I have been playing Firered now for about 45 some odd hours, and I've been looking on the internet for some tips to help make the gameplay experience more fun (i.e., finding things that I really never knew existed.)
Here are a few questions I have then, after browsing the forums before signing up:
1) Can you get more than one master ball in any legit way whatsoever?
No. The lottery is replicated in RSE, but not in FRLG. You can cheat to get more, but no one likes a cheater. You only need one Master Ball in the game anyway.
2) Can you duplicate items in any legit way?
Ichapokemr answered this one very well.
3) Shiny pokemon - This may be a way over-asked question, but are they ANY better at all than their normal counterparts in fr/lg?
Covered this one as well. Just want to add my opinion that shiny Pokes are nothing more than a complete and utter waste of one's time. Some love them for being "rare", I just laugh because usually having a shiny meant you had enough time to waste turning on/off your game about 8000 times in order to get one. That is a lot of doing nothing. To each their own though. Now, if you reset enough to get, say a Legendary Poke with a proper nature and perfect IVs in more than two stats, then THAT would be impressive.
4) I am trying to catch Raikou... does he ever not run away? I don't want to use my master ball for sake of having a master ball for a pokemon I feel I really could never get otherwise (such as a really nice shiny down the road.)
The only Master Ball in the game should be reserved for your wandering legendary canine/feline. All the other Pokes in the game, including any one of a different color, will remain stationary. Ichapokemr was half right about them disappearing though. It isn't if they run though, but rather if they use Roar, and only Entei and Raikou have that. Now, I still haven't tried to test it myself to see if that it true, but I got the info from one I would term as a reliable source.
5) EV hunting: Trying to power up pokemon for certain EVs is a tricky but fun thing to do, and I've figured out which a few pokemon give out mostly. Is it really as easy as looking to see what the top stat of any pokemon is, or is there a more complicated formula? Further, which are some really great pokemon to boost EVs that have already been found out?
The top stat of a Poke has nothing to do with what EVs a Poke will pass on to you. They can be skewed by the wrong nature. In the Breeding section, there is a list of all Pokes and the EVs that each one will award your Poke(s). You can also find one online (www.smogon.com) or you can even download Metal Kid's offline program (https://metalkid.info). For the best natural Pokes in FRLG to gain EVs in each stat, they are as follows:
HP: Wooper (FR) or Marill (LG), Ruin Valley (Surf)
Atk: Goldeen/Seaking/Gyarados (FR), Berry Forest (Super Rod) or Krabby/Kingler/Gyarados (LG), Bond Bridge (Super Rod)
Def: Tangela, Route 21
SAtk: Psyduck/Golduck (FR), Cerulean Cave B1 (Surf) or Gastly/Haunter (LG), Pokemon Tower 7F
SDef: Hoppip/Tentacool/Tentacruel, Memorial Pillar (Surf)
Spd: Diglett/Dugtrio, Diglett's Cave
6) What does the guy in the Celadon mansion give you after you've completed your Pokedex?
Ichapokemr covered.
7) In the Sevii Islands, there is a house with a few boxes in front of a rear door (with the house having no rear door). When you click A in front of it, it says "There is a breeze blowing around these boxes." Is this a secret?
Yes, it is the eReader and yes they were a horrible idea and thankfully scrapped.
8) Are Dragon pokemon (Dratini, Dragonair, Dragonite) really awesome? I know this is more of an opinion question, but with a weakness to only Ice and Dragon, does this make them a formidable and desirable type to have on your team?
Dragonite is awesome, Dragonair and Dratini are not.
8b) Because when you evolve Dragonair into Dragonite and it becomes a pokemon that gains Flying type weaknesses, is it worthwhile to evolve?
Dragonite gets a 4x to Ice and an added Rock weakness, but it still has a resistance to Fire and Water, gains additional resistance to Bug and Fighting, and has a very good immunity to Ground. If you think it is worthwhile to evolve, let's just compare base stats, shall we?
Dragonair: 61 HP / 84 Atk / 65 Def / 70 Spd / 70 SAtk / 70 SDef
Dragonite: 91 HP / 134 Atk / 95 Def / 80 Spd / 100 SAtk / 100 SDef
Not much of a comparison afterall.
9) Because of question 8, with so few dragon moves, where can you find good dragon moves for your pokemon? Dragon Rage is only okay, Twister is really nice if you have a great sp atk, and Dragonbreath I have yet to discover.
As Ichapokemr said, Dragon Claw is the ONLY Dragon move to use. The rest are complete crap and should be avoided. That said, Dragon-types are better physical attackers than than special attackers so you should use physical attacks anyway and save that Dragon Claw TM for Lati@s, that would actually benefit from it.
10) Time-wise, is it worth it to sit in front of the legendaries and Mewtwo to try and get a shiny version?
That all depends on how you value your free time, I guess. To me, taking time to get a Legendary with a good nature and good IVs is worth it. Taking time to get a Legendary that is a different color, but is a horrible nature (i.e. Adamant Kyogre) and has bad IVs (i.e. Adamant Kyogre with 2 SAtk IV), is definitely NOT.
11) Mew, Celebi and Deoxys.. Are there any events anywhere or any way I can get these Pokemon through any legit way (Other than trading)? It'd be nice to add them to my Pokedex.
As Ichapokemr said, there are no more events. You are left to either flying your GBA and cart to New York to get them, paying for them from someone on eBay, or finding a nice friend in the cyberworld that you can mail your cart to and have them trade and mail it back to you.
These are just some questions that I've been pondering.
Thanks for any answers in advance.
