The History of Ash’s Charizard Explained

Charizard, of course, didn’t begin as a Charizard. Ash found his Charmander in episode 11 of Pokémon, abandoned in a rainstorm, hiding from the downpour under a small leaf, struggling to keep the flame that burns on his tail lit. Ash and co rush the sickly Fire-type to a Pokémon Centre, where he makes a full recovery. Charmander instantly became a fan favourite in this episode, and to this day the image of Charmander curled up under that leaf evokes strong emotions in viewers who haven’t seen even a single episode since the show first aired in 1997.

Then, when Ash eventually finds Charmander’s original trainer, the one who had given it up, he adopts Charmander as his own and begins training him. He persuades him to be a member of the team.

Ash’s Charmeleon Became Disobedient

How the anime made ‘your’ creature, the one you did all the fighting with, tricked into obeying your commands by another rival who’d already collected half a dozen badges before you’d collected a single one.

Charmander became Charmeleon in episode #43, where it fought with (and defeated!) Exeggutor, who is a weak match for fire attacks. Charmeleon had some of the personality traits that the Exeggutor fight had shown it adopting – namely, disobeying Ash’s orders in Pokémon battles (this kind of thing was an optional mechanic in the games, where Pokémon who were too high a level for their trainer would start disobeying them). Charmeleon started shooting Ash with flaming jaw drool when upset – but didn’t spend long like this and then evolved again, this time into Charizard, in episode #46: the new Charizard fought and defeated an Aerodactyl in an awesome aerial battle.

In the end, Charizard still wouldn’t listen, and during a Cinnabar City gym battle, his disobedience led to a loss. In the Indigo Conference’s top 16 round, Charizard’s refusal to battle lost Ash his second chance at victory, in another losing match against Ritchie. Deep into Pokémon’s Orange Island arc, as well, Charizard’s disobedience continued right up to a point when, in a battle against a Poliwrath, Charizard and his trainer ended up frozen solid. Ash and company worked extra hard to nurse Charizard back to health in order to preserve his tail flame, something that finally earned Ash the respect that he would be obeyed from there on out.

Ash’s Charizard’s Appearances Beyond Kanto

Charizard came back in Johto and Unova

Ash brought Charizard to Johto too, and often used him in early battles, where Charizard’s level crushed the opposing Pokemon. Brock and Misty have spoken more than once to comment on how unsporting it is for Ash to pit creatures far above their opponents in level. And we’ll see that speech proves prophetic, as Brock and Misty’s words might provide an explanation for why Ash sheds his previous Pokémon with each new region. At some point in Johto, Ash fought the first Johtoan gym leader. That’s also the moment that Charizard moves to the sidelines to live on a farm.

Or episode #134, in which Ash and friends discover the Charicific Valley — described by a young Pikachu as a place ‘where a thousand Charizards live’ — only to learn that Ash’s Charizard is a runt, one with plenty of attitude but little in the way of actual brawn. Scorned by most of his fellow wild Charizard, after Charizard saves the Valley from Team Rocket (yes, they invade, and then only to help Charizard burn his way into the valley’s acceptance), Ash simply takes off, Charizard in tow. Ash leaves Charizard in the valley so he might enjoy life with his requisite six legs instead of his usual four. Charizard stayed, to try again with the female Charizard he fell for — named, naturally, Charla.

Charizard wouldn’t make a comeback until we’re finally back to the point of Ash getting that last Johto badge in episode #253. Charizard gets all the training it needs to get to the point that it is now appearing in Blackthorn City when Ash shows up there. Charizard shows up with Ash to fight for the last Pokémon gym badge in the Johto region, and then should have stayed there, but instead shows up with Ash at the Silver Conference, where Ash is guaranteed to place in the top eight. Another comeback happens when Ash comes home to Kanto in episode #410, so that he can challenge the Battle Frontier (which he can’t win unless he gets his original six Pokémon back) and then it naturally returns in the final match of the Battle Frontier arc, for episodes #463 and #464. Charizard fights well but is quickly put down by a Dusclops and goes back to the valley (where it’s still hanging out, last we heard).

Charizard did not make an appearance in the Sinnoh era of the anime, though – the next time we’d see him would come three years after Ash had arrived in Unova (in episode #773). When Ash is reminded of Charizard by a Charmander, he asks Professor Oak to send Charizard to him. In the process of reuniting with Ash, Charizard is stuck in a rivalry with his travelling partner Iris’s Dragonite, competing constantly. Charizard remained with Ash in Unova for the remainder of the series, and was ultimately sent back along with Ash’s Unova Pokémon to Professor Oak’s lab. There, Charizard would live from then on. Charizard would never return to the Charicific Valley.

Where is Ash’s Charizard Now?

Charizard has taken on a mentor role at Professor Oak’s lab.

We saw the last of Charizard in Pokémon Journeys at Professor Oak’s lab, where she was training alongside some of Ash’s other Pokémon, like Gengar, and learning moves that might be useful for them to learn as well. We also saw Charizard in attendance from a distance around the World Coronation Series tournament when Ash was battling, and she was among the Pokémon that Pikachu recalled seeing as memories of encouragements in the climactic bout of the tournament, along with other Pokémon from Ash’s past. But, despite lots of rumours, Charizard (along with Ash’s two Snorlaxes and Blastoise) never did mega-evolve in Pokémon XY. Neither has Charizard (nor Ash’s Pikachu) Gigantamaxed in Pokémon Journeys, and as such, we’ve never seen any of Charizard’s new forms from over the past 20-plus years.

While Ash doesn’t appear in the successor series

Pokémon Horizons

Ash receives another Charizard from a Professor Friede, who hands her the torch that Ash’s Charizard held.

Charizard was one of Ash’s catch in his very first episode, and at the end of his run, the now very jaded Ash reunited with Charizard and, with the endearing help of some fundamental friendship advice by Bulbasaur and Squirtle, Charizard were able to have a proper farewell for their longstanding trio. Charizard was always a definite fave, so while Ash’s Charizard probably made a particularly exciting impression, in general Charizard just did well because Charizard is always cool. The reappearances have helped Charizard become a Pokémon that rings a bell for new generations of Pokémons fans. However, starring in two of the most iconic Pokémon moments, it’s probably safe to say that Ash’s Charizard has left a burning memory for sure.

How Does Ash’s Charizard Stack Up Against Other Charizard?

Again, as observed above, Ash’s Charizard is significantly smaller than the average Charizard, and thus athletically weaker than most Charizard. What Ash’s Charizard lacks in strength, however, it makes up for in experience. Being among Ash’s most-used Pokémon for the series overall, Charizard to knows what it’s doing in battle.

Though Ash’s Charizard is powerful, it’s not the most powerful Charizard in anime, as there are a few other versions that are worth mentioning. First one up is Alain’s Charizard from Pokémon XY, which can also Mega Evolve, and once pulled off a 10-battle win streak in a row, which is exceptional even for the strongest Charizard. In Pokémon Journeys, Leon’s Charizard, who was also undefeated, had access to the Gigantamax update, which Charizard traditionally has never been able to acquire. It took out a Gyarados ‒ a Water-type, mind you ‒ to win the previous World Coronation Series. Of course, Pikachu put a stop to his undefeated streak too.

Is Charizard Ash’s Strongest Pokémon?

Though He Once Reigned Supreme, There Are Contenders

For the majority of Ash’s career as a Pokémon trainer, Charizard was his secret weapon. Fire/flying might have been a frail Pokémon type that didn’t always listen to its trainer at first, and even might have defied Ash with unpredictable rages, but, in the end, bland loyalty to Ash came through, thoroughly turning Charizard into the monster it always wanted to be. Even though Charizard was a good champion and partner to Ash, the trainer’s other strongest Pokemon seem to match Charizard’s worth.

While Pokémon such as Ash’s Melmetal, Lucario and Sceptile have shown themselves to be fantastic for Ash and even boosted the Gym Leader to become the World Champion, none of them have quite reached the sheer strength of Charizard. Ash’s Greninja and Pikachu are the only Pokémon that have truly beaten Charizard as a Pokémon on the battlefield. And even then, their ferocity isn’t so much from their Pokémon strength, but from a special ability that the Pokémon have manipulated.

Greninja came to Ash willingly, even bonding with him so strongly that it at one point transformed into the Ash-Greninja form, which greatly increases Greninja’s power, to the point where Ash-Greninja is banned outright in many Pokémon games competitive formats. Then there’s Pikachu, clearly a smaller creature than Pikachu, whose diminutive stature masks the fact that the electric rodent is a force to be reckoned with, weighing in at around a whopping 65-85 lbs (depending on which media account you believe), plus it has access to the Z move 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt. And Volt Tackle! The most powerful attack in Ash’s portfolio.

Ash’s Charizard is not only strong in a conventional sense – it has proved itself over and over in battles – but also experienced. It’s perhaps one of the best of his Pokémon, and demonstration that Ash really is a Pokémon Master.

Pokemon

Created bySatoshi Taijiri , Ken Sugimori , Junichi Masuda

First FilmPokemon: The First Movie

Latest FilmPokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle

First Episode Air DateApril 1, 1997

Summary

Now in its 25th year, Pocket Monsters – as it is known in Japan – is the multimedia phenom created by Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures, working by the direction of Satoshi Tajiri, the Nintendo employee who originally envisioned the concept alongside the game designer Ken Sugimori and the musician and producer Junichi Masuda. Pokémon worlds are worlds wherein humans live alongside tamable creatures called Pokémon, caught and raised by Pokémon Trainers, who set out for extensive journeys across their continents to raise them, with the eventual goal of battling other Trainers for a title of tournament champion. Spanning books, trading cards, and the most expansive animated series ever, Pokémon began the ‘two-game’ craze wherein two versions of the same video game would be released with different Pokémon/features between versions (encouraging players to meet up with others and trade, to thus ‘catch ’em all’).