This is the actual image file containing the "tiles."

When browsing or creating FireRed content, you will encounter these standard categories:

The Game Boy Advance used 16 palettes of 16 colors each for map tiles.

For nearly two decades, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen have stood as benchmarks for 2D JRPG aesthetics. As remakes of the original Generation I games, they accomplished something remarkable: they translated the crude, blocky world of Kanto into a vibrant, detailed, and cohesive visual language. At the heart of this visual identity lies a component that most players never notice, but every ROM hacker and game designer obsesses over: the tileset.

A tileset is more than just a collection of pretty pictures. It is the grammar of the game’s geography. In this article, we will dissect the architecture of Pokémon FireRed tilesets, explore their technical limits, and reveal how understanding them is the first step toward creating your own custom Kanto adventure.