruin Valley	44	20%
Canyon Entrance	44	20%

Step 2: Trading for Farfetch’d (and the Stick)

After you have your Spearow, make sure it’s in your Party. Then head back to Vermilion City.

The Fan Club is located on the western side of the city, right next to the water.

To the right of the fan club is a house with an orange roof. This house has a little girl in it trying to trade away her Farfetch’d (holding a Stick) for a Spearow.

Outside of Farfetch’d’s owner’s house

If you walk in the house, there will be a girl sitting at a table.

Simply talk to her and she’ll ask to trade her Farfetch’d for a Spearow.

Trading a Spearow for a Farfetch’d (and a Stick)

Confirm that you want to trade and then select your Spearow. Remember, the Farfetch’d will be whatever level your Spearow is.

After you confirm the trade, an animation will play and you will receive your new Farfetch’d (AKA “CH’DING”).

Receiving CH’DING (Farfetch’d) and its stick from a trade

Taking the Stick from the newly traded Farfetch’d

What Does the Stick Do?

The Stick’s description in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

The Stick (or “Leek” in later games) is a very niche held item that specifically boosts Farfetch’d’s critical-hit ratio by two stages.

This basically means that Farfetch’d will have a much higher chance of landing a critical strike if it’s holding a Stick.

In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, crit chance is determined by the critical-stage of the Pokémon. You can see the specific stages and crit chances below:

Stage	Crit Chance
1	6.25%
2	12.5%
3	25%
4	33.3%
5	50%

The stick boosts Farfetch’d’s critical-hit ratio up by two stages. So if your Farfetch’d is holding a Stick, it will have a 25% chance of landing a critical hit, at minimum.

During battles, you can use moves to increase your critical-hit ratio even more, up to 50%.

The Stick is pretty much a must-have item if you plan to use Farfetch’d in your team.

Jumping up two crit stages is very significant, which is probably why the item can only be used with Farfetch’d.

If you don’t plan to use Farfetch’d, then there’s really no reason to give the Stick to any other Pokémon, because it will literally do nothing.

BACK TO THE MAIN GAME Pokémon FRLG Full Strategy Guide

Guide Navigation

Pokémon FRLG
- Getting the Stick (Held Item) in Pokémon FRLG

ReOcelot

115 articles

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.

View Writer's Posts →