With its fiery, cool design, it’s no surprise that Charizard is the most popular starter in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. For many OG players on the GBA and emulator, Charmander was their very first Pokemon ever.
Now that FireRed and LeafGreen are being revisited on the Nintendo Switch, the spotlight is back on Charizard once again.
Choosing this Fire-type lizard as your starter comes with its own perks and challenges, but building the right moveset for Charizard is key to dominating Kanto’s Gym leaders and the Elite Four, ultimately turning it into your most reliable partner throughout your journey.
Key Highlights:
- Charizard has high Special Attack, Attack, and Speed, making it a versatile mixed attacker.
- Charizard’s best moveset include Flamethrower, Wing Attack, Dragon Claw, Earthquake.
- Charizard performs really well against most Gym Leaders and Elite Four members with the exception of Rock- and Water-type teams.
Best Moveset for Charizard in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
For Nintendo Switch and emulator players alike, here is the best moveset designed to fully maximize Charizard’s capabilities and help it perform at its best against Gym Leaders and the Elite Four.
- Flamethrower
- Wing Attack or Fly
- Dragon Claw
- Brick Break or Earthquake or Rock Slide
Let’s break down why you should prioritize each move.
Flamethrower (Non-Negotiable)
Flamethrower is Charizard’s bread and butter.
It benefits from STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) and uses Charizard’s high Special Attack stat. It’s reliable, accurate, and deals consistent damage.
This move alone can carry you through many Gym battles, especially against Erika.
No matter if you’re playing on an emulator or the Nintendo Switch, Flamethrower should always be on your Charizard.
Wing Attack or Fly
Since Charizard is also a Flying type, we need to take advantage of it. Wing Attack has lower power but doesn’t require two turns for a hit. This means its animation will be faster and will save you time on your runs.
Fly, on the other hand, requires one turn to charge but hits harder and lets you dodge attacks on the first turn.
If you want efficiency and Speed in battle, Wing Attack is better. It deals damage instantly and avoids giving opponents a free turn.
If you don’t have another flying type or HM slave, Fly is a great alternative. Both moves utilize Charizard’s Flying-type STAB.
This helps you greatly against Erika and Bruno.
Dragon Claw
Dragon Claw is one of the best coverage moves Charizard can learn.
It allows you to hit Dragon types like Dragonite hard and deal decent damage to many Pokemon. It also takes advantage of Charizard’s higher Special Attack.
Since Charizard doesn’t have many strong special coverage moves in Gen 3, Dragon Claw fills an important gap and will help you tremendously against Lance.
Final Move (Coverage)
Your final move slot depends heavily on your team.
| Brick Break | Earthquake | Rock Slide |
|---|---|---|
| Great against Normal, Rock, and Ice types. | Extremely strong and wide coverage. | Good against Flying types. |
| Useful against Lorelei and other bulky opponents. | Destroys Electric types that threaten Charizard. | Helps in mirror matchups. |
| – | One of the best overall choices. | – |
Choose the coverage option that your team lacks the most.
For most players, Earthquake is the best overall option because of its power and versatility. Brick Break lets you counter Ice, Rock, and Normal types.
Charizard’s Strengths and Weaknesses
Before deciding on a moveset, it’s important to understand what makes Charizard strong and where it struggles.
Strengths
Charizard is a Fire and Flying type Pokemon, giving it strong offensive capabilities. It can obliterate these types:
- Grass types
- Bug types
- Fighting types
- Ice types
Its base stats are HP 78, Attack 84, Defense 78, Sp. Atk 109, Sp. Def 85, and Speed 100.
With high Special Attack and Speed, Charizard can be a powerful offensive sweeper. Combine that with its decent Attack stat, and he can be a great mixed sweeper.
Weaknesses
Charizard also has some serious weaknesses that you need to watch out for.
It is weak against:
- Water
- Electric
- Rock (4x weakness)
That 4x weakness to Rock is especially dangerous.
Moves like Rock Slide can easily one-hit KO Charizard if you’re not careful. Because of this, your moveset should include coverage moves to deal with these threats.
How This Moveset Performs Against Gym Leaders and Elite Four
Charizard performs well against several Gym Leaders and Elite Four members:
| Gym Leader/Elite Four Member | How Charizard Can Beat Them |
|---|---|
| Erika | Easily defeated with Flamethrower and Wing Attack. |
| Koga | Earthquake is the key, plus Charizard’s Flamethrower is highly effective against most of Koga’s Poison types, which have low Special Defense. |
| Blaine | Neutral matchup but manageable. You can easily win if you have Earthquake. |
| Elite Four Bruno | Fly is his biggest weakness. But be extra careful with Rock-type moves. |
| Elite Four Lance | Dragon Claw becomes very useful against his dragons. |
However, you need to be very careful with some of them and build your team to cover Charizard’s weaknesses against them.
- Brock: Yeah, I know. When I was a noob, Brock bodied me countless times with his Rock types too.
- Misty: Charmander or Charmeleon won’t be much help against her Water types.
- Lorelei: Struggles due to Water types, but Charizard can use Flamethrower to bring down her Ice types.
Other than that, all other Gym and Elite Four matchups are neutral against Charizard or its previous forms. With all the moves we shared, your Charizard should be able to deal significant damage and take advantage of STAB.
Final Thoughts
Charizard remains the most challenging starter in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, whether you’re playing on an emulator or enjoying the game again on the Nintendo Switch.
But with the right moveset, Charizard can dominate Gym Leaders, contribute heavily against the Elite Four, and carry your team through most of the game.
By combining Flamethrower, a Flying move, Dragon Claw, and a solid coverage option like Earthquake, you turn Charizard into a well-rounded attacker that can handle almost any situation.
If you want to build your dream team in Kanto or any other Pokemon game, Pokecoders is the best place to learn how you can achieve that. Check out more of our previous posts and other guides covering ROM hacks and cheat lists.
