You Need 5 of This Pokemon in Your Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen Party to Truly 'Beat' the Game

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen have been out on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 for two and a half months now, and while many players have beaten the games already, there is still plenty to do in new or existing runs that may have flown under the radar. For example, Legendary Pokemon are not shiny-locked in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, unlike modern ones, so one can save in front of them and soft-reset until you get a shiny. This can be done with Articuno in Seafoam Islands, Zapdos in the Power Plant, Moltres in Mt. Ember, and then with Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave.

Another method to shiny hunt in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is to use RNG manipulation, which, if done right, would make getting shiny Legendaries very easy and not time-consuming. Although catching Legendaries is needed to beat the game, there is something else players need to do if they want to beat Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen fully, and that involves having five different Meowth in their party. This may seem strange at first, but Meowth is the only Pokemon in Kanto with the Pickup ability, and this is the only way to get a powerful, now long-gone item: the Hidden Power TM.

The Unwritten Rules of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen Explained

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen have a lot of secrets to discover and easy-to-miss facts, but fans can rely on unspoken rules that apply to most runs.

You Need a Team With 5 Meowth in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen

The Kanto remakes include Move Tutors in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen as additional ways for players to teach some powerful, unique moves to their critters. Not only that, but most TMs are single-use and never found again, so one has to be careful about choosing which Pokemon should learn them. Hidden Power, TM 10, is in an odd spot because it’s the only TM in the game that can only be obtained randomly, and only via the Pickup ability. This means that, in order to maximize the odds of getting at least one, players should use five Meowth with Pickup in their party.

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There are a few reasons why Hidden Power is a good move and worth having for completionists and all other players alike:

Hidden Power is a TM that has a different type and base power depending on the user, meaning that every Pokemon on an Elite Four Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen team will most likely get different uses for Hidden Power.
Since Hidden Power changes its type and base power depending on the user, it can be amazing as much as it can be bad, and the only way to determine this is to find a Pokemon’s PID. This is used in RNG manipulation in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, but it’s not mandatory.
A Pokemon with Hidden Power can theoretically have a great advantage if its Hidden Power’s type is good coverage and its base power is decent. For example, Alakazam is one of the best Pokemon in FireRed and LeafGreen, but it lacks coverage types. With an Electric-type Hidden Power, it could single-handedly beat the Elite Four.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen‘s type chart is a bit more complex than modern games because Gen 3 had no type split yet, meaning that nine types are always physical, and eight types are always special. For example, Gyarados is Water/Flying and has very high Attack, but Water deals special damage, so all Water moves would deal almost negligible damage when used by this Pokemon.

Hidden Power can fix this, to some degree. With the same example in mind, it’s worth noting that Gyarados has no Flying-type moves in its kit, which would help it because Flying always deals physical damage. Getting a Magikarp or Gyarados in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen with Flying as its Hidden Power type would be very good for coverage and STAB attacks. On the other hand, having Fire as its Hidden Power type wouldn’t be as good because Fire always deals special damage in Gen 3.

The types are as follows:

Physical – Normal, Bug, Fighting, Flying, Steel, Ghost, Poison, Ground, Rock
Special – Grass, Fire, Water, Electric, Psychic, Dark, Ice, Dragon

How to Get Hidden Power TM in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen

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As such, in order to get Hidden Power as an TM and open up possibilities for their team, players pretty much need to play with five Meowth on the team for a while. This is because not only is the Pickup ability required to get Hidden Power, but it can also only activate after defeating a wild Pokemon or trainer, and it’s not guaranteed. Then, Hidden Power is a rare drop from Pickup, so to get at least one, it’s necessary to battle several Pokemon or trainers with as many Meowth on the team as possible. Technically, it’s possible to do this with six Meowth instead of five, but then at least one of them has to be strong enough to defeat most of its opponents.

Meowth is found in several locations, but the ones where it’s most common are Route 5, 6, and 7 at 35%, 35%, and 40% chance of spawning, respectively.

Whether finding at least one Hidden Power TM is worth it depends on who is asked, but it can be a fantastic addition to even the best teams in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen if its type and base power are good enough. And if one wants to be sure, then PokeFinder can help with a Pokemon’s PID to reveal its Hidden Power type and damage.