#004 - Charmander

CHARMANDER

IN SHOW

In the show Charmander made his first appearance as a sad little thing sitting on a rock in the rain. Ash, Misty and Brock took pity on it and tried to save it but the poor thing wouldn’t budge. Giving up the group goes to a PokeCenter to overhear a jackass trainer talking about his weak Charmander and how he made it sit on a rock and is never going back for it, and then they talk to Nurse Joy and she tells them if Charmander’s flame goes out he will DIE. So the group goes back and saves him, he heals but runs away, the trainer decides he wants him back, Ash fights the trainer and Charmander goes with Ash to have many incredible adventures until he evolves into a Charmeleon.

And that’s what we loved about Charmander. He was insecure about his power, but unyielding in his loyalty to his trainer. His past actually affected his future in the series to a great extent, and the poor guy almost died in his very first appearance! Every boy wanted to make him burn stuff and every girl wanted to cuddle him.

REASONS WHY YOU WANT A CHARMANDER

Charmander was awesome in the games. His later evolution could learn to FLY and we all wanted that. He had the best character model out of the three starters, he looked intimidating, and like he could handle himself, which was a change from the normal character we were used to. One he got a few good moves he could completely obliterate and gym leader that he came across, and that first forest full of bugs? Once you got ember at level nine those bugs might as well have been dried up leaves for all the damage they would cause you.

REASONS WHY YOU DO NOT WANT A CHARMANDER

Brock and Misty. These were the FIRST TWO gym leaders and if you picked Charmander you better hope you had a good team for Brock and that you could find a Pikachu to deal with Misty because you were screwed otherwise. The reason so many Charmanders were higher level at lower gyms was because you had to bust your ass trying to beat these guys and your starter pokemon was always the strongest so they’re supposed to be your best bet against gym leaders. It did mean that for the first two gyms you’d have a much more balanced party but come on! Everyone wanted to power through the game relying on only their starter, like Ash, and this sucked!

IN SUMMARY

Most kids chose Charmander as their starter pokemon. There’s no denying it. He may have made life difficult in earlier stages of the game but later on you were destined to kick butt and take names. Your party tended to be more balanced because of the fact that you had to make tough choices in order to beat the first two gym leaders, and outside of those gym battles he was as good as gold. Charmander won our hearts in the television show and he would go on winning them in the video game. This is the reason why when you ask most 90’s kids what they’re favourite pokemon is they’re gonna respond with one of the evolutions from the Charmander line. Because this bad boy made the grade.