A popular Pokemon of the original 151 would be Arcanine. This trustworthy fire-type Pokemon can hold up to many others in casual play. With good abilities like intimidation, Arcanine can last a lot longer in the battle against physical attackers. Despite popular belief, Arcanine is not a legendary or pseudo-legendary Pokemon, it does have the Legendary epithet, but it is not technically a legendary Pokemon. This guide will showcase Arcanine’s appearances in the anime, its capability in battle, as well as other general quirks regarding Arcanine.
About Arcanine
Arcanine is a large lion-like Pokemon with orange fur and black stripes. It is known to be a brave and loyal companion. The Pokedex often refers to Arcanine as beloved by the Chinese and later games changes this dex entry to “people in the east”. This was likely to remove any real-world connections to the game. It is regarded as a beautiful and majestic Pokemon capable of covering large stretches of land very quickly.
| First appearance in anime | Original Series Battle of the Badge |
| First appearance in game | Red/Green (Japan) Red/Blue (International) |
| Region | Kanto |
| Evolution | Evolves from Growlithe with the use of a Fire Stone |
| 1st Evo level | N/A, Evolves from Fire Stone |
| 2nd Evo level | N/A |
| Pokedex Entry | A Pokémon that has been admired since the past for its beauty. It runs agilely as if on wings. |
Arcanine Base Stats
| HP | 90 |
| ATTACK | 110 |
| DEFENCE | 80 |
| SP. ATTACK | 100 |
| SP. DEFENCE | 80 |
| SPEED | 95 |
| TOTAL | 555 |
Appearance of Arcanine
Arcanine resembles a lion with orange fur and black stripes. It has a large cream-colored mane and near its legs, it has similar cream-colored tufts of fur. Arcanine’s head has two large ears and. Its teeth are visible even with its mouth closed. It also has a large cream-colored tail. Each paw ends in three toes with a pink pad. The fur appears to be smooth, but the cream-colored tufts are mildly spiky. Its eyes are a dark gray and its color palette helps convey its fire typing.
Behavior of Arcanine
Arcanine is known to be fiercely loyal and will go to great lengths to protect its trainer. Many also hold Arcanine in high regard in the Pokemon universe, thinking of Arcanine as a majestic Pokemon with a magnificent bark. This type of thought is common in dogs and lions which Arcanine seems to be based on. Despite its large size, it is known to be incredibly fast, capable of running over 6,200 miles in a day according to the Pokedex. Its pre-evolution Growlithe seems to spend time in packs, similar to dogs and lions in the real world.
Strengths and Weaknesses
While Arcanine’s Pokedex would lead you to believe Arcanine is incredibly fast in battle, other Pokemon seem to beat it out. Its speed stat is decent, but it will oftentimes be outspeeded by faster sweepers. Unfortunately, its stat spread makes it relatively weak. It is in the RU (RarelyUsed) bracket for competitive battles. It did originally have the signature move of Extreme Speed, but newer iterations have other Pokemon capable of learning this move. If you want Arcanine on your team consider physical fire type moves to take advantage of Arcanine’s high physical attack and fire typing.
Shiny Arcanine
The Shiny Arcanine becomes a gold color. Most of it stays the same, but a Shiny Arcanine truly lives up to its magnificent reputation. The tufts of fur stay the same color, and its black stripes are still seen in the Shiny Arcanine variant. Not much else changes other than its main color, despite this it is still a desirable shiny as opposed to most Pokemon that simply swap a color. You can find Arcanine in the wild in Pokemon Let’s Go Pokemon and Pokemon Shield you can run into a wild Arcanine to farm a shiny, or you can breed Growlithes to get a Shiny Growlithe to evolve into a Shiny Arcanine eventually. To evolve the Growlithe you just need to use a Fire Stone on it.
Mega Arcanine
Mega Arcanine does not exist in the game at this point in time. Unfortunately, it does not seem like we will get Mega Arcanine any time soon either as their last mega evolution that Game Freak added was in generation 6. Currently, they are moving towards gigantimax Pokemon or dynamaxed Pokemon. So it is not likely that they will add a Mega Arcanine into the game any time soon.
Blaine’s Arcanine
Blaine’s Arcanine is a Pokemon TCG card that is part of the Pokemon Gym Challenge set. Its current value at a gem mint PSA 10 grade is hovering around 2,500 USD if it is a foil and part of the first edition set. As it is a trainer Pokemon card, Blaine is also featured in the bottom right of the card. At a PSA 9, it still maintains a lot of its value, but the MSRP is hovering around 1,000 USD. A desirable card for collectors especially with its first edition tag and limited print line. To get your hands on this card you will have to open Pokemon Gym Challenge booster packs or purchase one online. These booster packs are currently retailing around 250 USD.
Best Moveset
As Arcanine is in the RU tier, it is difficult to find the perfect environment for Arcanine. However, since it can have the intimidate ability, it is good to counter physically attacking Pokemon or if your party can easily switch between Pokemon. Since Arcanine has decent attacking stats, you will want to use it as a sweeper. You can also consider special attacking moves considering its special attack is also at a decent margin. Moves like Flare Blitz, Extreme Speed, Wild Charge, and Morning Sun are the recommended settings for competitive battles. For the held item, you will want to abuse Arcanine’s damaging moves, so an item like Life Orb fits best. Flare Blitz has STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) and has a 10% chance to burn, Extreme Speed is a high damaging priority move, Wild Charge can give your Arcanine better type coverage, and Morning Sun will help mitigate the damage you take from Flare Blitz and Life Orb.
| Flare Blitz | Extreme Speed |
| Wild Charge | Morning Sun |
How to Catch Arcanine in Pokemon Go
If you want to catch an Arcanine in Pokemon Go, the easiest way would probably be to catch a Growlithe and then evolve it into an Arcanine. Growlithes will spawn in dust bowl areas when there is plenty of sunlight outside. Catch as many Growlithes as you can to eventually get the 50 candies required to evolve Growlithe. If you have trouble finding Growlithes in your area, you can keep one as your buddy to get enough candies to evolve your Growlithe. Arcanine also appears as a level 3 raid battle in gyms. Keep your eyes peeled and gather your friends to get this Pokemon for yourself.
Video Guide
Trivia
- In the original Red and Blue games, Arcanine’s name was going to be Blaze.
- Arcanine is the only Pokemon in the game with the “Legendary Pokemon” epithet. Despite this, it is not technically a legendary Pokemon.
- In the episode, Pokemon Emergency Arcanine can be seen depicted with the 3 legendary birds: Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno.
FAQs
Q. Why is Arcanine Legendary?
Arcanine’s epithet is “Legendary Pokemon” it is not technically classified as a legendary Pokemon. It is the only Pokemon to have this epithet, even among actual legendary Pokemon. However, this epithet is typically a description of the Pokemon. In tournaments or competitive battles, it is not regarded as a legendary Pokemon.
Q. Is Arcanine a Dog or a Tiger?
Arcanine is based on the Komainu, which are lion-like statues typically seen at the entrances of shrines. The name Komainu is translated as lion-dog in English. There is no official answer regarding whether Arcanine is a dog or lion, but it is based on Japanese myth which translates into lion-dog.
Q. When should I evolve Growlithe?
You should evolve your Growlithe once it has learned the moves you want it to through leveling. Arcanine will not learn any more moves while leveling, so ensure that you can teach it a move through TMs or make sure that the Growlithe has already learned the move before using a Fire Stone on it. This will prevent your Arcanine from using low-level moves like an ember.
Conclusion
Congratulations, you now know what to expect from this rather regal Pokemon. Arcanine is part of the original 151 Pokemon of generation one. As such, many players who had one on their team feel a nostalgic connection to this Pokemon. Whether Arcanine is based on a lion, dog, or tiger, it is fiercely loyal and you can get a lot of mileage out of this fire-type Pokemon. Remember to figure out where you can locate a Fire Stone in your specific game if you want to get an Arcanine to run for yourself.
