Pokemon #144, Articuno, Ice/Flying type, Freeze Pokemon.
Intro: Articuno is the first of the Kanto Legendary Bird Trio, and is the elemental bird of ice. Articuno is a bird that is easily twice the size of humans. It's body is mostly sky-blue, with a slightly darker blue tail and blueish-grey chest feathers. Its beak and talons are grey, and it has white sclera and red irises. On its head are three blue and slightly greenish feathers the shape of a parallelogram. Its beak is small, and its talons have three forward toes with one claw, and one backwards. Its tail is long and appears to consist of three long, magnificent feathers.
Habitat: Although Articuno does not have a definite habitat, it is mostly spotted in mountains above the snow line. It may also appear in icy caverns, although this is quite rare.
Diet: It is not known what Articuno eats, but it is speculated that it eats the berries that grow up high in the mountains. In the presence of trainers, it will eat regular pokemon food like poffins, pokeblock, rare candies and other berries.
Biology: Articuno's presence causes the temperature to drop immediately. A flap of its wings will freeze moisture in the air, and cause snow to appear. It is said that Articuno's wings consist of ice, but no biopsy has been taken to confirm this. The fact that Articuno refrigerates the surrounding air may be to prevent its own wings from melting.
Articuno is said to appear to people who are freezing in snowy mountains. It will come and guide the way to safety. If a person is already unconscious, it will carry the person to safety discreetly. Articuno uses its ability to read minds to detect people in distress, which allows it to track people from afar and reach them in time.
Multiple Articuno exist in the world. An Articuno was proven to reside in the Seafoam Islands for a certain period of time. Another Articuno was reported flying around the Kalos region. An Articuno egg was found on Pokemon Island, where its hatching was stimulated by the chill caused by dancing Jynx. This implies that especially low temperatures are necessary to hatch Articuno eggs. It is also evidence that Articuno reproduces naturally by laying eggs, although it has never done so in the presence of a human. It is speculated that Articuno can only reproduce at extremely low temperatures, which are not attained at the pokemon daycare.
Articuno have nests on several high mountains. They travel from nest to nest, bringing frigid weather with them wherever they go.
Articuno is known to govern one of the Orange Islands, in conjunction with Zapdos and Moltres, and governed by Lugia. If one of the other birds disappears, Articuno will claim the other bird’s territory and start behaving aggressively and invasive. Great calamity befalls the region when this happens, and the power of Lugia is necessary to restore balance.
Pokemon League Commission notes:
Class A. Articuno is a Legendary pokemon who trainers are prohibited from catching by default. In the case of Articuno, the weather changes it brings are deemed too damaging to be left in the care of a single trainer indefinitely.
