Charizard is the final evolution of Charmander, one of the first Pokémon you can choose as your partner to start your journey in the first game. In Pokémon Sword and Shield, you can receive a Charmander from several ways, such as transferring them from Pokémon HOME or acquiring them by completing a Raid at a nest. When you evolve it to Charizard, what are the best moves you can teach it?

Charizard is a Fire and Flying-type Pokémon. When you have maximum IVs, it has 78 health, 84 attack, 78 defense, 109 special attack, 85 special defense , and 100 speed. Its special ability is blaze, which means that it receives a power-up for Fire-type moves when it has lower health. It’s hidden ability, Solar Power, boosts its special attack when there’s harsh sunlight out, but its health decreases every turn.

It can learn several moves naturally, but there are also a wide variety of moves it can learn from TMs. It’s hard to choose from this massive pool the correct choices, but we have a handful of options that can give you the best results.

  • Air Slash or Hurricane (Flying-type) Fireblast, Flamethrower, Overheat, or Mystical Fire (Fire-type)Dragon Dance (Dragon-type)Ancient Power, Focus blast, or Dragon Pulse

Charizard can be a nasty attacker if you optimize it properly. You want to lean on its Flying and Fire-type attacks. Having Air slash or hurricane are good choices, but you want to choose one over the other. The same goes for fireblast, flamethrower, mystical fire, or overheat. Of the four Fire-types, fireblast is likely the best option, followed by flamethrower.

For your last two choices, dragon dance is always a reliable option. It’s a good starting move for Charizard to receive a hefty boost in power at the start of the fight. However, to make sure its bases are covered, many trainers recommend having ancient power, focus blast, or dragon pulse as its final move. Plenty of players rotate out this option, with the first three choices being the most important.