If you are a huge fan of Charizard, one of the most recognizable Pokemon (and dragons, for that matter), you may have been disappointed to hear the fan-favorite flying/fire type Pokemon isn’t readily available in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Fret not, however! There is still a way to get Charizard (although it is quite difficult), so read on and we’ll walk you through everything you need to catch the fiery Gen 1 starter.

Charizard event times

Keep in mind this is a limited-time event. The times it will be available are as follows:

• Dec. 1-4, 2022
• Dec. 15-18, 2022

Beat the game

First, you’ll need to beat the game, and roll credits. In order to do that, you’ll have to complete the three story threads, and all the post-thread events.

Here is everything you need to do to beat the game:

Complete Victory Road

For Nemona, beat every gym, then complete the Champion Assessment and beat the Elite Four and Geeta.

Complete the Path Of Legends

For Arven, find and defeat every Titan, feeding the Herba Mystica to Miraidon / Koraidon, powering it up and gaining new movement options in the open world.

Complete Starfall Street

For Cassiopeia, defeat every Team Star leader, then confront Cassiopeia themselves.

Complete The Way Home

After completing the original three storylines, meet up with Arven and travel to Area Zero and clear it, which will roll credits.

Complete the post-game

After you’ve completed the game, you’ll be prompted to join a new tournament, but Geeta will need help with something first.

Now that you’ve completed the game, here is everything you’ll need to do to unlock the ability to challenge Charizard:

Defeat the eight gym leaders again

After the end of the credits, you’ll be able to go to the director’s office, where you’ll talk to the other main characters and be tasked with challenging the eight gym leaders for Chair Geeta. Luckily, you’ll be able to quickly fly to each gym and knock them out quickly.

Return to the school and beat the Academy Ace Tournament

Return and challenge the tournament at the school, which consists of four back-to-back fights. Beat that and you’ll get a phone call, leading to the next step.

Complete 10 different 5-Star Tera Raids

After beating the Academy Ace Tournament and getting a phone call from your homeroom teacher, you’ll be asked to challenge 10 different 5-Star Tera Raids.

Unfortunately, there is no way to tell how many stars a Tera Raid has, so just run around in areas with lots of Tera Raids and click on them to determine how difficult they are. If they are 5-Star, complete them and then continue on.

After completing all 10, you will unlock the black 6-Star raids around the world, as well as the reason we’re here; the ultra-difficult 7-Star raid Charizard is part of.

Find the black Dragon-type Charizard marker on the overworld

Once you’ve unlocked all of that, you’ll need to go find Charizard themself. But this is far from where the challenge ends, as 7-Star “Unrivaled” Charizard has the “Mightiest Mark” label, is Level 100 with perfect stats, a Dragon Tera Type, and lots of powerful moves that can include Sunny Day, Fire Blast, Overheat, Hurricane, Dragon Pulse, and more.

A few more tips to help you on your way: Charizard is incredibly tough, deals tons of damage, and soaks up quite a bit before falling. Bring a very hardy pokemon that is both resistant to and super effective against Charizard like Azumarill with Huge Power and Belly Drum, or a pokemon with massive attack power and the ability to heal themself, like Iron Hands with Belly Drum and Drain Punch. Also, bring friends who also have powerful Pokemon, and use your cheers!

Good luck!