Is Charmeleon Good in Red & Blue Playthrough?
The turning point for the Charmander line. Fast enough to go first in most fights and strong enough to matter. Handles Erika's gym and keeps improving from there. Evolves into Charizard at 36.
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.
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 Charmeleon in Red & Blue
Charmander hits level 16 and turns into Charmeleon. That evolution is the whole story, since no wild Charmeleon shows up across Red and Blue.
Catch Charmander at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Charmeleon.
- 1Catch Charmander
- 2Evolve Charmeleonat Lv.16
- 3
How to Obtain Charmeleon in RB
- Step 2Charmeleon ✓
- Step 3Evolve into Charizard
Charmeleon Weakness
Water, Ground, and Rock moves hit Charmeleon for super-effective damage. Not too many gaps in the chart, 3 weaknesses to account for.
| 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 Charmeleon Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Charmeleon
 Geodude RockGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Geodude builds →Dig 2x114-135%KO Rock Throw 2x61-73% | ||
 Wartortle Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Squirtle (Pallet Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Wartortle builds →Bubble Beam 2x61-73% Dig 2x65-78% | ||
Charmeleon Evolutions
Partway through Charmander's chain, Charmeleon is a Fire type pushing toward Charizard. No breeding at this stage. So far, HP got the biggest boost (+19 from Charmander). The final form adds another 144 stats on top. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
RB Charmeleon Best Moveset
Middle-stage Fire-type with 80 Special that's passable for MoveFire Blast but outclassed by every fully evolved Fire-type available. The move slots are identical to Charizard's at lower power.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Fire Blast
- Flamethrower
- Fire Spin
- Ember
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The level-up pool is slim, so TMs matter here. Charmeleon's Normal and Fighting coverage and more all comes from technical machines, built on top of Fire Blast and Flamethrower for same-type damage. Flamethrower and Double-Edge are the payoff moves.
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
When it swings its burning tail, it elevates the temperature to unbearably high levels.
Charmeleon Red & Blue Guide
In Red & Blue, for a casual playthrough, Charmeleon works as a placeholder. Fire coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Charizard. That's where the stats start mattering.
In Red & Blue, use Charmeleon as a balanced. Special attacks are the main output. Speed is middling, Flamethrower is the primary attack.
Game Availability
Present since Red & Blue, Charmeleon appears in 21 games spanning 9 generations. Gen 1 originals like Charmeleon have the longest track record of availability in the series.
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 Charmeleon.
Keep playing · Red & BlueRed & Blue Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Red & Blue Tier List