Pokémon Red Version Cheat Codes & Secrets

I’ll write comprehensive cheat codes and glitch content for Pokémon Red based on well-documented exploits and codes from this era.

Game Shark Cheat Codes

These codes require a Game Boy Game Shark pass-through cartridge (Interact brand). Enter each code on the Game Shark menu screen before booting the cartridge. Pokémon Red uses the standard 8-character Game Boy Game Shark format (01XXYYYY).

Code	Effect	Notes
019946D3	Max money ($999,999)	Enter all three money codes simultaneously
019947D3	Max money (middle byte)	Pair with above
019948D3	Max money (lower byte)	Pair with above
01637CCF	99 Rare Candies in PC Box	Withdraw from Bill’s PC
01017DCF	Master Ball in PC Box	Withdraw from Bill’s PC
01637DCF	99 Master Balls in PC Box	Withdraw from Bill’s PC
01FF6CD1	Instant KO / Max HP in battle	Affects your first party slot
01FF98CD	Walk through walls	Can corrupt map data; save before using
01281ED1	All 8 Gym Badges	Unlocks HM usage and Pokémon League access
010039D8	Always wild encounter	Every step triggers a battle
01FF1DD1	Infinite Pokéballs in slot 1	Must have at least 1 in slot 1 first

Note: Money is stored in BCD format across three bytes. All three money codes must be active together to display correctly.

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The MissingNo. Glitch

The most famous glitch in any Pokémon game. MissingNo. (“Missing Number”) is an undefined Pokémon index that exists in the game’s data, encountered by corrupting the wild encounter table via your trainer name.

Steps:

1. Go to Viridian City and speak to the old man who blocks the northern route. Say “No” when he asks if you’re in a hurry — watch his full catching tutorial.
2. Fly immediately to Cinnabar Island (do not enter any buildings or battle any trainers first).
3. Surf along the eastern coast of Cinnabar Island — the strip where the map border meets the ocean (the glitchy half-land, half-water tiles on the right edge of the island).
4. Encounter wild Pokémon normally. You will find MissingNo. and 'M (the other glitch entry), as well as high-level Pokémon from your trainer name’s character values.

What MissingNo. does:

• Appears as a scrambled sprite made of corrupted Hall of Fame data
• Can be caught with a Poké Ball — it behaves erratically and may corrupt your Hall of Fame
• Its presence triggers the Item Duplication effect (see next section)
• Classified as a Bird/Normal type in the data

Encountering ‘M (hex FF):

• 'M is a separate undefined index, also found on the Cinnabar coast
• Evolves into Kangaskhan at level 80 if caught
• Has extremely high stats and can break battle visuals

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Item Multiplication Exploit

The single most useful exploit in the game for casual players. The MissingNo. encounter corrupts the byte controlling the quantity of your 6th item in your bag, adding 128 to it (or wrapping to 128+ if the item was at a low count).

Steps:

1. Arrange your item bag so the item you want to multiply is in slot 6 (count down — items 1 through 5 above it don’t matter).
2. Complete the MissingNo. glitch (see above) — you don’t need to catch it. Fleeing, defeating, or even letting it KO you all trigger the item glitch.
3. Open your bag. Your 6th item now shows a quantity of 128 or higher.

Recommended items to duplicate:

Item to Place in Slot 6	Result
Rare Candy	Instant level 100 for any Pokémon
Master Ball	Guaranteed catches for all legendaries
Nugget	Sell for massive money (5,000 each)
PP Up	Max out all move PP permanently
Full Restore	Unlimited full healing
Escape Rope	Infinite dungeon escapes

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The Mew Glitch

Legitimate Mew encounter without cheating devices, exploiting how the game loads trainer battle flags into the wild encounter slot. This works on unpatched original cartridges.

Requirements:

• Must NOT have battled the Gambler on Route 8 (between Lavender Town and Celadon City)
• Must NOT have battled the Youngster above Nugget Bridge on Route 25 (the one with a level 17 Slowpoke — his Slowpoke’s Special stat of 21 corresponds to Mew’s internal ID)

Steps:

1. Stand just west of the Route 8 underground passage entrance, facing the Gambler to your left.
2. Take exactly one step left toward the Gambler. The instant his exclamation mark appears and he begins walking toward you, press Start to open the menu.
3. While the menu is open, select Fly and fly to Cerulean City.
4. Walk north across Nugget Bridge and fight the Youngster with the level 17 Slowpoke. You must defeat him.
5. Fly or walk to Lavender Town.
6. Walk west on Route 8 toward Celadon. The Start menu will open by itself — close it immediately.
7. A wild Mew at Level 7 will appear. Catch it with any Poké Ball.

Why it works: The game uses a single RAM location for both “trainer wants to fight” and “which Pokémon to load.” Flying away freezes the Gambler’s encounter flag in this location. The Youngster’s Slowpoke sets the Special-stat byte to 21 — Mew’s index number. Walking back loads Mew into the encounter slot.

Alternative Mew setups using different trainers and destination Pokémon can target other Pokémon by manipulating different Special stat values.

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Glitch City

A broken map zone accessible by exploiting the Safari Zone’s step counter and save system.

Steps:

1. Enter the Safari Zone in Fuchsia City. Pay the entry fee.
2. Immediately walk back to the exit gate and tell the warden you want to leave.
3. When prompted “Would you like to leave early?”, select No.
4. Save your game using Start > Save, then reset the console (power off and on).
5. Re-enter the Safari Zone (you’ll keep your 500 steps since you saved inside).
6. Walk around until your 500 steps expire and the warden asks again if you want to leave.
7. Select No again.
8. Use Fly to travel to Cinnabar Island.
9. Surf north along the east coast of the island as in the MissingNo. glitch. Your step counter is still active — once it hits zero, the warden will call you back.
10. Select No when asked to leave. Surf back to Cinnabar’s shore.
11. Glitch City loads — a broken, corrupted map with impassable tiles, floating objects, and no exit.

Warning: Glitch City has no normal exit. Walk into a wall in the right spot to warp out, or use Fly/Escape Rope to leave safely.

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Legendary Pokémon Exploits

Exploit	Method
Skip Zapdos encounter	Use Poké Doll to flee — does not work on legendaries; you must use a Master Ball or battle normally
Infinite Legendary resets	Save directly in front of the legendary before interacting; reset if you KO it or it has bad stats
Mewtwo soft-lock prevention	Bring Pokémon with Mean Look or Block (not available in Gen 1) — use Master Ball instead
Three-bird routing	Articuno (Seafoam Islands B4), Zapdos (Power Plant), Moltres (Victory Road B2F) — all missable if not caught before Elite Four

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Pokémon Acquisition Exploits

Safari Zone fishing bypass: The Super Rod can be used anywhere in the Safari Zone to catch Pokémon like Dratini and Dragonair with regular Poké Balls instead of Safari Balls, bypassing the 10-ball limit and the flee mechanic.

Old Rod / Good Rod / Super Rod chaining: Fishing in the same tile repeatedly produces encounters faster than walking. Useful for hunting specific Pokémon on Cinnabar Island’s coast even without the MissingNo. glitch active.

Trade evolution without trading: Pokémon that evolve by trade (Haunter → Gengar, Kadabra → Alakazam, etc.) require an actual link cable trade with another cartridge. No in-game workaround exists — a second Game Boy and cartridge is mandatory.

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Developer Easter Eggs and Hidden Content

The S.S. Anne truck: After the S.S. Anne departs from Vermilion City’s dock, Surf south from the dock area to find a lone truck sitting on the dock, inaccessible during normal gameplay. It has no functional purpose — no Mew underneath, despite persistent rumors. It is widely believed to be a leftover prop from early development or a deliberate tease.

Pokémon Mansion journals: The journals scattered across Pokémon Mansion on Cinnabar Island tell the in-universe story of Mewtwo’s creation. They reference “July 5” and “September 1” entries written by scientists documenting Mew’s DNA and the failed experiment. These are lore documents with no code-entry function but represent the game’s deepest worldbuilding.

Game Freak offices in Celadon City: In a building in Celadon City, the entire Game Freak development team appears as NPCs. Speaking to a specific developer causes him to give you a Diploma certificate once you complete the Pokédex (all 150 non-glitch Pokémon obtained). This is the only in-game reward for completing the Pokédex.

Trainer name limits: The game stores only the first 7 characters of your trainer name for game data purposes, even though the interface accepts more. Some characters in your name directly influence which Pokémon appear during the Cinnabar coast glitch (characters map to Pokémon index numbers).

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Progression Exploits and Useful Tricks

Trick	How To Do It
Skip Snorlax blocks	You cannot — Poké Flute is required; no bypass exists
Dig/Escape Rope in gyms	Dig (learned by Pokémon) can warp you out of any gym mid-battle, forfeiting the match but preserving your team’s HP
Poké Doll ghost skip	In Pokémon Tower, before obtaining the Silph Scope, ghost encounters trap you. Use a Poké Doll from your bag during the encounter to flee without fighting
PP restoration without PP-Up	Use the move Rest — it restores HP but not PP. Full PP restoration requires an Ether, Max Ether, Elixir, or Pokémon Center visit only
Free Bicycle	Obtain the Bike Voucher from the Pokémon Fan Club chairman in Vermilion City; redeem at Cerulean Bike Shop for free
Infinite money via Nugget Bridge	Re-challenge the Rocket at the top of Nugget Bridge? No — he only battles once. Grind vs. rich trainers using Vs. Seeker (not available in Gen 1; must use Pokémon with Pay Day instead)
Pay Day farming	Meowth/Persian’s Pay Day scatters coins equal to twice the user’s level per use. At level 100, 200 coins (= $200) per use, stackable across a full battle

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Elite Four and Endgame Exploits

PP stall strategy: The Elite Four cannot be re-challenged in the same visit (you must exit after each win attempt). Carry Leppa Berries — not available in Gen 1. Instead, stock Ethers and Max Ethers for PP restoration between battles; there is no in-building healing.

Wrap/Bind infinite lock glitch: In Gen 1, multi-turn moves like Wrap, Bind, and Clamp prevent the opponent from acting for their entire duration — not just during the move. This makes a Pokémon with Wrap an effective damage dealer against any enemy with no status moves, as the opponent is perpetually trapped. Dragonite in the Pokémon League is infamous; bring a Ghost type to exploit this in reverse.

Blaine’s gym without Secret Key: The Secret Key found in Pokémon Mansion (1F, requires Strength) is mandatory. No skip exists. The key spawns in a specific room that changes between cartridge regions.