
Is Charmander Good in Red & Blue Playthrough?
The hardest starter to get going. The first two gyms actively punish Fire typing, and Charmander's frailty makes even neutral fights risky early on. The payoff comes after the third gym when Charmeleon starts outpacing most opponents. By the time you reach Charizard, the rough start is a distant memory.
Brock's typing presses Charmander's defenses.
Misty's team hits Charmeleon's weaknesses hard.
Charmeleon has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Charmeleon has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Charizard has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Charizard trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Charizard trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Charizard has the type edge here and should clean up Giovanni's team.
Charizard trades roughly evenly with Lorelei's team.
Charizard trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Charizard has the type edge here and should clean up Agatha's team.
Lance's team hits Charizard's weaknesses hard.
Charizard trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Starter
Charmander is available as a starter at Lv 5.
Recommended Moves
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDigPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Returned by the Team Rocket thief after you defeat him in Cerulean City
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15S.S. Anne
- After Lt. Surge
- TM05NormalMega KickPower 120Accuracy 75%PP 5Celadon Department Store
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Fuchsia City
- LV 38FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Blaine
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Prize for defeating Cinnabar Gym Leader Blaine
Evolve Charmander to Charmeleon
Charmander evolves into Charmeleon at Level 16. Your Charmander should hit Level 16 before you reach Misty, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDigPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Returned by the Team Rocket thief after you defeat him in Cerulean City
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15S.S. Anne
- After Lt. Surge
- TM05NormalMega KickPower 120Accuracy 75%PP 5Celadon Department Store
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Fuchsia City
- LV 42FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Blaine
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Prize for defeating Cinnabar Gym Leader Blaine
Evolve Charmeleon to Charizard
Charmeleon evolves into Charizard at Level 36. Your Charmeleon should hit Level 36 before you reach Koga, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDigPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Returned by the Team Rocket thief after you defeat him in Cerulean City
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Rocket Game Corner
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- LV 46FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Blaine
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Prize for defeating Cinnabar Gym Leader Blaine
How to Get Charmander in Red & Blue
One of three starters Professor Oak offers in Pallet Town at level 5. Taking Charmander locks out Bulbasaur and Squirtle for the whole run. None appear in the wild.
1 location to catch Charmander
How to Obtain Charmander in RB
Step 1Charmander ✓
Step 2Evolve into Charmeleon
Step 3Evolve into Charizard
Charmander Weakness
Charmander is weak to Water, Ground, and Rock. Standard number of weaknesses for the Fire typing.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Ground, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Grass, Bug |
- Only 15 types exist — Dark, Steel, and Fairy are absent
- Ghost has no effect on Psychic (a known bug, fixed in Gen II)
- Special stat governs both offense and defense — no Sp.Atk / Sp.Def split
What is Charmander Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Charmander
Squirtle Water | C | |
Obtain MethodPallet Town Gift | ||
Charmander Evolutions
Charmander evolves into Charizard, but can't breed. At 299 stats as a Fire type, evolution is the only path. Evolving adds up to 235 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
RB Charmander Best Moveset
Pre-evolution Fire-type doing less with the same moves Charizard uses at twice the Special stat. Evolve before competing.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Flamethrower
- Fire Spin
- Ember
- Fire Blast
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
TMs carry this one. Charmander learns Fire Blast and Flamethrower naturally for STAB, but the offensive range comes almost entirely from technical machines. Normal and Fighting and beyond give it real matchup play.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
All 24 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Obviously prefers hot places. When it rains, steam is said to spout from the tip of its tail.
Charmander Red & Blue Guide
For Red & Blue, you can run Charmander through the first few routes without issues. 299 BST won't carry you far though. Get it to Charmeleon as fast as you can.
Game Availability
One of the original 151, Charmander has appeared in 21 games: nearly every mainline game. From Red & Blue through the latest titles, it's rarely been left out of a regional Pokedex.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RBDebut

Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS

Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS

Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG

FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP

Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS

HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW

Black & White - Gen 5B2W2

Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY

X & Y - Gen 6ORAS

Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM

Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM

Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7Let's Go

Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh

Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV

Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW

Winds & Waves
Explore
Where to go next after Charmander.