Ash's Charizard

Ash's Charizard is Ash's most powerful Pokemon.

Biography
Charizard was first introduced as a young Charmander in the episode, Charmander the Stray Pokemon where it belonged to a Trainer named Damien who had promptly abandoned it, calling it a patheic and weak Pokemon. Despite this, Charmander's loyalty to Damien still existed to such a degree that it resisted being captured.

After bonding with both of the trainers, it ultimately chose Ash as its new trainer. As it prepared to leave with Ash, its original trainer had wished to reclaim and recapture it, only to have Charmander use Flamethrower on its former trainer. As a result, Charmander became the newest addition to Ash's team.

When Charmander evolved into a Charmeleon after stopping a group of rampaging Exeggutor, it refused to obey Ash's order. Cassandra's grandmother later explained that due to Charmeleon's own skill level surprassing Ash's own, it did not respect him anymore. During a practice battle, it was so out of control that Pikachu had to step and use 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 not 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's face and usually ignored his orders, a tact that later cost Ash his match with Ritchie during the Kanto Pokemon League.

However after Ash saved it from being frozen by a Poliwrath's Ice Beam, Charizard started to obey 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.

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 defeat Clair and earned him 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, resucing Ash and Pikachu who were just about to fall to their deaths after stumbling off a cliff.

Charizard fought Entei but was outmatched and had not young Molly Hale ordered Entei to stop, Charizard would have surely been killed in the process.

It helped Ash defeat Gary's Blastoise despite Blastoise's type advantage over Charizard. This caused Ash to move to the top 8 and resulting in Gary's elimination from the Johto League. It was later used against Harrison's Blaziken in the quarterfinals but it lost.

It appeared in the episode The Symbol Life, where Ash used Charizard to battle with Noland's Articuno. Charizard 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. Although he put up a feirce fight, Dusclops managed to defeat Charizard when Ash made the mistake of ordering Charizard to use Seismic Toss which was useless against a Ghost type.

Trivia

 * Charizard is one of the few Pokémon Ash owns that didn't listen to him at first, the others being Pikachu and Primeape.
 * Both Charizard and Dawn's Mamoswine didn't listen when it evolved, they both evolved 3 episodes after it was at it's second stage, and they are both were Ash's and Dawn's 5th Pokémon. It was all due to rapid evolution.
 * Charizard is arguably 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 Arcticuno, Sceptile defeated Darkrai and Pikachu battled to a draw with Latios and defeated Regice.
 * Charizard is considered to be Ash's most powerful Fire type Pokémon.
 * 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.