The best Fire-type Pokémon in the game, in no particular order, are Charizard, Ninetales, Flareon, Moltres and Arcanine. Read more to find out what makes them stand out from the rest of the Fire-type Pokémon in the game!
Table of Contents
Charizard
No list of Fire-type Pokémon will be complete without Fire Red’s poster boy Charizard!
Charizard is the final evolution form of one of the game’s three starter Pokémon, Charmander. Charmander evolves into Charmeleon at Level 16 and finally into Charizard at Level 36. It becomes a part-Flying, part-Fire type Pokémon in its final form.
Charizard is one of the best Fire-types out there thanks to its type versatility and great stat points on Special Attack and Speed. A well-trained Charizard with a special focus on these two stats will ensure first hits and hard-hitting attacks. Coupled with a great move set such as Flamethrower (learned at Level 34) and Fire Spin (learned at Level 64), your Charizard can be a huge force to be reckoned with.
While it’s weak to Water and Electric types, its most glaring weakness are Rock-type Pokémon which can deal up to 4x damage, due to it being a part-Flying, part-Fire type of Pokémon.
That being said, Charmander is also the most accessible among this list of best Fire-type Pokémon, as you have the choice to pick Charmander as your starter Pokémon early on in the game.
If you do get to choose Charmander as your starter, you can even take it a step further and make the most of its nature. A Charmander with either a Timid or Modest nature will greatly increase its innate stats as you train it. While Pokémon natures are randomized, you can choose Charmander’s nature at the beginning of the game by following this guide.
Ninetales
Ninetales is another Fire-type Pokémon with a lot of potential.
Ninetales evolves from Vulpix when you use a Fire Stone on it. Take note though that Vulpix only appears in the wild in the LeafGreen version of the game, so you would need to trade for one if you want Ninetales in your FireRed game.
Ninetales has great Special Defense and Speed stats, with a decent move set including Ember, Will o’ Wisp and Fire Spin. You can also have Vulpix learn Flamethrower at Level 26 before having it evolve into its next form.
Ninetales is also easily obtainable early on in the game so long as you have access to Routes 7 or 8. It’s a good option for when you did not choose a Fire starter and need one before you face off with Erika, Celadon City’s Gym Leader who specializes in Grass-types.
Flareon
Flareon is one of the many evolutions of Eevee you can have in-game.
You can get Eevee from Celadon City and give it a Fire Stone to evolve into Flareon. You can also get the Fire Stone in Celadon City’s Department Store.
Flareon is considered one of the top Fire-type Pokémon out there thanks to its excellent skills. It has a really high Attack stat at base, and its Special Attack and Special Defense follow along. This makes it so it can deal great damage with both Normal and elemental attacks, as well as sustain hits from types it is weak against.
Add to the fact that Flareon is also easily accessible so long as you have Eevee, it’s a pretty solid choice to add to your roster if you’re still missing that Fire-type Pokémon slot in your party.
Moltres
Who could forget Moltres on a list of best Fire-type Pokémon in FireRed and LeafGreen? Moltres is one of the three Legendary elemental Birds available in these versions of the game and is the representative Fire-type of the three.
Moltres’ best stat is its Special Attack. It also has the innate ability to burn opponents that get in contact with it. Moltres also has an amazing move set that includes Flamethrower, Heat Wave and Sky Attack, learned at Levels 49, 61 and 85 respectively, making it one of the very best choices for a Fire-type Pokémon’s slot in your party.
The only caveat of having Moltres in your line-up is the difficulty in catching it. As a Legendary Pokémon, it stays in one place but can be very difficult to catch unless you use your one Masterball on it. Here’s a guide to follow on where to find Moltres and some tips for catching it.
If you do happen to catch Moltres, your Pokédex and line up will thank you for it.
Arcanine
Arcanine is also one of the top choices among the best Fire-type Pokémon in the game.
Arcanine evolves from Growlithe at any level provided you use a Fire Stone. That said, Growlithe is only found in the wild in the Fire-red version of the games, so if you want Arcanine in your LeafGreen copy of the game, you would need to trade for it.
Arcanine’s stats are the best among this list, as all of its stats are way above average, with Defense and Special Defense just slightly trailing behind the rest. This means that it’s most likely to hit first in battle thanks to its Speed, and that its attack, whether physical ones or Fire-type ones are almost always prone to knock out the enemy.
The only downside is Arcanine and Growlithe being version exclusives, so unless you have a physical cable for trading and you really want to trade for them, you might be better off with any of the other Fire-types in this list that are readily available in your game.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Fire-type Pokémon are very versatile and are a great addition to your Pokémon party thanks to its number or strengths, namely: Grass, Bug, Ice, Steel among others.
As for weaknesses, it’s only weak to Ground, Rock and Water Pokémon which can be overcome by decent stats. You can read up more on Fire type Pokémon’s strengths and weaknesses here.
In conclusion, Fire Type Pokémon are awesome staples to your party line up. It’s now up to you to decide which Fire-type Pokémon you’d give a slot to your party, as your preference and play style will definitely be a deciding factor on who really is the “best”.
Here is a more in depth artcle on Fire Weakness and Strengths
