Charmeleon is one of the most well-known fire-type Pokémon, and while it’s not quite as popular as either of its evolutions, it certainly knows how to pack a punch!
If you wanted to know more about this middle sibling Pokémon evolution, you’ve come to the right place – so read on to learn all there is to know about Charmeleon!
Charmeleon’s name is a combination of the words “char,” meaning to burn or singe, and “chameleon,” a species of lizard.
Its name in Japanese is “Lizardo,” which is a touch bland, to say the least. Lizardo itself is a bastardization of the English word “lizard” if you didn’t figure that one out yourself.
Charmeleon’s name doesn’t make much sense in English, as it has almost no shared physical characteristics with a chameleon. Charmeleon uses its tail extensively, but that’s almost exclusively for fighting, while chameleons use them for climbing and holding onto things.
It’s a fire-type Pokémon, one of the three primary Pokémon types available at the beginning of any Pokémon game, alongside grass and water types.
Not only do Charmeleons have a flame at the end of their tails, but they’re also able to breathe fire. Their fire attacks are significantly more deadly than their previous evolution, Charmander, but nowhere near the level of a Charizard.
Overall, they’re more aggressive than a Charmander and will actively seek out strong opponents to fight when in the wild.
When a Charmeleon finds a formidable opponent, it gets excited, and its ordinarily red tail flame will turn a hot bluish-white.
Charmeleons cannot be caught in the wild in any of the Pokémon games. The only way to get one is to either evolve a Charmander or trade it from a different game.
Speaking of evolving, Charmanders naturally evolve into Charmeleons at level 16, and Charmeleons evolve into Charizards at level 36.
While you can’t catch them in the games, they’re said to live alongside their evolutions in scorching and rocky mountainous areas.
They are bipedal Pokémon, meaning they only walk on two legs and resemble lizards or even dinosaurs.
Chronologically, Charmeleon is the first Pokémon listed in the Pokédex that gets a second type when it evolves – in Charmeleon’s case, it attains the flying type as its evolution has wings.
Starting from the second generation of games, Charmeleon learns a dragon-type move called Dragon Rage.
Ash Ketchum’s Charmeleon is incredibly badly behaved and aggressive, mainly due to it being a higher level than Ash. It attacked Ash once or twice, and straight-up refused to do what it was told until after it evolved into Charizard.
It belongs to a species called “Flame Pokémon,” despite Charmander being a “Lizard Pokémon.” Other Flame Pokémon include Charizard, Infernape, Moltres, and Flareon.
Charmeleon and all the other starter fire-type Pokémon have the same base stats in all their evolutionary forms.
A “Dark Charmeleon” trading card was released in 2000 in English as a part of the Team Rocket expansion. It has two attacks, Tail Slap and Fireball. The Japanese version of the card was released earlier in 1997, with a name that translates to “bad lizard.”
As of 2022, there are 26 different Pokémon trading cards featuring Charmeleon.
The average Charmeleon weighs around 41.9 lbs (19 kg) and is 3 foot seven inches (1.1 m) tall.
5% of all Charmeleons are male, which may explain why they tend to be aggressive in the wild.
While Charmeleon is clearly most often an aggressive and dominant Pokémon, it can be very well-natured if looked after properly.
That said, its fiery temper can still cause it to get into some pretty hairy fights, so it’s good to always keep an eye on it.
Nevertheless, Charmeleon is still one of the coolest fire-type Pokémon!
