How to Find Mew in Pokémon Red/Blue

Written by Madeleine Flamiano | Edited by Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: January 5, 2023 Approved

This is a way to find Mew in Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow or even your local Spice Guru. It will most likely require you to restart your saved game, depending on how far you have gotten. But isn't it worth it for this rare Pokémon?

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Gambler and Youngster Glitch

1
Restart your saved game if you went too far in the game. This glitch requires you to battle Gambler and Youngster.
2
Go in front of the Gambler below the underground path from Lavender Town to Celadon City and press the Start button immediately. Instead of not letting you pause the game, your Pause Menu will appear.

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3
Fly to Cerulean City. The gambler will see you after you press fly and you'll hear his music, but you will then fly to Cerulean City anyway. Your start button won't yet work, but it will shortly after.
4
Go up to the Youngster in the bush area just after Nugget Bridge. He's the second Youngster you come across and he's facing up. He's also standing above a "Lass". He's very easy to beat now, as he only has a Slowpoke.
5
Defeat the trainer and fly all the way back to Lavender Town. Your start button should work.
6
Walk to the left exit of the town. Your pause menu should pop-up automatically.
7
Exit out of the pause menu to begin battle. Be careful because Mew will only be at level 7!
8
Catch the Mew with the Master Ball or weaken it using attacks. Or, if it is weakened enough, try catching it with a Poké Ball.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Trainer and Youngster Glitch

1
Restart the game if you went too far. This glitch requires you to battle the trainer hidden in the grass and Youngster (both in Cerulean).
2
Catch an Abra (if you don't have another Pokémon that knows Teleport). You can find it on Routes 24 & 25 in Pokémon Blue/Red and on Route 5 (you may need a Pokémon who can put it to sleep).
3
Go to the north of Cerulean and stand in the same spot of the character in the photo/video.
4
Save.
5
Walk forward. Press start at the same moment.
6
Select Abra and Teleport. The trainer will see you but you'll find yourself at the Cerulean Pokémon Center anyway.
7
Go to the Youngster (route that takes you to Bill); he's the third one. Make sure you don't get into any random battles before him and to leave a gap between him and you (so he'll be able to walk).
8
Beat the trainer (he has only a Slowpoke) and use Teleport again. You'll be outside the Pokémon Center again.
9
Walk north again. At some point the Menu will pop up. Exit it and you should find yourself in a battle with Mew!

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Using a Glitch to Catch any Pokémon

1
Extend your catching prowess. Now that you know how the trick works, use it to catch other Pokémon. Fighting the Youngster will always result in a Mew encounter because his Slowpoke has a Special of 21 (15 in hex). But if you fight something else before returning to Route 8, it will change which Pokémon you encounter. For example, say you chose a starting Pokémon other than Bulbasaur and regret your decision. Bulbasaur's hex number is 99, which converts to 153 in decimal. Now, you could fight a wild Pokémon with a Special of 153, but the only place to find that is on a Level 64 Chansey in the Unknown Dungeon, and those Chansey are quite rare. Worse, they only have a one-in-sixteen chance of having the right Special. Fortunately, there is a solution: Ditto's Transform, which copies the stats of the opponent. This means that you can catch any Pokémon in the game by following the steps set forth in this section.
2
Catch or raise a Pokémon with the proper Special stat (153 for Bulbasaur). You can find a complete list of which decimal value is needed for each Pokémon at the bottom of the page.
3
There. Fly away from the Gambler battle.
4
Fight any trainer that can see you from a distance and walk up to you (this is necessary to both unlock your Start button and trigger the Route 8 battle).
5
Find a wild Ditto and let it Transform into your Pokémon with the proper Special.
6
Beat the Ditto (or just run away) and immediately fly to Lavender Town without fighting anything else.
7
Enter Route 8, and Bulbasaur (or whatever) will appear.
8
Note that since only the least significant of the two Special bytes is used for this, you can also add 256 to the values listed above and use that Special to get the same Pokémon. This is important because there are a few Pokémon, such as Kangaskhan, whose identifying value is lower than the minimum Special that any Pokémon can have. In Kangaskhan's case, you can find her by using a Special of 258 (2 + 256).
- Also note that when you perform this trick, any trainers you fight after the Gambler will be "used up." Make sure you have enough unused trainers to catch all the Pokémon you want! Fortunately, the Gambler can be used to initiate the trick an unlimited number of times.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Gambler and Biker glitch

1
Restart your game if you went too far. This method requires you to battle Gambler and Biker.
2
Go in front of the Gambler below the underground path form Lavender to Celadon and immediately press start.
3
Fly to Fuchsia City (after that, your start button will temporarily be disabled).
4
Walk to Bicycle Road and then go up.
5
Once the bike is moving up slowly, keep going up. When you see water in front of you, turn right.
6
After that, go up until you see grass. The Biker you'll need to battle will be facing the grass.
7
Go up to the Biker. Battle him.
8
After you battle him, your start button will work again. Fly to Lavender Town, and then go left towards route 8. You're start button will then pop up automatically. Press out of it.
9
After that, there's your Mew. Catch Mew with a Master Ball, or weaken it, and then catch it with a Pokeball.

Community Q&A

Question

Can I do the Mew glitch if my name is different?

Community Answer

Yes, I went through this with the name pixel, it should work fine for you.
Question

What level will Mew be?

Community Answer

Mew will be level 7.
Question

Can I trade between red and yellow?

Community Answer

Yes, you do it the exact same way as you do between red and blue.

Warnings

This takes a lot of work if you are not experienced.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 45 Not Helpful 17
On very rare occasions (most likely if you use the glitch to encounter a glitch Pokémon not listed below, rather than a normal Pokémon), the glitch can delete your save file (unless you transferred your saved data onto another game). Use it at your own risk.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
The first method is actually a (very well working) glitch, and therefore, though it will usually be fine, sometimes the Mew might be messed up. If that is the case, you should forget about it.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
Although you can save while in the process of performing the glitch, if you don't know the result of performing it (say you fought some random person), you could mess your file or cartridge up by saving it then.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
Because you will only have Poké Balls, be prepared to battle Mew multiple times to catch it. Try catching a Caterpie and evolving it to Butterfree to confuse Mew. This will make it easier to catch it.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 2 Not Helpful 1

Things You'll Need

A Pokémon that knows HM Fly or Teleport
Game Boy and game cartridge (or emulator and ROM)
Poké Balls

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Values

Name Hex Dec

--- ---

Bulbasaur 99 153 Ivysaur 09 9 Venusaur 9A 154 Charmander B0 176 Charmeleon B2 178 Charizard B4 180 Squirtle B1 177 Wartortle BC 188 Blastoise 1C 28 Caterpie 7B 123 Metapod 7C 124 Butterfree 7D 125 Weedle 70 112 Kakuna 71 113 Beedrill 72 114 Pidgey 24 36 Pidgeotto 96 150 Pidgeot 97 151 Rattata A5 165 Raticate A6 166 Spearow 05 5 Fearow 23 35 Ekans 6C 108 Arbok 2D 45 Pikachu 54 84 Raichu 55 85 Sandshrew 60 96 Sandslash 61 97 Nidoran(F) 0F 15 Nidorina A8 168 Nidoqueen 10 16 Nidoran(M) 03 3 Nidorino A7 167 Nidoking 07 7 Clefairy 04 4 Clefable 8E 142 Vulpix 52 82 Ninetales 53 83 Jigglypuff 64 100 Wigglytuff 65 101 Zubat 6B 107 Golbat 82 130 Oddish B9 185 Gloom BA 186 Vileplume BB 187 Paras 6D 109 Parasect 2E 46 Venonat 41 65 Venomoth 77 119 Diglett 3B 59 Dugtrio 76 118 Meowth 4D 77 Persian 90 144 Psyduck 2F 47 Golduck 80 128 Mankey 39 57 Primeape 75 117 Growlithe 21 33 Arcanine 14 20 Poliwag 47 71 Poliwhirl 6E 110 Poliwrath 6F 111 Abra 94 148 Kadabra 26 38 Alakazam 95 149 Machop 6A 106 Machoke 29 41 Machamp 7E 126 Bellsprout BC 188 Weepinbell BD 189 Victreebel BE 190 Tentacool 18 24 Tentacruel 9B 155 Geodude A9 169 Graveler 27 39 Golem 31 49 Ponyta A3 163 Rapidash A4 164 Slowpoke 25 37 Slowbro 08 8 Magnemite AD 173 Magneton 36 54 Farfetch'd 40 64 Doduo 46 70 Dodrio 74 116 Seel 3A 58 Dewgong 78 120 Grimer 0D 13 Muk 88 136 Shellder 17 23 Cloyster 8B 139 Gastly 19 25 Haunter 93 147 Gengar 0E 14 Onix 22 34 Drowzee 30 48 Hypno 81 129 Krabby 4E 78 Kingler 8A 138 Voltorb 06 6 Electrode 8D 141 Exeggcute 0C 12 Exeggutor 0A 10 Cubone 11 17 Marowak 91 145 Hitmonlee 2B 43 Hitmonchan 2C 44 Lickitung 0B 11 Koffing 37 55 Weezing 8F 143 Rhyhorn 12 18 Rhydon 01 1 Chansey 28 40 Tangela 1E 30 Kangaskhan 02 2 Horsea 5C 92 Seadra 5D 93 Goldeen 9D 157 Seaking 9E 158 Staryu 1B 27 Starmie 98 152 Mr. Mime 2A 42 Scyther 1A 26 Jynx 48 72 Electabuzz 35 53 Magmar 33 51 Pinsir 1D 29 Tauros 3C 60 Magikarp 85 133 Gyarados 16 22 Lapras 13 19 Ditto 4C 76 Eevee 66 102 Vaporeon 69 105 Jolteon 68 104 Flareon 67 103 Porygon AA 170 Omanyte 62 98 Omastar 63 99 Kabuto 5A 90 Kabutops 5B 91 Aerodactyl AB 171 Snorlax 84 132 Articuno 4A 74 Zapdos 4B 75 Moltres 49 73 Dratini 58 88 Dragonair 59 89 Dragonite 42 66 Mewtwo 83 131 Mew 15 21