Ash's Charizard

Ash's Charizard is one of Ash's most powerful Pokémon.

Biography
Charizard was first introduced as a young Charmander in the episode, Charmander the Stray Pokemon where it belonged to a Trainer named Damian who had promptly abandoned it, calling it a pathetic and weak Pokemon.

Despite this, Charmander's loyalty to Damien still existed to such a degree that it resisted being captured. It sat on a rocky outcrop, waiting for Damien to return although it didn't know that Damien had long since given up on it.

When a storm emerged, Charmander still remained outside, clinging to a leaf for support although the flame on its tail had gone down to such a dangerously low level. To make things worse, a flock of Spearow started attacking it. Thankfully, Ash and his friends arrived, saving Charmander with Pikachu driving the Spearow away although Ash and the others got shocked in the process.

They then got Charmander to a Pokemon Center with Nurse Joy treating it. She later emerged, telling them that the Charmander would pull through. The next morning, though, Charmander had disappeared with Ash theorizing that it had gone back to the rock to wait for Damien.

Team Rocket soon arrived on scene and caused more trouble for Ash and the others by capturing Pikachu while Ash and the others fell into a hole. Charmander arrived and thanks to Meowth translating, ordered James and Jessie to give Pikachu back or else.

Team Rocket ignored the threat, ordering Charmander to beat it or else. But Charmander had the last laugh as it released a very powerful Flamethrower on them, roasting them and causing Team Rocket to retreat. Damian, having witnessed the scene returned, hoping to get Charmander to rejoin his team as he planned to fulfill his "promise" and attempted to recapture Charmander.

However, Charmander realized that Damian was a selfish trainer who would never care for or respect him and as such, refused, using its tail to send the Poke Ball flying back where it hit Damian in the face.

An enraged Damian attempted to crush Charmander with every Pokemon he owned but Charmander responded by giving its former trainer a Flamethrower. Pikachu joined it with ThunderShock and Damian was forced to flee.

Humiliated, burnt and shocked to within an inch of his life, Damian fled while Charmander chose to join Ash's team and became the newest addition to the young trainer's party.

Charmander later became one of Ash's most valuable and trusted Pokemon with Ash calling on it in numerous occasions.

In the episode after he had been captured, Ash used hime to help them to get through a cave.

On the St. Anne ship, he joined forces with a group of Charmander and they were successful in defeating a group of Team Rockets grunts.

Once the group had arrived in Lavander Town with Ash hoping to catch a Ghost-type Pokemon so that he could beat the Saffron City Gym Leader, Sabrina, Charmander was chosen to lead the way through the tower. Unfortunately, a Haunter who lived in the Tower paralyzed Charmander by using Lick, forcing Ash to recall it.

Charmander's next chance to shine came when Ash chose it to go up against an enraged Primeape who had evolved from a harmless Mankey. After enduring a brutal beating at Primeape's hands, Charmander learned Rage which gave it the opportunity to knock Primeape out after unleashing a powerful Flamethrower which finally enabled Ash to capture it.

Charmander got the chance to take part in its first-ever Gym Battle when Ash went up against the Celadon City Gym Leader, Erika where it fought Erika's Weepinbell. It stopped Weepinbell's Razor Leaf with a flamethrower, causing Weepinbell some discomfort as Grass-type Pokemon hate the Fire. Charmander knocked Weepinbell out with a Skull Bash, giving Ash the win but Charmander lost after battling Erika's Gloom due to the fact that the stench Gloom gave off was so disgusting that it caused Charmander to hold its nose before fainting in disbelief. Although the battle was suspended due to Team Rocket attacking the Gym, Ash eventually won the Rainbow Badge after saving Gloom's life.

Ash used Charmander again in his battle against the Fuschia Gym leader, Koga with Charmander fighting Koga's Venomoth before Team Rocket interrupted the battle although Misty's Psyduck saved the day.

After Team Rocket had blasted off, Koga sent out his Golbat to deal with Charmander. Despite the fight not going in Charmander's favor at the beginning, it was eventually able to beat Koga's Golbat thanks to a comibation of Ember and Fire Spin that gave Ash the Soul Badge.

Charmander went up against a Golem owned by a biker named Chopper. Despite the type-disadvantage, Charmander won, a testimony to its increasing power under Ash's care. Its flames were so powerful that Golem was even burning and even after Chopper recalled it, the heat continued to go through the Poke Ball.

Charmander was chosen to stop a group of rampaging Exeggutor and it did so but Ash and the team were in for a surprise when Charmander evolved into Charmeleon.

Unfortunately, the loyalty Charmander had for Ash completely disappeared upon it evolving into Charmeleon, the reason being that Charmeleon's own skill level excelled that of Ash's and as such, it can't respected him. During a practice battle in which Ash sought to help a Paras Cassandra owned evolve into a Parasect, it responded by going against Ash's orders and ruthlessly attacked the Paras, causing it to flee in tears. Ash tries to call Charmeleon, but Charmeleon used a Flamethrower on Ash and when it rounded on Brock and Misty, Brock commented that Charmeleon was way out of control. Luckily, though, Pikachu, intervened and used a Thunderbolt to knock Charmeleon out, enabling Ash to recall it.

Similar, when it evolved into a Charizard, it disobeyed Ash too. However, Ash later learnt that the only reason Charizard had evolved was didn't to save him but to avenge its own injured pride after a Aerodactyl had insulted it. Upon being released from its Ball, it simply shot out flames onto Ash and temporary ignored his orders, a tact that later cost Ash his match with Ritchie during the Kanto Pokemon League.

However when Ash saved it after being frozen by a Poliwrath's Ice Beam, Charizard's loyalty was returned to Ash once again, and its loyalty and devotion to Ash who had helped since it was a Charmander returned in force. Sometimes it will burn Ash's face out of affection.

Charizard helped Ash in his battles with Luana and Drake, fighting alongside Pikachu against Luana's Marowak and Alakazam and defeating Drake's Electabuzz with Seismic Toss. Charizard then battled Drake's Dragonite but due to the damage he had taken in his battle with Electabuzz he was no match for the more experienced Pseudo-Legendary Pokemon. In the end their Dragon Rage's collided and although Dragonite was injured by the explosion, Charizard fainted and Dragonite still had enough energy to defeat Ash's Squirtle and Tauros before finally being defeated by Pikachu.

When Charizard entered the Charicific Valley, it immediately challenged one of the many Charizards that were there, only to be humiliated at its loss. Ash gave Charizard the option to stay and train if it wished to, which Charizard agreed and was given an assurance from Ash that it won't be abandoned. Ash didn't want to leave Charizard but he knew it was for the best for Charizard.

However it later returned to Ash and helped him and Clair calm a rampaging Dragonite. After that it defeated Clair's Dragonair using a unique combination of Fire Spin and Seismic Toss, both of which were used inside Dragonair's Twister to give them more power. Charizard's victory over Dragonair earned Ash the Rising Badge. It returned to Charific Valley for a little while before it returned to Ash again for the Johto League.

In "Spell of the Unown", after watching footage of Ash running after Entei who'd kidnapped his mother, Charizard left the Valley to head straight for Greenfield. He arrived in the nick of time, rescuing Ash and Pikachu who were just about to fall to their deaths after stumbling off a cliff. Charizard fought Entei and managed to hit it with a Fire Spin that was strong enough to cause the Legendary Pokemon to roar with pain, despite the fact that Fire Spin would not normally do much damage to a fellow Fire type. Although Charizard had grown stronger in the Charicific Valley, displaying the agility and power to dodge and counter many of Entei's attacks, the Legendary Pokemon was too fast and too powerful and Charizard was defeated. Fortunately young Molly Hale ordered Entei to stop just before Entei was about to kill Charizard with Fire Blast.

Charizard later returned in the Silver Conference, where he quickly defeated Gary's Scizor and Golem. Gary's Blastoise put up a better fight but in the end Charizard used Flamethrower to burn the battlefield and when Blastiose used Hydro Pump to cool down the burning field, Charizard used the smoke to get in close, ensuring that Blastoise couldn't aim its cannons. Blastoise ducked under Charizard's Dragon Rage and used Bite on its shoulder but Charizard ignored the pain and smashed Blastoise into the ground with Seismic Toss. Blastoise managed to stand but after glaring at Charizard for a few moments it collapsed and fainted. This caused Ash to move to the top 8 and resulting in Gary's elimination from the Johto League.

Charizard was then used against Harrison's Blaziken in the quarterfinals. Charizard had never battled a Blaziken before and Ash had only encountered the Pokemon once when Harrison used it to catch his Sneasel. Therefore both Charizard and his trainer were caught off guard by Blaziken's speed and power. Even Charizard's Seismic Toss wasn't enough to defeat Blaziken and when Charizard attempted to use another one it was caught off guard by Blaziken's Blaze Kick. Blaziken tried to finish Charizard with Flamethrower and Charizard countered with Dragon Rage resulting in an explosion which caused both Pokemon to collapse. Charizard and Blaziken managed to stand up but when Ash ordered Charizard to use another Flamethrower, the pain from Charizard's injuries overwhelmed him and he fainted. However Charizard injured Blaziken badly enough to prevent Harrison from using it in the next round which caused Harrison to lose his next battle.

It appeared in the episode The Symbol Life, where Ash used Charizard to battle with Noland's Articuno. Despite his type advantage, Articuno had the upper hand throughout most of the battle, recovering from Flamethrower and DragonBreath remarkably quickly and dodging all of Charizard's other attacks. It also revealled that it could use Water Pulse to counter its weakness to Fire types and froze one of Charizard's wings with Ice Beam. Charizard used Overheat to melt the ice on his wing allowing him to regain full mobility but Articuno still managed to land a Steel Wing which very nearly defeated the exhausted Charizard. However when Articuno attempted to finish Charizard with another Steel Wing Charizard grabbed both wings and hurled Articuno to the ground with Seismic Toss, almost knocking itself out in the process. Articuno managed to get up and the referee was about to announce that it had won but Noland told him to wait until he was sure the battle was over. Articuno fainted as Charizard got to his feet. Charizard was the first non-Legendary Pokemon in the anime to have defeated a Legendary Pokemon and won Ash the Knowledge Symbol before it returned to the Charicific Valley.

Charizard was also used during Ash's final battle with Pyramid King Brandon, where he battled Brandon's Dusclops. Dusclops proved to be Charizard's equal, countering Flamethrower with Will-O-Wisp and using Mean Look after being hit by DragonBreath. When Charizard used his newly learned Steel Wing, Dusclops grabbed onto one of his wings and used Confuse Ray. Ash was unable to recall Charizard because of Mean Look allowing Dusclops to hit Charizard with Shadow Punch and Will-O-Wisp. Charizard snapped out of his confusion with some encouragment from Ash and hit Dusclops with a powerful DragonBreath. Dusclops struck back with Will-O-Wisp but by that time both Pokemon had become tired. Ash ordered Charizard to inflict what would have been the finishing blow if Dusclops hadn't been a Ghost type but it turned out that ordering Charizard to use Seismic Toss was a huge mistake. Due to Dusclops' immunity to Seismic Toss the Ghost type escaped from Charizard's grasp and smashed him with a final devastating Shadow Punch. However Ash still managed to win the Brave Symbol with his three remaining Pokemon, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Pikachu and Charizard then returned to Charicific Valley.

Trivia

 * Charizard is one of the few Pokémon Ash owns that temporary disobeyed him (albeit only after evolving into Charizard due to rapid evolution), the others being Pikachu and Primeape.
 * Charizard is considered to be Ash's most powerful Pokémon.
 * Charizard is one the three Pokémon owned by Ash to battle and defeat a Legendary Pokémon, the other two being Pikachu and Sceptile. Charizard defeated Articuno, Sceptile defeated Darkrai and Pikachu battled to a draw with Latios and defeated Regice.
 * Charizard knows more moves than any other of Ash's Pokémon.
 * In the episode Snow Way Out, He had a Charmander, but a few episodes before, It was Charizard.
 * When it first entered, Charizard is smaller than the other Charizards found in the Charicific Valley. Now, it has reached the same size as them and is also in love with Charla, Liza's Charizard, acting as a bodyguard.
 * Since he evolved from Charmeleon, Brandon's Dusclops is the only Pokemon that had not reached its final stage of evolution to have ever defeated Charizard. It should be noted however that Dusknoir was not revealled until after the episode was first broadcast.
 * Shin'ichirō Miki who voices James in the Japanese version and who also plays Brock's Zubat/Golbat and Crobat as well as Misty's Staryu in both the Japanese and English-language versions of the anime voices Charizard in both versions as well. In the English series, Charmander and Charmeleon were voiced by Michael Haigney and Eric Stuart respectively while Miki continued voicing both Charmander and Charmeleon in the Japanese version.
 * Charizard is Ash's first Pokemon to learn a Dragon-type move.
 * During the Best Wishes Season 2, Charizard give the thumbs up.
 * Ash's Charizard will return in Pokemon Best Wishes Season 2 Episode N and possibly stay a mail member of his team