Best Pokemon to Catch With the Master Ball in FireRed and LeafGreen

In Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, the Master Ball allows trainers to catch any Pokemon in the entire game with a 100% guarantee, provided, of course, it is not owned by another trainer. Since there is only one Master Ball per save file, however, players often find themselves unsure about which Pokemon to catch with the Master Ball.

The Legendary Pokemon are the obvious choices because they have the lowest catch rate (0.4% at full health) in the entire game. However, there is still only one Master Ball, and quite a few Legendaries players can encounter during a playthrough. Picking just one requires careful thinking and weighing the pros and cons of each choice. This article covers all Pokemon that are worthy of being caught using a Master Ball, and where to find them.

Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres

The Legendary Birds of Kanto

The three Legendary birds of Kanto, Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres are the very first Legendaries players can encounter in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. In fact, if trainers know the exact location of where they can find these birds, they can be captured very early on in the game.

Zapdos and Articuno can both be found right after players obtain the ability to use HM03 Surf outside of battle, whereas Moltres can be encountered as soon as trainers get access to the Sevii Islands after defeating the Cinnabar Gym. Since Gyms after Koga can be cleared in any order, it means the Sevii Islands are within reach almost as soon as players get their hands on Surf.

As a result, Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres can all be encountered when the main bulk of the Pokemon on the team are at level 30 or below, right after the Master Ball is obtained, and even before players get the ability to purchase Ultra Balls.

Since these Legendary birds are all level 50 Pokemon, it is almost impossible to catch them using regular Poke Balls/Great Balls and a team of underleveled Pokemon without spending an inordinate amount of time Soft Resetting. Because of this, using a Master Ball to capture Zapdos, Articuno, or Moltres is a great way to add a high-level Pokemon to the team very early on in the game, making the rest of the playthrough a breeze.

Pokemon with the Flash Fire ability, like Arcanine, Ninetales, Rapidash, Houndoom, and Flareon, are immune to all of Moltres’ attacks (since all of them are Fire-type moves), making them unkillable tanks that make capture easy.

Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres Location

• Zapdos can be found in the Power Plant, south of the Route 10 Pokemon Center. The Power Plant island is only accessible using HM03 Surf.
• Articuno is found in the depths of the Seafoam Islands, which trainers can reach by surfing south of Fuchsia City, or east of Cinnabar Island.
• Moltres can be found at the top of Mt. Ember on One Island, accessible after beating Blaine at the Cinnabar Gym.

Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Mewtwo

Level 70 Legendary Trio

In Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Mewtwo are in the same boat in terms of how difficult it is to catch them. There are two main factors that make these three harder to catch than some of the other Legendary Pokemon players can find in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, justifying the use of a Master Ball:

• Level 70: All three Pokemon are level 70 when players trigger their encounters in their respective locations, making it exceedingly difficult to find a team of appropriately leveled Pokemon to weather their attacks as players try to capture them.
• Recover: Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Mewtwo all know the move Recover in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, which is a self-healing move that restores 50% of the user’s maximum HP. In FRLG, Recover has a PP of 20, which means these Pokemon can effectively self-heal half their HP 20 times during a battle, which makes it very hard to keep their HP bar in the red to maximize the chances of capture.

On top of that, Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Mewtwo also have a very low catch rate of 0.4% (when at full health). Though this is the same catch rate as most other Legendary Pokemon in FRLG, the difficulty of capture is compounded when the other factors are taken into consideration.

Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Mewtwo Location

• Ho-Oh and Lugia are both found in Navel Rock, which can be accessed using the Mystic Ticket at any Ferry Station. In the Switch version of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, the Mystic Ticket is unlocked automatically after trainers become the champion.
• Mewtwo is found in the depths of Cerulean Cave near Cerulean City, accessible after becoming champion, unlocking the National Dex, and delivering the Sapphire and Ruby to Celio on One Island.

Raikou, Entei, and Suicune

The Roaming Legendary Dogs

Depending on which starter trainers choose at the start of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, they’ll be able to encounter one of the three Legendary Dogs of Johto, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune during the post-game. Which of the three roaming Dogs appears in a player’s game depends entirely on which starter they picked. Trainers can only encounter one of them per save file.

• Charmander: Suicune
• Squirtle: Raikou
• Bulbasaur: Entei

In the original version of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, Raikou and Entei encounters were bugged, which made it so that if either of them used the move Roar during the battle, the game would treat them as defeated and they would disappear from the game forever, making them impossible to encounter again from that save file.

Although the Roaming Roar bug was fixed in the Switch version of FRLG, it’s still worth reserving the Master Ball for these roaming Legendaries because, unlike other Legendaries, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune always attempt to flee at every given opportunity.

Additionally, encounters with the Dogs can happen anywhere in the game and can often be a surprise for players. If things don’t go according to plan and they die in battle, they’ll be lost forever. If players are lucky and they have a recent save file they can reload from, this is not an issue, but if that is not the case, these encounters can go badly.

Raikou, Entei, and Suicune Location

Raikou, Entei, and Suicune start appearing randomly in places where trainers can encounter wild Pokemon after players defeat the Elite Four, become champion, unlock the National Dex, deliver the Sapphire and Ruby to Celio on One Island, and clear the Sevii Islands of Team Rocket’s influence.

After the prerequisites are fulfilled, the easiest way to encounter the roaming Legendary Dog is as follows:

1. Go to a low-level area with a patch of grass that is near a building (Route 2 south of Pewter City is good for this).
2. Place a Pokemon that is below level 50 as the lead of the party, but it has to be of a higher level than the Pokemon that appear in that area by default.
3. Use a Max Repel.
4. Run through the patch of grass.
5. If nothing happens, enter the building nearby, exit, and try again.
6. If you encounter something, it will be the Legendary Dog.

Any Shiny Legendary Pokemon

Reserve the Master Ball For Shiny Hunting Legendary Pokemon

Shiny hunting Legendaries is a tedious and time-consuming process in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. If players are unlucky, it can literally take thousands of resets for a shiny variant of the Legendary Pokemon they are looking for to spawn in.

While most players who are in the shiny hunting stage for Legendary Pokemon are well-prepared, with a large number of Ultra Balls, a good tank to sustain, and a decent strategy to inflict a status effect and reduce the target’s HP, success is not guaranteed by any means. It is very possible for things to go wrong during a shiny hunt’s capture phase because of unforeseen factors.

Because of this, keeping a Master Ball in reserve as a backup when shiny hunting Legendaries is one of the best uses for this item. It’s a panic button that players can press at any time if their Ultra Balls run out, if the Legendary Pokemon is close to wiping out their team, or if it gets within KO range for some reason.