Charmander: The Veteran's Pick

Everyone wants the dragon. The house is obligated to tell you what the dragon costs. Specimen №004 opens its run into the two worst gym matchups a starter can face, back to back, with the thinnest defenses in the cabinet. Pick Charmander and the early game is a proving ground. Get through it, and you own the single most popular Pokémon ever printed at full power for the entire back half — 109 Special Attack, real speed, and a flight home after every win.

The line at a glance

| Stage | Typing | Arrives | Calling card | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Charmander | Fire | Starter | Fastest starter in the cabinet | | Charmeleon | Fire | Level 16 | Slash and serious attitude | | Charizard | Fire / Flying | Level 36 | 109 Special Attack, Earthquake immunity |

Note the typing change at the end: Charizard picks up Flying, which makes it immune to Ground moves entirely and lets it carry Fly as real travel utility. It also means Rock moves hit very hard, so respect anything holding stones.

Why pick this line

The argument for Charmander is the destination, and the destination is legitimate.

• Charizard's offense is the best in the cabinet. Flamethrower off 109 Special Attack deletes most of the late game. Nothing Venusaur or Blastoise does compares for raw damage.
• Speed wins old fights. The line outruns nearly everything on the route, and in the classic games speed even feeds your critical hit rate. Slash on Charmeleon crits so often it might as well be two moves.
• The Ground immunity matters. Earthquake is the scariest move in Kanto, and your final form ignores it.

The tradeoff is everything before badge three. Charmander's stat line is built for offense it does not have the moves to deliver yet, and the schedule sends you into Rock, then Water, before you can breathe.

The road through Kanto

• Brock (Rock). The famous wall. Rock resists Fire and Ember bounces off. In the original games your honest path is patience: level on Route 22, lean on Metal Claw if you are playing the FireRed or LeafGreen remakes — it turns Brock from a wall into a speed bump — or recruit a Mankey or Nidoran first and let them carry the badge.
• Misty (Water). Strike two. Starmie is genuinely dangerous to an underleveled Charmeleon. Bring the Oddish or Bellsprout you caught on the way, or a Pikachu from Viridian Forest, and let the type chart fight for you.
• Lt. Surge (Electric). Neutral at last. Charmeleon trades fine here, and a Dig TM on anything turns Surge off entirely.
• Erika (Grass). Payday. This is the gym Charmander was built for. Burn the garden down.
• Koga (Poison). Comfortable. Your speed and Slash crits control the room.
• Sabrina (Psychic). Neutral but scary — her Alakazam is faster than you. Hit hard, do not linger.
• Blaine (Fire). A mirror. Either stall it out or hand the badge work to a Water or Ground teammate.
• Giovanni (Ground). Charizard ignores the Earthquakes that ruin everyone else's day. Just watch for Rock coverage.

At the Elite Four, Lorelei's Ice respects your Fire, Bruno's Fighting moves get resisted by Flying, and Lance is a problem — Dragon and Rock coverage means your dragon largely defers to a teammate with Ice Beam.

Moves that matter

Early: Ember at level 9 is your bread for a long while. In the remakes, Metal Claw arrives just in time for Brock. Take Growl seriously early — it buys your thin defenses real turns.

Mid: Slash is the star of the Charmeleon era. With the era's critical hit rules, it functionally doubles its own damage on speed alone. Dig from the TM case gives you Ground coverage and a free turn of cover in one slot.

Late: Flamethrower lands in the late thirties and never leaves the set. The classic Charizard kit is Flamethrower, Slash, Earthquake from the TM case, and Fly for travel and stall punishment. Swords Dance plus Earthquake is the veteran's party trick in the oldest games. Fire Spin exists; the house does not endorse gambling on its accuracy.

Build the squad around it

Charizard needs cover for exactly the rooms its typing hates: Rock, Electric, and open water.

• A Water type is not optional. It carries Surf for travel, answers Blaine and Giovanni's Rock coverage, and brings the Ice Beam that handles Lance. The river provides; pick your favorite.
• A Grass or Electric teammate caught before Misty is the difference between a rough patch and a restart. Oddish, Bellsprout, and Pikachu all volunteer early.
• A Ground type like Dugtrio quietly cleans up Electric threats and Koga's poisons while your dragon rests.

House verdict

Charmander is the veteran's pick because the early game is a tax and the late game is the refund with interest. If it is your first run, know what you are signing: two gyms of genuine adversity before the engine turns over. If you have hands, take the dragon — there is a reason it is the most famous silhouette in the franchise.

Filed under: earned arrogance.