Pokemon Yellow player discovers long-lost event Mew still on cartridge
THE POKEMON COMPANYAn 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.
“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.
