在Game Boy平台的《精靈寶可夢》初代作品（紅／綠／藍／黃）中，超夢與夢幻常常被一起提起，但從設計理念與遊戲結構來看，兩者其實代表完全不同層次的「隱藏性」。表面上看來，超夢是最強、最神秘的存在，但若嚴格從「是否被設計成可透過正常遊戲流程取得」這個角度來分析，真正符合「隱藏角色」定義的，其實是夢幻。

超夢在初代遊戲中的定位非常明確。牠被塑造成故事最終的傳說寶可夢，也是對玩家實力的一次終極考驗。必須完成道館挑戰、擊敗四天王，並在遊戲後期深入第二道館內的哈那答市洞窟(第24道路)，才有機會與牠正面對決，對戰時不能使用麻痺或是燒傷否則無法進行催眠。這個過程雖然困難，但在設計上是完整的，超夢也清楚地被編列在151隻寶可夢圖鑑之中，有正式編號、有完整資料，從遊戲角度來說只是「難以取得」，而非「不可取得」。換言之，超夢是刻意留給高階玩家的最終目標，而不是秘密。

夢幻的情況則完全不同。牠在遊戲資料中確實存在，但在設計初期並沒有被規劃為能透過正常流程捕捉的寶可夢。當年日本官方的宣傳資料與廣告，明確只標榜「150 隻寶可夢」，刻意不提夢幻的存在，這讓牠在玩家之間成一種都市傳說般的存在。夢幻更像是一個被藏在程式深處的「影子角色」，只留下最基本的數據與編號，卻沒有配置正常的出現條件或劇情觸發點。

正因如此，夢幻在初代作品中並不存在任何正規的取得方式。玩家之所以能在遊戲中遇見牠，完全仰賴於後來被發現的程式漏洞，其中最著名的便是所謂的「訓練家－飛天漏洞」。這類漏洞的本質，是利用遊戲在讀取訓練家視線、戰鬥狀態與地圖切換時的記憶錯位，讓系統錯誤地生成一場原本不該存在的野生寶可夢戰鬥，而這個戰鬥對象，恰好會指向夢幻的內部編號。

在實際操作上，需要刻意保留某些訓練家尚未對戰(例如在24號道路上)，並在進入其視線的瞬間，利用飛天或類似方式強制離開地圖，破壞遊戲對「戰鬥是否已被觸發」的判定。之後再回到特定地點，系統會嘗試補完一場未完成的戰鬥，卻錯誤地將其轉換為野生寶可夢事件。由於夢幻在資料表中佔有編號，卻沒有正常的出現邏輯，最終就被漏洞「叫」出來。對當年的玩家而言，這種過程充滿神秘感，也強化夢幻作為傳說中祕密寶可夢的地位。

值得注意的是，這並非開發者在設計時刻意安排的正式彩蛋，而更像是一個未被完全清理的殘留資料。初代寶可夢的開發環境相當有限，卡匣容量緊繃，許多內容都是在極限下完成。夢幻很可能是在開發後期被保留下來作為宣傳或活動用角色，卻沒有時間或空間為其建立完整的遊戲內取得機制，最終成為一個介於「存在」與「未完成」之間的特殊例外。

也正因為這樣的背景，夢幻在玩家社群中引發前所未有的探索熱潮。孩子們在校園裡交換傳聞，雜誌與攻略本充斥著真假難辨的方法，而真正透過漏洞捕捉成功的玩家，往往被視為掌握某種禁忌知識。這種由程式缺陷意外催生的神秘性，反而成為寶可夢系列早期文化中最具代表性的現象之一。

總結來說，超夢是被明確設計為遊戲最終挑戰的傳說寶可夢，牠強大、稀有，但終究屬於正常遊戲結構的一部分；夢幻則是那個「原本沒有被設計成可透過正常方式捕捉」的角色，只能藉由程式漏洞或後來官方活動才能取得。從設計意圖與玩家體驗的角度來看，夢幻才是真正意義上的初代「隱藏角色」，也是寶可夢歷史上最經典的一段傳奇。

In the original first-generation Pokémon games on the Game Boy platform (Red / Green / Blue / Yellow), Mewtwo and Mew are often mentioned together. However, from the perspectives of design philosophy and game structure, they actually represent two completely different levels of “hiddenness.” On the surface, Mewtwo appears to be the strongest and most mysterious existence, but if we strictly examine whether a Pokémon was designed to be obtainable through normal gameplay, the one that truly fits the definition of a “hidden character” is Mew.

Mewtwo’s role in the first-generation games is very clearly defined. It was crafted as the ultimate legendary Pokémon within the story and serves as the final test of the player’s abilities. To face it, players must clear all Gym challenges, defeat the Elite Four, and then, in the late game, venture deep into the cave located beyond the second Gym area—Cerulean Cave near Route 24—to confront it directly. During the battle, certain status conditions such as paralysis or burn prevent the use of hypnosis strategies, further emphasizing the challenge. Although this encounter is difficult, it is complete and intentional in its design. Mewtwo is clearly listed among the 151 Pokémon in the Pokédex, with an official number and full data. From a gameplay perspective, it is merely “difficult to obtain,” not “impossible to obtain.” In other words, Mewtwo was deliberately left as an ultimate goal for advanced players, rather than a secret.

Mew’s situation is entirely different. While it undeniably exists within the game’s data, it was never planned during the initial design phase to be a Pokémon that could be captured through normal gameplay. At the time, official Japanese promotional materials and advertisements explicitly claimed that there were only “150 Pokémon,” deliberately omitting any mention of Mew. This omission turned Mew into something akin to an urban legend among players. It was more like a “shadow character” hidden deep within the program—retaining only the most basic data and an index number, yet lacking any legitimate encounter conditions or narrative trigger.

For this reason, there was no official method to obtain Mew in the original games. Players were only able to encounter it later through the discovery of programming exploits, the most famous being the so-called “Trainer–Fly Glitch.” The essence of these glitches lies in exploiting memory inconsistencies that occur when the game processes trainer line-of-sight detection, battle states, and map transitions. As a result, the system mistakenly generates a wild Pokémon battle that should never exist, and the target of that battle happens to point to Mew’s internal index number.

In practical terms, players must deliberately leave certain trainers undefeated—for example, trainers along Route 24—and, at the exact moment of entering a trainer’s line of sight, forcibly leave the map using Fly or a similar method. This disrupts the game’s determination of whether a battle has been triggered. When the player later returns to a specific location, the system attempts to resolve an unfinished battle, but incorrectly converts it into a wild Pokémon encounter. Because Mew occupies a valid slot in the data table yet lacks a proper appearance logic, it is ultimately “summoned” by the glitch. For players at the time, this process felt deeply mysterious and further reinforced Mew’s status as a legendary secret Pokémon.

It is important to note that this was not an intentional Easter egg deliberately placed by the developers. Rather, it was more likely leftover data that was never fully removed. The development environment for the first-generation Pokémon games was extremely constrained, with cartridge memory pushed to its limits. Mew was probably preserved late in development for promotional or event-related purposes, but there was neither sufficient time nor space to implement a complete in-game acquisition method. As a result, Mew became a unique anomaly—something that existed, yet remained unfinished.

This background sparked an unprecedented wave of exploration within the player community. Children exchanged rumors on school grounds, magazines and strategy guides were filled with methods of uncertain authenticity, and players who successfully captured Mew through glitches were often regarded as possessing forbidden knowledge. Ironically, this sense of mystery, unintentionally created by programming flaws, became one of the most iconic cultural phenomena of the Pokémon series’ early history.

In conclusion, Mewtwo is a legendary Pokémon explicitly designed as the game’s final challenge—powerful and rare, but firmly embedded within the normal structure of the game. Mew, on the other hand, is the Pokémon that was never intended to be obtained through normal means, accessible only through glitches or later official events. From both a design-intent and player-experience perspective, Mew is the true “hidden character” of the first-generation Pokémon games, and one of the most enduring legends in Pokémon history.