Charmeleon is a Fire-type Pokémon introduced in Generation I. It is the first evolution of Charmander before it evolves into Charizard. Since Ash had a Charmalon, the Fire-type Pokémon became extremely popular among the franchise’s fans, but also among the players of the Pokémon video games. Charmeleon is obtained through selecting Charmander as your starter in the Generation I games and is one of the best Pokémon you can choose. If you do choose him, you need to know at what level Charmeleon evolves.
Charmeleon evolves from Charmander starting at Level 16 and further evolves into Charizard starting at Level 36. As a Starter Pokémon, Charmeleon evolves normally, through leveling up, and cannot be evolved in any other way.
In this article, we at Fiction Horizon are going to tell you everything you need to know about evolving your Charmeleon into Charizard in the core Pokémon games. You’re going to find out when Charmeleon evolves and using what method. You’re also going to find some information about Charmeleon and its attack as well as what to do if you don’t want to evolve your Charmeleon or if your Charmeleon doesn’t want to evolve. Enjoy!
What level does Charmeleon evolve at?
Charmeleon is a two-legged, reptile-like Pokémon. The chest and stomach area, as well as the front part of the abdomen and the lower part of the tail are beige in color. The rest of the body turns red. The Fire-type Pokémon has an agile body and the triangular eyes are made up of white leather skin, blue irides and black pupils.
The mouth is relatively wide and reveals four sharp teeth when open. As is typical for reptiles, Charmeleon does not have a nose, but nostrils. The upper jaw is pushed forward slightly like a beak. Its upper arms are thinner than its forearms and it has three pointed, white claws on its hands as on its feet.
The flame on Charmeleon’s tail is an important part of its physique. It is an indicator of the mood of a Charmeleon.
Charmeleon, together with its evolutionary line, has a very narrow distribution spectrum and is only native to Kanto and Kalos. But even there, it is extremely rare to find it in the wild and is used much more as a starter Pokémon in these regions. For this reason, most Charmander and its evolutions are owned by Pokémon Trainers and are bred and raised almost exclusively for this purpose.
This Pokémon is very wild, combative, and extremely brutal. The formerly friendly and good-natured nature of Charmander has completely disappeared with his evolution. Charmeleon is therefore constantly looking for new opponents. In a fight, it hits its opponents with its tail and then slashes them with its razor-sharp claws. It only calms down when it wins. When it encounters strong opponents, it becomes angry and the flame on the tip of its tail flickers with a bluish tone. If this Pokémon gets so excited, it only spits glaring flames and sometimes sets its surroundings on fire.
Now that we know the basic aspects of Charmeleon as a Pokémon, we can answer the question from the title of this section. Charmeleon evolves into Charizard starting at level 36. We are going to explain the exact mechanism in the following sections.
How to evolve Charmeleon?
Glutexo is a Stage I Pokémon and the evolution of Charmander. It evolves into Charizard, which has two further Mega evolutions, as of Generation VI, and a Gigantamax form, as of Generation VIII. During the evolution process, the main characteristics of Charmander are retained (tail with a flame, orange-colored skin tone, beige-colored belly) while new elements are added (larger stature, claws on the fingers, horn-like head element, larger flame, wings) along with a visible maturation process.
In the games of the main series, the evolution from Charmander to Charmeleon is triggered at level 16, and that to Charizard at level 36. The simplest way to do it is, thus, fighting with your Charmeleon as much as possible, grinding as much EXP as possible, and getting your Charmeleon to level 36 as quickly as possible. If you have them and want to reach level 36 even quicker, you can also feed your Charmeleon some Rare Candy to make it go up a level.
Can a Fire Stone be used to evolve Charmeleon?
A Pokémon evolves to a certain Pokémon using only one evolutionary method. Sure, there are Pokémon with multiple evolutions which use different evolutionary methods, but each evolution is specific and there is only one way to attain a certain Pokémon through evolution. In that aspect, we have already established that Charmeleon evolves into Charizard by leveling up, which means that any other evolutionary method won’t work.
This also includes the Fire Stone, which will have absolutely no effect on Charmeleon and it will not speed up the evolution process. The only way to get a Charizard is by leveling up your Charmeleon until it reaches level 36.
Why did my Charmeleon stop evolving?
Since leveling up is the natural method of evolving your Charmeleon into Charizard, it will happen automatically once you reach level 36. Now, there are two situations you might experience at this moment:
- Your Charmeleon is evolving and you do not want it to evolve, and;
- Your Charmeleon is not evolving although you want it to evolve.
Luckily for you, we have the solution for both these “issues”. If you’re a big, big Charmeleon fan, you might want to keep the Pokémon forever. Luckily for you, there is a way for you, the player, to stop the evolution process just as it is happening. Namely, if you don’t want to evolve your Pokémon or you don’t want to evolve it at that certain moment but at some later time, all you have to do is press the B button during the evolution screen. This will stop the evolution and your Charmeleon won’t evolve into Charizard. Now, if you don’t want to evolve it at level 37, you’ll have to repeat the process as the game will automatically try to evolve your Charmeleon when it reaches the next level. The same goes for any later level.
On the other hand, you might find yourself looking forward to having a Charizard but once your Pokémon reaches level 36, you see the evolution stopping! Why? Well, the only possible explanation is that you accidentally pressed the B button during the evolution screen, which stopped the evolution. But, don’t despair, because – as we’ve already said – your Charmeleon will normally evolve when it reaches level 37, just be careful not to press the B button again.
