You need 5 of these Pokemon in your Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen Party to actually "beat" the game

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen have been out for two and a half months on the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and while many players have already beaten the games, there is still work to be done in new or existing games that may have been overlooked. For example, legendary Pokemon are not shiny Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenunlike the modern ones, so you can save and soft-reset in front of them until you get the shine. This can be done with Articun in Seafoam Islands, Zapdos in the Power Plant, Moltres in Mt. Ember and then with Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave.

Another way to shiny hunt Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is the use of RNG manipulation which, if done correctly, would make getting shiny Legendary very easy and not time consuming. While catching a Legendary is necessary to beat the game, there is something else players must do if they want to beat it Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen fully, and that means having five different Meowths in your party. It may seem strange at first, but Meowth is the only Pokémon in Kanto with the ability to Retrieve, and it is the only way to obtain the powerful, now long-lost item: Hidden Power TM.

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen unwritten rules explained

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

You need a team with 5 Meowth in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen

Kanto remakes include Move Tutors in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen as additional ways for players to teach their pets some powerful, unique moves. Not only that, but most TMs are one time use and will never be found again, so one has to be careful about choosing which Pokemon should learn them. Hidden Power, TM 10, is in a special place because it is the only TM in the game that can only be obtained randomly and only through the Pickup ability. This means that to maximize the chance of getting at least one, players should use five Meowths with Pickup in their party.

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Easy (15s) Medium (10s) Hard (5s) Permadeath (5s)

There are several reasons why Hidden Power is a good move and worth having for Finalists and all other players:

Hidden Power is a TM that has a different type and base power depending on the user, meaning that every Pokemon on the Elite Four Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen the team will most likely get another use for the hidden power.
Since Hidden Power changes its type and base power depending on the user, it can be awesome as well as bad, and the only way to find out is to find the Pokemon's PID. This is used when manipulating RNG v Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenbut it is not mandatory.
A Pokemon with a hidden power can theoretically have a big advantage if the type of its hidden power is good coverage and its base power is decent. For example, Alakazam is one of the best Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenbut lacks coverage types. With Electric-type Hidden Power, he could single-handedly defeat the Elite Four.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenThe type table is a bit more complex than modern games because Gen 3 didn't yet have any type breakdown, meaning 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 extra damage, so all Water moves would do almost negligible damage if this Pokemon used them.

Hidden power can fix this to some extent. With the same example in mind, it's worth noting that Gyarados doesn't have any Flying-type moves in his kit, which would help him, since Flying always deals physical damage. How to get Magikarp or Gyarados Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen with Flying as his Hidden Power type, he would be very good for cover and STAB attacks. On the other hand, having Fire as a Hidden Power type wouldn't be so good since Fire always deals extra damage in Gen 3.

The types are as follows:

Physical – Normal, Bug, Fighting, Flying, Steel, Spirit, Poison, Earth, Stone
Special – Grass, Fire, Water, Electric, Psychic, Dark, Ice, Dragon

How to get Hidden Power TM in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen

pokemon-leafgreen-firered-all-move-tutors-where-if-to-find

In order to get Hidden Power as a TM and open up options for their team, players basically need to play with five Meowths on the team. This is because not only is the Pickup ability required to obtain Hidden Power, but it can only activate after defeating a wild Pokemon or a trainer, and this is not guaranteed. Then Hidden Power is a rare drop from Pickup, so to get at least one it's necessary to battle multiple Pokémon or trainers with as many Meowths as possible on the team. It's technically possible to do this with six Meows instead of five, but then at least one of them has to be strong enough to defeat most of their opponents.

Meowth can be found in several locations, but the ones where it is most common are routes 5, 6, and 7 with a 35%, 35%, and 40% chance of spawning, respectively.

Whether it's worth finding at least one Hidden Power TM 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 performance is 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.