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

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

Another method to shine chase Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is to use RNG manipulation which, if done correctly, would make getting shiny Legendaries very easy and not time consuming. Although catching Legendaries is required to beat the game, there is something else players need to do if they want to beat Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen fully, and that means having five different Meowths in your 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 obtain a powerful, now long-gone item: Hidden Power TM.

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The unwritten rules of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen explained

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen have many secrets to discover and easy facts to miss, 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 remake includes Move Tutors in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen as additional ways for players to teach some powerful, unique traits to their animals. Not only that, but most TMs are disposable and never found again, so you have to be careful in choosing which Pokemon to learn them. Hidden Power, TM 10, is in an odd spot as it is the only TM in the game that can only be obtained randomly, and only via the Pickup ability. This means that, to maximize the odds of getting at least one, players should use five Meowth with Pickup in their party.

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

There are a few reasons why Hidden Power is a great move and worth having for both completionists 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 an Elite Four Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen teams will most likely have different uses for Hidden Power.
Since Hidden Power changes its type and base power depending on the user, it can be awesome 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 i Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenbut it is not mandatory.
A Pokemon with Hidden Power can theoretically have a big 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 Fire red and leaf greenbut it lacks coverage types. With an electric-type Hidden Power, it was able to single-handedly beat the Elite Four.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreens type chart is a little more complex than modern games because Gen 3 didn't have type splitting yet, 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 special damage, so all Water moves would deal almost negligible damage when used by this Pokemon.

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 its kit, which would help it since Flying always deals physical damage. Bringing in a Magikarp or Gyarados Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen with Flying as its Hidden Power type would be very good for cover and STAB attacks. On the other hand, having Fire as his Hidden Power type wouldn't be as good since 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 a TM and open up opportunities 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 only be activated 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 is necessary to fight multiple Pokémon or trainers with as many Meowths in the team as possible. Technically, it is possible to do this with six Meowths instead of five, but then at least one of them must be strong enough to defeat most of their opponents.

Meowth can be found in several locations, but the most common are Route 5, 6, and 7 with a 35%, 35%, and 40% chance to spawn, respectively.

Whether or not it's worth finding at least one Hidden Power TM depends on who's being 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 you want to be sure, PokeFinder can help with a Pokemon's PID to reveal its Hidden Power type and damage.