You can find and capture Moltres at the top of Mt. Ember. Mt. Ember is located on One Island and can be accessed after beating Blaine and earning the Volcano Badge. Use the Tri-Pass to ride the ferry in Vermillion City going to One Island to find and catch Moltres.
Preparing to Catch Moltres
Moltres is a Rare Pokémon that is part of the Legendary Bird Trio in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. As a Legendary Pokémon, catching Moltres can prove to be a challenge. Failing to capture him or having him faint in battle might lose your chance of finding him again, so better come prepared when attempting to catch the rare Legendary.
Make sure to ready the following before you head to One Island where Moltres is located:
- Pokémon with the SURF move – Mt. Ember is located farther north of One Island. To reach the volcano, there are patches of water you would need to surf across, so make sure to bring a Pokémon with this HM move
- Pokémon with the STRENGTH move – There are several boulders at the summit of Mt. Ember blocking your path before you reach Moltres. A Pokémon who has learned STRENGTH can move them out of the way.
- Pokémon with the ROCK SMASH move – Some routes on the way to Mt. Ember are blocked with smashable rocks. Bring a Pokémon with ROCK SMASH to easily pass through them.
- Ultra Balls – Moltres might not be easily captured in one go. Make sure to stock up on Ultra Balls so you can keep trying until he is caught.
- Max Repel – There are multiple Pokémon to be encountered along the way to Mt. Ember. Although it is optional, it might be worth bringing a couple of Max Repels to keep wild Pokémon at bay to conserve your Pokémon’s moves and energy.
Take note that there are also some trainers lining the path towards Mt. Ember whose Pokémon are at the mid-30s level. Moltres, on the other hand, will be at Level 50 when found, so make sure to bring Pokémon at the same or higher level.
Heading to Mt. Ember on One Island
You can get to One Island by first going to Vermillion City where the ferry is docked.
Choose One Island and board the Seagallop Ferry on the way to the island.
Upon arriving, head east towards the shore and have your Pokémon use SURF.
It’s just a quick surf up ahead to the next patch of land. From here, continue straight through the grass, past some Pokémon trainers. You can avoid them, but some of them are necessary to be beaten to pass through.
After making your way past the grass and the trainers, keep going straight until you see another body of water. Go on ahead and use SURF here.
Make your way north past some other trainers in the water. Again, you can try to avoid them or battle them head-on. Keep going up until you arrive at another island.
Go up the long stairs and continue straight ahead until you pop up at the base of Mt. Ember itself, as indicated by the Route Marker on-screen.
Head to your left to see the first boulder blocking your way. Enable STRENGTH on your Pokémon to move it aside.
Do the same on the second boulder. Fight the trainer in the corner and make your way up ahead.
Follow the path until you see some smashable rocks blocking the steps above. You can either smash the rocks with your Pokémon to continue straight ahead, or round up the corner and fight the moving trainer to continue along the trail.
In any case, once done continue north on the narrow path, ignoring the set of steps to your right. Go straight ahead to find a cave entrance. You might need to fight the trainer in the corner though before you can enter the cave.
Once inside, simply follow the narrow fiery path that will lead you into another cave opening.
Enter the opening to find yourself still inside the cave. Simply follow the given trail, climbing up steps as you go along until you reach another cave entrance.
Go through the opening and find your way out of the cave.
Once outside, head west and climb up the steps to reach the summit of Mt. Ember.
At the Summit of Mt. Ember
Moltres is located just ahead of the set of movable boulders blocking the way.
Have your Pokémon use STRENGTH to push the rightmost boulder upwards.
Then push the second boulder to your left.
Next, push the available boulder once more to your left.
Finally, push the last boulder upwards and to the right until fully out of the way.
Capturing Moltres
Moltres will be at Level 50 once engaged in battle.
At Level 50, Moltres will have the ff. move set and stats. Moltres’ stats will vary per save file, but the base stats and range at Level 50 are provided.
| STATS | AT BASE | RANGE AT LVL. 50 |
| HP | 90 | 150-197 |
| Attack | 100 | 94-167 |
| Defense | 90 | 85-156 |
| Special Attack | 125 | 117-194 |
| Special Defense | 85 | 81-150 |
| Speed | 90 | 85-156 |
| MOVES | PP |
| Agility | 30/30 |
| Endure | 10/10 |
| Flamethrower | 15/15 |
| Fire Spin | 15/15 |
With a high Special Attack stat, Moltres’ Flamethrower move can be pretty powerful. Make sure to use Rock-type Pokémon to resist his moves. Moltres is also weak against Electric and Water-type Pokémon.
Attack Moltres until his HP level goes down to red, but be careful not to make him faint.
Once he’s weak enough, you can try your luck in capturing him by using your Ultra Balls. It might take more than one try to catch him, so it is recommended to inflict some Status Effects like Sleep and Paralysis to make catching Moltres easier.
Keep doing what you’re doing until you are able to catch Moltres.
Congratulations! You’ve now caught one of the three Legendary Bird Pokémon in-game!
Moltres is a Rare Legendary Bird Pokémon that make up the trio of Legendary Birds in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. It can be a challenge to catch the Legendary so hopefully through this guide you are able to smoothly catch Moltres and add him to your Rare Pokémon collection.
