The Mew Glitch: Catching Mew in Pokémon Red & Blue

Before the discovery of this glitch in the generation I games, the only way to catch Mew and complete the pokédex was to receive it from special promotional events hosted by Nintendo, the last of which ended in April of 2000. While Mew is not needed to receive the diploma from Game Freak’s lead developer in the Celadon Condominiums, it is a must-have for pokémon completionists and battlers alike, as its base stats are rivaled only by the legendary Mewtwo.

How it works
While originally conceived to catch Mew, the Mew glitch may actually be used to catch any pokémon in the game as long as certain conditions are met. The glitch itself consists of three important parts, each of which must be completed in the correct order for the glitch to function correctly.

First, a player must have access to Teleport, Fly, Dig or an Escape Rope. In addition you must have access to an opponent that will see your character and walk towards you as soon as you come within his or her line of sight. The NPC must approach you from the top, left, or right; trainers that approach from the bottom of the screen will not work.

As soon as the NPC appears on your screen, press the START button. If timed correctly, the menu will open before the NPC has a chance to react. From the menu use Teleport, Fly, Dig, or an Escape Rope to head to another location. Any location will do, so long as you can find another trainer to battle from that location. If done correctly, the “!” above an NPC’s head signaling a trainer battle will appear while you flee. Note that after you have fled from this initial trainer, your START button will not work until you fight an additional trainer.

After arriving at your new location, you must fight a second trainer so that you can regain access to your start menu. It is also imperative that this trainer walk up to you; you cannot engage battle from the space immediately in front of them.

To complete the glitch, you must return to the route where you encountered the initial trainer, the one that you ran from. Upon entering this route, the menu will appear. Closing the menu will initiate a battle with a pokémon whose identity depends on the special stat of the last pokémon you encountered. This special stat may be pulled from the last pokémon of the trainer you just battled, or it can be a wild pokémon if you encountered one. Either will work and both methods can be used to catch Mew.

Catching Mew at the earliest point in the game
Requirements: An Abra with Teleport. The ability to battle the Swimmer in the Cerulean Gym and the Jr. Trainer on Route 24. Pokéballs to catch Mew.

Place the Abra in your party and heal your pokémon at the Ceruluean City pokémon center so that you may teleport back there later. Defeat Nugget Bridge normally if you have not already done so. Head to Route 24 and stand above the Jr. Trainer so that he is just off screen. Save your game (in case you mess up on this next part, it involves a good sense of timing). Move down one space and as soon as you see the Jr. Trainer press the START button. The menu should appear and you must use teleport. If done correctly, an exclamation mark animation will appear over the Jr. Trainer’s head as you flee.

As soon as you arrive at the Cerulean City pokémon center head east into the gym and battle the swimmer there. After defeating the swimmer head back to route 24. After walking a few steps, the menu will appear. Closing the menu will start a battle with a Lv 7 Mew.

If you’re having trouble following the instructions above, this video might help.

Using the glitch to catch other pokémon

You can use an alternate version of the glitch to catch any pokémon in the game, since the identity of the wild pokémon is dependent on the special stat of the last pokémon you encountered prior to activating the glitch. To determine which special stat you’ll need and for instructions on how to perform this variant of the glitch, you can check out this page.


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