It’s been two and a half months since Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen were released on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and even after completing the games, there’s still a lot to discover. One interesting detail is that Legendary Pokemon in these versions aren’t ‘shiny-locked’ like in newer games. This means you can save your game before encountering them, and then repeatedly reset until you find a shiny version. You can try this with Articuno in Seafoam Islands, Zapdos in the Power Plant, Moltres in Mt. Ember, and Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave.
As a big fan of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, I’ve been looking into different ways to find shiny Pokemon, and RNG manipulation seems like a really efficient method, especially for those tricky Legendary encounters. But completing the game fully isn’t just about catching them all! There’s this weird requirement to have five Meowth in your party. It sounds strange, I know, but Meowth is the only Pokemon in the Kanto region with the Pickup ability, and that’s the only way to get the Hidden Power TM, a really useful item that’s no longer available in newer games.
You Need a Team With 5 Meowth in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
The Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen remakes feature Move Tutors, giving players extra options for teaching their Pokémon special and powerful moves. Unlike later games, most Technical Machines (TMs) can only be used once, so players need to carefully decide which Pokémon should learn them. Hidden Power, specifically TM 10, is unique because it’s the only TM obtained randomly through the Pickup ability. To increase their chances of getting it, players are advised to include five Meowth with the Pickup ability in their party.
TopMob Quiz
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Results
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Hidden Power is a valuable move for all Pokémon players, including those who like to complete everything, for a number of reasons.
- 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.
The type matchups in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen are a little trickier than in newer games. This is because, in Generation 3, all moves of certain types were either always physical or always special. For instance, Gyarados is a Water/Flying type with a strong Attack stat, but Water-type moves were considered special at the time. This meant Gyarados’s Water attacks would do very little damage, despite its high Attack power.
As a longtime Pokémon fan, I always thought Hidden Power could be a real game-changer, and it definitely helped with some tricky situations. Take Gyarados, for example. It doesn’t naturally learn any Flying-type moves, but Flying attacks always hit physically, which is great for Gyarados’s Attack stat. If you could find a Magikarp or Gyarados in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen with Flying as its Hidden Power, that would give it awesome coverage and a STAB (Same-type attack bonus) move it normally wouldn’t have. On the flip side, getting Fire as its Hidden Power wasn’t ideal, because Fire attacks always hit specially in Generation 3, and Gyarados is much better at physical attacks.
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
To reliably get Hidden Power as a Technical Machine (TM) and expand their strategic options, players generally need to include at least five Meowth in their team for a period of time. This is because Hidden Power is obtained through the Pickup ability, which only triggers after defeating wild Pokémon or trainers, and even then, it’s not a sure thing. Since Hidden Power is a rare find with Pickup, players need to battle many opponents with as many Meowth as possible to have a good chance of getting it. While using six Meowth is possible, at least one of them needs to be strong enough to consistently win battles.
You can find Meowth in a few different places, but it appears most often on Route 5, Route 6, and Route 7. There’s a 35% chance of finding it on Route 5 and Route 6, and a 40% chance on Route 7.
Whether Hidden Power is useful in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen really depends on the player, but a strong Hidden Power move can greatly improve even a well-built team. If you want to know what type and power your Pokemon’s Hidden Power will have, the PokeFinder can reveal this information using its PID.
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2026-05-10 22:36