Is Charmeleon Good in Yellow Playthrough?
Faster than most things you'll face in the mid-game. Charmeleon fills the Fire slot your team is probably missing by Celadon City. Handles Erika and contributes against Koga. Evolves into Charizard at 36.
Brock's typing presses Charmander's defenses.
Misty's Pokemon outpace and outclass Charmander here.
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 has the type edge here and should clean up 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 has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Charmander is given to you as a gift on Route 24 at Lv 10. A trainer named Damian on Route 24 north of Nugget Bridge gives you his Charmander. He says it is too weak for him and asks you to take care of it.
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDig80100%10
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody Slam85100%15
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull Bash130100%10
- TM10NormalDouble-Edge120100%15
- LV 38FireFlamethrower135100%15
- After Koga
- HM04NormalStrength80100%15
- After Blaine
- TM38FireFire Blast16585%5
- After Giovanni
- TM05NormalMega Kick12075%5
Your Charmander should hit Level 16 before you reach Lt. Surge, at typical leveling pace.
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDig80100%10
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody Slam85100%15
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull Bash130100%10
- TM10NormalDouble-Edge120100%15
- LV 42FireFlamethrower135100%15
- After Koga
- HM04NormalStrength80100%15
- After Blaine
- TM38FireFire Blast16585%5
- After Giovanni
- TM05NormalMega Kick12075%5
Your Charmeleon should hit Level 36 before you reach Koga, at typical leveling pace.
- After Erika
- HM02FlyingFly13595%15
- TM15NormalHyper Beam15090%5
- TM40NormalSkull Bash130100%10
- TM10NormalDouble-Edge120100%15
- LV 46FireFlamethrower135100%15
- After Koga
- TM26GroundEarthquake100100%10
- TM03NormalSwords Dance—100%20
- After Blaine
- TM38FireFire Blast16585%5
How to Get Charmeleon in Yellow
No wild encounters for Charmeleon. The 3-stage chain runs through Charmander, which you can catch at solid rates from the locations below. Evolve at level 36 once you've got the levels.
How to Obtain Charmeleon in Y
Step 1Catch CharmanderRoute 24Lv.10Gift from NPCRate 100%
Step 2Charmeleon ✓
Step 3Evolve into Charizard
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.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Ground, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Grass, Ice, 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
AvgBest Pokemon Against Charmeleon
 Geodude RockGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Geodude builds →Dig 2x110-129%KO Rock Throw 2x59-71% | ||
 Sandshrew Ground | C | |
 Nidoqueen PoisonGround | C | |
 Nidoking PoisonGround | C | |
Geodude RockGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Geodude builds →Dig 2x110-129%KO Rock Throw 2x59-71% | ||
 Wartortle Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Squirtle (Vermilion City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Wartortle builds →Bubble Beam 2x59-71% Dig 2x63-75% | ||
Sandshrew Ground | C | |
Nidoqueen PoisonGround | C | |
Nidoking PoisonGround | C | |
 Vaporeon Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Celadon City Gift) | ||
 Sandslash Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Sandslash builds →Dig 2x128-152%KO Rock Slide 2x64-77% | ||
 Gyarados Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Magikarp (Route 4 Gift) | ||
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Graveler builds →Dig 2x126-148%KO Rock Slide 2x94-111%KO | ||
 Dugtrio Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Dugtrio builds →Dig 2x128-152%KO Rock Slide 2x64-77% | ||
Sandslash Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Sandslash builds →Earthquake 2x130-153%KO Rock Slide 2x65-77% | ||
Vaporeon Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Celadon City Gift) | ||
Gyarados Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Magikarp (Route 4 Gift) | ||
Nidoking PoisonGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Nidoking builds →Earthquake 2x133-157%KO Rock Slide 2x66-79% Bubble Beam 2x47-56% | ||
Nidoqueen PoisonGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Nidoqueen builds →Earthquake 2x121-143%KO Rock Slide 2x60-72% Bubble Beam 2x43-51% | ||
Vaporeon Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Celadon City Gift) | ||
Sandslash Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Sandslash builds →Earthquake 2x133-156%KO Rock Slide 2x67-80% | ||
Gyarados Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Magikarp (Route 4 Gift) | ||
 Lapras WaterIce | B | |
Obtain MethodSilph Co Gift | ||
 Blastoise Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Squirtle (Vermilion City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Blastoise builds →Surf 2x101-119%KO Dig 2x76-90% | ||
 Omastar RockWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Omanyte (Cinnabar Island Gift) | ||
Vaporeon Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Celadon City Gift) | ||
Sandslash Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Sandslash builds →Earthquake 2x127-150%KO Rock Slide 2x63-75% | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Rhydon builds →Earthquake 2x157-186%KO Rock Slide 2x119-140%KO Surf 2x40-48% | ||
Gyarados Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Magikarp (Route 4 Gift) | ||
Omastar RockWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Omanyte (Cinnabar Island Gift) | ||
Vaporeon Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Celadon City Gift) | ||
Sandslash Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Sandslash builds →Earthquake 2x132-156%KO Rock Slide 2x66-78% | ||
Rhydon GroundRock | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Rhydon builds →Earthquake 2x165-194%KO Rock Slide 2x124-147%KO Surf 2x42-50% | ||
Gyarados Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Magikarp (Route 4 Gift) | ||
Omastar RockWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Omanyte (Cinnabar Island Gift) | ||
Vaporeon Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Celadon City Gift) Available Move Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Vaporeon builds →Hydro Pump 2x157-185%KO | ||
Sandslash Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Sandslash builds →Earthquake 2x133-157%KO Rock Slide 2x66-78% | ||
Rhydon GroundRock | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Rhydon builds →Earthquake 2x165-195%KO Rock Slide 2x124-147%KO Surf 2x42-49% | ||
Gyarados Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Magikarp (Route 4 Gift) | ||
In Yellow, Gyarados can KO Charmeleon with Hydro Pump (87-103%).
Gyarados Water | B | |
Recommended Build Moves
Damage vs Charmeleon View Gyarados builds →Hyper Beam79-93% Hydro Pump 2x87-103%KO Blizzard14-17% Body Slam45-53% | ||
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
Y Charmeleon Best Moveset
Fire damage from 80 Special looks passable on paper, but Starmie, Slowbro, and Lapras sitting at the top of the format block MoveFire Blast completely. All of Fire's type problems without Charizard's stat line to partially compensate.
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.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- 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. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, 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, Egg, 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
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Tough fights could excite this POKéMON. When excited, it may blow out bluish-white flames.
Charmeleon Yellow Guide
At 390 BST, Charmeleon is firmly in pre-evolution territory. Evolve it into Charizard before bringing it to any serious fight.
In Yellow, watch for Starmie (Water), Golem (Ground), and Aerodactyl (Rock) when using Charmeleon. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB.
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 Yellow, 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 Yellow, run Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Fire Spin, and Ember on Charmeleon. Fire Blast is the most common pick at 0% usage. Flamethrower provides reliable STAB damage.
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
- 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 7LGPE
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