In Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, Moltres can be found in the depths of Mt. Ember, a mountain located on One Island, the very first of the Sevii Islands players can visit after beating Blaine at the Cinnabar Gym.
One of the three legendary birds of Kanto, Moltres is incredibly hard to catch, with a catch rate of 3 (1.5%). For trainers hoping to capture this Pokemon and add it to their team, preparation is key.
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Where to Find Moltres in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
Moltres Location
Moltres can be found in Mt. Ember on One Island (Sevii Islands). Follow these steps to get to it:
- Defeat Blaine on Cinnabar Island to earn the Volcano Badge.
- Agree to head to the Sevii Islands with Bill when he asks you to accompany him after you exit the doors of the Cinnabar Gym.
- On One Island, go east to find the Kindle Road, then follow it all the way north, past the Ember Spa cave, to reach Mt. Ember.
- On the outskirts of Mt. Ember, turn left and use Strength on the boulders to open up a path.
- Continue on the narrow path until you come across two breakable rocks. If you have access to HM06 Rock Smash, break these rocks apart and go up and enter the cave. If not, circle around them using the stairs nearby to reach the cave.
- Follow the linear path inside Mt. Ember until you find yourself back outside.
- Turn left, and then go up the stairs, and you’ll reach the Mt. Ember summit where Moltres is located.
- Use a Pokemon with Strength to push the boulders around to clear a path to reach Moltres.
Make a Hard Save to create a backup, then interact with Moltres by pressing A to start the battle.
HM06 Rock Smash can be obtained by talking to the old man in the Ember Spa on One Island.
How to Catch Moltres in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
|
Pokemon |
Level |
Ability |
Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Moltres |
50 |
Pressure |
|
To catch Moltres easily, make the following preparations beforehand:
- Bring a Pokemon with the ability Flash Fire (Arcanine, Ninetales, and Rapidash lines have this ability) to serve as invulnerable tanks in front of Moltres. The level of these Pokemon does not matter.
- Bring a Pokemon that can easily inflict Paralyze (e.g. Jolteon with Thunder Wave).
- Bring at least 30+ Ultra Balls.
Moltres’ only means of attacking are Flamethrower and Fire Spin, both moves that Pokemon with Flash Fire are 100% immune to. As a result, Moltres cannot really do anything if you put any Pokemon with this ability in front of it, making for an easy stalemate.
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Moltres Catch Strategy
Here are the steps you can take to catch Moltres easily.
- Lead the batte with a Pokemon that can inflict Paralyze on Moltres.
- Switch out to a Pokemon with Flash Fire after Moltres is Paralyzed.
- Do chip damage to Moltres until its health is in the red.
- Throw Ultra Balls until you successfully catch it.
If anything goes wrong and Moltres goes down unexpectedly, you can always reset the encounter by reloading from the Hard Save you made earlier.
Should You Use the Master Ball on Moltres?
No, you should not. Moltres is one of the easiest legendaries to catch in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen because it is so easy to counter it. Despite its low catch rate of 3 (1.5%), Moltres does not give players any real trouble. Save your Master Ball for stronger legendaries like Mewtwo, Ho-Oh, or Deoxys.
How to Shiny Hunt Moltres in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
How to Get Shiny Moltres
Moltres is not shiny locked in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, which means trainers can hunt for shiny Moltres if they’re interested. The method is quite simple:
- Make a save in Mt. Ember central chamber, right in front of Moltres.
- Start the battle with Moltres to check if it’s shiny or not.
- If not, do a Soft Reset by pressing A, B, X, and Y at the same time to go back to the title screen.
- Reload the save and try again.

