
Is Charmander Good in Yellow Playthrough?
Handed to you on Route 24 north of Cerulean City. By the time you get Charmander in Yellow, the Brock and Misty fights are already done, so the painful Fire-type opening doesn't exist. Evolve it before Erika's gym and Charizard takes care of the rest.
Brock's typing presses Charmander's defenses.
Misty's team hits Charmeleon's weaknesses hard.
Charmeleon trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Charmeleon has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Charizard resists most of Koga's coverage and hits back hard.
Charizard trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Charizard trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Charizard trades roughly evenly with Giovanni's team.
Charizard trades roughly evenly with Lorelei's team.
Charizard has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Charizard has the type edge here and should clean up Agatha's team.
Charizard trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Charizard trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Gift
Charmander is given to you as a gift on Route 24 at Lv 10. A man on Route 24 north of Nugget Bridge gives you his Charmander; he says he has not raised it well and asks you to care for it.
Recommended Moves
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDigPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Returned by the Team Rocket Grunt in Cerulean City after you defeat him
- 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 Grunt in Cerulean City after you defeat him
- 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 Grunt in Cerulean City after you defeat him
- 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 Yellow
A man on Route 24, just past Nugget Bridge, gives you Charmander at level 10. In Yellow it's a single gift rather than a starter choice, with no wild copies to fall back on.
1 location to catch Charmander
How to Obtain Charmander in Y
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
Geodude RockGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmander View Geodude builds →Dig 2x147-173%KO Rock Throw 2x78-93% | ||
Sandshrew Ground | C | |
Nidoqueen PoisonGround | C | |
Nidoking PoisonGround | C | |
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
Y Charmander Best Moveset
Fire typing invites MoveEarthquake and Water attacks from the most common threats in the format. The Special stat can't power MoveFire Blast at any meaningful level. Same Fire-type problems as Charizard, worse stats across the board.
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
The flame at the tip of its tail makes a sound as it burns. You can only hear it in quiet places.
Charmander Yellow Guide
For Yellow, 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.