Special
Balanced
DTier
80Speed · Above Avg

Stats & Training

You won't find a real weakness in Charmeleon's stat line. It's well-rounded for the Flame Pokemon, and what it does with that depends on moveset and items. Yields 2 Special and Speed stat exp, on a 1.06M XP medium-slow curve.

Base Stats
Avg
HP58
D
Attack64
C
Defense58
D
Sp. Atk65
C
Sp. Def65
C
Speed80
C
Total390
Details
Catch Rate
Challenging45 / 255
Growth Rate
Medium Slow1.06M XP
Height1.1 m
3'07"Small
Weight19.0 kg
41.9 lbsFeather
Base XP142
Average
Abilities
Abilities were introduced in Generation III. Shown below for reference.
Blaze
Strengthens fire moves to inflict 1.5× damage at 1/3 max HP or less.
Solar PowerHA
Increases Special Attack to 1.5× but costs 1/8 max HP after each turn during strong sunlight.
EV Yield
HPAtkDefSpA+1SpDSpe+1
Special Attack training target
Pokedex Entries

When it swings its burning tail, it elevates the temperature to unbearably high levels.

Charmeleon Weakness

Water, Ground, and Rock moves hit Charmeleon for super-effective damage. The Fire typing picks up 4 resistances to work with. Not too many gaps in the chart, 3 weaknesses to account for.

Charmeleon Weakness and Resistance Chart
DamageTypes
2x (Weak)Water, Ground, Rock
0.5x (Resist)Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug
Type ChartAvg
3Weak
4Resist
0Immune
Score-2
Gen I Type Chart
  • 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
4xCritical
None
2xWeak
WaterGroundRock
½xResist
FireGrassIceBug
¼xResist
None
0xImmune
None
STAB (3)
GrassIceBug
How to Beat Charmeleon in Red & Blue (Best Counters)

In Red & Blue, Slowbro can KO Charmeleon with Surf (108-127%). Golem threatens a KO with Earthquake (153-180%). Gyarados's Hydro Pump also KOs at 87-103%.

Slowbro
Slowbro
WaterPsychic
B
Recommended Build
Moves
  • AmnesiaUtility
  • RestRecovery
  • SurfSTAB
  • Thunder Wave
Damage vs Charmeleon
Surf 2x
108-127%KO
View Slowbro builds →

Red & Blue Evolution

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

3 Forms
Charmander
#004Charmander
16
Level 16
Charmeleon
#005Charmeleon
36
Level 36
Charizard
#006Charizard
Stat Comparison 3 Stages
Charmander
Fire
Charmeleon
Fire
Charizard
FireFlying
HP
39
58+19
78+20
ATK
52
64+12
84+20
DEF
43
58+15
78+20
SP.ATK
60
80+20
109+29
SP.DEF
50
65+15
85+20
SPE
65
80+15
100+20
BST
309D-Tier
405D-Tier+96
534B-Tier+129
ROLE
Balanced
Balanced
Sweeper
TYPE
Utility
Special
Special
Breeding not available · Introduced in Gen 2

Red & Blue Charmeleon Best Moveset

Best Build

Experimental
Utility
Ability
Not in Gen 1
Item
Not in Gen 1
Nature
Not in Gen 1

Utility Moveset

  • Fire BlastSTAB
  • FlamethrowerSTAB
  • Fire SpinSTAB
  • EmberSTAB

Recommended Teammates

Bulbasaur
BulbasaurExcellent
Charmander
CharmanderExcellent
Squirtle
SquirtleExcellent

Moves

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.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1
Ember
S4010025Fire
Lv 1
Growl
D—10040Normal
Lv 1
Scratch
—4010035Normal
Lv 9
Ember
S4010025Fire
Lv 15
Leer
——10030Normal
Lv 24
Rage
—2010020Normal
Lv 33
Slash
D7010020Normal
Lv 42
Flamethrower
S9510015Fire
Lv 56
Fire Spin
S357015Fire

TM Moves

TM
TM34
Bide+1
———10Normal
TM08
Body Slam
D8510015Normal
TM18
Counter-5
D—10020Fighting
HM01
Cut
—509530Normal
TM28
Dig
—10010010Ground
TM32
Double Team
———15Normal
TM10
Double-Edge
C12010015Normal
TM23
Dragon Rage
——10010Dragon
TM38
Fire Blast
S120855Fire
TM05
Mega Kick
D120755Normal
TM01
Mega Punch
D808520Normal
TM31
Mimic
———10Normal
TM20
Rage
—2010020Normal
TM33
Reflect
C——20Psychic
TM44
Rest
C——10Psychic
TM19
Seismic Toss
D—10020Fighting
TM40
Skull Bash
C10010010Normal
HM04
Strength
—8010015Normal
TM17
Submission
D808025Fighting
TM50
Substitute
C——10Normal
TM39
Swift
D60—20Normal
TM03
Swords Dance
C——30Normal
TM09
Take Down
—908520Normal
TM06
Toxic
C—9010Poison

Egg Moves

Charmeleon doesn't have any Egg moves

Tutor Moves

Charmeleon can't learn any Tutor moves

How to Get Charmeleon in Red & Blue

Charmeleon doesn't appear wild. Catch Charmander instead, it shows up but it's a rare spawn. Evolve it at level 16 to get Charmeleon. The 2-stage line is mapped in the step cards below.

How to Obtain Charmeleon in Red & Blue

  1. Charmander
    Step 1Catch Charmander
    Pallet Town
    RedGift from NPC Lv.5 City
    LimitedEarly
    Starter choice
    Pallet Town
    BlueGift from NPC Lv.5 City
    LimitedEarly
    Starter choice
  2. Charmeleon
    Step 2Charmeleon ✓

Charmeleon Guide

  • At 390 BST, Charmeleon is firmly in pre-evolution territory. Evolve it into Charizard before bringing it to any serious fight.

  • In Red & Blue, watch for Starmie (Water), Golem (Ground), and Aerodactyl (Rock) when using Charmeleon. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB.

  • In Red & Blue, Charmander evolves into Charmeleon at level 16. Charmeleon evolves into Charizard at level 36. Charmeleon is a middle-stage evolution in the Charmander line.

  • Charmeleon is a special attacker with base 65 Special. Speed tells the real story. Base 80 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many.

  • 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.

Game Availability

Present since Red & Blue, Charmeleon appears in 21 games spanning 10 generations. Gen 1 originals like Charmeleon have the longest track record of availability in the series.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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