Legendary birds

Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres

Legendary birds is the collective term used to refer to the trio of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. In the games, they are also known as the winged mirages.

Being the first legendary trio, they set the standards for future trios; that is, they all share similar attributes and—in the case of just most of the future trios—are considered equal among themselves. Like the other trios later would, the legendary birds share a master in Lugia (in the anime, at least), as well share two common traits: their Template:Type2 and their ability, Pressure.

Their coloration is reminiscent of the first three Pokémon games the global audience got, Red, Blue, and Yellow, and their primary types influenced those of the next known trio, the legendary beasts.

The birds are not present in the Generation II games but can be transferred over from the Generation I games using the Time Capsule.

In Pokémon Emerald, if one challenges Pyramid King Brandon for the Gold Brave Symbol, he has the legendary birds in his possession.

In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon each of them guard a mountain, Zapdos has Mt. Thunder, Moltres has Mt. Blaze, Articuno has Frosty Grotto. Once the player recruits all three, talk to Alakazam and go to their friend area, Legendary Island and they will give the player access to their trio master Lugia's domain, Silver Trench.

In Pokémon Platinum, these birds begin to fly around Sinnoh once the player has talked to Professor Oak in Eterna City after the Elite Four has been beaten.

The Legendary Birds are present in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Articuno and Zapdos can be found in Kanto in the same locations as the Generation I games and FireRed and LeafGreen, while Moltres can be found in Mt. Silver.

Similar movesets

Lv.	Articuno  Ice  Flying	Zapdos  Electric  Flying	Moltres  Fire  Flying
Start	Gust	Peck	Wing Attack
	Powder Snow	ThunderShock	Ember
8	Mist	Thunder Wave	Fire Spin
15	Ice Shard	Detect	Agility
22	Mind Reader	Pluck	Endure
29	AncientPower
36	Agility	Charge	Flamethrower
43	Ice Beam	Agility	Safeguard
50	Reflect	Discharge	Air Slash
57	Roost
64	Tailwind	Light Screen	Heat Wave
71	Blizzard	Drill Peck	SolarBeam
78	Sheer Cold	Thunder	Sky Attack
85	Hail	Rain Dance	Sunny Day
Moves in bold are STAB. Moves in italics do no damage.

In the games

Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow

In Generation I, the legendary birds are scattered around the Kanto region in different location according to their type. Articuno is located deep within the Seafoam Islands.

The second legendary bird is Zapdos, located within the Power Plant. The Power Plant is located before east from Cerulean towards Rock Tunnel.

The third legendary bird is Moltres, located within the Victory Road. Victory Road has three floors, Moltres is located on the second floor. To reach the other end of the tunnel, a series of puzzles involving using Strength to move boulders need to be solved. The player is to go up to the bird to start a battle with Moltres, the third and final legendary bird.

• 

  Articuno

• 

  Zapdos

• 

  Moltres

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

In Generation III, the legendary birds are also scattered around the Kanto region and the Sevii Islands in different location according to their type. Articuno and Zapdos are located in the same place of Seafoam Island and the Power Plant, however Moltres has been relocated to Mt. Ember instead of Victory Road.

Articuno is located deep within the Seafoam Islands. The caves beneath the islands are full of twists and turns and have five separate floors. To complete the trek through them, a series of puzzles involving using Strength to move boulders to block the flow of water need to be solved. The Seafoam Islands is the only known roost of the Legendary Pokémon, Articuno. It's located on the very lowest floor of the caverns under the islands.

It is located on Route 10, although to reach it, a Pokémon must Surf along a river which can only be accessed on Route 9. Many of the item capsules littering the Power Plant are actually camouflaged Voltorb or Electrode, so treasure seekers should be wary. The Power Plant is the only known roost of the legendary Pokémon, Zapdos.

Mt. Ember can be traversed as soon as the player has arrived in the Sevii Islands, provided the required HMs have been taught. Further up the hill, Rock Smash and Strength allow access to a network of caves which lead to the legendary bird, Moltres.

• Articunoseafoam.png

  Articuno

• ZapdosPowerplant.png

  Zapdos

• MoltresMtEmber.png

  Moltres

Pokémon Platinum

In Pokémon Platinum, the three legendary birds are all obtainable. Once the National Dex has been obtained and the player has been to Pal Park to see Professor Oak. By visiting him in Eterna City, Professor Oak will tell you about the birds and how they've been spotted in the Sinnoh region. The legendary birds then appear as roaming Pokémon, that instead of remaining in one place as a special event, run around the region they appear in, seemingly at random. The legendary birds can be seen on the marking map in the Pokétch after they begin roaming.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

The Legendary Birds are present in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Articuno and Zapdos can be found in Kanto in the same locations as the Generation I games and FireRed and LeafGreen, while Moltres can be found in Mt. Silver. In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the legendary birds are scattered around the Kanto region in different location according to their type just like Generation I. Articuno is located deep within the Seafoam Islands, exactly like Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.

The second legendary bird is Zapdos, located near the Power Plant. However, unlike previous generations, Zapdos is now located outside the Power Plant instead of inside, possibly due to the plant being restored and refurbished.

The third legendary bird is Moltres, located in an entire different place. Moltres will be found within the Mt. Silver, on Johto, next to the boundaries of Kanto.

In the anime

The legendary birds appear in the second Pokémon movie, The Power of One. Articuno, as depicted in an ancient legend, is the titan of ice. Lawrence III was trying to capture the three legendary birds to bring out Lugia. Articuno was the only bird he didn't capture, but after Moltres and Zapdos burst out of captivity the three legendary birds started a huge fight. When Lugia came up from the sea, Articuno worked with the other birds to put Lugia back where it came from. Later, Lugia rose again and none of the birds seemed to notice at first.

Zapdos, as depicted in an ancient legend, is the titan of lightning. Lawrence III was trying to capture the three legendary birds in order to lure out Lugia. After Moltres was captured, Zapdos claimed its island as its own territory (which implies that the weather disruptions, while started by Lawrence III, were mainly caused by the territorial disputes between the legendary birds). Lawrence captured Zapdos along with Ash, Misty, Tracey, Melody, Jessie, James, and Meowth. Zapdos was freed by Moltres and the two birds burst out of the palace.

Moltres, as depicted in an ancient legend, is the titan of fire. Lawrence III revealed that that he was trying to capture the three legendary birds to bring out Lugia. Lawrence set out to get Moltres first. He bombed its island with ice bombs until Moltres got furious and flew away from its island to attack Lawrence. However, he captured Moltres and brought it aboard his flying ship.

Trivia

• In Generation I, the legendary birds all had different base stat totals - Articuno's was 485, Zapdos' was 490, and Moltres' was 495. Since Generation II, when the Special split occurred, all three legendary birds have had an equal base stat total of 580.
• Starting with Platinum, they are also the only legendary trio to be both stationary and roaming as wild Pokémon in the various games in which they appear. However, both the lake guardians and legendary beasts had at least one Pokémon out of the three roaming at some point.
  • Platinum is also the first time that Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres became roaming Pokémon.
• Though their battle theme in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen is a remix of the normal Kanto wild battle theme specific to themselves, they have never had a battle theme composed specifically for them, unlike the other normal trios.
• The ending of each of their names is a number in the Spanish language (one (uno), two (dos), and three (tres)), and reflects their National Pokédex order as well as the order in which they are likely to be encountered in the games.
• Also, Articuno's name starts with A, which is the first letter of the alphabet, Moltres's name starts with M, which is in the middle, and Zapdos's name starts with Z, the last letter of the alphabet.
• If Sinnoh-roaming isn't counted, Moltres is the only one of the trio to change location, and it does so twice.