This page explains how to activate the Kanto Room to catch Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (BDSP).

Where is the Kanto Room¶

The Kanto Room is accessible via the next cave north-east from the entrance in Ramanas Park, past the Discovery Room and up some stairs. To enter the park, you must have the National Pokédex. Inside the room, there’s a pedestal ahead where you slot in a Kanto Slate.

Each time you use a Kanto Slate, you can battle one of Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres and try to capture them. The specific Pokémon that appears is random (until there’s only one left). To catch all three, you’ll need a total of three Kanto Slates. Whew…

How to Obtain a Kanto Slate¶

You can purchase a Kanto Slate from the bottom vendor inside the Ramanas Park gatehouse after completing the Discovery Room (by catching Regirock, Regice and Registeel). It will cost you 3 Mysterious Shard S or 1 Mysterious Shard L for one slate.

Mysterious Shard S and L can be found when digging in the Grand Underground after acquiring the National Pokédex. Both are quite rare, with the L variety naturally being rarer than the S variety. The S variety occupies a 2 x 2 space, while the L variety occupies a 3 x 3 space.

How to Catch Articuno¶

Legendary Pokémon¶

Of the Legendary Birds, Articuno leans more towards defense, although it has a lackluster defensive typing. For attacks, it has Blizzard and Hurricane for low accuracy but hard-hitting STAB, Mind Reader to guarantee its next attack hits and Sheer Cold for a OHKO.

While Articuno’s offensive capabilities are generally so-so, getting hit by Blizzard or Hurricane will still hurt. If in doubt, bring a Steel-type to brace against Articuno’s attacks. Although there’s not much you can do to defend against the bad luck of Sheer Cold hitting you. Especially if Articuno happens to use Mind Reader beforehand…

That said, if your Pokémon has Sturdy, they’ll be immune to Sheer Cold. There are a few Steel-types with Sturdy as well, such as Bastiodon, Aggron and Magnezone. Failing that, Ice-types themselves are also immune to Sheer Cold. However, unlike Steel-types, they’ll take full damage from Hurricane, so they’re not as ideal.

Weakning Articuno shouldn’t be too tricky despite its higher defenses. Just avoid using Rock-type moves, since Articuno takes 4x damage. There’s a decent chance your False Swiper won’t have Sturdy or isn’t an Ice-type, so there’s a risk they’ll faint before finishing the job. As such, you may want to send them out later or have them open with harder hitting moves.

Like always, once you’ve reduced Articuno to 1 HP (or as low as possible) and inflicted paralysis or sleep, go ahead and chuck your best Poké Balls. It’s good practice to have a healthy stash of Ultra Balls, plus Timer Balls for longer fights that last over 10 turns.

How to Catch Zapdos¶

Legendary Pokémon¶

Zapdos excels in Special Attack. Besides that, it has fairly robust stats and a great defensive typing, so it’s often used defensively. Anyway, the one you’re fighting can use Thunder (low accuracy, but high damage), Zap Cannon (50% accuracy, but always paralyzes), Magnetic Flux (no effect on itself) and Detect (protects itself for 1 turn).

Knowing Zapdos’s moves, there are two avenues that we suggest. One, you can field a Ground-type and laugh as Zapdos does absolutely no damage. But keep in mind that Zapdos is also Flying, so that Pokémon will need non-Ground moves to actually damage Zapdos. Of note, Marowak and Garchomp can also use False Swipe.

Two, you could be coy and field a Minun or Plusle. They’re immune to paralysis and take reduced damage from Zapdos’s attacks, while receiving boosted defense from Magnetic Flux. Minun and Plusle aren’t particularly strong though, so this is more or a novelty choice than anything.

When weakening Zapdos, paralysis is off the table since it’s an Electric-type; that leaves sleep as the only safe status condition to apply. Otherwise, it’s business as usual. Once Zapdos is weak enough, unleash your Ultra Balls or (after 10 turns pass) Timer Balls. The chance is slim, but you could YOLO a Quick Ball on turn 1 as well.

How to Catch Moltres¶

Legendary Pokémon¶

Moltres also excels in Special Attack and has good Attack. However its typing is not as good as Zapdos and not much better than Articuno. For attacks, it’s carrying Hurricane (low accuracy, but high damage), Sky Attack (strong, high critical rate and can flinch, but requires charging for 1 turn), Burn Up (powerful and removes Moltres’s Fire-type, but only works once) and Endure (survive with 1 HP).

To survive Moltres, we suggest bringing along a Rock-type. Just be wary of using Rock-type attacks, since Moltres takes quadruple damage from those. If you’re feeling lucky though, you could hit Moltres regardless and hope it uses Endure to remain with 1 HP (reloading your save if it doesn’t). Besides that, a Pokémon with Protect/Detect can shield themselves from Sky Attack.

Burn Up is quite interesting, because it changes Moltres into a pure Flying-type afterwards. That means if you’re planning your offensive based on Moltres being a Fire-type, you need to prepare for this. Also, after Moltres uses Burn Up once, it will always fail afterwards. Other than that, you should know what to do; weaken and cripple Moltres, then toss Ultra Balls etc. until it’s ensnared.