Is Moltres Good in Crystal Playthrough?
Silver Cave entrance area in Crystal, different location from Gold and Silver. Fire/Flying brings the Fire coverage Crystal lacked through Johto, but only after beating the E4. Moltres hits hard and the typing is strong for Kanto rematches. A postgame treat that arrives a region too late.
Moltres has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Moltres resists most of Bugsy's coverage and hits back hard.
Moltres has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Moltres has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Moltres has the type edge here and should clean up Chuck's team.
Moltres has the type edge here and should clean up Jasmine's team.
Moltres has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Moltres trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Moltres trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Moltres trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Moltres resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Moltres has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Moltres trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Brock's team hits Moltres's weaknesses hard.
Moltres trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Moltres trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Moltres has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Moltres has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Moltres has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Moltres has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Lance's team hits Moltres's weaknesses hard.
Trade
Moltres cannot be caught in this game. It must be traded in from a compatible game where it appears in the wild. Cross-region trading typically becomes available after defeating the Elite Four.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 5)
- LV 5FlyingWing AttackPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 35
- LV 5FireEmberPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 25
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Game Corner prize (5500 coins)
- After Chuck
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 105Accuracy 95%PP 15Cianwood City
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Celadon Game Corner prize (7500 coins)
- TM47SteelSteel WingPower 70Accuracy 90%PP 25Route 28
- LV 49FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 73FlyingSky AttackPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5
How to Get Moltres in Crystal
Moltres rounds out the trio missing from Crystal, with no wild encounter anywhere. Trading it in from a Gen 1 cartridge is the only legitimate way to add it to your team.
Moltres is not available as a wild encounter in this game.
Also Obtainable In:
Pokemon transfers only go forward through generations, never backward. Direct cross-gen trades aren't supported.
How to Get Shiny Moltres in Crystal
Moltres never lands in any Gen 2 game and does not roam here, so a shiny one has to arrive by trade from a title that offers the firebird. See every game where Shiny Moltres can be hunted
Shiny Moltres Evolution
Does Not EvolveMoltres Weakness
Type-wise, Moltres takes extra damage from Rock, Water, and Electric. Watch out for Rock attacks, those deal 4x damage. Ground moves do nothing thanks to a full immunity. The Fire/Flying typing picks up 5 resistances to work with. With 90 HP and balanced defenses, Moltres can afford to eat a neutral hit or two.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Rock |
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Electric |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Fighting, Steel |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Grass, Bug |
| 0x (Immune) | Ground |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
- Special stat split into Sp.Atk and Sp.Def
What is Moltres Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Moltres
 Tyranitar RockDark | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Moltres View Tyranitar builds →Rock Slide 4x145-171%KO Surf 2x48-57% | ||
 Sudowoodo Rock | C | |
Obtain MethodRoute 36 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Moltres View Sudowoodo builds →Rock Slide 4x114-135%KO Thunder Punch 2x17-20% | ||
 Suicune Water | B | |
Obtain MethodTin Tower Interact Encounter | ||
 Vaporeon Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) | ||
 Slowbro WaterPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodSlowpoke Well Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Moltres View Slowbro builds →Surf 2x75-89% Zap Cannon 2x53-62% | ||
 Raikou Electric | S | |
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Moltres View Lapras builds →Hydro Pump 2x83-98% Thunder 2x55-65% | ||
 Golduck Water | C | |
Obtain MethodIlex Forest Surfing | ||
 Magcargo FireRock | C | |
 Feraligatr Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Totodile (New Bark Town Gift) | ||
 Electabuzz Electric | C | |
 Raichu Electric | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Pichu (Celadon City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Moltres View Raichu builds →Thunderbolt 2x69-81% Rollout 4x29-35% | ||
 Magneton ElectricSteel | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Moltres View Magneton builds →Thunder 2x110-130%KO Rollout 4x22-27% | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Moltres View Rhydon builds →Rollout 4x60-70% Surf 2x28-33% Thunder 2x35-41% | ||
Moltres Evolutions
No breeding, no evolution. Moltres is a Fire/Flying legendary with 580 base stat total that you obtain once and build around. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
C Moltres Best Moveset
125 Sp. Atk gives MoveFire Blast more power than any other Fire-type can muster. MoveRest plus MoveSleep Talk provides recovery. Fire/Flying invites Rock and Ground coverage constantly, but the raw special damage competes at the highest level despite the type disadvantages.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Fire Blast
- Sunny Day
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Most of Moltres's flexibility comes from TMs. Same-type output runs through Sky Attack and Fire Blast, but Normal and Ground and the rest of the TM pool push it from predictable to genuinely threatening.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- 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, Egg, 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, Egg, 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
18 of 24 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Legendary bird POKéMON. It is said to migrate from the south along with the spring.
Moltres Crystal Guide
In Crystal, Moltres plays as a wallbreaker. Speed is middling, so pick your spots carefully.
Yes. Galarian Moltres is a regional variant with different typing and a reworked stat spread. Introduced in Gen 8. Plays completely differently from the original.
Game Availability
Since Red & Blue, Moltres has appeared in 20 games. Legendary Pokemon like Moltres are usually found through story events or special post-game areas rather than random encounters.
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 Moltres.
Keep playing · CrystalCrystal Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Crystal Tier List