Fire Red · Ultimate Team & Secrets
Post-Game · The Legendary Hunt

Mewtwo, the three birds, Suicune & the Sevii Islands.

Beating the Champion unlocks the real endgame. Here's how to catch every legendary, unlock the Sevii Islands, and finish your Pokédex — with the catching tactics that stop you fainting them by accident.

First: get the National DexAfter the Hall of Fame, visit Professor Oak in Pallet Town (with 60+ species caught) — he upgrades you to the National Dex. This unlocks Cerulean Cave and the roaming legendary beast. (The Sevii Islands aren't gated by this — see below.)
On this page
  1. How to catch legendaries
  2. Mewtwo — Cerulean Cave
  3. The three legendary birds
  4. Roaming Suicune
  5. The Sevii Islands & the network quest
  6. Navel Rock — Ho-Oh & Lugia (event)
  7. Birth Island — Deoxys (event)
  8. Elite Four rematch
  9. Breeding at the Day-Care

1 How to catch legendaries

The universal method

  1. SAVE in front of it.
  2. Drop it to 1 HP with False Swipe (never KOs) — teach it to a spare mon (TM54).
  3. Inflict Sleep or Paralysis (Sleep is best for capture rate).
  4. Throw Ultra Balls (or Timer Balls as the fight drags on).
  5. If you faint it, reset to your save.

Save the Master Ball for…

The Master Ball is a guaranteed catch. Best used on Mewtwo (brutal to catch normally) or the roaming Suicune (flees every turn). The stationary birds are very catchable with Ultra Balls + sleep, so don't waste it there.

2 Mewtwo — the crown jewel

Mewtwo
#150 · Lv 70
Mewtwo
Psychic
Strongest in the game
Cerulean City▸ Surf north-east behind the city▸ Cerulean Cave (Unknown Dungeon)

Directions: Go to Cerulean City, step to the water on the north side, and Surf around to the cave entrance that was blocked all game (the guard is gone once you have the National Dex). Descend to B1F — Mewtwo sits in the deepest chamber.

Come preparedIt's Level 70 with huge Special Attack and Recover. Bring a strong mon (Lv 60+), False Swipe it to 1 HP fast before it heals, then Master Ball it (recommended) or sleep + Ultra-Ball spam. Your Snorlax (immune-ish bulk) or a Dark/Ghost hitter is the safest lead.

Why you want it: Mewtwo learns Psychic, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Shadow Ball, Recover — a one-Pokémon army. It instantly becomes your best team member if you want it.

3 The three legendary birds

All three are Level 50, stationary, and very catchable with the universal method above. Grab all three!

Zapdos
#145 · Lv 50
Zapdos
ElectricFlying
Route 10 (by Rock Tunnel)▸Surf down the river▸Power Plant

Directions: On Route 10, Surf south down the water to reach the abandoned Power Plant. Zapdos waits at the back. Upgrade path for your Electric slot — or just Pokédex fodder.

Articuno
#144 · Lv 50
Articuno
IceFlying
Between Cinnabar & Fuchsia▸Seafoam Islands (bottom floor)

Directions: Surf into the Seafoam Islands (on Routes 19–20). Use Strength to push boulders into the water currents, floor by floor, until you reach the very bottom where Articuno rests.

Moltres
#146 · Lv 50
Moltres
FireFlying
Sevii → One Island▸Mt. Ember (summit)

Directions: In FireRed, Moltres moved to the Sevii Islands. Take the ferry to One Island, climb Mt. Ember (Strength puzzles near the top), and Moltres is at the peak. Note: unlike Red/Blue, it is not in Victory Road here.

4 The roaming legendary beast depends on your starter

Suicune
#245 · Lv 50 · roaming
Suicune
Water

After you get the National Dex, one legendary beast begins roaming Kanto — always the one whose type beats your starter:

  • Charmander→ Suicune Water
  • Squirtle→ Raikou Electric
  • Bulbasaur→ Entei Fire

(Shown above: Suicune, from a Charmander run.) It wanders between routes and flees on sight — see below.

Catching a roamer
  1. It flees the instant the battle starts, so you can't whittle it normally.
  2. Trap it first: Mean Look or Block (prevents fleeing), then paralyse and False-Swipe.
  3. Or just throw the Master Ball the moment you find it — by far the easiest, and what most players do.
  4. Use Max Repel while walking so only high-level encounters (like the roamer) appear — makes it easier to run into.

5 The Sevii Islands & the network quest

A tropical archipelago south of Kanto, reached by ferry from Vermilion. Importantly, Islands 1–3 open during the main story — right after you beat Blaine (Bill/Celio give the Tri-Pass) — so Moltres (Mt. Ember) and the Cape Brink move tutor are reachable before the Elite Four. Islands 4–7 need the National Dex (post-Hall-of-Fame, via the Rainbow Pass). The islands hold move tutors, unique Pokémon, the Unown ruins, and the quest that unlocks trading with the Hoenn games.

IslandWhat's there
One IslandMt. Ember → Moltres. Meet Celio, who needs two gems to fix the trade network machine.
Two IslandCape Brink move tutor → Blast Burn for Charizard. "Market Stall" shop that stocks better items as you progress.
Three IslandBerry Forest — rescue Lostelle (story gate), Bond Bridge, lots of berries.
Four IslandPokémon Day Care (breeding!), Icefall Cave (Water Stone, wild Ice types), Lorelei's house.
Five IslandRocket Warehouse — retrieve the Sapphire gem. Move tutors (Body Slam, Double-Edge, etc.). Resort Gorgeous.
Six IslandPattern Bush, Water Path, Ruin Valley (Dotted-Hole → the Sapphire/Ruby lore & Regi-style puzzle). Water Stone route.
Seven IslandTanoby Ruins → Unown, Sevault Canyon, Trainer Tower (endless battle challenge for prizes).
The Ruby & Sapphire quest (unlocks Hoenn trading) Find the Ruby on Mt. Ember (One Island) and the Sapphire in the Rocket Warehouse (Five Island), then bring both back to Celio on One Island. He repairs the network machine, letting you trade with Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald — essential for completing the National Dex and importing Pokémon your game can't get otherwise.
Unlock the Unown first: the Tanoby KeyThe Tanoby Ruins (Seven Island) are empty until you solve the Tanoby Key — a small cave at the north end of Sevault Canyon. Inside, use Strength to push the boulders into the correct craters. Completing that puzzle fills all seven chambers (Monean, Liptoo, Weepth, Dilford, Scufib, Rixy, Viapois) with wild Unown — the only Pokémon there, in its 28 letter forms. A house at the south end of Sevault Canyon offers the "Chansey Dance" to heal your party between catches.
Best post-game grindCerulean Cave has the highest-level wilds in the game (Lv 46–70) — the fastest way to push your whole team past Lv 60 for the legendary fights and Trainer Tower. Bring Repels and a Pokémon with a spread of super-effective moves.

7 Birth Island — Deoxys event ticket

Event-gated (Mystery Gift)Birth Island requires the AuroraTicket, another Mystery Gift event distribution — like the MysticTicket, it cannot be earned in ordinary play. No ticket, no Deoxys on an unmodified cartridge.

With the AuroraTicket, talk to the sailor by the Seagallop Ferries to sail to Birth Island. In the centre sits a lone black triangular rock. Deoxys only appears after you solve its puzzle.

#386 · Lv 30
Deoxys
Psychic
Forme depends on your version
The triangular-rock puzzleInteract with the rock and it vanishes and reappears elsewhere on the island. Walk to it by the shortest path and interact again; repeat. Solve it correctly and the rock returns to one space above its starting spot and glows bright red — then interact once more to battle Deoxys (Lv 30). Miss a step and it resets, so move deliberately.
Version-specific FormeOnce caught, Deoxys takes a fixed Forme by game: FireRed → Attack Forme (glass-cannon offence) and LeafGreen → Defense Forme (a wall). (Emerald gives Speed Forme; the Forme is tied to the game it lives in.)

At Level 30 it is easy to catch — but it can hit hard, so SAVE first, weaken it gently (paralysis + False Swipe), and reset if you faint it.

8 Elite Four rematch

After you have the National Dex and have finished the Sevii Islands quest (the Ruby & Sapphire / Team Rocket storyline that repairs Celio's network machine), the Elite Four and Champion upgrade their teams. Re-challenge them for a much tougher run — the members now carry Generation II Pokémon and their levels jump into the Lv 63–73 range. Each member also holds two Full Restores (the Champion holds four), so bring status and hard-hitting coverage.

MemberAceLvNew Gen-2 addition
LoreleiWaterIce Lapras66Piloswine IceGround
BrunoFighting Machamp68Steelix SteelGround
AgathaGhostPoison Gengar70Crobat PoisonFlying, Misdreavus Ghost
LanceDragonFlying Dragonite72Kingdra WaterDragon
Champion (Blue)Starter (beats yours)73Heracross BugFighting

The upgraded parties are only available after the Sevii quest — before that the rematch uses the original Champion-run teams.

9 Breeding at the Day-Care

The Four Island Pokémon Day Care lets you produce Eggs. Leave two compatible Pokémon together and the Day-Care Man may hand you an Egg after enough steps; it hatches at Level 5.

What counts as "compatible"

  • The pair must share at least one Egg Group and be of opposite genders.
  • Ditto is the universal partner — it breeds with almost anything (including genderless species), and is the only way to breed some Pokémon.
  • The baby is the base form of the mother's line (or of the non-Ditto parent when pairing with Ditto). A female Vulpix + male Growlithe gives a Vulpix.

Egg moves

The father passes down moves: any Egg Move he knows that the baby is able to learn is inherited, plus TM/HM moves the baby can learn in this game.

This is how you get a Pokémon a move it can't learn by level-up or TM — teach the move to a compatible father, then breed. The mother sets the species; the father supplies the special moves.

That's the whole game — champion, legends & secrets.

A dream team, all eight badges, the Elite Four, every legendary, and a route to a complete Pokédex. Flip back to any page any time from the top menu. Have a brilliant playthrough.

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