An original Gen 1 Mew is still alive, as a Pokemon fan has discovered one on a Pokemon Yellow cartridge that has survived for over twenty years.
The people who want a Mew in the Gen 1 Pokemon games can get one as early as Misty’s Gym, thanks to a well-known glitch that spawns a Mew encounter. This glitch even works in the 3DS ports of the game, giving modern fans a chance to add the first Mythical Pokemon to their party.
Originally, Mew was distributed as part of real-life events that people attended. These have mostly been lost to time due to the batteries in the Gen 1 and 2 cartridges degrading over time and the inability to trade them to later games.
The Gen 1 batteries can last longer than the ones in Pokemon Gold & Silver, as they don’t need to operate a clock. This means that some of them still work, and a few legitimate Mew exist in the world.
A Gen 1 Mew lives on in Pokemon Yellow
A user on the Pokemon Reddit has discovered that they still have a Mew saved on a Pokemon Yellow cartridge. They acquired this in 2000 at an event in Belgium, which means the Mew has survived for over twenty years.
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“I don’t think i’ve actually ever seen someone that claimed to obtain Mew from the event rather than the glitch. if there is a way to verify it then this cartridge could be worth a lot of money,” one user wrote, while another said, “There literally might only be a handful of legit mews left. Actually a very cool and valuable cart if verified.”
“Back up your save file,” one user asked, to which the OP responded, “I did! I backed it up using my Analogue Pocket.” This refers to one of the methods for playing the Gen 1 Pokemon games on modern systems.
“That one from Toys R Us? I put mine into a box in Pokémon Stadium since watch batteries in the cartridges die in a few years,” one person asked, to which the OP responded, “This Mew is from an event in Belgium. I also transferred my Pokemon from this Yellow cartridge into Pokemon Stadium to keep them safe.”
The original PokeManiacs from the days of Pokemon Red & Blue have to live with the fact that their original ‘mons are likely gone. The battery degradation has wiped out most of the cartridges, but a few have survived, which means it’s worth checking your old games, just in case they’re among the lucky few.