Is Articuno Good in Red & Blue Playthrough?
Found in Seafoam Islands. Articuno is the easiest legendary bird to fit onto a team thanks to Ice coverage. Handles Lance's Dragons and cleans up most of the E4. Bulky enough to take hits and strong enough to close out fights on its own.
Articuno resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Articuno has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Articuno has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Articuno resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Articuno has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Articuno has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Articuno resists most of Blaine's coverage and hits back hard.
Articuno resists most of Giovanni's coverage and hits back hard.
Articuno trades roughly evenly with Lorelei's team.
Articuno resists most of Bruno's coverage and hits back hard.
Articuno has the type edge here and should clean up Agatha's team.
Articuno has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Articuno has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Catchable
Catch Articuno on Seafoam Islands (interact, Lv 50, limited). Seafoam Islands B4F, boulder puzzle required. Navigate the Seafoam Islands boulder puzzle using Surf and Strength, redirecting water currents down to B4F where Articuno waits.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 50)
- LV 50IceIce BeamPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Lt. Surge
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 105Accuracy 95%PP 15Route 16 (from girl in house)
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Rocket Game Corner
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM09NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20Silph Co.
- After Giovanni
- TM43FlyingSky AttackPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Victory Road
- LV 51IceBlizzardPower 180Accuracy 90%PP 5
- LV 55PsychicAgilityPower —Accuracy 100%PP 30
How to Get Articuno in Red & Blue
Articuno sits at the bottom of the Seafoam Islands, reachable only after solving the boulder-and-current puzzle that drops you to B4F. It waits at level 50, a single no-respawn encounter with a catch rate of 3.
1 location to catch Articuno
Badge 6How to Get Articuno in Red & Blue
Articuno Weakness
Articuno is weak to Rock, Fire, and Electric. Watch out for Rock attacks, those deal 4x damage. On the flip side, it's immune to Ground-type moves entirely. Articuno's special bulk (base 125 Special) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Rock |
| 2x (Weak) | Fire, Electric |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass, Bug |
| 0x (Immune) | Ground |
- Only 15 types exist — Dark, Steel, and Fairy are absent
- Ghost has no effect on Psychic (a known bug, fixed in Gen II)
- Special stat governs both offense and defense — no Sp.Atk / Sp.Def split
What is Articuno Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Articuno
 Jolteon Electric | A | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Celadon City Gift) | ||
 Moltres Fire | B | |
Obtain MethodVictory Road Interact Encounter | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Articuno View Rhydon builds →Rock Slide 4x133-156%KO Fire Blast 2x25-30% Thunderbolt 2x21-24% | ||
 Zapdos Electric | A | |
Obtain MethodPower Plant Interact Encounter | ||
 Magneton Electric | C | |
 Charizard Fire | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Charmander (Pallet Town Gift) | ||
 Raichu Electric | C | |
 Rapidash Fire | C | |
 Electrode Electric | B | |
Obtain MethodPower Plant Interact Encounter | ||
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Articuno View Graveler builds →Rock Slide 4x102-120%KO Fire Blast 2x25-30% | ||
 Aerodactyl Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodCinnabar Island Gift | ||
 Onix RockGround | C | |
Articuno Evolutions
Articuno is a powerhouse with 610 total stats as a Ice/Flying legendary. Can't breed it, so you're locked to whatever you catch or receive. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
RB Articuno Best Moveset
Every MoveBlizzard has a chance to freeze the target permanently (no thawing in this generation), and Blizzard ran at 90%% accuracy instead of the later 70%%. 125 Special fires it with real power. The moves center on Blizzard as both damage and a freeze lottery that wins games by itself.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Blizzard
- Agility
- Hyper Beam
- Ice Beam
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
TMs define Articuno's movepool. The natural moves cover basics with Sky Attack and Blizzard, but the real versatility comes from technical machines giving it Normal and Water coverage. That's where the options open up.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
All 20 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
A legendary bird POKéMON that is said to appear to doomed people who are lost in icy mountains.
Articuno Red & Blue Guide
Articuno is a static encounter at Seafoam Islands in Red & Blue. Articuno appears at level 50. Prerequisite: Seafoam Islands B4F, boulder puzzle required. Save before the encounter. These one-shot Pokemon don't respawn if you knock them out or run out of Poke Balls.
In Red & Blue, Articuno plays as a support. Speed is middling, so pick your spots carefully. Blizzard is the primary attack. Set up with Agility when you get a free turn.
Yes. Galarian Articuno is a regional variant with different typing and a reworked stat spread. Introduced in Gen 8. Plays completely differently from the original.
Game Availability
Articuno has appeared in 20 games since Red & Blue, spanning 9 generations. As a Legendary, it's typically a one-per-save encounter tied to the story or post-game content.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RBDebut
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7Let's Go
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwShGalarian
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves
Explore
Where to go next after Articuno.
Keep playing · Red & BlueRed & Blue Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Red & Blue Tier List