Preparing Your Trainer
Buy as many Ultra Balls as you can afford at a Poké Mart. The closest one is at Fuchsia City, but you can buy them anywhere. While you could catch Articuno, theoretically, with any ball, the Ultra Ball has the highest chance of success.
Train several Pokémon up to level 55 or above. Articuno is at level 50, and it will put up a good fight when it comes across you. Be prepared to chip away at its health with a few strong Pokémon. While you don't want to kill it before capture, a Fire and an Electric Pokémon will make powerful additions to your team here. Make sure you also have a strong, basic Pokemon, like a Normal type, to fight as well.
Make sure you have a Pokémon with a status-affecting move like Sleep or Paralysis. Some of the of the best moves to have are Thunder Wave, Hypnosis, and/or Sleep Powder. These effects will greatly increase your ability to capture Articuno, as they up the percentages of a successful ball throw.
Bring along several Potions and Repels to keep your team healthy on the way on the way to Articuno. You'll be making a decent sized trip to get to Articuno, and you don't want to be left with weak Pokémon when the fight begins. Bring Revives, TM Boosts, and Potions to make sure your team is in top shape when you arrive, or simply use Repels to avoid fighting wild Pokemon.
Know the HMs Strength and Surf. You'll need both of them to reach Articuno, so don't attempt it until your have 1-2 Pokémon with the moves in your party.
Finding Articuno
Use Surf off of the Southern coast of Fuschia City. Once you're situated with Pokémon and Ultra Balls, head down to the bottom-most end of Fuscia City and hop in the water.
Surf down and to the left until you reach a small cave. You'll be going southwest. Start by going straight down until you get stuck, then turn hard to the left to reach the Seafoam Islands, the home of Articuno. You'll see a little cave that you need to enter. There are two entrances to this cave, but only this entrance will work to get Articuno.
Drop the two boulders in the cave through the holes in the floor using HM Strength. When you enter, there will be a small boulder next to a hole in the floor. Use Strength to push the boulder through the hole. Off to the left, on the same floor, is another boulder that needs to be pushed through as well. Without leaving that floor, push that boulder the whole near it as well. Then return to the first hole and drop through along with the boulders. Do not use the ladder in the cave, as it will reset your boulders. The boulders halt the current in the lower levels of the cave, allowing you to surf on the river and find Articuno.
Head down to the lowest level once you've pushed all the boulders through. Keep pushing the boulders down the holes until you're at the lowest level of the cave. There will be a river with two boulders blocking it off, slowing it down enough to surf on. If you try and surf on this water without getting the boulders placed you will be swept away and out of the cave.
Surf down the river until you reach Articuno. It will be sitting on a small, raised platform, and will be clearly visible from the water. You won't fight it until you talk to it.
Catching Articuno
Save the game before "talking" to Articuno. If you miss this chance to catch the bird, you will not get another one. Avoid this mishap by saving before you click on the bird. Approaching and hitting A will trigger the fight, so prepare your team and save before starting.
Lower Articuno's HP down to the red zone. Fight the Pokémon like you'd fight any other you wanted to catch. When possible, use moves that deal damage but aren't super effective, as you don't want to unintentionally knock the bird out. Normal moves like Slash are good, as are moves like False Swipe. To help you capture the bird, remember it's strengths and weaknesses: Weak Against: Fire, Electric, Rock (x2, so be careful with Rock attacks), and Steel. Strong Against: Grass, Ground, Bug, and Dragon.
Put it to sleep or paralyze it once you have its health in the red. Once you've weakened it enough, it's time to slow it down and make it easier to catch. Obviously, the lower the health you can get it to the better, but don't risk knocking it out if your attacks are hitting strongly. Use Sleep Powder, Paralysis, Thunder Wave to ensure that Articuno is lulled out of combat, making it easier to catch.
Throw Ultra Balls at it until it is caught. Even if an Ultra Ball fails, it makes the next one slightly more likely to succeed. That means you 10th attempt at catching the bird will be far more likely to succeed that the last. Keep Articuno paralyzed or asleep and you'll scoop it up in no time.
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