Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are the three Legendary Birds that are in Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen. Articuno is an Ice-type Pokémon Bird that can be found in Seafoam Islands on Route 20. Zapdos is an Electric-type Pokémon Bird that can be found in the Power Plant located at the bottom of the Rock Tunnel entrance. Moltres is a Fire-type Bird Pokémon that can be found above Mt. Bucket on One Island. These are powerful wild Pokémon, so make sure you bring at least 30 Ultra Balls with you.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Getting Articuno
Step 1. Find Articuno in Seafoam Islands
Articuno is a Legendary Ice-type Bird Pokémon and it is the strongest of the three Pokémon. Fly into Fuchsia City and head down on Route 19 by surfing. After that, head left on Route 20 to reach Seafoam Islands. Enter the island. You have to go through a maze filled with ice and cascades to find Articuno.
You need a Pokémon that has Strength and Surf to find Articuno. On the island you will face moving stone puzzles that must be solved
Step 2. Get ready
Bring some Repels to avoid wild Pokémon. Make sure you have at least 30 Ultra Balls as Articuno is a powerful Pokémon. If you run out of Ultra Balls in the middle of a fight, you may not be able to catch Articuno.
Save game data (Save) before the fight. Once you find Articuno, make sure you've saved your game data before trying to capture it, so you can try again if you fail
Step 3. Consider adding Seel or Dewgong to the party
Seel and Dewgong take 1/8 attack from Ice-type moves, and Ice Beam is the only attack Articuno has. Try catching a Seel in the cave while on his way to Articuno's location.
Give Seel or Dewgong Leftovers items to make the fight easier. This item allows Pokémon to slowly recover HP while the battle is in progress. Find Leftovers on Route 12 and Route 16. They are hidden under where Snorlax sleeps
Step 4. Catch Articuno
The most effective way to catch this Pokémon is to make its Health red and then give it a Status Condition. Freeze and Sleep are the best Status Conditions. However, Paralyze may be able to help defeat Articuno more easily because the status condition will not disappear. Keep throwing Ultra Balls until you get them. Make sure not to hurt the Pokémon until it Faints before you catch it.
Avoid using Status Conditions such as Poison and Burn which slowly injure the Pokémon. This is very risky because there is a chance that you will faint before you catch him
Method 2 of 3: Getting Zapdos
Step 1. Find Zapdos in the Power Plant
Zapdos is the second elusive Bird-type Legendary Pokémon. In addition, getting to where the Pokémon is is also not easy. After getting HM Surf in the Safari Zone, fly to the entrance of the Rock Tunnel and make your way to the grass area. After that, pass through the open gate and surf to the Power Plant. Enter the Power Plant and explore the area by following the counter-clockwise direction to find Zapdos.
You'll find Zapdos by looking for Bird-type Pokémon that are standing halfway outside the battle screen
Step 2. Get ready to fight
Make sure you buy at least 35 Ultra Balls and consider using Master Balls if you really want Zapdos. Bring some Repels to make your journey to the Power Plant easier as you'll find lots of powerful Electric-type Pokémon.
Step 3. Bring a Pokémon that can withstand Drill Peck's attack
Drill Peck is the only attack Zapdos uses, so a Pokémon that can withstand that attack will make combat easier. Geodude and Graveler are great for this battle because they can withstand Flying-type moves, have strong Defense, and are immune to Thunder Wave attacks. Avoid using both Pokémon when exploring Power Plants and save them against Zapdos.
- Give Pokémon Leftovers so it can recover HP in the middle of a fight.
- Tell Geodude or Graveler to use Defense Curl several times. The move will increase his resistance even more.
Step 4. Catch Zapdos
This fight will be hard to win, but you can definitely catch Zapdos. Once you find this Legendary Pokémon, make sure you save your game data before fighting it. In battle, attack the Pokémon until its Health turns red. After that, give Status Condition attacks such as Sleep, Paralyze, or Freeze. Once the Pokémon is weak, keep throwing Ultra Balls until you catch it.
Save game data after finishing the battle. Surely you don't want the hard work of getting Zapdos to go to waste
Method 3 of 3: Getting Moltres
Step 1. Find Moltres above Mt
Bucket. Moltres is the easiest Bird-type Legendary Pokémon to catch. However, you will spend a lot of time trying to find it and many obstacles to overcome. Make sure you beat the seventh Gym on Cinnabar Island and get Bill's Tri-Pass. Find your way to One Island (in the Sevii Islands) and head up Mt. Bucket. In order to get past the obstacles that appear on your way, you'll need to bring along a Pokémon that has control over Surf, Strength, and Rock Smash.
- Moltres is the only Bird-type Legendary Pokémon located in a different place from the Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue games. In Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue, you can find Moltres along the Victory Road area.
- Surf, Strength, and Rock Smash are HMs. You can only teach certain Pokémon to use the HM. Learn how to get all these HMs if you don't already have them.
Step 2. Get ready
Make sure you have at least 30 Ultra Balls. Also, bring along Max Repel as the journey to catching Moltres is very long and you will encounter many powerful Pokémon along the way.
Step 3. Bring a Pokémon that has Flash Fire. This ability makes your Pokémon immune to two of Moltres' attacks, making the battle easier to win and Moltres not being able to harm your Pokémon at all.
Vulpix and Ponyta have Flash Fire. You can catch Ponyta outside Mt. The bucket in which Moltres was found. Ponyta's HP will not decrease when attacked by Moltres during the fight so it won't be a problem if Ponyta's HP and level are not too large
Step 4. Catch Moltres
Make sure you have saved the game data before fighting. The best way to catch this Pokémon is to turn its Health red and apply a Status Condition such as Freeze, Sleep, or Paralyze. Once Moltres becomes weak, keep throwing Ultra Balls until he is caught.
Tips
- You'll need the following HMs to get this Legendary Pokémon: Rock Smash, Strength, and Surf.
- If the Pokémon faints before you catch it, turn it off and then restart the game, and try again. That's why you should save game data before fighting it.
- Zapdos' Thunder Wave can inflict Status Condition Paralyze on Pokémon. Moltres's flamethrower can cause Status Condition Burn. Articuno's Ice Beam can inflict Status Condition Freeze on Pokémon.
- You'll be very upset if you fail to catch the Pokémon the first time, but it will definitely catch on in the end. Catching these Pokémon takes time as well as patience.
- Don't be afraid to use the Master Ball. Just make sure that you really want this Pokémon over any other Pokémon.
Warning
- Do not use attacks that inflict Status Condition Poison or Burn on the Pokémon. This attack can knock this Legendary Pokémon out before you catch it.
- Be careful with the Thunderwave attack from Zapdos because it can cause Paralysis.
- Be careful with Moltres' Flamethrower attack as it can burn Pokémon.
- Be careful with Articuno's Ice Beam attacks as they can freeze Pokémon.
- Always save game data before fighting Legendary Pokémon. If you turn off the game in annoyance, you will lose all game data that has not been saved. Also, saving game data gives you the opportunity to retry catching that Pokémon if it fails the first try. Make sure you save your game data after catching the Pokémon, so your hard work won't be lost.
- Using Gameshark to fraudulently catch Pokémon can be spotted by others in the competition. Use Gameshark if you don't want to enter the competition.
