Legendary birds (Adventures)

Articuno (Japanese: フリーザー Freezer), Zapdos (Japanese: サンダー Thunder), and Moltres (Japanese: ファイヤー Fire) are recurring  in the Pokémon Adventures manga who were once used by Team Rocket and later recaught by.

Articuno
Green's Articuno (Japanese: ブルのフリーザー Blue's Freezer) was the first of the Legendary birds to appear. It was initially used by Koga and later recaught by.

Articuno first appeared in You Know...Articuno!, where Team Rocket was trying to capture it at Seafoam Islands. Sensing Team Rocket, Articuno covered itself in a shield of ice, immobilizing itself. and Harry battled each other, each trying to capture the Freeze Pokémon. Red quickly started to lose the fight as his Gyara was forced to relive some painful memories of his experimentation at the hands of Team Rocket, causing him to loss control. Seizing the moment, Harry had his attack Gyara, trying to finish the fight before Articuno would break itself out of the ice. However, Articuno freed itself from the ice while the battle was still going on and begun to flee from Team Rocket, firing off attacks to keep them at bay. Seeing Red struggling against Muk, Articuno fired off a powerful, ignoring all of Red's and freezing Muk in a block of ice. However, defending Red caused Articuno to use up an extreme amount of energy, allowing Team Rocket to capture it soon after. In Holy Moltres, it was revealed to have been given to Koga.

Articuno was later used by Koga in The Art of Articuno in his fight against Red and at the Silph Co. Articuno started the fight with a powerful Blizzard against Blue, followed up by an. Koga then revealsed that Articuno is under his complete control thanks to his. Articuno continued its assault, freezing the majority of the room, along with Red and Blue. Thinking the battle was done, Koga let his guard down, and was surprised to see that Red and Blue were already unfrozen thanks to Blue's Charizard heating up the room from the outside. Koga was then defeated by a combination attack from Blue's Porygon and Pika.

In The Winged Legends, Articuno was called upon by Sabrina's Kadabra and was soon after fused with and  due to 's use of the Badge Energy Amplifier, using Red's Gym Badges as a power source. The three birds were soon separated by a combined attack from Saur, Blue's Charizard, and Blasty. After being separated, Articuno was back into the wild.

Prior to the, Green captured Articuno to help her overcome her fear of birds. Articuno was revealed to have been caught by Green in The Last Battle VIII, where she called it out alongside Zapdos and Moltres to battle the Masked Man's. Green got on Moltres's back, while she has Red command Articuno and Blue command Zapdos. The three birds fired off a combination attack against Ho-Oh, who countered with. Before Ho-Oh could be overwhelmed by the Legendary birds, Lugia dispersed them with its own attack. While the Kanto Pokédex holders were trying to think of a way to attack the Tower duo, a large group of Pokémon exited the Pokémon Center and begun grouping around Ho-Oh and Lugia, each sharing the thoughts of stopping evil with their s. The combined efforts of the Pokémon allow Ho-Oh and Lugia to be freed from the Masked Man's control. With Ho-Oh and Lugia gone, Green returned Articuno to its Poké Ball.

It is unknown what happened to Articuno after this point, as it is never mentioned again, nor is it listed amongst Green's Pokémon in the following chapters.

Personality and characteristics
Articuno is a caring with a high moral compass, shown when it sacrificed its remaining energy to save  and Gyara from Team Rocket, despite putting itself in danger of being captured. It also showed regret when having to listen to Koga, knowing it was helping an evil cause. Articuno is also a very powerful Pokémon, able to stand its ground against both. Articuno holds its Trainer in high regards, easily listening to her commands and having no problem following her orders to be commanded by another Trainer.

In the TCG
Articuno is featured in the TCG as one of Team Rocket's Pokémon. The following is a list of cards featuring Articuno.

Zapdos
Green's Zapdos (Japanese: ブルのサンダー Blue's Thunder) was the last of the Legendary birds to appear. It was initially used by Lt. Surge and later recaught by.

Zapdos first appeared in Holy Moltres, where it was revealed to have been captured by Lt. Surge in the. Zapdos appeared again in Go for the Golbat, where it was used in Lt. Surge's fight against at the Silph Co. Zapdos was used to charge Lt. Surge's energy supplies, which Lt. Surge himself was immune to thanks to his electric-proof undersuit. Using its electric energy, Zapdos was used to provide the rest of Lt. Surge's with an infinite amount of energy to attack with. After wearing down Red's Pika, Zapdos was used against Saur, attacking with a powerful, causing major damage. After evading multiple s, Lt. Surge had Zapdos charge itself up to its max energy, planning to attack the entire battlefield with a devastating. Right before the move was executed, Red had Saur uses the remaining leafs to cut Lt. Surges undersuit, causing the Thunder attack to hit Lt. Surge instead of Red, knocking him out and ending the battle.

In The Winged Legends, Zapdos was called upon by Sabrina's Kadabra and was soon after fused with and  due to 's use of the Badge Energy Amplifier, using Red's Gym Badges as a power source. The three birds were soon separated by a combined attack from Saur, Blue's Charizard, and Blasty. After being separated, Zapdos was back into the wild.

Prior to the, Green captured Zapdos to help her overcome her fear of birds. Zapdos was revealed to have been caught by Green in The Last Battle VIII, where she called it out alongside Articuno and Moltres to battle the Masked Man's. Green got on Moltres's back, while she has Red command Articuno and Blue command Zapdos. The three birds fired off a combination attack against Ho-Oh, who countered with. Before Ho-Oh could be overwhelmed by the Legendary birds, Lugia dispersed them with its own attack. While the Kanto Pokédex holders were trying to think of a way to attack the Tower duo, a large group of Pokémon exited the Pokémon Center and begun grouping around Ho-Oh and Lugia, each sharing the thoughts of stopping evil with their s. The combined efforts of the Pokémon allow Ho-Oh and Lugia to be freed from the Masked Man's control. With Ho-Oh and Lugia gone, Green returned Zapdos to its Poké Ball.

It is unknown what happened to Zapdos after this point, as it is never mentioned again, nor is it listed amongst Green's Pokémon in the following chapters.

Personality and characteristics
Zapdos is a very powerful, easily supplying Lt. Surge's Electric Pokémon with an infinite amount of energy and was able to stand its ground against both. Zapdos was shown to have little regard for its original Trainer, attacking Lt. Surge with despite knowing that it would hurt him. Zapdos holds its current Trainer in high regards, easily listening to her commands and having no problem following her orders to be commanded by another Trainer.

In the TCG
Zapdos is featured in the TCG as one of Team Rocket's Pokémon. The following is a list of cards featuring Zapdos.

Moltres
Green's Moltres (Japanese: ブルのファイヤー Blue's Fire) was the second of the Legendary birds to appear. It was initially used by Sabrina and later recaught by.

Prior to the start of the series, Moltres was captured by Team Rocket at the Indigo Plateau and given to Sabrina. Moltres first appeared in Holy Moltres, where it was used by Al to attack Blaine. Once Blaine started to make his escape with, Moltres was sent to chase them down. The Flame Pokémon was quickly able to catch up with Blaine's and easily withstood the damage from Poli's. Moltres then used its overwhelming strength and speed to break Rapidash's and effortlessly dodge Gyara's. It then countered with a powerful Fire attack, burning much of the landscape around it, impressing Red with its strength. Realizing that they are outmatched without a Pokémon, Blaine has Red retreat to his secret laboratory in order to resurrect the ancient Pokémon  from his Old Amber. Blaine attempted to keep Moltres at bay with Gyara until Red returned, but was quickly overwhelmed by Moltres's flames. Just when Blaine was starting to think he was done for, Red returned with his newly revived Aerodactyl, Aero, who caught Moltres off guard with his impressive speed. Red had Aero attack with, while Moltres countered with Flamethrower. The moves collided and Supersonic proved to be more powerful, damaging Moltres's wing. Seeing Moltres at a disadvantage, Al chose to recall Moltres to its and have Team Rocket retreat from Cinnabar Island. Al later headed to Silph Co., returning Moltres to Sabrina.

In The Winged Legends, Moltres was called upon by Sabrina's Kadabra and was soon after fused with and  due to 's use of the Badge Energy Amplifier, using Red's Gym Badges as a power source. The three birds were soon separated by a combined attack from Saur, Blue's Charizard, and Blasty. After being separated, Moltres was back into the wild.

Prior to the, Green traveled to Mt. Ember and captured Moltres to help her overcome her fear of birds. Moltres was revealed to have been caught by Green in The Last Battle VIII, where she called it out alongside Articuno and Zapdos to battle the Masked Man's. Green got on Moltres's back, while she has Red command Articuno and Blue command Zapdos. The three birds fired off a combination attack against Ho-Oh, who countered with. Before Ho-Oh could be overwhelmed by the Legendary birds, Lugia dispersed them with its own attack. While the Kanto Pokédex holders were trying to think of a way to attack the Tower duo, a large group of Pokémon exited the Pokémon Center and begun grouping around Ho-Oh and Lugia, each sharing the thoughts of stopping evil with their s. The combined efforts of the Pokémon allow Ho-Oh and Lugia to be freed from the Masked Man's control. With Ho-Oh and Lugia gone, Green returned Moltres to its Poké Ball.

It is unknown what happened to Moltres after this point, as it is not mentioned again, nor is it listed amongst Green's Pokémon in the following chapters.

Personality and characteristics
Moltres is a very powerful battler, able to take moves while showing no signs of damage. It was also able to stand its ground against both. Moltres's pure strength impressed, as it destroyed a large landscape of forest around it with minimal effort. Moltres is also incredibly fast and agile, easily able to outmaneuver any that isn't able to fly. Moltres takes great pride in its battling skills, shown to be very satisfied and amused with its advantage over Gyara. Moltres holds its Trainer in high regards, easily listening to her commands.

In the TCG
Moltres is featured in the TCG as one of Team Rocket's Pokémon. The following is a list of cards featuring Moltres.

Thu-Fi-Zer
(Japanese: サ・ファイ・ザー Thu-Fi-Zer) was the result of a Team Rocket experiment created by fusing the three Legendary birds—,, and —in the Pokémon Adventures.

History
Prior to the creation of Thu-Fi-Zer, Team Rocket stole an Eevee in order to research the Eeveelutions—,, and —which was a mere beta-test for this creature. To this end, Team Rocket captured at the,  at the Indigo Plateau, and, after its energy reserves were spent on saving 's Gyara,  at the Seafoam Islands. With on the run and its creator, Blaine, having defected Team Rocket, this experimental monstrosity was Team Rocket's trump card.

In The Winged Legends, 's Gym Badges triggered the Badge Energy Amplifier when placed them into the device, creating this fusion. Red tried battling Thu-Fi-Zer with Saur, but the fused trio sent him flying out of the Silph Co. building with ease. Sabrina commanded it to attack Red, as he had served his purpose and could be disposed of. Before the creature could attack, interfered with, only for the two to meet the same fate as Red and Saur. Red came up with a plan to defeat Thu-Fi-Zer, which involved 's —Clefy—to evolve into a. He accomplished this with the use of a Moon Stone he had found on Mt. Moon earlier. After evolving, Clefy attacked Thu-Fi-Zer with, which resulted in it using to close in on the Legendary bird, and then unleashed a succession of attacks; , , and. Despite the damage that Thu-Fi-Zer took from this barrage, it was barely hurt and was able to send Red, Blue, and Green flying out of the Silph Co. building with a.

However, the three s survived thanks to a net created by Saur's vines, so Sabrina ordered Thu-Fi-Zer to attack them again. Using their starter Pokémon, the three Trainer attacked the fusion Pokémon with, , and , respectively. In the midst of attacking, Red's call caused Saur to evolve into a, changing its attack into a. The combination attack caused the three Legendary birds to be separated into their original forms, which then fled back into the wild.

Personality and characteristics
Thu-Fi-Zer was proven to be practically unstoppable, as it had the combined powers of all the Legendary birds. This was exemplified as it was able to easily knock back 's Saur without suffering a scratch and withstand a barrage of attacks from 's with little injury. Even Sabrina commented on how she wanted its power.

Trivia

 * In the English language version of Pokémon Adventures, Thu-Fi-Zer does not have an official name. However, Coronis of Serebii.net coined the term "Zapmolcuno," a portmanteau of the Legendary birds' names; this reflects its Japanese name, サ・ファイ・ザー Thu-Fi-Zer, a combination of the Legendary birds' Japanese names, , and.

Related articles

 * Legendary birds
 * Legendary birds

Uccelli leggendari (La Grande Avventura) 传说的鸟宝可梦（特别篇）