How to Get a Shiny Mew in Pokémon Emerald Using ACE (No Cheats, No Events)

This guide walks you through obtaining the legitimate in-game Mew from Faraway Island using Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE) — a glitch that lets you run small programs inside the game using only PC box names and specially prepared Pokémon.

This is a long process. Budget several hours spread across multiple sessions. Read each section fully before doing anything.

---

What You're Actually Doing (And Why It Works)

Faraway Island — the location where Mew lives — is a real place inside Pokémon Emerald. It was always there. The only thing blocking access is that the game requires an event item called the Old Sea Map to unlock the boat route. This item was distributed at real-world Nintendo events in Japan in 2005. Most players never got it, and it was never distributed in North America or Europe at all.

ACE lets you modify your own save data to tell the game you have that event — exactly as if you'd attended the event and received the item legitimately. Nothing is imported or generated from outside the game. The Mew you catch is the real, unmodified Faraway Island Mew.

The second part of this guide uses a second ACE payload to make that Mew shiny after you've caught it, by directly modifying the Pokémon's data in your PC box.

---

What You Need

Game requirements

• Pokémon Emerald (English version — these codes are language-specific)
• Battle Frontier unlocked (you need access to the Battle Tower for cloning)
• The ability to reach Rustboro City, Fortree City, and Lilycove City

Pokémon you need to obtain

• DOTS — a Seedot traded from an NPC in Rustboro City
• PLUSES — a Plusle traded from an NPC in Fortree City

Items you need

• 1 HP Up (buy from any Poké Mart after you have enough badges, or the Battle Frontier shop)
• Exp. Share (obtained from Mr. Stone in Rustboro after delivering the letter to Steven)
• 1 Pomeg Berry (found on the ground in various locations, or traded, or grown)

Pokémon for the glitch setup

• A Pokémon that knows Fly
• A Pokémon that can be fainted on purpose (anything you don't care about)
• A spare Pokémon for party manipulation

For catching Mew

• A Pokémon with False Swipe (TM54, or Scyther/Zangoose naturally)
• A Pokémon that can inflict Sleep or Paralysis
• Plenty of Poké Balls (Ultra Balls recommended)

---

Step 1: Get DOTS

Go to Rustboro City. Find the house directly beside the Rustboro Gym (to the right of it as you face the gym). Inside is a boy named Kobe who wants to trade.

He will trade you his Seedot (nicknamed DOTS) in exchange for a Ralts.

To get a Ralts, go to Route 102 (the route between Oldale Town and Petalburg City) and walk in the tall grass. Ralts appears rarely. If you haven't caught one yet, this may take a few minutes of searching.

Once you have a Ralts, trade it to Kobe. You receive DOTS.

---

Step 2: Get PLUSES

Go to Fortree City. Find the house near the Fortree Pokémon Center. Inside is an NPC who wants to trade.

She will trade you her Plusle (nicknamed PLUSES) in exchange for a Volbeat.

To get a Volbeat, go to Route 117 (between Mauville City and Verdanturf Town) and walk in the tall grass. Volbeat only appears at night (after 8 PM in-game time, which follows your DS clock if playing on DS hardware).

Once you have a Volbeat, make the trade. You receive PLUSES.

---

Step 3: Clone Both Pokémon

Before doing anything else with DOTS or PLUSES, clone both of them using the Battle Tower cloning glitch.

This is important. The steps ahead will permanently modify or corrupt copies of these Pokémon. If something goes wrong, you need clean backups.

How to clone using the Battle Tower

1. Put the Pokémon you want to clone into a PC box (not your party).
2. Save your game.
3. Withdraw the Pokémon from the PC into your party.
4. Go to the Battle Tower in the Battle Frontier.
5. Talk to the receptionist and start a Single Battle or Double Battle challenge.
6. When the game asks "Do you want to save before entering?", say Yes.
7. When the save is complete and the game shows the final "Yes/No" confirmation prompt, turn the power off immediately — before pressing anything.
8. Turn the game back on and load your save.

You should now have the Pokémon in both your party and the PC box. That's your clone.

Clone both DOTS and PLUSES. Store the originals in a box you label "BACKUPS" or similar. Keep them there for the entire process.

---

Step 4: Train DOTS

This is the most precise step in the whole guide. DOTS needs to have exactly the right EVs.

What are EVs?

EVs (Effort Values) are hidden numbers that grow when a Pokémon defeats other Pokémon in battle. Each species defeated gives specific EVs in specific stats. You normally use EVs to make your Pokémon stronger — but here, you're using them to encode a specific number into DOTS's data structure, which is what the glitch reads.

DOTS needs:

• 17 HP EVs
• 6 Attack EVs
• 0 EVs in every other stat

How to get those EVs

1. Give DOTS the HP Up item. This adds 10 HP EVs instantly.
2. Give DOTS the Exp. Share so it gains EVs from battles even if it doesn't fight.
3. Put a different, stronger Pokémon in your lead slot.
4. Defeat 7 Whismur (or Wurmple). Each one gives 1 HP EV. That brings you to 17 HP EVs total (10 from HP Up + 7 from Whismur).
   • Whismur are found in Rusturf Tunnel (east of Rustboro City).
5. Then defeat 6 Poochyena or 6 Shuppet. Each one gives 1 Attack EV. That gives you your 6 Attack EVs.
   • Poochyena appear on Route 101, 102, 103 (early routes near Oldale).
   • Shuppet appear on Route 121 or Mt. Pyre (after you unlock that area).

Important rules

• This will not work if DOTS has Pokérus. Pokérus doubles EV gains and will give you too many.
• Do not use Macho Brace. Same problem.
• Do not fight any random encounters with DOTS as lead. Use Exp. Share only.
• Count carefully. If you lose track, reset to your last save and start over.
• Do not gain any extra levels carelessly — though level changes don't affect EVs directly, staying focused prevents mistakes.

Once trained, clone the trained DOTS. You now have:

• The untouched DOTS backup
• Multiple copies of the trained DOTS (you'll use these for the corruption layout)

---

Step 5: Strip PLUSES Down to Growl Only

Take a copy of PLUSES to the Move Deleter in Lilycove City (he's in a house in the top-left area of town, near the Move Reminder).

Have him delete every move except Growl. PLUSES should know only Growl when you're done.

Clone this stripped PLUSES. You'll need multiple copies.

---

Step 6: Prepare Your PC Boxes

Before doing the corruption, you need clean boxes.

• Empty Box 1 completely.
• Empty Box 2 completely.
• Move your DOTS and PLUSES backups to Box 3 or higher — anywhere that is clearly away from Boxes 1 and 2.
• Make sure Box 10, Slot 19 is empty. This is Row 4, Column 1 of Box 10. The stable ACE species will be created here later.
• Make sure Boxes 12, 13, and 14 are empty.
• Make sure the last row of Box 11 (Row 5) is empty.

Label your boxes clearly if possible. You will be managing a lot of Pokémon across this process.

---

Step 7: Arrange the Corruption Layout in Box 2

You need to fill Box 2 with alternating copies of trained DOTS and Growl-only PLUSES, in a specific pattern.

The pattern in Box 2 should be:

DOTS – PLUSES – DOTS – PLUSES – DOTS – PLUSES ...

Fill as many slots as you can this way — aim for at least 3 full rows (18 Pokémon). They must alternate strictly. Do not put anything else in Box 2.

Leave Box 1 empty for now.

---

Step 8: Set Up the Pomeg Glitch Party

The Pomeg glitch requires a specific party state. Here's what you need in your party before starting:

1. Lead Pokémon at exactly 1 HP. Weaken it however you like, then use a Pokémon Center to heal it, then use the Pomeg Berry on it to reduce it to 1 HP. (The Pomeg Berry lowers HP EVs, and in a specific state this causes the HP display to go into negative territory, creating an invalid fainted state.)

   • Actually: just get a Pokémon to 1 HP through battle. Then make sure it has been EV trained in HP enough that the Pomeg Berry will push its current HP to 0/0 or below — it needs to appear fainted while the game still thinks it's alive.
   • The simplest approach: use a Pokémon that already has 0 HP EVs and 1 HP remaining. Using the Pomeg Berry on a Pokémon with 0 HP EVs actually subtracts EVs into negative (a game bug), instantly crashing the HP to 0.

2. A fainted Pokémon in slot 2. This should ideally know Fly.

3. A spare living Pokémon in slot 3 (anything that can survive a battle).

---

Step 9: Perform Glitzer Popping

This is the actual corruption step. Follow each sub-step carefully.

1. Start a wild Pokémon battle with your 1 HP lead Pokémon.
2. Switch to your spare Pokémon.
3. End the battle (run away or win).
4. Open your PC and deposit the spare Pokémon into a box (not Box 1 or 2).
5. Go back to your party. Use the Pomeg Berry on your 1 HP Pokémon.
   • If done correctly, your party now has no usable Pokémon — the lead has fainted, slot 2 was already fainted, and the spare is in the PC.
   • Normally the game would prevent you from entering battle in this state. The Pomeg glitch bypasses this check.
6. Walk into the tall grass in Oldale Town.
7. A wild battle starts. A glitch Pokémon (called a Decamark — it looks like a question mark or scrambled sprite) should appear.
8. Open your party menu during the battle.
9. View the summary of the second Pokémon (the fainted one in slot 2).
10. Exit the summary. Then scroll upward briefly past the top of the party list.
    • You are briefly entering the area of memory above your party. This is what corrupts Box 2.
    • Do not hold up for a long time. A brief scroll upward is enough.
11. Exit the menu. End the battle (you'll white out since you have no usable Pokémon). You'll be sent to the last Pokémon Center you visited.

---

Step 10: Check Box 2 for the 0x0611 Egg

After whiting out, go to the PC and check Box 2.

You are looking for a specific egg. The correct egg is:

• An Egg
• In a Nest Ball (green with a wavy pattern)
• Named DOTS (when you look at its summary or nickname)
• That says it is close to hatching — it will say something like "It's making sounds inside!"

If you find this egg, save immediately.

If instead you see:

• No egg at all → Reset to your Oldale save and try again
• An egg in a Premier Ball, Timer Ball, or Repeat Ball → Wrong egg, reset
• A bunch of Bad Eggs and nothing useful → Reset
• An egg that hatches into a regular Seedot → Wrong egg, reset

The correct egg is species 0x0611 and it becomes your ACE trigger. It looks like a normal egg but contains scrambled data that makes the game execute your box names as code when it hatches.

Once you have it, clone it several times. Keep the clones in a clearly labeled box. This egg is the key to everything that follows.

---

Step 11: Clean Up Box 2

After getting the egg, Box 2 probably has Bad Eggs and corrupted garbage in it. Clean this up before proceeding.

• Use PC multi-select mode to grab groups of Bad Eggs and move them out.
• For Bad Eggs that seem invisible or can't be moved normally, you can remove them using the reverse cloning trick: enter the Battle Tower cloning process, but instead of turning off during the save prompt, let the save complete. This will overwrite the "before" state with the "after" state, effectively deleting the pre-clone version.
• Repeat until Box 2 is clean.

---

Step 12: Enter the Stable ACE Species Payload (Box Names)

Now you'll use one of your 0x0611 eggs to create a stable ACE species — a glitch Pokémon you can use to trigger ACE at any time by just viewing its summary, without needing to hatch a dangerous egg every time.

For English Emerald, the stable species is 0x410E.

Before entering any box names, confirm:

• Box 10, Slot 19 (Row 4, Column 1) is empty
• Boxes 12, 13, and 14 are empty
• The last row of Box 11 is empty

Now rename your PC boxes to exactly these names. These names are the program. Every character, space, and symbol matters exactly.

English (0x410E) Stable ACE Species — Box Names

Box  1: p.UnPTDn
Box  2:  Rn–BUnP    ← that's a SPACE before the R, and an EN DASH (–) not a hyphen (-)
Box  3: 9q/wQmBR
Box  4: oBURn
Box  5: /FPmDFPm
Box  6: BToDYJm2
Box  7: !n

Notes on entering these names:

• The en dash (–) in Box 2 is a special character. In the in-game naming screen, it is in the special symbols section. It is longer than a regular hyphen. Do not use a regular hyphen or minus sign.
• The space at the start of Box 2 is a real space character. It is the first character of that box name.
• Box 7 is only two characters: exclamation mark and lowercase n.
• Leave Boxes 8 through 14 with their default names or rename them to a single space (blank). They should not contain anything meaningful.
• Old emulator note: If you're on an older emulator (not mGBA), replace the P in Box 2 with Q, and replace the / in Box 3 with B.

After entering the box names:

1. Put a cloned 0x0611 egg in your party.
2. Walk around until it hatches.
3. When it hatches, the game will try to show you the Pokémon. Do not try to nickname it — just exit. Your sprite may disappear. This is normal.
4. You'll be returned to the last Pokémon Center.

Go to Box 10, Slot 19. A glitch Pokémon should be there — it may look like a Decamark or have a scrambled appearance. That is your stable 0x410E ACE species.

Save your game.

From this point forward, to trigger ACE you just:

1. Put 0x410E in your party.
2. Enter the payload as box names.
3. View 0x410E's summary.

---

Step 13: Unlock the Old Sea Map (Faraway Island)

This payload unlocks the Old Sea Map event, which lets you sail to Faraway Island.

You must execute this code while standing inside the Mauville City Pokémon Center.

Steps

1. Fly to Mauville City.
2. Enter the Pokémon Center.
3. Save your game inside the Pokémon Center.
4. Go to your PC and rename the boxes to the following:

English — Unlock Navel Rock / Old Sea Map Payload

The Old Sea Map payload for English Emerald:

Box  1: BBUn/…Qn    ← that's an ELLIPSIS (…) not three periods
Box  2: AAAzODn     ← capital letter O, not zero
Box  3: AA.OBn      ← capital letter O
Box  4: A9SBn
Box  5: 3FBn N!q    ← space before N
Box  6: RToDYJm?
Box  7: Bn

Notes:

• The ellipsis (…) is a single special character available in the in-game naming screen's symbol section. It is one character, not three periods typed in a row.
• The letter O in Boxes 2 and 3 is the capital letter O, not the number zero (0).
• Box 5 has a space before the N.

5. Put 0x410E in your party.
6. View 0x410E's summary to execute the payload.
7. After execution, talk to the delivery man standing near the top-left of the Pokémon Center.
8. He should give you a Mystery Gift item or activate the Faraway Island event state.

If nothing happens, double-check every character in every box name. A single wrong character means the payload does nothing or crashes.

---

Step 14: Sail to Faraway Island

With the Old Sea Map event active:

1. Fly to Lilycove City.
2. Go to the Lilycove Harbor (the dock area on the right side of the city).
3. Talk to the S.S. Tidal attendant.
4. The game should now offer Faraway Island as a destination.
5. Board the ship.

When you arrive, you're no longer doing glitch work. Faraway Island is a normal game area. Walk around and explore.

---

Step 15: Catch Mew

Mew runs through the tall grass on Faraway Island. It does not wait for you — you need to chase it down and get it to stop moving before the battle begins.

Make sure your party is set up properly before entering the island:

• Have a Pokémon with False Swipe ready (False Swipe can only bring a Pokémon to 1 HP, not knock it out — this is what you want)
• Have a Pokémon that can use Spore, Sleep Powder, Thunder Wave, or another status move
• Bring at least 20 Ultra Balls
• Do not bring Pokémon with moves that hit multiple times or cause fainting

In battle

1. Use False Swipe to get Mew to 1 HP.
2. Put Mew to sleep or paralyze it.
3. Throw Ultra Balls.

Mew is level 30. It has Pound and Transform initially. It is not particularly hard to catch once weakened and statused.

After catching Mew: save your game immediately.

Then clone Mew before doing anything else. Use the Battle Tower cloning method from Step 3. Keep one untouched copy in a safe box labeled "MEW ORIGINAL" or similar.

---

Step 16: Make Mew Shiny

Now you'll use the stable ACE species to make the caught Mew shiny. This payload modifies the Pokémon data directly in Box 10, Slot 19.

Setup

1. Move 0x410E (the stable ACE species) out of Box 10, Slot 19 and into your party.
2. Put the Mew clone (not your original backup) into Box 10, Slot 19.
3. Save your game.

Enter the Shiny Payload

Rename your PC boxes to exactly these names:

Box  1: 5.Unh09n    ← that's a zero (0), not a letter O
Box  2: SDnTz.s
Box  3: AA  /n      ← two spaces between AA and /
Box  4: AEQBn
Box  5: EQBn5FBn    ← English version
Box  6: E.o mEn3    ← space before m
Box  7: QoTzCs
Box  8: A  Pn       ← two spaces between A and P
Box  9: TD/sTB9s
Box 10: E.oDYJm3
Box 11: Qo

Notes:

• Box 1 uses a zero (0), not the letter O.
• Box 3 has two spaces between AA and /n.
• Box 5 is the English version. If you're using a different language Emerald, see language variants below.
• Box 6 has a space between o and m.
• Box 8 has two spaces between A and P.
• Old emulator note: In Box 1, replace h with p.

Box 5 by language:

• English and French: EQBn5FBn
• Italian and German: EQBn9FBn
• Spanish: EQBn1FBn

This code requires a BIOS. If you're playing on a real cartridge, you already have this. If you're on emulator, you need to provide mGBA with a real GBA BIOS file. Without a BIOS, this specific payload does not work.

Execute

1. View 0x410E's summary to trigger ACE.
2. Go to Box 10, Slot 19 and check the Mew.
3. If the payload worked, Mew should now have a different sprite color (shiny). View its summary — it should show the sparkle animation.

If it worked: move Mew somewhere safe and save twice because you're paranoid (as you should be).

---

After You're Done

What to keep

Keep these things in clearly labeled boxes:

• Original untouched Mew (pre-shiny, clean backup)
• Shiny Mew (your goal)
• 0x410E stable ACE species (useful for future payloads)
• At least 2 cloned 0x0611 eggs (in case you need to redo anything)

Clean up your box names

After the shiny payload is done, rename your boxes back to normal names. Leaving active payloads as box names is not dangerous on its own, but it's confusing and you might accidentally re-trigger something.

Move 0x410E back to Box 10, Slot 19

That's its home. Keep Slots 9 and 10 of Box 12 empty whenever it's there.

---

Troubleshooting

The 0x0611 egg won't appear. Reset to your Oldale save and repeat the Glitzer Popping step. This usually requires multiple attempts. The layout in Box 2 (alternating DOTS/PLUSES) needs to be exact.

The stable ACE species didn't appear in Box 10, Slot 19. Check that the slot was empty before executing. Check that Boxes 12–14 and the last row of Box 11 were empty. Check every character in every box name.

ACE triggered but nothing happened (Old Sea Map not unlocked). You're probably not inside the Mauville Pokémon Center. The Old Sea Map payload is location-specific. Exit, re-enter the Pokémon Center, and try again.

Mew won't turn shiny. Check that you're on an accurate emulator with a real BIOS file. Check that Mew was in Box 10, Slot 19 (not somewhere else). Check every character in every box name, especially zeros vs. O's and spaces.

The game crashed during ACE. Reload from your last save. Check Box 12 Slots 9 and 10 — if they contain anything, remove it. The 0x410E species is sensitive to those slots.

A "bad" glitch Pokémon appeared in my party after ACE. This is normal. Set it as your party lead, go to the PC, select Deposit Pokémon, highlight it, and choose Release. Then enter any wild battle and run away to clear any sprite corruption.

---

Sources and Credits

The underlying glitch research was done by the Pokémon ACE community. This guide documents their work.

• Mettrich / claydolwithexplosion — Stable ACE species codes, "Make any Pokémon shiny" payload, and the comprehensive Pokémon Emerald ACE gist where the payloads in this guide come from.
• E-Sh4rk — ACE3 documentation and the Code Generator tool. Full guides at e-sh4rk.github.io/ACE3.
• Rileyk64 — 0x0611 DOTS/PLUSES setup documentation (PDF): Obtaining 0x0611
• Sleipnir17 — Original assembly work underlying many of these payloads.
• merrp — Discovered practical ACE in Pokémon Emerald.

All box name payloads in this guide are sourced from the claydolwithexplosion Pokémon Emerald ACE gist, last updated April 2026.