Legendary Pokémon

Pokemon of the Week: Charizard

General info

Type

Fire/Flying

Ability

Blaze (Fire moves are multiplied by 1.5 when HP are below 1/3rd)

Base Stats

• HP: 78
• Attack: 84
• Defense: 78
• Special Attack: 109
• Special Defense: 85
• Speed: 100

Description

The famous and overused Charizard, never disliked by any trainer! He’s cool –or should I say hot?-, has nice Base Stats and a variety of moves. He excels in battles against Grass and Bug types but can give a punch or two when it comes to his disadvantages, Water, Electricity and Rock due to his wide movepool which mainly focuses on physical attacks and Fire based techniques. Watch out however, for his HP since both of his Defenses are not particularly high.

Online Pokédex

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Role #1: Physical Sweeper

Item Held

Salac Berry (raises Speed when HP are low)/Liechi Berry (raises Attack when HP are low)

Nature

Jolly (+Speed –Special Attack)/Adamant (+Attack –Special Attack)

Effort Points

252 Attack, 252 Speed, 6 Any

Moveset

• Swords Dance/Dragon Dance/Belly Drum
• Earthquake
• Aerial Ace
• Rock Slide

This strategy focuses on attacking the opponent as fast as you can with all of your powers. It’s obvious -looking at the natures proposed and the EV allocation- that Charizard has to get the most out of his speed and attack. You are given the choice between three different boosting attacks:

• Swords Dance which will double your Attack stat, triple it the second time used, then quadruple it
• Dragon Dance which will multiply tour Speed and Attack stat by 1.5 each time you use it
• Belly Drum which will quadruple your Attack Stat, activate Salac Berry which will further boost your Speed stat and activate Blaze

After boosting yourself with the chosen move, sweep by using the reliable Earthquake and Aerial Ace attacks, the later also receiving STAB by Charizard’s dual type nature. Use Rock Slide only against Flying types as this technique is less reliable. If you absolutely want a Fire type move, try Overheat which could work well with this moveset

Role #2: Special Sweeper

Item Held

Petaya Berry (raises Special Attack when HP are low)

Nature

Timid (+Speed –Attack)/Modest (+Special Attack –Attack)

Effort Points

252 Speed, 252 Special Attack, 6 Any

Moveset

• Dragon Claw
• Flamethrower
• Bite
• Hidden Power Special

Focus on Charizard’s Special Attack and Speed and light you shall see! Dragon Claw, Flamethrower and Bite are all strong and reliable most of the time. The last move is a filler, probably a Special Hidden Power such as Grass, Psychic or Water. Petaya Berry is to increase Charizard’s Special Attack in case he runs low of Hit Points. Salac Berry is also an option, to raise his Speed further on.

Egg Moves

These are the moves Charmander can learn through breeding with Pokémon of the Dragon and/or Monster Egg Group, and the Pokémon it can get them from.

Training Grounds

This section is to advise you on the areas in which you can train for the acquisition of the Effort Points presented above. It is recommended you use 10 vitamins on the stat you desire to raise. Do not use vitamins on stats that require less than 100 Effort Points. Equip the Macho Brace to your Pokemon to speed up the process even more.

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald

Attack

Fish with Super Rod on Route 118 [Carvanha +1]

Speed

Route 118 [Elektrike +1] [Manectric +2] [Zigzagoon +1] [Linoone +2] [Wingull +1]

Special Attack

Route 113 [Spinda +1]

Fire Red/Leaf Green

Attack

Routes 16, 18 [Doduo +1] [Dodrio +2]

Speed

Routes 13 to 15 [Pidgey +1] [Pidgeotto +2]

Diglett’s Cave [Diglett +1] [Dugtrio +2]

Special Attack

Pokemon Tower [Gastly +1] [Haunter +2]

Contests

Item Held

Blue Scarf

Contest Moveset

Sunny Day [Beauty]

Overheat [Beauty]

Aerial Ace [Cool]

Flamethrower [Beauty] or Swords Dance [Beauty]

The Charmander family is clearly suited for Beauty Contests as are most of Fire type Pokemon. The above moveset concentrates on the use of Sunny Day+Overheat. However, both are risky: Sunny Day’s appeal is determined by the crowd’s excitement, wether Overheat might hurt you more than it will help you: it gives away 6 appeal points (double after using Sunny Day) but leaves you more vulnerable to opponents, who can subtract twice the number after a jam. Flamethrower or even Ember give 4 appeal points and are more reliable. Aerial Ace is there to use in case you are first to appeal. I will not pinpoint you the moment you should use Aerial Ace, since its use is completely optional

More precisely

• If you appeal 1st:
  • Round 1: Aerial Ace
  • Round 2: Sunny Day
  • Round 3: Flamethrower/Overheat (prefer Overheat if you are the last to appeal)
  • Round 4: Sunny Day
  • Round 5: Flamethrower/Overheat (prefer Overheat if you are the last to appeal)
• If you appeal 2nd, 3rd or last:
  • Round 1:Flamethrower/Overheat (prefer Overheat if you are the last to appeal)
  • Round 2: Sunny Day
  • Round 3: Flamethrower/Overheat (prefer Overheat if you are the last to appeal)
  • Round 4: Sunny Day
  • Round 5: Flamethrower/Overheat (prefer Overheat if you are the last to appeal)

Useful Links: If you are not familiar with game language used above, read through the Stats & Training Guide, the Team Building Guide and the Egg Group Guide. More guides shall be added soon to help you out. If you have suggestions on additional movesets for either Battles or Contests, please post them in the Comments section. I will then evaluate them and probably add some of them, giving you credit.

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