It is said that in the age when the Indigo Plateau was merely another geographical feature, Moltres itself made its nest there. It is said that the Pokemon League's legendary founder captured Moltres itself in an epic struggle, built the Hall of Fame on the site of its former nest, used it to win many battles, and when he grew old and felt death approaching, ordered a secret cavern in Victory Road to be constructed as his strongest comrade's new home.

This, of course, is legend, although it may also be fact. What is certain is that, as soon as it enters the historical record, the Pokemon League carried the flame of Moltres as its eternal torch. Pokemon trainers of the highest echelons have often worshiped it, not as a sky god or a flame god, but a god of power and victory.

Unlike many other legendary Pokemon, the existence of Moltres is not in serious doubt, although most skeptics consider it merely a rare and extremely powerful pokemon but not a god, and a few believe it to be a Pidgeot whose wings had caught fire. This is because many powerful trainers have challenged it to test their own strength, each of them seeking to be acknowledged as the greatest ever. Most fail, some perish, and others are dragged out to the Center by trainers who stumble upon Moltres' lair, or ocassionally the next challenger to come. No one since the League Founder has captured it, only Red has defeated it in combat, and even he had to use all six pokemon to do so.