Mew glitch
The Mew glitch is a software bug in all three of the Generation I Game Boy games, discovered in 2003.[1] This glitch is famous for allowing players to catch any non-glitched Pokémon in the game, most notably Mew. Method #3 of the Mew glitch allows one to catch both glitch Pokémon and regular Pokémon.
Methods
Method #1
To acquire Mew at the earliest point possible in the game, the player must not have defeated the Swimmer in Cerulean Gym and the Jr. Trainer (the one who says "I saw your feat from the grass" when the battle with him begins) on Route 24 in the grass. The player must defeat Nugget Bridge as usual.
Note that the player must have an Abra that can teleport, and therefore if playing Yellow Version must have reached Route 5 or traded for one previously.
The player first heals at the Cerulean City Pokémon Center, so they may teleport there later. The player then needs to add an Abra to the party and go to Route 24. The player then needs to stand above the Jr. Trainer so that he is just off the screen. Then the player must move down until seen and immediately press the "START" button. The player then needs to use teleport with Abra. If done correctly, the Jr. Trainer should get the indicative exclamation mark while the player teleports. At this point, the menu will not work until the player battles, though it is imperative to not battle.
The player then needs to head east from the Pokémon Center into the Cerulean Gym and battle the Swimmer. After defeating the Swimmer (the menu should be available upon victory), the player then must head to Route 24, and after several steps the menu will appear. Upon closing of the menu, a battle will begin with a wild Mew.
Method #1 (alternate method)
The player must follow the steps for Method #1 exactly until after teleporting from the Jr. Trainer. The player then must head north towards Route 25 and battle the Youngster. As in Method #1, it is imperative to not battle before then. The player must engage in battle by being seen (and must walk along the wall to be seen, not towards him or the game will freeze).
After defeating the Youngster, the player then needs to walk towards Cerulean City. After a certain amount of steps, the Start menu appears. Closing it should begin a battle against a wild Mew.
Method #2
For this method, the player needs to find any trainer in the game that will engage in battle the moment the trainer is on screen and the player is in the trainer's line of sight. The player then needs to take one step down closer to the NPC, but make sure that the NPC does not see the player, and then immediately press the "START" button. The menu will appear and the player will be able to Fly or Teleport. The player needs to fly or teleport to Cerulean City. While flying, the exclamation point that usually appears above a Trainer's head when they challenge the player to battle will appear. The player then needs to go to Route 24 and, defeat the Youngster that owns a Slowpoke (and must walk along the wall to be seen, not towards him or the game will freeze). After defeating him, the player needs to fly or teleport to Lavender Town and head to Route 8. The menu will appear. Pressing B will make a wild Mew appear at Level 7.
Ditto glitch
- This method is also known as "Method #3".
For this method, the player first needs a Pokémon with a Special stat of 21. It doesn't matter if the stat was naturally leveled or boosted with stat experience, as long as it's not due to an in-battle Special-stat boosting skill. The player needs to find any trainer in the game that will engage in battle the moment the trainer is on screen and the player is in the trainer's line of sight. The player then needs to take one step down closer to the NPC, but make sure that the NPC does not see the player, and then immediately press the "START" button. Once the player has pressed start and the menu appears, the player needs to fly or teleport elsewhere. The location being traveled to must have a path via which the player can walk both to a place where there are wild Ditto (Route 15Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc. or Pokémon MansionWrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.) and after to a place with a trainer to fight. This is because the start button will no longer work until after a battle with a trainer (to be mentioned) because the game has been tricked into thinking it's in battle mode. Once the battle with the trainer the player picked was evaded successfully, the player then needs to battle any trainer, as long as there is one space between the player and the trainer when the battle is initiated so that the trainer has to walk up to the player. After defeating the trainer, the player needs to encounter a wild Ditto, and battle it until it uses Transform on the player's Pokémon with the Special Stat of 21. After defeating the Ditto (with any of the player's Pokémon), the player must not battle, and go back to the location where the trainer the player first evaded is located. Once the location is approached, the menu will automatically appear. The player must press the B button. A battle will begin with a wild Mew.
This method can be used to catch any Pokémon in the game, even some glitch Pokémon. While a Pokémon with a special stat of 21 will give one Mew, using a Pokémon with a different special stat will give the player a different Pokémon. For example, in the Red/Blue versions, if a Pokémon with a Special stat of 198 is used, LM4 will appear instead of Mew. Some Special stats will cause glitch Trainers to appear.
