How to catch the new Galarian Legendary Birds in Pokémon GO

At long last, Pokémon GO has finally added the Galarian forms for three of its most prominent Legendaries. We asked for regional Legendaries a few weeks ago, and Arceus made it so.

Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres were just in the Legendary Raid cycle for the month of July, so admittedly, Niantic missed a prime opportunity to add the regional forms en masse. Regardless, at least they are in the game now.

Legendary Birds

However, they don’t appear like most Legendaries do. It’s an incredibly rare occurrence for the Legendary of the current cycle to show up in the wild. Most players never see a wild Legendary. The Galarian Birds are going to be a little more common than that, but still less common than in Raids.

Here’s where they spawn and how to catch them.

Want to grab a new form of three Legendaries in Pokémon GO? Here’s how!

Where the Galarian Legendary Birds spawn

Fortunately, all three birds are worldwide. There are plenty of regionals and there have even been regional Legendaries (Azelf, Uxie and Mesprit, for example). Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno will show up in Galarian form on every continent that the game is played.

However, they won’t just show up on the nearby list. No, that would be too easy. Pokémon trainers might have noticed a recent Special Research in which they were tasked to try out and learn more about a new item: Daily Adventure Incense.

This item works like a regular incense, but for only 15 minutes and it requires movement. Otherwise, nothing will spawn. This new item is the only way to get any of the three birds to spawn, unfortunately.

Most players will go on their 15-minute walk and not see a Legendary, which is what makes them so rare. The Daily Adventure Incense doesn’t come but once a day and it doesn’t stack, so players have one chance each day and that’s it.

Right now, the spawns cannot be shiny. No shiny forms of these Galarian Birds will appear when trainers click on them. Ultimately, that’s a good thing, because they’re terribly difficult to catch.

How to catch the Legendary Birds

Pokémon trainers who see a Galarian Zapdos, Moltres or Articuno are incredibly lucky, but they have to be even more lucky to catch one. According to the Silph Road Reddit, the Pokémon have a base catch rate of 0.3% and a flee rate of 90%.

Most Legendary Pokémon in raids are not caught in the first two or three throws, but one would be lucky to see these birds stay after the first or second throw.

In all reality, trainers have one shot to catch them, which means there can be no messing around.

Galarian Zapdos

Ultra balls are a must. Golden Razz Berries will give players the only shot to catch them. The throw has to be a curveball and it has to at the very least be “Great.” “Excellent” would be best, but that’s often easier said than done.

In all likelihood, most players will not catch the first Legendary Birds they see. They’ll probably have to see a few before they’re caught, which makes them incredibly rare.

However, if someone has extras, they should only be the cost of a regular special trade, since they’re not a new Pokédex entry and are simply an alternate form for the Kantonian birds.

How to maximize the opportunities to catch these Galarian birds

Since the only way to catch either Galarian Zapdos, Galarian Moltres or Galarian Articuno is through the Daily Adventure Incense, players should try and maximize their opportunities.

For starters, that means going out for a short walk every single day. Trainers shouldn’t skip a day because that’s another chance to find one of the Legendary Birds that will be missed.

15 minutes isn’t even that long, so it’s also important to try and make the most out of each one. Once that 15 minutes ends, players have to wait until at least midnight to try again.

Here’s how best to do that. First, players should catch all Pokémon that come up on the incense. Many players try and shiny hunt, so they check a Pokémon and leave immediately if it’s not shiny.

This is not a good way to use the Daily Adventure Incense, though. Trainers should catch everything, because they go away faster that way. If they go away faster, then others, potentially the Galarian Birds, can spawn.

Additionally, players should use high-level Pokéballs and berries when necessary. Many trainers might try to get away with only using a Regular Pokéball to catch one with an orange catch circle.

This is a mistake- the Pokémon will probably break out, causing the trainer to try again. That’s valuable time wasted when other Pokémon could be spawning.

Finally, players should never stop moving. It’s unclear how sensitive the Daily Adventure Incense is, but it is clear that it requires walking. If players stop for even a minute, there’s a chance nothing will spawn.

Galarian Legendaries FAQ