How to Catch Missingno. in Pokémon Red and Blue

Reviewed by Ishrak

Last Updated: January 21, 2024 Approved

The infamous Missingno. is a very strong Pokémon. Contrary to popular belief, however, it will not delete your saved file. Missingno. is fine to battle and even catch; it will merely cause some (possibly) unwanted graphical glitches. See 'Tips' for more info.

Steps

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Catching Missingno. depends on having certain letters in your name, and ASH is the easiest.
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When he asks if you are in a hurry, say "No".

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The man will show you a video on how to catch Pokémon. After watching the demonstration, immediately Fly to Cinnabar Island. Flying to Fuchsia City also works.
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Or, if you flew to Fuchsia City, surf south and west until you get to the Seafoam Islands.
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You may also see 'M, which works just as well.

Community Q&A

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Question

Does Missingno typically make Tauros spawn in the water?

Community Answer

It depends on your character's name. For example, a player named RED will find Golbats, Golducks, Mewtwos and MissingNo.s.

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Question

Does Missingno. give me free stuff?

Community Answer

Missingno. gives you 128 of the item in the 6th slot in your bag. You won't have the items during the battle, but you will get them by running away, catching it, blacking out, or defeating it.

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Question

Is Missingno meant to be discovered?

Community Answer

Well, it was never meant to be in the game. The only reason Missingno pops up is because when you surf along the coastline, the game doesn't know which Pokémon you should encounter, and sends out "Missingno.", which just stands for "Missing Number". While you can catch Missingno, doing so can cause your game file to be corrupted, so proceed with caution.

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Tips

If your character is named differently, you will encounter a Pokémon with a similar name to your character, always above level 100. For example, Mason may encounter a level 174 Magnemite. There is also a chance that it will appear as a ghost, a Kabutops skeleton, and/or Aerodactyl skeleton if your name is not ASH.

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Missingno. has very low base stats, but it also has the highest Attack stat out of all the Pokémon in Red and Blue.

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When using this method, you will obtain 128 of whatever item is in the sixth slot of your bag. This is because the PokeDex value that determines if a Pokémon has been seen, 128, is used and is shown as the amount of that item. For this to work, you don't have to catch Missingno., you just have to encounter it. You can defeat it, capture it, or run away from it.

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Warnings

Missingno. has a 37/100 capture rate. It will only work 37 times out of 100. If the Missingno. you encounter is level 0, don't catch it unless you have a spare spot in your party. If it is sent directly to the PC after you catch it, the level 0 Missingno. will freeze the game if you try to withdraw it. The only way to fix this is by releasing it. Any other level Missingno. will cooperate with your PC and can be withdrawn.

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Encountering Missingno. will corrupt your Hall of Fame data, which cannot be fixed without starting a new save game file. This can be avoided by encountering it before beating the Pokémon League for the first time.

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You can trade Missingno. into the second generation games, Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal, but it will become a generation 2 Pokémon, most commonly Tyrogue.

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It is strongly recommended and urged not to use Missingno. in Pokémon Stadium for Nintendo 64 as it (Missingno.) will at least almost certainly ruin the game until the game is shut on again after first turning off the game and then second removing at least the Pokémon Game Boy game. Catching it while playing in the Game Boy Tower may cause the game to be unable to connect with Pokémon Stadium.

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Things You'll Need

Pokémon Red or Blue
A Pokémon that knows Fly (not needed but highly recommended) and one that knows Surf
Pokémon that can stand up to a possibly high-leveled Missingno.
Ultra Balls or a Master Ball if you're looking to catch it.
Access to Cinnabar Island or Fuchsia City

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How to Catch Missingno. in Pokémon Red and Blue

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Tips

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