Days after Pokemon Go held its April 15 Community Day, the Pokemon Company announced the day for its May event, as well as the featured Pokemon, which is one of the series’ most beloved characters.

In a news release, Pokemon Go announced the next Community Day will be May 19. For three hours, trainers will have the opportunity to catch Charmander.

Charmander is one of Pokemon that has been associated with the Pokemon franchise, going all the way back to when the game first came out. It is one first starters a trainer can get in the Generation One Pokemon games, as well as the Generation three remakes of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen.

Anyone who has played the earlier games has at least had one Charizard on their team. I’ve caught Charmander a couple of times during my playthroughs of Pokemon games and it is one of my favorite partners.   

The Charmander line has been featured as a prominent character in the Pokemon anime, being one of Ash Ketchum’s most powerful Pokemon.

Charmander also had a prominent role in the Pokemon Origins mini-series where it was Red’s first Pokemon and became the star of his team.

Even if a trainer has never caught a Charmander, Charmeleon or Charizard in any of the games, chances are they battled a trainer who had one their team. Two examples of where a trainer would face a Charizard trainer is in the Generation two and HeartGold and SoulSilver games where both Lance and Red have them on their team.

https://youtu.be/2t1hEQs_lFc

The fire lizard evolves into a Chameleon and into a Charizard. Below are the descriptions of each Pokemon from the Pokedex entries on the Pokemon website.

via Pokemon.com

Charmander

The flame that burns at the tip of its tail is an indication of its emotions. The flame wavers when Charmander is enjoying itself. If the Pokémon becomes enraged, the flame burns fiercely.

via Pokemon.com

Charmeleon

Charmeleon mercilessly destroys its foes using its sharp claws. If it encounters a strong foe, it turns aggressive. In this excited state, the flame at the tip of its tail flares with a bluish white color.

via Pokemon.com

Charizard

Charizard flies around the sky in search of powerful opponents. It breathes fire of such great heat that it melts anything. However, it never turns its fiery breath on any opponent weaker than itself.

The Community Day will allow a trainer to learn a special move when they evolve the featured Pokemon. However, The release did not reveal the special move Charmander will learn when it is evolved into Charizard. It also noted that Fast TMs and Charged TMs will not grant exclusive moves to a Pokemon during Community Day. For a trainer to have their team member learn an exclusive move, they must catch or evolve it during Community Day hours.

The release included two special bonuses for the event – trainers will earn three times the stardust when they catch a Pokemon and lures will be active for three hours.

The May Community Day event is a good opportunity for trainers to catch and evolve a Charmander whether they are missing it from their Pokedex. There is also a chance they could catch a Charmander who evolves into a Charizard more powerful than what they already have. Trainers can also use the candy they receive during the event to power the Charizard currently on their team.