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.
Glitch Pokémon
Many different regular and glitch Pokémon can be encountered with the Ditto glitch. Here is a chart showing which special stat corresponds to which Pokémon.
Pokemon | Special Stat # |
---|---|
Spearow | 5 |
Voltorb | 6 |
Nidoking | 7 |
Slowbro | 8 |
Ivysaur | 9 |
Exeggutor | 10 |
Lickitung | 11 |
Exeggcute | 12 |
Grimer | 13 |
Gengar | 14 |
Nidoran♀ | 15 |
Nidoqueen | 16 |
Cubone | 17 |
Rhyhorn | 18 |
Lapras | 19 |
Arcanine | 20 |
Mew | 21 |
Gyarados | 22 |
Shellder | 23 |
Tentacool | 24 |
Gastly | 25 |
Scyther | 26 |
Staryu | 27 |
Blastoise | 28 |
Pinsir | 29 |
Tangela | 30 |
Growlithe | 33 |
Onix | 34 |
Fearow | 35 |
Pidgey | 36 |
Slowpoke | 37 |
Kadabra | 38 |
Graveler | 39 |
Chansey | 40 |
Machoke | 41 |
Mr. Mime | 42 |
Hitmonlee | 43 |
Hitmonchan | 44 |
Arbok | 45 |
Parasect | 46 |
Psyduck | 47 |
Drowzee | 48 |
Golem | 49 |
Magmar | 51 |
Mankey | 52 |
Electabuzz | 53 |
Magneton | 54 |
Koffing | 55 |
Seel | 58 |
Diglett | 59 |
Tauros | 60 |
Farfetch'd | 64 |
Venonat | 65 |
Dragonite | 66 |
Doduo | 70 |
Poliwag | 71 |
Jynx | 72 |
Moltres | 73 |
Articuno | 74 |
Zapdos | 75 |
Ditto | 76 |
Meowth | 77 |
Krabby | 78 |
Vulpix | 82 |
Ninetails | 83 |
Pikachu | 84 |
Raichu | 85 |
Dratini | 88 |
Dragonair | 89 |
Kabuto | 90 |
Kabutops | 91 |
Horsea | 92 |
Seadra | 93 |
Sandshrew | 96 |
Sandslash | 97 |
Omanyte | 98 |
Omastar | 99 |
Jigglypuff | 100 |
Wigglytuff | 101 |
Eevee | 102 |
Flareon | 103 |
Jolteon | 104 |
Vaporeon | 105 |
Machop | 106 |
Zubat | 107 |
Ekans | 108 |
Paras | 109 |
Poliwhirl | 110 |
Poliwrath | 111 |
Weedle | 112 |
Kakuna | 113 |
Beedrill | 114 |
Dodrio | 116 |
Primeape | 117 |
Dugtrio | 118 |
Venomoth | 119 |
Dewgong | 120 |
Caterpie | 123 |
Metapod | 124 |
Butterfree | 125 |
Machamp | 126 |
Missingno. | 127 |
Golduck | 128 |
Hypno | 129 |
Golbat | 130 |
Mewtwo | 131 |
Snorlax | 132 |
Magikarp | 133 |
Muk | 136 |
Kingler | 138 |
Cloyster | 139 |
Electrode | 141 |
Clefable | 142 |
Weezing | 143 |
Persian | 144 |
Marowak | 145 |
Haunter | 147 |
Abra | 148 |
Alakazam | 149 |
Pidgeotto | 150 |
Pidgeot | 151 |
Starmie | 152 |
Bulbasaur | 153 |
Venusaur | 154 |
Tentacruel | 155 |
Goldeen | 157 |
Seaking | 158 |
Ponyta | 163 |
Rapidash | 164 |
Rattata | 165 |
Raticate | 166 |
Nidorino | 167 |
Nidorina | 168 |
Geodude | 169 |
Porygon | 170 |
Aerodactyl | 171 |
Magnemite | 173 |
Charmander | 176 |
Squirtle | 177 |
Charmeleon | 178 |
Wartortle | 179 |
Charizard | 180 |
Oddish | 185 |
Gloom | 186 |
Vileplume | 187 |
Bellsprout | 188 |
Weepinbell | 189 |
Victreebell | 190 |
Rhydon | 257 |
Kangaskhan | 258 |
Nidoran♂ | 259 |
Clefairy | 260 |
Missing numbers can be assumed to be glitch Pokemon and Trainers.-->
Level
A Pokémon encountered using the Mew glitch is most commonly level 7. This is because as one Pokémon's Special Stat corresponds to the index number of the Pokémon, the Pokémon's level also corresponds to the attack stage of the last encountered Pokémon. The attack stage is the variable which is changed when a stat-modifying move like Growl is used. 7 is the unchanged value, but will range from 1 to 13 depending on how many attack boosts or drops the opponent received. For example, if the player used Growl on the Pokémon six times, he or she could encounter a level 1 Pokémon. However, Pokémon with levels 14 to 255 and 0 cannot be found this way, because a Pokémon cannot have more than six attack boosts or drops.[2]
If the Ditto glitch is used and a glitch Trainer is encountered, they will have a different team corresponding to the attack stage. Usually the game will attempt to load their 7th team in memory. Most Trainers only have one set team, causing glitchy teams if an attack-modifying move is not used to lower the attack stage to 1. The only Trainers with more than one team are Prof. Oak and Blue, who have three different teams based on the player's starter. This is the only way to face Prof. Oak with his original team.
Overview
The glitch in fact works as follows: Any Trainer can be used for the first section, as long as the Trainer notices the player as soon as he/she enters the game screen, and that the player is walking towards them from either the top, left or right (walking from below will not work). Teleport and Fly (or Escape Rope and Dig if in a dungeon) can be used to trigger the glitch. For the Youngster, any Pokémon will do as long as it can be fought without walking up to a Trainer. To finish off the glitch, the player must return to the route of the Trainer evaded. The Pokémon that the player will find wild is dependent on the Special stat of the Pokémon the player last faced (wild or from the Trainer), and so using a Pokémon with the Special stat the player needs and finding a Ditto that transforms will produce an identical effect. The required Special stat for Mew is 21.
External Links
References
This article is part of Project GlitchDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on glitches in the Pokémon games. |