How to get Charizard in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

As a long-time fan favorite of the series, it’s no surprise that Charizard will make an appearance in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Of course, as a rare starter Pokémon, it’s also a monster that trainers shouldn’t expect to find easily in the wild.

Nevertheless, Game Freak has already revealed a way for trainers to encounter the iconic Fire/Flying-type from Kanto and add it to their teams. Here’s an overview of how to get Charizard in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

How to get Charizard in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will introduce a new type of boss battle known as Tera Raid Battles. During these raids, trainers will team up to take on powerful Pokémon with unique Tera types. Later this year, a Tera Raid Battle will enable players to challenge and capture Charizard the Unrivaled in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

The Unrivaled Charizard’s Tera Raid Battle event will take place all around the world in two segments. The first section will run briefly from December 2-4. Then, the event will become available again from December 16-18.

This Charizard will come with the Mightiest Mark, signifying that it is part of a seven-star Tera Raid Battle. The Charizard will also have Dragon as its Tera type. As a result, this Charizard can Terastallize to become a Dragon-type defensively while still maintaining a same-type attack bonus on its Fire and Flying attacks.

Currently, this Tera Raid Battle is the only known way to encounter Charizard in the Paldea region. However, The Pokémon Company has said that there may be additional events or other methods for obtaining Charizard in the future.

Black Crystal Tera Raid Battles

Charizard is only available in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet through a special kind of Raid Battle known as a Black Crystal Tera Raid Battle. Unfortunately, trainers will only be able to come across black crystals after they have completed certain objectives in the postgame.

However, there is a workaround for trainers hoping to add Charizard to their party earlier in the game; players who haven’t beaten the main game yet can still join Black Crystal Tera Raid Battles hosted by other trainers. As a result, it is only necessary that one member of a Raid Battle team has actually unlocked the black crystals.

Players must have a Nintendo Switch Online membership in order to participate in any kind of Tera Raid Battle. They must also make sure they have downloaded the latest Poké Portal News update. However, this will happen automatically if the player’s Switch is connected to the internet.