Legendary birds

The legendary birds (Japanese: 伝説(でんせつ)の鳥(とり)ポケモン legendary bird Pokémon), also known as the winged mirages (Japanese: 幻(まぼろし)の翼(つばさ) phantom wings), are a Legendary trio consisting of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. In the Crown Tundra, their Galarian forms are also known as the legendary wings.

File:LGPE Legendary birds.png

Artwork of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres from Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!

Artwork of Galarian Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres from The Crown Tundra

Being the first Legendary trio, the Kantonian legendary birds set the standards for future trios; that is, they all share similar attributes and—in the case of most trios—are considered equal among themselves. Additionally, they share a secondary type, Flying, and an Ability, Pressure. Due to its role in the anime, Lugia is often viewed as the leader of the trio.

In The Crown Tundra, each of the legendary birds received a Galarian form. They all still share the secondary type, Flying, but they each now have different Abilities, and their respective primary types have changed.

Terminology

English

Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are frequently described as "legendary bird Pokémon" in their Pokédex entries. Uniqely, in Pokémon Red, Moltres is instead described as simply a "legendary bird", but when the same entry was reused in later games this was changed to "legendary bird Pokémon". The term "legendary bird Pokémon" has also been used by characters in the core series games.

In Pokémon Sword and Shield, Peony refers to them as "legendary birds", although his Legendary Clue 3 refers to them as the "winged mirages".

In Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, they are referred to as the "legendary birds". In the Nintendo Power guidebook Pokémon Gold and Silver: Complete Pokédex, they are referred to as the "Legendary Birds".

In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, Bird Keeper Donald on Route 14 refers to the legendary birds the winged mirages (Japanese: 幻(まぼろし)の翼(つばさ) mirage wings):

• "Have you heard the legend of the winged mirages?"
• "Well, the winged mirages are the legendary bird Pokémon. There are three of them: Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres."

Japanese

In Japanese, several core series Pokédex entries refer to them as 伝説(でんせつ)の鳥(とり)ポケモン (legendary bird Pokémon).

In particular, the Japanese terms 伝説(でんせつ)のポケモン (Legendary Pokémon) or 伝説(でんせつ)ポケモン (Legend Pokémon) were used in multiple Pokédex entries but translated as (lowercase) legendary bird Pokémon in English. This applies to:

• Articuno in Pokémon X.
• Zapdos in Pokémon Yellow, Let's Go, Pikachu!, Let's Go, Eevee!, and Shield.
• Moltres in Pokémon Silver and Pokémon SoulSilver.

Similarly, those other variations were also in Japanese Pokédex entries but translated as legendary bird Pokémon in English:

• でんせつの れいとうポケモン (Legendary Freezing Pokémon) refers to Articuno in Pokémon Blue and LeafGreen.
• ひのとりでんせつ (Firebird of Legend) refers to Moltres in Pokémon Blue, Pokémon LeafGreen, and X.

History

According to notes found in the Pokémon Mansion, the legendary birds were first discovered by and recorded by the Pokémon Research Team. Blaine and Mr. Fuji also recorded notes and sightings of the winged mirages.

In Galar's Crown Tundra, the original legendary birds were thought to periodically travel there, but it is eventually discovered that the trio of birds seen there were in reality, Galarian variants of the original trio, that travelled all over the world but annually flew back to the Crown Tundra's Dyna Tree to feed on its Berries and even fight between themselves to have the Berries for themselves. Not much is known about the relation between the Galarian and Kantonian birds, but their Pokédex entries imply that the Galarian ones were either the birds' original appearances or that they are unrelated entirely.

Anime

In the anime, Professor Oak states that Articuno and Moltres's combined powers of ice and fire are the source and cradle of the oceans, and that Zapdos's electric energy creates the currents and streams, which is why the three ancient creatures are closely bound to the guardian of the ocean, Lugia. It is also the only one capable of stopping the trio's conflict, which causes great natural disaster all over the planet.

Similar movesets

The following are legendary birds' level-up movesets from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Lv.	Articuno  Ice  Flying	Articuno  Psychic  Flying	Zapdos  Electric  Flying	Zapdos  Fighting  Flying	Moltres  Fire  Flying	Moltres  Dark  Flying
1	Gust		Peck		Gust
	Mist		Thunder Wave	Focus Energy	Leer
5	Powder Snow	Confusion	Thunder Shock	Rock Smash	Ember	Payback
10	Reflect		Light Screen		Safeguard
15	Ice Shard	Hypnosis	Pluck		Wing Attack
20	Agility
25	Ancient Power
30	Tailwind		Charge	Brick Break	Incinerate	Sucker Punch
35	Freeze-Dry	Psycho Cut	Drill Peck		Air Slash
40	Roost	Recover	Roost	Quick Guard	Roost	After You
45	Ice Beam	Freezing Glare	Discharge	Thunderous Kick	Heat Wave	Fiery Wrath
50	Snowscape	Dream Eater	Rain Dance	Bulk Up	Sunny Day	Nasty Plot
55	Hurricane		Thunder	Counter	Hurricane
60	Haze	Double Team	Detect		Endure
65	Blizzard	Future Sight	Magnetic Flux	Close Combat	Overheat	Memento
70	Sheer Cold	Trick Room	Zap Cannon	Reversal	Sky Attack
Moves in bold are STAB. Moves in italics do no damage.

Base stat comparison

Pokémon	Articuno	Zapdos	Moltres
HP	90	90	90
Attack	85	90	100
Defense	100	85	90
Sp. Atk	95	125	125
Sp. Def	125	90	85
Speed	85	100	90
Total	580	580	580

Galarian forms

Pokémon	Articuno	Zapdos	Moltres
HP	90	90	90
Attack	85	125	85
Defense	85	90	90
Sp. Atk	125	85	100
Sp. Def	100	90	125
Speed	95	100	90
Total	580	580	580

In the core series games

Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow

In Generation I, the legendary birds are scattered around the Kanto region in different locations according to their type. Articuno is deep within the Seafoam Islands, Zapdos is in the abandoned Power Plant on Route 10, and Moltres is in Victory Road.

• 

  Articuno

• 

  Zapdos

• 

  Moltres

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

In FireRed and LeafGreen, the legendary birds retain their placement from Generation I, with the exception of Moltres, which has been moved to Mt. Ember in the Sevii Islands from Victory Road.

• 

  Articuno

• 

  Zapdos

• 

  Moltres

Pokémon Emerald

While it is impossible to capture any of the birds in Pokémon Emerald, if one challenges Brandon for the Gold Brave Symbol, he has them in his possession.

Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

Greevil's team includes Shadow versions of all three birds.

Pokémon Platinum

While it is impossible to capture the legendary birds in Diamond and Pearl, they can be found roaming the Sinnoh region in Pokémon Platinum. The player may encounter them after visiting Pal Park and then speaking to Professor Oak in Eterna City.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

The legendary birds appear once more in HeartGold and SoulSilver in the same locations as before, except for Moltres, who has moved to Mt. Silver Cave. Due to the Power Plant no longer being abandoned, Zapdos is found outside the Power Plant and will only appear once all 16 Badges are acquired.

Pokémon X and Y

In Pokémon X and Y, one bird roams around Kalos while the rest are absent. The bird that appears depends on what first partner Pokémon is chosen at the beginning of the game: Articuno will roam if players choose Chespin, Zapdos will roam if Fennekin is chosen, and Moltres will roam if Froakie is chosen. It appears on random routes after the player beats the Pokémon League and cannot be battled, but once it is found ten times, it retreats to the Sea Spirit's Den where it can be battled.

Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, all three birds can be found in the Ultra Space Wilds by following a red Ultra Wormhole to the Cliff World during the Ultra Warp Ride minigame.

Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!

In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, the three legendary birds appear in the same capacity they do in the Generation I games. Unlike most Pokémon in the game, the player must defeat them in a timed battle before getting the chance to catch them.

• 

  Articuno

• 

  Zapdos

• 

  Moltres

Pokémon Sword and Shield

Encountering the Galarian legendary birds

In Pokémon Sword and Shield, the three legendary birds found in the Crown Tundra all have Galarian forms with different types and different Abilities. Articuno is a Psychic-type instead of an Ice-type with the Ability Competitive, Zapdos is a Fighting-type instead of an Electric-type with the Ability Defiant, and Moltres is a Dark-type instead of a Fire-type with the Ability Berserk. Unlike their Kantonian equivalents, each one also has a signature move, and each of these signature moves has a name that evokes their Kantonian counterparts' types.

The Kantonian counterparts of the legendary birds can also be encountered and captured in Dynamax Adventures. The Galarian legendary birds can be encountered at Dyna Tree Hill. After a cutscene occurs and A Legendary Tree of a Legendary Three! starts, the birds will scatter all across Galar. Galarian Articuno can be encountered in Crown Tundra and will battle the player after testing them with an illusion. Galarian Zapdos can be found in the Wild Area where the player must catch up to Zapdos. Finally, Galarian Moltres can be found at the Isle of Armor where the player needs to stand in front of Moltres while it circles around the area in order to battle it.

The Shiny forms of all three have similar coloring to the standard coloring of their Kantonian forms.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

In Pokémon Shining Pearl, the Kantonian legendary birds can be encountered at Ramanas Park. They are located in the Kanto Room which is unlocked after capturing the legendary giants. 3 Kanto Slates are needed to unlock them as only one legendary bird can be encountered at a time. Catching all three birds is required to obtain the Squall Slate and catch Lugia; this is the first time that the trio is linked to Lugia within the core series.

The legendary birds are unobtainable in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and must be traded or transferred to the game in order to complete the National Pokédex. Their Galarian forms can't be transferred to either version.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

In The Indigo Disk DLC, the legendary birds can be obtained via snacks from Snacksworth. Their Galarian forms are unobtainable, but present, and can be transferred to these games.

In the spin-off games

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team/Rescue Team DX

In Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team and their remake, Rescue Team DX, each of them guard a dungeon: Zapdos has Mt. Thunder, Moltres has Mt. Blaze, and Articuno has Frosty Forest. Each appear on the last floor of their respective upper dungeon sections as bosses, and cannot be recruited until the credits roll. Once all three have been recruited, and Pitfall Valley and Stormy Sea have been cleared, they can talk to Alakazam and go to their Friend Area, Legendary Island, which will unlock access to Silver Trench, the domain of Lugia, who is often viewed as the leader of the legendary birds .

Pokémon Rumble

In Pokémon Rumble, each bird serves as the S-rank boss of a specific stage in Normal Mode: Articuno has Rocky Cave, Moltres has Fiery Furnace, and Zapdos has Eternal Tower.

Pokémon Battle Trozei

All three birds have a chance to appear on Stage 5 of the Mountain of Order. Only Articuno is initially available as a boss; however, if the player manages to defeat it in one attack, they then get the chance to fight Zapdos. This also applies to beating Zapdos flawlessly, where Moltres can be fought immediately afterward.

Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon

The legendary birds can be obtained after reaching Platinum Rank in Super Mystery Dungeon, and are challenged consecutively—once one dungeon is beat and the player has connected with the Legendary, they get access to the next, and so on. Articuno is encountered at Blue Point on the Grass Continent, while Moltres is battled at Red Point and Zapdos at Yellow Point, both on the Air Continent. Lugia, often viewed as their leader, is again fought after the legendary birds, in Sea Shrine.

Pokémon Masters EX

Both the Kantonian and Galarian legendary birds are obtainable through Master Fair sync pair scouts, forming sync pairs with the Neo Champions of Kanto and Galar respectively.

Dex	Trainer		NDex	Pokémon		Type	Weakness	Role	EX role	Base potential	Availability
#119		Champion Marnie	#146G		Moltres Galarian Form	Dark	Fairy			★★★★★☆EX	Master Fair Sync Pair Scout
#141		Champion Hop	#145G		Zapdos Galarian Form	Fighting	Psychic			★★★★★☆EX	Master Fair Sync Pair Scout
#149		Champion Bede	#144G		Articuno Galarian Form	Psychic	Ghost			★★★★★☆EX	Master Fair Sync Pair Scout
#084		Champion Red	#1441		Articuno	Ice	Rock			★★★★★☆EX	Master Fair Sync Pair Scout
#076		Champion Leaf	#1461		Moltres	Fire	Water			★★★★★☆EX	Master Fair Sync Pair Scout
#065		Champion Blue	#1451		Zapdos	Electric	Ice			★★★★★☆EX	Master Fair Sync Pair Scout

Pokémon UNITE

In Pokémon UNITE, only Zapdos and Articuno are seen. Zapdos makes more appearances overall than Articuno.

Zapdos is an objective Pokémon on Remoat Stadium and Mer Stadium, both times appearing in the Pit at the very center of the Central Area.

In Catch'Em, which takes place in Mer Stadium, both Zapdos and Articuno appear as objective Pokémon. Zapdos appears just below the center of the Bottom Path, and Articuno appears above the center of the Top Path. Both of these Pokémon are catchable, and after being caught they can temporarily be swapped to and used by the player.

In Panic Parade, Zapdos is the boss of Wave 10, which appears on the Intermediate, Expert, and Extreme difficulties. A horde of Electrode appear alongside it on the outer lanes.

In Snowball Battle, which takes place in Shivre City, Articuno is the objective Pokémon. It appears in the Central Area.

In Remoat Stadium (Snow and Ice), Articuno is an objective Pokémon. It appears in the Central Area

In the anime

Main series

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.

Main article: Legendary birds (M02)

The legendary birds in the anime

The legendary birds appeared in The Power of One, where they were central to the movie's plot. In it, they were described as the titans of fire, ice, and lightning, guardians over Fire, Ice, and Lightning Islands. They were sought after by a collector, Lawrence III, who intended to use them to draw out Lugia.

Lawrence III succeeded in capturing Moltres first, using strange, electrified rings to contain it, rather than a Poké Ball. He then subsequently kept it on his ship as he hunted out Zapdos, who used Moltres's absence from Fire Island as a signal that it would be able to expand its territory. Shortly after, Ash and his friends discovered this to be the case. Lawrence III captures Zapdos as well, drawing the group in as well, due to their boat's similar size to the birds. The group escaped, and, using their Pokémon, managed to free Zapdos and Moltres. The legendary birds have been infuriated, however, and began fighting, destroying Lawrence III's airship just as he attempted to capture Articuno. The three continued their fight outside, and finally, Lugia revealed itself.

Galarian Moltres in the anime

The three birds teamed up to take Lugia down, but it recovered and retured to the surface. As Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres continued to fight, Ash was tasked to bring the treasures from their respective islands to Shamouti Island's shrine in order to help Lugia to quell the fighting and prevent the destruction of the world. Though he almost didn't make it, Ash managed to do so, and the birds made peace, returning to their islands.

Another set of legendary birds appeared in An Electrifying Rage! in a fantasy.

In Pokémon Journeys: The Series, Goh battled in Raid Battle with all Kantonian's three legendary birds. In A Crackling Raid Battle!, Goh battled Zapdos, with the help of Ash and Team Rocket, in Advice to Goh!, Ash, Gary, and Goh encountered a Moltres whilst searching for Ash's Infernape. And finally, in Battling in the Freezing Raid!, Ash, Goh, Gary, and Horace faced an Articuno in a Raid Battle at the Seafoam Islands.

A Galarian Moltres belonging to Lucius appeared in Charge! Galar Mine!.

Pokémon Origins

The legendary birds appeared in File 4: Charizard, where Red caught them with Ultra Balls.

In the manga

Magical Pokémon Journey

Only Articuno has appeared in Magical Pokémon Journey, specifically in The Legendary Articuno!.

Movie adaptations

The legendary birds appeared in Mirage Pokémon Lugia's Explosive Birth.

Pokémon Adventures

Main article: legendary birds (Adventures)

The legendary birds in Pokémon Adventures

The Galarian legendary birds in Pokémon Adventures

Red, Green & Blue arc

The legendary birds were sought by Team Rocket, following their failure to control Mewtwo. Articuno was caught at Seafoam Islands, Zapdos was caught at the Power Plant, and Moltres was caught at Indigo Plateau. They were then placed under the control of Team Rocket's three Commanders; Koga, Lt. Surge, and Sabrina, respectively, who used them against Red, Blue, and Green at Silph Co., using the power of their respective Gym Badges to force them to do their bidding. During the battle, they were accidentally fused together into a single being called the Thu-Fi-Zer. The combination Pokémon was defeated by the Pokédex holders' first partner Pokémon, causing it to split up again and freeing the legendary birds.

Gold, Silver & Crystal arc

During the years following their escape, Green caught the legendary birds in order to help her overcome her fear of birds. She used them during the climax of the arc to fight against Lugia and Ho-Oh at Ilex Forest while they were under the Masked Man's control. Following this chapter, it's unknown whether she released them or put them in her Box.

FireRed & LeafGreen arc

In this arc, Green revealed that she had first visited the Sevii Islands years before Red and Blue in order to catch Moltres on Mt. Ember.

Sword & Shield arc

A Galarian Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres appeared in PASS36.

Pokémon Battrio: Aim to be Battrio Master!

Kanto Nankai used the legendary birds during his match against Ryū Tendō in ABM01.

Pokémon Pocket Monsters

Articuno appeared in Will You Risk Your Life To Play The Magic Game?!. It was caught by Red using a Master Ball in The Legendary Pokémon Appears!!.

Zapdos appeared in Regain the Deserted Power Plant!. Another one appeared in PMDP11.

Moltres appeared in The Legendary Moltres Appears!!.

All of the legendary birds appeared in Get Lugia!.

Pokémon Zensho

All of the legendary birds appeared as a silhouette in Saffron City.

In Cinnabar Island, Satoshi helped Blaine to catch Articuno at Seafoam Islands.

Trivia

• In the localized versions of Generation I games, a Bird Keeper in Route 14 states: "The 3 legendary Pokémon are all birds of prey." However, in the Japanese dialogue, he simply says that they are three birds.
• In Generation I, the legendary birds all had different base stat totals—Articuno's was 485, Zapdos's was 490, and Moltres's was 495. Since Generation II, when the Special split occurred, all three legendary birds have had an equal base stat total of 580.
• In the English dub of The Power of One, these Pokémon are referred to as "titans".
  • In The Official Pokémon Encyclopedia, they are referred to as the Titan trio.
• Although legends are said to be incapable of breeding, Pokémon Snap shows all three birds being born from eggs, which means they were bred in some way.
• The last part of each of the members' names is a number in the Spanish language—one (Articuno), two (Zapdos), and three (Moltres)—and it reflects their National Pokédex order.
• Starting with Pokémon Platinum, they are the only Legendary trio to be both fully stationary and roaming as wild Pokémon in the various games they appear in. In comparison, the lake guardians have one of their trio who roams, while Suicune of the Legendary beasts roams in Pokémon Gold and Silver, but is stationary in Pokémon Crystal, as well as in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver.
• Since there were only four tracks of battle music in the Generation I games (wild, Trainer, Gym Leader/Elite Four, and Champion), normal wild battle music is played when the legendary birds and Mewtwo are encountered. In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, a special remix of the normal wild battle theme is used for the legendary birds, Mewtwo, and the Legendary beasts when encountered. However, the legendary birds have never had a battle theme composed specifically for them, unlike other Legendary trios.
  • In The Crown Tundra, their Galarian counterparts get their own battle theme.
• The Shiny Colorations of the legendary birds in their regional forms are colored to match the normal coloration of the Kantonian ones.
• All of the legendary birds are capable of learning Agility naturally; however, from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl to Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, they were able to learn this move at different levels.
• Excluding roaming, Moltres is the only one of the trio to change location, and it does so twice.
• The legendary birds can be caught in the most games of all Legendary Pokémon, as they can be caught in thirteen core series games in Japan (twelve internationally, seven in Korea).
• Kantonian Zapdos is the only one of the trio not to have a double weakness to Rock (or, for that matter, any double weakness).
  • Kantonian Zapdos is also the only one of the trio to have a weakness to Ice, though Moltres was weak to Ice as well in Generation I.
  • Galarian Zapdos is the only one of the trio not to have a weakness to Rock.
• The legendary birds are the only Legendary Pokémon to have regional forms.

In other languages

Legendary birds Language Title Chinese Cantonese 傳說的鳥寶可夢 Chyùhnsyut-dīk Níuh Pokémon Mandarin 傳說的鳥寶可夢 / 传说的鸟宝可梦 Chuánshuō-de Niǎo Pokémon Czech Legendární ptáci French Pokémon oiseaux légendaires German Legendären Vogel-Pokémon Hungarian Legendás madár Italian Pokémon leggendari alati Korean 전설의 새포켓몬 Jeonseol-ui Sae Pokémon Brazilian Portuguese Pássaros Lendários Spanish Aves legendarias

Winged mirage Language Title Chinese Cantonese 幻之翼 Waahn-jī Yihk Mandarin 幻之翼 Huàn-zhī Yì * 梦幻之翼 Mènghuàn-zhī Yì * French Mirages ailés German Mythischen Schwingen Italian Miraggi alati Korean 환상의 날개 Hwansang-ui Nalgae Spanish Seres alados

See also

• Articuno
• Zapdos
• Moltres

References

Groups of Legendary and Mythical Pokémon

Duos

Mew duo

Tower duo

Eon duo

Lunar duo

Sea guardians

Legendary heroes

Paradox duo

Trios

Legendary birds

Legendary beasts

Super-ancient Pokémon

Lake guardians

Pokémon of Myth

Tao trio

Aura trio

Light trio

Loyal Three

Quartets

Swords of Justice

Forces of nature

Guardian deities

Treasures of ruin

Quintets

Legendary giants

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