Lucky 13: Moltres

13th April 2018, also a Friday making it the infamous Friday the 13th. This was early on when Niantic had introduced the field research mechanic. Having legendary Pokemon as rewards for the 7th day reward is a great idea, for those who didn’t or couldn’t get them during their original run. Plus having the IV range the same as those of raid bosses gave all of us an incentive to even want to do field research quests.

At this point I did not have Moltres or any of the Kanto legendary birds so I definitely wanted to get one that was of a good IV. All 3 were rated as great to use in attack for their respective types so I definitely wanted to get as many as I could.

I’m also really eager to claim my field research rewards so I tend to claim them just after midnight, when I can do so. So I caught my Moltres, then almost exclaimed in shock when I saw the appraisal come back as all stats being equally high and exceeds calculation.

First time I ever got a legendary 100% IV and I knew there and then I would have to power it up to its maximum CP. At the time it wasn’t useful and I needed to level my own trainer level before that could happen. Now that I’m level 38, I can finally max out my Pokemon and Moltres ended up being one of the first few to get that honour. Fortunately its seeing some use now as part of my team against a Solarbeam wielding Groudon. Its not as bulky as I would like it but its attacking output is fantastic. Its also my go to guy for fighting Metagross, its typing being a useful counter against the Bullet Punch-Meteor Mash moveset that is so popular.

I hope Moltres will continue to be useful in the future,whether its against new legendaries or old ones. New gym defenders or old ones, it does not matter. Actually, even if it weren’t, I’d have no regrets powering it up again. I plan to max out all of 100% IV Pokemon. Even if its a Raticate.