Welcome to the Unofficial FRLG.IPS Text Guide! 
Click HERE to return to the front page!
This website is NOT affiliated with the original creator of FRLG.IPS and is just a fansite.
I repeat: this
page is NOT part of the game! I just copied took inspiration from the romhack website's style for fun
;)
Since the hack already has video walkthroughs and it seems all the secrets have been solved by the community, I didn't think there would be any harm in making a text (and images) guide, too! (I was going to ask Abby if she wanted to add this guide to her site, but it looks like she doesn't update it anymore :/)
The format of this guide is via questions with hints (if you just need a little help) and answers (if you’re REALLY stuck!). Although I have tried to keep the questions vague, for the sake of clarity there will be some spoilers in the phrasing. Proceed with caution!
I wrote this guide based on my own playthrough and from watching longplays when I got stuck, so while I have checked it multiple times, there may still be some errors. If you spot any, feel free to tell me by email at frlgdotipsguide@gmail.com and I'll update the site.
1. Find a copy of the ROM Pokemon FireRed 1.0 (1.1 will NOT work!) for the Gameboy Advance. Obviously I can’t
share the ROM here, but it isn’t hard to find.
2. Download the patch here:
https://www.pokecommunity.com/threads/frlg-ips.542500/
3. Use a ROM patcher of your choice (I used FLIPS which you can download here: https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/1040/) to patch the
ROM file with the FRLG.IPS patch.
4. Run the patched ROM in a GBA emulator of your choice. Visual Boy Advance and Delta Emulator do NOT work
properly with this romhack, so don't use them! I used mGBA (get it here: https://mgba.io/downloads.html) and it worked fine for me.
5. Be sure to explore the following website as it will be very important for making progress in the game: https://abbyspokemonaquarium.neocities.org/
1. Buy some Repels and Escape Ropes! This will make traversal less tedious, since you will soon discover that
there’s not much point in fighting wild pokemon.
2. Save often and make backups! It’s quite easy to do the wrong thing and irrevocably mess up your save,
requiring you to restart the whole game. If you are playing the game with an emulator, you can make backups by
going to the folder containing the ROM file and copy/paste the FRLG.sav file, then you can reload that copy later.
You could also use multiple save states.
3. If you get stuck, there are hints and answers below, but you should at least try to solve the puzzles
yourself.
4. There is more to see in the game beyond what this guide shows, but you’ll have to find that information
somewhere else! I’m not being coy, the point of this guide is to help you reach the end of the game and that’s it.
Hover over (or tap on mobile) the hints and answers to reveal them. It’s set up like this so you won’t spoil the solutions if you don’t want to. If a question only has an answer, then it’s less a solution and more just information that I found easy to misunderstand on my playthrough. This section is split up into parts, so you can easily find info on whatever step you are currently on.
I have also provided a plain text version (with pictures) over on Google Docs right here. This version does not hide any text or pictures, so read at your own risk of spoilers!
This just seems to be a normal Pokemon game, aside from the new rock by the water in Palette Town. How do I start the interesting stuff?
Hint: Explore the website linked above and you might find some interesting things to try out
in-game.
Answer: Start by following this guide: click me!
It is very important to follow this
guide closely or you might ruin your progress and have to restart/revert your save to a backup (you have been
making backups, right?).
Where is the Lucky Egg?
Hint 1: While the link to the Lucky Egg rumor page in the guide is broken, you can still
find the information on the website if you look around.
Hint 2: Navigate to the “rumors, secrets, and more” page and you will find more
information there.
Answer: After exiting Mt. Moon, turn back around and go to the area where the Super Nerd
trainer was (where you choose which fossil you want to take) and talk to the new NPC there to get it. It
increases EXP gain by the Pokemon holding it by X1.5.
Where is the "Thing" in Bill's Garden?
Hint: As the guide says, just wander around for a while and you will find it. You will know
when it’s nearby.
Answer: It’s in one of the areas where the screen/music changes. Just wander around and
you’ll find it. You don’t need to fight any pokemon or do anything special for it to show up.
I can’t get to Cerulean Cave!
Hint 1: In order to get into the cave, you need a pokemon that can Surf.
Hint 2: The alternate route will end if you add more pokemon than your starter to the
party. Maybe there is a hint as to how it is possible to get a pokemon with Surf in the README.txt or the
website guide?
Answer: Despite what the guide says, you NEED to pick Squirtle at the start so you can
learn Surf as Blastoise at LVL 36. Then you can Surf to Cerulean Cave as normal once you have the Soul
Badge.
Can I teach my pokemon other moves?
Answer: Yes, but you need to keep at least one move slot as the special move that is mentioned in the guide.
Where is the "deepest point" in Seafoam Islands?
Answer: It’s next to the sign OUTSIDE the caves, not either of the two signs inside them.
How do I do the puzzle with the 6 rocks in the water?
Hint 1: The rocks aren’t all visible at the same time.
Hint 2: You need to travel quite a way south to find the “bottom” rock from the
guide.
Examine the rocks in this order:
How do I solve the dark room puzzle?
Hint 1: You need to find clues on a specific web page. You were just told the URL to the
page (add it to the end of https://abbyspokemonaquarium.neocities.org/)
Hint 2: The clues are directions. To know how far to walk in each direction, you need to
listen carefully.
Hint 3: Find the clues written in green at the “saltwater times archive for June 2005”
page. Then listen carefully for clues in the dark room. A voice will tell you how many steps to take in each
direction (don’t worry, the game isn’t trying to bait you into a jumpscare. It’s completely safe to turn up the
volume if you need to).
Answer: Here is the full sequence:
Down 6 steps
Left 4 steps
Down 9 steps
Right 12 steps
Down 2 steps
Down 4 steps
Left 3 steps
Up 6 steps
Right 10 steps
Press A
Where is Erica?
Hint: Try exploring the cities. Is there anywhere you haven’t been, yet?
Answer: You can find her at Saffron City. Go to the Pokemon Center there, then return to
Celadon City to fight her and get the badge.
Where is Blaine? How do I fight him?
Hint: He isn’t on Cinnabar. Try exploring the nearby area.
Answer: Go to Cinnabar Island then go into the gym. After that, Surf north from Cinnabar
until you see a grassy patch of land to the east. You will find Blaine there. Talk to him and then go to Palette
Town and read the email on Professor Oak's PC. Now return to the Cinnabar gym entrance for a short scene. After
that, go find the 6 people like the guide says.
What do I do with Bill? The voice told me to wait?
Hint: Maybe there are other things you can do while Bill is busy?
Answer: You need to find the other 5 people first, and then find Bill as the last
person.
How do I get to the Safari Guide?
Hint: The solution is found somewhere inside the Safari Zone gate. Maybe there is a secret
path to get behind the counter?
Answer: There is a tile next to the south exit that you can walk on to get out of
bounds. Follow the path there and you can reach him.
Where do I use the Secret Key?
It’s this tile here (remember to face it from above or below, then press A):
Answer: (Click to show/hide)
How do I access the page for Step 6?
Hint: You won't find it via the link on the abyss.html page. Or anywhere else on the
website for that matter. Maybe there is another way forward?
Answer: The page for Step 6 doesn’t exist. You’re on your own from here on out.
OK, but really: what do I do next for Step 6?
Hint: Aren’t you curious about the funeral at Lavender Town?
Answer: Go to the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town.
I can’t defeat the ghost pokemon/my pokemon’s moves won’t work!
Answer: There may be some enemies that ABYSS doesn’t work on. Try other moves like Strength and Surf. Also OHKO moves (like ABYSS) do NOT work on pokemon that are a higher level than you.
How do I defeat the purple monster at the Pokemon Tower?
Hint 1: You can’t, but you have been given the solution on how to solve this encounter
already, such as the Unown encounters you met just before this area.
Hint 2: You need to RUN.
Answer: When you’re fighting it, choose the RUN command. You will fight it a few more
times, but just keep choosing the RUN command to continue the story.
Where do I go after the Pokemon Tower?
Hint: Check your key items. Is there anything you haven’t used yet?
Answer: Go back to the S.S. Anne and you can use the Odd Ticket to get to the next
area.
How do I solve the puzzle in Dotted Cave?
Hint 1: Read the tablet in the middle of the room. If you’ve played Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire,
the dots should look familiar.
Hint 2: The dots are the braille alphabet. You need to translate the message on the
tablets to find the correct order to fall down the holes.
Answer: Fall down the holes in this order: UP, LEFT, RIGHT, DOWN
How do I solve the boulder puzzle?
Hint 1: The blue donut guy in the room will reset the boulders for you. If you say NO to
him, he will give you an important hint.
Hint 2: Only the boulders you can’t see will be reset.
Move this boulder up here.
Then move this one to the side.
Push this boulder all the way south until it is near the blue donut thing.
Ask the donut to reset the boulders and you will find that the boulder still in sight will not be reset,
which will create a clear path to the door.
How do I solve the second boulder puzzle?
Hint: The boulders’ positions will reset if you move far enough away from them.
Push the top boulder all the way to the right.
Now push the other boulder all the way down.
Walk to this spot so you are far enough away from the first boulder to make it reset. (I have edited this
image to better show the route to the spot. The actual position where the boulder will reset to will be
off-screen.)
Now that the boulder has reset its position, just push it up into the little nook and the way to the next
area will be clear.
How do I solve the third boulder puzzle?
Hint: The rules are the same as before. You need to use the way the boulders reset when you are far away from them to find a solution.
Push this boulder all the way up.
Push the second boulder into this position.
Now you need to make a path to the lowest part of this section, so you are far enough away from the first
boulder we pushed in order to make it reset its position.
Follow these steps to reach the correct spot:
Now stand here to reset the first boulder.
And the way should be clear.
How do I solve the puzzle in the room with the statues?
Hint 1: The words on the statues are part of an incantation. Do you remember how it
goes?
Hint 2: You can find the order on the abyss.html page. Take a look at the line of broken
images at the start of Step 5: while we can’t see the images, we can still find out what they were called for a
clue. Right click the page and select “View Page Source”. Scroll down to where the broken images are to see what
they are called.
Hint 3:
FALSE VACUUM
RISING WATER
LEY LINE
GHOSTLY ENTOURAGE
DOTTED BOUNDRY
INVALID
PHANTOM LIMB
SIMULACRUM
Examine the statues in this order.
How do I solve the second dark room puzzle?
Hint 1: It’s the same solution as the first puzzle, but you need to look for clues at a
different web page. You were just told the URL to the page (add it to the end of https://abbyspokemonaquarium.neocities.org/)
Hint 2: Try saying some of the direction hints out loud and they might make more
sense.
Hint 3: If it’s not “right”, then the opposite must be…?
Hint 4: Is there another way to show a direction aside from words?
Answer: Here is the full sequence:
Right 6 steps
Up 6 steps
Right 2 steps
Down 11 steps
Left 2 steps
Up 8 steps
Right 5 steps
Up 7 steps
Down 7 steps
Left 9 steps
Up 4 steps
Press A
Down 5 steps
Down 5 steps
Press A
My game reset/where do I go after beating Professor Oak and returning to the area with the 6 rocks in the sea near Seafoam Islands?
Hint 1: You need to head directly north to the beach to prevent the game from
resetting.
Hint 2: Erica is on the beach and will give you a clue as to where you should go
next.
Hint 3: Go to the pokemon center at Saffron City and speak to Sabrina.
Hint 4: THERE IS A NEW ROCK BY THE WATER
Answer: Head directly north to the beach and talk to Erica, then Fly to Saffron City and
go talk to Sabrina, who is in the pokemon center. Now go to Palette Town and examine the new rock by the water
to get an important item. Then go to Seafoam Islands and go to the area where you usually find Articuno.
Navigate the maze as before to continue the story.
How do I beat The Sailor in the depths of Seafoam Islands?
Hint: ABYSS is ineffective in this battle because many of his pokemon have the Sturdy
ability (which blocks OHKO moves), so you will need to exploit each pokemon’s weakness instead.
Answer: Forretress can be defeated by using Dive or Fly to avoid its Explosion attack,
which will cause it to faint itself. Aggron, Shuckle, Dophan, and Skarmory can be defeated with Surf. Shedninja
can be defeated with Fly, but it might take a few tries to actually hit it because it has high evasion. You
might need to heal your pokemon if the enemy manages to get some hits in, but it’s possible to do it without
needing to if your LVL is high enough.
OK, I’m in the Abyss. How do I get through the first section?
Hint 1: You need to find a hidden switch.
Hint 2: Try looking for secret passages behind walls.
Walk behind this wall and press A at the end to find a switch that will teleport you to the next section.
In the Abyss, how do I get past the section with the floor tiles that make you spin/slide?
Hint 1: You need to find a way to get to the blue donut thing.
Hint 2: You need to get on to the walls. Maybe there is a hidden path you can walk on?
Hint 3: Look for the blue flowers. One of them will help you access a way on to the
wall.
Walk over this blue flower on to the wall to the right.
Then follow the wall until you find the blue donut thing. Examine it to be teleported to the next area.
How do I solve the sign puzzle?
Hint 1: You need to “say” the incantation. You’ve read it several times so far. Do you
remember it?
Hint 2: You can find the order on the abyss.html page. Take a look at the line of broken
images at the start of Step 5: while we can’t see the images, we can still find out what they were called for a
clue. Right click the page and select “View Page Source”. Scroll down to where the broken images are to see what
they are called.
Hint 3:
FALSE VACUUM
RISING WATER
LEY LINE
GHOSTLY ENTOURAGE
DOTTED BOUNDRY
INVALID
PHANTOM LIMB
SIMULACRUM
Examine the signs in this order.
How do I solve the third dark room puzzle?
Hint 1: Just like last time, you need to find clues on a specific web page. You were just
told the URL to the page (add it to the end of https://abbyspokemonaquarium.neocities.org/)
Hint 2: There are only 2 clues you need to find.
Hint 3: The first clue is hidden in some text you have seen many times before.
Answer: Here is the full sequence:
Right 6 steps
Press A
