Mew

Mew is a Psychic-type Mythical Pokémon introduced in the first generation of Pokémon games. Its Pokédex number is 151, immediately after Mewtwo’s 150. Although Mew is small and pink, with a long, thin tail, its importance in Pokémon lore comes from its DNA: Pokédex entries say it contains the genetic composition of every Pokémon. That idea also makes Mew central to Mewtwo’s origin. Mewtwo was created through experiments involving Mew’s DNA, a connection that gives the two Pokémon sharply different roles in the franchise’s best-known early film.

Mew was present in the original Japanese Pokémon Red and Green games, but players could not obtain it through ordinary gameplay. Its existence became the subject of intense curiosity as information about the hidden Pokémon spread. In Pokémon Red and Blue, a rumor claimed that moving a truck near the S.S. Anne would reveal Mew; it does not. Players later found ways to encounter Mew through glitches, distinct from the official distributions used to make it available. Mew’s elusive status helped establish the pattern of Mythical Pokémon being distributed through special events rather than found during a normal playthrough.

Its abilities reinforce that unusual status. Mew can learn an exceptionally broad range of moves through Technical Machines, and Transform allows it to copy an opponent’s appearance and moves in battle. In the 1999 game Pokémon Snap, Mew is the subject of the final course, Rainbow Cloud. The player must break through its protective bubble to photograph it, making the rare Pokémon the game’s culminating photographic challenge.

Mew plays a major role in Pokémon: The First Movie, also known as Mewtwo Strikes Back. Mewtwo, angered by the circumstances of its creation, confronts Mew while Pokémon and their clones battle around them. Ash is turned to stone when he runs between the two Pokémon’s attacks, and the Pokémon’s tears restore him. The film uses Mew’s presence to frame Mewtwo’s questions about whether a clone’s life has value.

Mew returns as an important figure in Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew. There, it lives at the Tree of Beginning and brings Pikachu and Meowth to it, prompting Ash and his companions to follow. Later games have continued to treat an encounter with Mew as a special occasion. In Pokémon GO, for example, the Special Research story “A Mythical Discovery” gives players a series of tasks leading to Mew, preserving its long-standing association with discovery rather than an ordinary encounter.