Legendary birds

File:Threebirds.jpg

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. Like the other trios later would, the legendary birds share a master in Lugia (in the anime, at least), but as well share a common trait, 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.

Their English names are related, as the last syllable of each of their names is Spanish for one, two, and three, in the order they appear in the Pokédex.

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.

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.

Trivia

• The legendary birds have numbers on their names. Articuno (one), Zapdos (two), Moltres (three).
• 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.
• The legendary birds are the one of three legendary trios to make appearances in multiple games, the other two being the legendary beasts (originally from Gold and Silver, reappearing in Colosseum, FireRed and LeafGreen, and Ranger) and the legendary golems (originally from Ruby and Sapphire, reappearing in Ranger and Platinum).
• 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 trio 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.