Pokemon Scarlet and Violet maintain the tradition of adding a new Charizard

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will continue a long tradition of featuring another different form of Charizard.

Announced earlier today, both upcoming games will feature Charizard with the Mightiest Mark, only available via Terra Raid Battles, where four players fight one tough opposing Pokemon. What's more, Mightiest Mark Charizard will only be available during two events in December after Pokemon Scarlet and Violet launch, and can't be found in the wild after that.

The Charizard that appears during these Terra Raid Battles will feature the dragon-type terastallization that's heading to the series with the new games. Additionally, the new Charizard will only appear in black Terra Raid crystals found in the open world of Scarlet and Violet, which means it's actually far tougher than the normal Pokemon you'd typically encounter as a team in the Terra Raid Battles.

This new Charizard type continues a time-honored tradition of mainline Pokemon games having a different variation of the fiery dragon. Pokemon Sword and Shield had the Gigantamax version of Charizard, for example, while Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee had Mega Charizard X and Y, respectively. 

If you want to catch Charizard this time around though, it seems like you'll need to be quick about it. Newcomers getting Pokemon Scarlet and Violet as a Christmas gift over the Holiday season will actually miss out on a chance to fight the creature, assuming The Pokemon Company doesn't resurrect the Charizard-dedicated events in the future, that is.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet launch next week on November 18 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.

Earlier today a new trailer revealed Great Tusk and Iron Treads for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, which some fans think are time-travelling versions of Donphan. 

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

Read more
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
A single frame in the new Pokemon Legends Z-A trailer gives hardcore shiny hunters and Nuzlocke runners hope for a huge quality-of-life change
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot of the starter Pokemon Chikarita, Tepig, and Totodile
Pokemon Legends: Z-A Starters – the Pokemon you can partner up with in Lumiose City confirmed
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A Mega Evolution – All the Pokemon who can Mega-Evolve we know about so far
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends Z-A: Everything we know so far
Screenshot from Pokemon Legends ZA
Pokemon Legends Z-A confirms its starting trio, and it leans on the Gold/Silver lineup much more than I was expecting
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A just catapulted to the top of my most anticipated games thanks to its single-city setting
Latest in Pokemon
an ai chatbot plays a modded verion of pokemon red and jumps down a ledge to talk to an npc
An AI's mission to 'teach' itself Pokemon Red is going as well as you think - after escaping Cerulean City after tens of hours, it went right on back
Pokemon Legends Z-A screenshot showing Mega Charizard
Pokemon Legends Z-A's visuals aren't "great" say former Nintendo marketing leads, but hope Switch 2 could allow Game Freak to "go back to the drawing board" and add more detail to future RPGs
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A looks to finally bring my anime-inspired dreams of truly active combat to life
Zoomed in art of the Sudowoodo illustration rare card in Pokemon TCG Pocket.
Pokemon's literal god of the universe is almost unstoppable in TCG Pocket – the only thing that can save us is a smiley tree and a concussed dinosaur
Charizard in the Pokemon anime.
Pokemon fans prove they'll buy anything as a Cheeto shaped like a Charizard sells for almost $90k
The player character in Pokemon Legends: Z-A looks at the three starter Pokemon, Totodile, Tepig, and Chikorita.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A's starter trio proves it's time for a new type, and I know what it should be
Latest in News
inZOI Character Studio screenshot showing a young woman with short black/pink hair, black cat-like ears, and a black blouse with a bowtie
The creator of upcoming life sim Inzoi says he was "recklessly brave to even think about creating a game of this scale"
Rise of the Ronin
A year after its PS5 launch, Rise of the Ronin debuts on PC to "Mixed" reviews and performance complaints: "Stuttering on a 4090 is just... no"
Rise of the Ronin's photo mode offers some wonderful shots
On the heels of Rise of the Ronin's PC launch, its director says there's a "significant" amount of Japanese Switch gamers: "I am closely watching how this will change with the release of Switch 2"
Stardew Valley Castle Village mod
Stardew Valley Expanded creator is building an "even more ambitious" mod with a whole new city and "dungeons inspired by The Legend of Zelda"
Dino Crisis 2 art showing a young woman and man back-to-back amid tall green grass, both with their weapons drawn
Dino Crisis gets a fresh trademark filing by Capcom, but it might not mean the 26-year-old survival horror franchise will get a new installment like fans expect
Cujo
Netflix is making a brand new adaptation of Cujo, the infamous Stephen King book about a killer dog