HeartGold and SoulSilver offer some of the strongest Fire-type options in the whole Pokémon series, ranging from an easy starter pick to a post-game legendary. Here are the standouts worth building a team around.
Top picks
- Typhlosion — the Fire-type starter, and objectively one of the best choices in the game. A pure Fire-type attacker that shreds Bug and Steel types with moves like Flamethrower, Fire Blast, and Eruption, while its move pool (Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Solar Beam) covers gaps its typing alone can’t.
- Ho-Oh — a Fire/Flying legendary that’s both a powerful attacker and bulky enough to take hits, making it a genuinely usable team member rather than just a trophy catch. Available at the peak of the Bell Tower in Ecruteak City after obtaining the Rainbow Wing and defeating the Kimono Girls.
- Magmar — an accessible early-game pick, found on the bottom floor of the Burned Tower in Ecruteak City, useful well before you’d otherwise have a strong Fire-type on your team.
- Flareon and Ninetales — both solid, roughly equal alternatives if you want a different Fire-type profile than Typhlosion’s balanced attacker role.
Building around them
Typhlosion’s biggest asset is coverage — its move pool lets it threaten types that would otherwise wall a pure Fire-type. Pairing it with Ho-Oh (once available post-game) gives you both an early-game workhorse and a late-game legendary, while Magmar is worth grabbing early simply because it’s available well before most other strong Fire-type options.