The first generation of Pokémon introduced the gaming franchise’s famous monsters. One fan-favorite is Growlithe, the first form of a different type of “legendary” Pokemon. A Fire-type dog with flowing fur, Growlithe can evolve from its fairly docile first form into the mighty Arcanine. Once exclusively locked behind certain games in the series, Growlithe and its evolved form are easier than ever to catch.
In the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Growlithe will receive a new regional form. While nothing has been confirmed for this new variant of Growlithe and its evolution, looking back at how it originally evolved can offer some insight.
How to Evolve Growlithe
Many Pokémon games have Growlithe exclusive to one version of that particular generation’s main entries. For instance, in the original generation of the gaming series, it could originally only be caught in Red Version, with the game’s aqua-color equivalent instead having Vulpix in Growlithe’s place. This has remained for many generations since, but Sun, Moon, Sword and Shield all have Growlithe available in any version of the game. They can be found somewhat early in the Wild Area or Route 3 of the games.
A Fire-type, Growlithe can learn a variety of powerful attacks as its trainer levels it up. These include versatile moves of its type such as Flamethrower and Fire Fang and moves of other types such as Crunch, Reversal and in later games, the Fairy-type move Play Rough. Through Move Tutors, it can also learn the powerful Dragon-type attack Outrage and even Psychic Fangs. The recently revealed Hisuian Growlithe is a dual-type Pokémon, being both Fire and Rock-type. It’s unknown so far how this will affect its moveset, but fans are definitely interested in how it will affect Growlithe’s much more powerful second form, Arcanine.
Arcanine, the Legendary Pokemon
Growlithe can evolve into Arcanine, but it involves using an item instead of gaining experience in battle. Instead of evolving into a new form through merely leveling up, Growlithe turns into Arcanine after being exposed to a Fire Stone that the trainer has in their bag. This dramatically increases the Pokémon’s base stats, namely its impressive Speed, Attack and Special Attack. Its Defenses are still its lowest stats, meaning that its weakness to Water, Ground and Rock-type attacks leaves it even more so vulnerable. Rock-types are typically heartier Pokémon with stronger Defense stats, so this, combined with the new Hisuian form’s Dual-type, should reduce some of the Pokémon’s inherent weaknesses, though it only increases its weakness to Water-type attacks.
Since it’s so easy to evolve Growlithe, that leaves the question of when to do so. In past games, this was centered around teaching Growlithe as many of its powerful attacks as possible. As recently as Sun & Moon, this meant keeping Growlithe in its initial form until as late as Level 56 when it could finally learn Flare Blitz. Sword & Shield have done away with this for many different Pokémon evolutionary lines with one simple addition. Move Tutors, who were once rare features in the games and required equally as rare items as currency, are now ubiquitous. These new Move Reminders allow Pokémon of certain levels to learn or relearn any attack they might have otherwise learned previously in their evolutionary line.
These Move Relearners operate completely free of charge and are in every Pokémon Center. This means that Growlithe can be evolved once a player attains a Fire Stone without worrying about it missing any of its most powerful attacks. A Move Tutor on the Isle of Armor is required to teach Arcanine the move Scorching Sands, however, and it can only learn said move in this form. Arcanine is regarded as one of the best Pokémon that is not an actual Legendary or Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon. Its power, speed and striking fiery design have made it one of the enduring Generation 1 monsters to remain a prominent part of the franchise.
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