Unrivaled Charizard Tera Raids are finally returning to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet after making their first appearance back in 2022.
From Tuesday, March 12 at 7pm CT until Sunday, March 17 at 6:59pm CT, seven-star Charizard Tera Raids will pop up in the Paldea region. Charizard is the last of the Gen I Starters to get its turn in the special Tera Raid events for Pokémon Day, following Venusaur and Blastoise. Just like Unrivaled Charizard’s first appearance, it will carry the Mightiest Mark and have the Dragon Tera Type to match its ferocious design.
Whether you missed your first chance to catch the fire dragon or you just want to fight it again, here’s everything you need to know about Charizard and its Unrivaled Tera Raid event in Scarlet and Violet.
How to find Unrivaled Charizard Tera Raids in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
As with other Unrivaled raid events, Charizard Tera Raids will not appear until after you’ve unlocked access to seven-star Tera Raids. After that’s taken care of, follow these quick and easy steps to find Charizard Tera Raids in the Paldea region:
- During the event period, connect to the internet and make sure your Poké Portal news is updated.
- Open your map of Paldea and look for the black Tera Raid icon with the Dragon Tera Type symbol. Set that as your destination and fly to the nearest Pokémon Center or landmark.
- From there, hop onto Koraidon or Miraidon to run, swim, or fly toward your destination, following the orange flag on your mini-map.
- When you arrive at the black crystal den, interact with it to make sure it’s a seven-star raid with Charizard’s silhouette.
- If you’d rather hop online and participate in group raids hosted by other players, go to the Poké Portal and use the Tera Raid Battle Search feature. This option requires a Nintendo Switch Online membership.
How to catch Charizard in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Back when Unrivaled Charizard made its first appearance, the special Tera Raid event was the only way to obtain Charizard in the Gen IX games. Since then, the Gen I Fire Starter has become much more accessible.
If you want the Charizard with the exclusive Mightiest Mark, beating the Unrivaled Tera Raid event remains the only way to catch it. To clear the raid, it’s recommended to bring a strong Fairy-type counter because they hit Charizard’s Dragon Tera Type for super-effective damage and are fully immune to Dragon attacks. If the event is the same as before, the Water/Fairy-type Azumarill is a great counter if you can safely set up with Belly Drum. You can then breed this Charizard with a Ditto to hatch more Charmander, but those won’t have the Mightiest Mark like the raid boss.
Outside of the raid, you can easily obtain a Charizard without the Mightiest Mark if you have the DLC. In The Indigo Disk, all Starter Pokémon from previous generations—including Charmander—can be found as a wild encounter in the Terarium at Blueberry Academy after upgrading the biomes. In particular, Charmander roams around in the Savanna Biome. Once you catch a Charmander, evolve it into Charmeleon, who evolves into Charizard.
Without the DLC, you can either obtain Charizard by trading with a fellow player or transferring it from another game via Pokémon HOME.
Can you catch more than one Charizard in the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Unrivaled Tera Raid event?
Unfortunately for trainers, you may only catch one Unrivaled Charizard per save file. So if you already caught Unrivaled Charizard back when the Tera Raids first appeared in 2022, you’ll be unable to catch another one this time around. You can, however, still rechallenge the Charizard Tera Raids over and over again while they’re around to collect the rewards. It just won’t let you throw another Poké Ball at the end of the raid.
If the rewards are similar to the Venusaur and Blastoise Tera Raids, this should be a fantastic time to stock up on Herba Mystica for your Shiny hunting needs. Herba Mystica are normally pretty rare, but they were dropping frequently from the Venusaur and Blastoise raids, so we can expect the same treatment from Charizard.
What is the best Nature for Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?
Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard’s two highest stats are Special Attack and Speed, so they naturally function best as fast special attackers. Therefore, the best Nature for them would be either Modest (+ Special Attack, – Attack) or Timid (+ Speed, – Attack). The only exception to this is if we’re dealing with Mega Charizard X, who excels as a physical or mixed attacker, but Mega Evolution isn’t available in the Gen IX games. That’s why we’ll be focusing on Natures that boost Special Attack or Speed and lower physical Attack.
Giving Charizard a Modest nature will maximize its damage output as a special attacker. This combos well with its Hidden Ability, Solar Power, which boosts its Special Attack stat in the sun. With all the offensive boosts from its Modest nature, Solar Power, and the sun, Charizard can truly bring the heat with powerful Fire-type attacks like Overheat, Heat Wave, or Flamethrower. Boost its damage further by letting it hold an item like the Choice Specs or Charcoal. Just keep in mind that Solar Power will chip away at Charizard’s HP under the sun as part of its drawback.
If you have a need for speed, go with a Timid nature instead. Charizard isn’t necessarily the fastest Pokémon out there, but 100 base Speed is still pretty good. With a Timid nature and a Choice Scarf, Charizard can outspeed most Pokémon, which is helpful when it doesn’t have the bulk to take too many hits. A Timid Charizard won’t hit quite as hard as a Modest one, but that extra bit of Speed could give it an opportunity to strike one last time before being knocked out.
