How to Catch the 3 Legendary Birds in FireRed and LeafGreen

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Add mystical birds to your Pokédex with these helpful FireRed and LeafGreen walkthroughs

Co-authored by Janice Tieperman Reviewed by Ishrak

Last Updated: February 16, 2024 Fact Checked

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Articuno

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Moltres

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Zapdos

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Video

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Q&A

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Tips

You’re making great progress on your Pokédex, but you haven’t gotten a chance to nab Moltres, Zapdos, or Articuno yet. Thankfully, these Pokémon aren’t as elusive as you may think—you can find Articuno, the ice-type bird, deep within the Seafoam Islands off of Route 20; Moltres, the fire bird, at the top of Mt. Ember, on One Island; and Zapdos, the electric bird, at the Power Plant downriver from the Rock Tunnel entrance. We’ve assembled everything you need to know in one handy guide, so you can get your hands on these Pokémon in no time (just make sure to bring at least 1 Ultra Ball!).

Things You Should Know

Find Articuno in the Seafoam Islands, Moltres on Mt. Ember, and Zapdos in the Power Plant.
Save your game before you start fighting any of the Legendary Pokémon. That way, you can redo the fight until you’re able to successfully catch them all.
Fight using a Pokémon that can apply a disabling status effect to the Legendary Pokémon, like Sleep or Paralysis. Then, try to catch it using an Ultra Ball.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Articuno

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1
Surf to the Seafoam Islands. Starting from the east coast of Cinnabar Island, use a Pokémon to Surf along Route 20 until you reach a cave entrance with a trainer standing nearby. Head into the entrance of this ice-filled cave—you’re now one step closer to catching Articuno! ^{[1]
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- Prepare to fight a few Pokémon trainers along the way if it’s your first time heading down Route 20. You’ll likely bump into some Water-type Pokémon, too. To save some time, stick a Grass- or Electric-type Pokémon at the head of your team (or a Pokémon with a Grass or Electric move).
- You can also fly to Fuchsia City, surf down Route 19, and then Surf along Route 20 to reach the Seafoam Islands. ^{[2]
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2
Head to the lowest floor of the ice cave by solving the boulder puzzle. Articuno appears on the lowest level of the cave—to get there, use a Pokémon with the Strength HM to push all the cave boulders into the right openings on the floor. After pushing the last boulder, drop down the same opening to reach the lowest floor—you’ll automatically land in the water and use Surf. ^{[3]
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- The boulders help block off the rushing current flowing through the bottom level of the cave, which allows you and your Pokémon to Surf.
- It can take a little bit of trial and error to solve this puzzle. Don’t give up!
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Surf north from where you’ve landed; in no time, at all, you’ll see Articuno (a large, blue bird) sitting on a nearby section of ice. Save your game as soon as you spot the Legendary Pokémon—that way, if anything goes wrong, you can redo the battle. ^{[4]
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4
Get Articuno down to low health and use an Ultra Ball to catch it. Treat this battle as you would any other Pokémon battle—just remember, your goal is to get its down as much as possible without making it faint. To boost your chances of a successful catch, fight Articuno with a Pokémon that can paralyze the Legendary bird or make it fall asleep. ^{[5]
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Research source} Be patient, as it might take a lot of tries before Articuno is finally caught.
- All 3 Legendary birds (including Articuno) spawn at level 50, so make sure your Pokémon are at least level 55 before the battle starts. ^{[6]
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  Research source} Pokémon like Seel and Dewgong may be helpful additions to your party, since their “Thick Fat” passive grants them extra immunity to Ice-type moves. ^{[7]
  X
  Research source} This is especially helpful, considering that Ice Beam is Articuno’s only attacking ability. ^{[8]
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- Make sure that you have plenty of Ultra Balls before you enter the fight, which are 2 times as likely as regular Pokéballs to land a successful catch. You could also use multiple Timer Balls, which have a higher catch rate the more times you use them. ^{[9]
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- A Master Ball has a 100% catch rate, but you can only get one in the game. Choose wisely before you use it! ^{[10]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Moltres

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1
Take the ferry to One Island and surf to Mt. Ember. Starting from the port at Vermilion City, take the ferry up to One Island (part of the Sevii Island chain). Once you’ve arrived on the island, follow Kindle Road, a straight route that takes you directly to the base of Mt. Ember. Use Surf to get across the last ocean section of the road. ^{[11]
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- Be prepared to fight plenty of trainers and wild Pokémon on your way over. ^{[12]
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- Make sure you’ve beaten the 7th Gym on Cinnabar Island first—you’ll need the Volcano Badge from this Gym to get the Tri-Pass, which lets you use the ferry. ^{[13]
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2
Navigate the cave system and reach Mt. Ember’s summit to find Moltres. Work your way up the mountain—you’ll need to fight a few trainers before reaching the cave system that takes you to the summit. Once you make it through the cave, head up the nearby staircases and rearrange the neighboring boulders to find Moltres. ^{[14]
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- Set a Water-type Pokémon at the head of your party before you enter the cave, which makes it easy to clear through any Rock-type Pokémon that you encounter.
3
Use an Ultra Ball to [ Moltres ] after lowering its health. Save your game as soon as you spot Moltres—that way, you can restart the battle later on, if needed. The most successful way to catch this bird is to get its health into the red, and then give it a status condition like Freeze, Sleep, or Paralyze. Once you have weakened Moltres, keep tossing Ultra Balls at the bird until it's caught. ^{[15]
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- Pro tip: Bring along a Pokémon with the Flash Fire ability, which makes your Pokémon immune to Fire-type attacks. Pokémon like Vulpix, Ninetales, Growlithe, and Arcanine can all have this Ability. ^{[16]
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  Research source} Moltres' only two attacking moves are Fire-type so it won't be able to hurt you at all! ^{[17]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Zapdos

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Fly to the Rock Tunnel entrance on Route 10 and walk up to the grass patch. After walking through the open fence, use a Pokémon to Surf down the river until you reach the Power Plant. ^{[18]
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Find Zapdos in the northwest section of the Plant and save your game before fighting it. Work your way around the Power Plant in a counterclockwise direction until you reach the northwest corner. Look for Zapdos, a large yellow bird Pokémon, sitting in the center of the room. ^{[19]
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- Use a Repel when you enter the Power Plant if you’d like to avoid running into any wild Electric-type Pokémon.
3
Lower the Zapdos’s health and try to catch it with an Ultra Ball. This fight will be a struggle, but you can do it! Once you find the legendary bird, make sure to save before you battle it. In the fight, bring the bird's health into red, then inflict it with a weakening status condition like Sleep, Paralyze, or Freeze. Once the bird is weak, keep throwing Ultra Balls until you catch it! ^{[20]
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- Always save after the battle. You don’t want all of your hard work to be lost!
- Pro tip: Battle Zapdos with an Electric-, Rock-, or Steel-type Pokémon, which take less damage from Flying-type moves. ^{[21]
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  Research source} Drill Peck (a Flying-type move) is the only attacking move that Zapdos uses, so a resistant Pokémon on your team will make the fight much easier. A Pokémon like Geodude or Graveler is a great choice, especially if you have it use Defense Curl several times.

Community Q&A

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Question

Can I catch the bird again after I have already made it faint?

Janice Tieperman

Community Answer

You can if you've saved your game before battling the Legendary; otherwise, you won't be able to catch the Pokémon for the rest of the game.

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Question

Is the process for catching Legendaries the same in Pokémon Let's Go?

Janice Tieperman

Community Answer

Partially! Zapdos can still be found in the Power Plant and Articuno can still be found on the Seafoam Islands. The main difference is that Moltres is found on Victory Road rather than on Mt. Ember.

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Question

Where can you get the HM Rock Smash from?

Janice Tieperman

Community Answer

Head to Kindle Road and visit the Ember Spa. In there, you'll find an old man standing between two waterfalls—he'll give you the HM.

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Tips

Make sure that you have the Rock Smash, Strength, and Surf HMs before attempting to catch these Pokémon.

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Don't be afraid to use the Master Ball. Just make sure you want this Pokémon more than any other!

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If the bird dies before you can catch it: just turn off the power, turn it back on, and try again. There was a reason for saving before you fought them, you know!

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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

I'm pretty convinced that the color of your Pokéball matters: Zapdos is easiest to catch with an ultra ball, Articuno with a great ball, and Moltres with a normal one.
Every once in a while, try chucking a regular Pokeball at the birds. There's only a small chance it will work, but it's worked for me before!
Try using a Pokemon that knows False Swipe as well. Use it to lower the bird's HP to 1, making it a bit easier to catch.

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Warnings

Don't use attacks that poison or burn a Pokémon. These moves can make the legendary bird faint before you have the chance to catch it!

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All three Legendaries can potentially give your Pokémon harmful status effects, like paralysis, burning, and freezing.

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Always save right before you challenge a legendary Pokémon. That way, you get the chance to restart and try again if you fail to catch the bird on the first attempt.

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Using a Gameshark to cheat capturing a Pokémon is noticeable in competitions. Only do this if you don't care about entering competitions.

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How to Catch the 3 Legendary Birds in FireRed and LeafGreen

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Articuno

Moltres

Zapdos

Community Q&A

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Tips

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Warnings

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