Pokémon: How To Evolve Growlithe (& 14 Other Things You Didn't ...

Pokémon's original "good boy" Growlithe has been a crowd favorite since the creature first appeared in the original 151 roster of little pocket monsters. It's hard for any other canine Pokémon to stack up to the adorable fiery four-legged tiger-striped dog.

RELATED: The 10 Cutest Fire Pokémon, Ranked

There will always be newcomers such as Yamper or legendary good boys like Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, but frankly, that's a list of subpar doggies that don't stack up to the loyalty and dedication of Growlithe. But how does one evolve such a handsome lad to its next stage as Arcanine? Luckily we have everything you need to know, and a few extra facts things you'll enjoy about Pokémon's original pooch.

Updated September 21st, 2020 by Hayley Mullen: Dog Pokémon will never waver in popularity, and Growlithe may just be the most famous of all dog Pokémon out there. From its unique origins and inspirations to its fascinating moveset and breeding mechanics, there's always a reason to learn more about this puppy from the original 151 Pokémon.

15 Evolution

Among the small list of stone evolutions, Growlithe is only one of four Pokémon that evolves using the Fire Stone. Before Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield, it was ideal to evolve Growlithe at level 45 to get all of his moves, but with the Move Reminder, you can learn all of Growlithe's moves without having to wait. Now anyone can get the legendary doggo Arcanine without breaking a sweat, run around with that giant fire breathing behemoth ASAP.

14 Its Beta Name Was Flamie

It might seem hard to believe, but Growlithe was called Flamie in the Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue beta. It's no secret that a lot of weird, and a lot of wonder, has come out of the leaks surrounding the original games and it's successor. Between cut content, baby evolutions, and story hooks, it's something that the Pokémon Company is certainly keeping tabs on now. Unfortunately, Flamie isn't the worst reveal from the beta content. Its evolution was going to be called Blaze.

13 The Real Reason They Are Police Dogs

When watching the anime it's easy to draw the parallel between Growlithe and real-life K9 units, it was the original dog Pokémon, so therefore it is logical that it works alongside Officer Jenny. But why not any other Pokémon? All of its entries in the Pokédex throughout the games say things like "fierce" and "loyal" which falls in line, but in Pokémon Sapphire and Pokémon Ruby, the entry reads as follows:

RELATED: Pokémon: 5 Ways Twilight Wings Is Different From The Main Anime (& 5 Ways It's The Same)

"Growlithe has a superb sense of smell. Once it smells anything, this Pokémon won't forget the scent, no matter what. It uses its advanced olfactory sense to determine the emotions of other living things." Yes, it's good to have a loyal and fierce partner, but a partner that never forgets a scent and can determine the emotions of other living things? That's useful to the police force.

12 Legendary Roots

An avid fan can recite who the legendary dogs are in the Pokémon universe, and being the good boy that Growlithe is he almost made that cut. Throughout the run of the franchise, it is stated over and over again that Growlithe's evolved form Arcanine is a "legendary dog" and even in the first movie is seen in a carving alongside the legendary birds. Even as recent as Pokémon HeartGold, the word "legendary" was tacked onto Growlithe's evolved form. Was it a mistake the Pokémon Company leaned into and hoped no one would notice? Or perhaps it was the rarity of the Fire Stone in some regions that made the pairing considered legendary?

11 Its Origins Are From China

It's hard to deny that Growlithe is the opposite or pairing of Vulpix. It certainly seems that way in terms of stats and statistics from the game, with Growlithe representing the shisa from Japanese folklore and Vulpix representing a kitsune. However, pulling from Arcanine's Pokédex it repeatedly says that it is a legendary Pokémon from China (Back when the franchise was rooted in real-world locations). This would make Gowlithe more of a "Foo Dog" than a shisa (Though a shisa itself is derived from the same thing). Although both depictions of the mythical creatures look very similar, it is hard to deny what the dex dictates.

10 The Tiger Stripes

Getting into a bit of history involving Growlithe's origins, the reason for the tiger stripes is both simple and complicated. The very same statues that seem to be the origin of Growlithe's creation aren't as simple as being Chinese guardian lion statues, or "foo dogs," or shisa.

RELATED: Pokémon: 10 Hilarious Day Care Breeding Memes Only Real Fans Will Understand

They have many iterations, transformations, and meanings, and without getting too deep into the mythos surrounding them, in the Edo period of Japan these statues just didn't take from lions and dogs (or a combination of the two), they were made in the shape of dragons, wild boars, foxes, and yup... Tigers.

9 Among A Select Few

It was already stated that Growlithe is one of the few Pokémon who take evolution stones, and only one of four that utilizes the Fire Stone. Growlithe is also only one of ten Pokémon of the original 151 line up to be a pure Fire-Type Pokémon, that's including evolutions. Scaling that back to pure Fire-Type lines, that's only one of four. This means if people wanted to blaze it old school (specifically in the remakes that were dual typing) Growlithe was one of the few ways to do it.

8 Planned Baby Form

In the Pokémon 1997 Spaceworld Demo for Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver ROM data, a lot of things have been uncovered and circulated the internet through various media and credible sources. Among the things leaked were unused baby Pokémon, thankfully some saw a return in later generations albeit with different designs. One of those unused baby Pokémon was none other than Puddi, Growlithe's baby form that was supposed to evolve at level 12. Seeing the design of this Pokémon, it's easy to figure out why Gamefreak decided that it would be among those cut, and if we do see another evolution of everyone's favorite good boy it probably won't be a pre-evolution.

7 One Of Four Puppies

When checking the Pokédex, every single Pokémon will be put into a decriptive group called a Pokémon Category. For example, the Bulbasaur evolutionary line are called the "Seed Pokémon," but this category also includes Pokémon such as Sunkern, Seedot, and Ferroseed.

TheGamer Report: Subscribe and never miss what matters

Level up your gaming knowledge with TheGamer, your passport to the world of gaming. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Growlithe's classification is the "Puppy Pokémon," and it shares this category with only three other Pokémon. These other puppies are Lillipup, Rockruff, and Yamper, who all come from different regions and generations of the games. For sure, these are some of the cutest dogs that Pokémon has to offer.

6 Unique Gender Ratio

When it comes to gender in Pokémon, each individual creature has their own set ratio for what gender they will appear or hatch as. For many Pokémon, the odds are 50:50 for male or female, but the Growlithe line has a unique gender ratio for its egg group: 3:1 odds, with a 75% chance of being male.

RELATED: Pokémon: The 10 Most Interesting Gender Differences, Ranked

Growlithe and Arcanine are the only Pokémon that aren't in the Human-Like Egg group that have a male-female ratio of 3:1, making them quite unique in the breeding meta of the games.