Share your story in the comments below—but don’t be surprised if your save file vanishes.
Disclaimer: This is a fan-made glitch guide for a specific ROM hack, not an official Nintendo feature.
: Use the distinctive GBA font for the text "1636 - Fire Red (U) (Squirrels)" in the bottom right corner to mimic the scene release info. 1636 Pokemon Fire Red Squirrels
The most popular fan theory ties the 1636 squirrels to in Fire Red . In the game’s debug strings, there’s a message: “Come see my new discovery — the squirrels of Route 22 are evolving!” Route 22, of course, is the competitive battleground near the Indigo Plateau, usually devoid of any special wildlife.
Because the hacker was inserting 3D models from the Nintendo DS into a 2D GBA engine using rudimentary hex-editing and early, unstable tools (like the precursor to DS Map Studio), the game is fundamentally broken. Share your story in the comments below—but don’t
: The "Squirrels" tag refers to the original group that dumped the ROM. You can verify it is authentic by checking its CRC32 hex code , which should be DD88761C .
The number isn’t random. In the original Japanese Fire Red build, 1636 was intended as the Pokédex index range for “regional small mammal” clones (after Rattata and Sentret). But the squirrel trio was cut due to memory limitations on the 256KB save file — and because, according to an alleged internal memo from Game Freak (never confirmed), the devs felt three Normal-type rodents per generation was “one too many.” The most popular fan theory ties the 1636
In the ROM hacking community, "Squirrels" is valued for its stability and compatibility: Essential Base