BW116

← BW115 : The Pokémon Harbor Patrol!

Best Wishes series

BW117 : Team Plasma's Pokémon Manipulation! →

The Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion!

BW116   EP773 燃えよリザードン！VSカイリュー！ Burn, Lizardon! VS Kairyu!

First broadcast Japan March 7, 2013 United States June 8, 2013

English themes Opening It's Always You and Me Ending

Japanese themes Opening やじるしになって！2013 Ending サクラ・ゴーラウンド

Credits Animation Team Kato Screenplay 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka Storyboard 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada Assistant director 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada Animation director 岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane No additional credits are available at this time.

Screenshots on Filb.de Preview thread on BMGf Closed Original review thread on BMGf Dub review thread on BMGf

The Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion! (Japanese: 燃えよリザードン！VSカイリュー！ Burn, Lizardon! VS Kairyu!) is the 116th episode of the Best Wishes series, and the 773rd episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on March 7, 2013 and in the United States on June 8, 2013.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Synopsis

Ash and his friends have arrived at a Kanto Fair, and Ash feels both nostalgic and excited for seeing lots of Kanto Pokémon crafts. N realizes that Ash excitement must be because he's from Kanto, and Ash says that it's true. Also Iris is excited, and she runs along with Ash to explore the Fair, followed by Cilan and N. As they make their way through the Fair, Ash hears a familiar voice, and sees a video presentation, where none other than Professor Oak himself is presenting the three starter Pokémon of Kanto: Water-type Squirtle, Fire-type Charmander, and Grass-type Bulbasaur. N asks Ash which Pokémon he chose as his starter, to which Iris tells that Pikachu is Ash's starter. N is surprised, and Ash explains that he arrived late, and all the other Pokémon were already taken, so he wound up with Pikachu, which turned out to be just great. The video presentation then ends, and a young lady then appears on a small stage, being ready to present Kanto's Fire-type starter Pokémon, Charmander. A puff of smoke covers the stage, and when it clears, a Charmander reveals itself. The crowd is excited, and Ash scans Charmander with his Pokédex. The presentation begins with Charmander using Ember, charming the audience. Charmander then begins spinning while still using Ember, but soon becomes dizzy and accidentally knocks over a lamp, which crashes onto it, as well as a piece of the stage wall. Ash is worried if Charmander is okay, but then Charmander's tail rises from the rubble, indicating that it's at least somewhat fine.

Charmander is taken to a Pokémon Center, where Nurse Joy puts some band-aids on it. She notices Ash and his friends outside of the room, and comes out, saying that Charmander just needs a little rest to recover, making them relieved.

With Charmander getting well, Ash and his friends sit down to drink. Ash tells how this Charmander reminded him of his own Charmander. Cilan is surprised, and wonders that didn't Ash start his journey with Pikachu. Ash admits that that is the truth, but that he also later encountered an abandoned Charmander, which he, Brock, and Misty had saved from a downpour, its tail flame barely burning. It had been taken to a Pokémon Center, from which, as soon as it had recovered, had left to return to wait for its Trainer. A while later, it had proved its strength by saving Pikachu from the hands of Team Rocket, prompting its Trainer to take it back. Charmander, however, witnessing how selfish its Trainer was, refused to re-join him, and instead went together with Ash. They then went through many experiences together, such as helping Ash to catch a Primeape, allowing him to earn the Soul Badge from Koga, and warming him up during a snowstorm. It had then evolved into a Charmeleon, and started to disobey him. It had soon after evolved again, now becoming a Charizard, but still retaining its disobedience. Although Charizard had helped him to defeat Blaine and earn the Volcano Badge, its disobedience at the Indigo Plateau had cost him the place in the Pokémon League's quarter-finals. Iris wonders how this could've happened, to which Cilan reminds her how she has had the same kind of problems with her Excadrill and Dragonite.

Ash then starts telling how his relationship with Charizard had finally taken a turn to the better at the Orange Islands, where Charizard had been frozen in a battle against a Poliwrath, severely weakening it. Ash had stayed along Charizard's side all night, trying to help it recover as well as he could. Seeing how unselfishly Ash was taking care of it, Charizard had finally earned Ash's trust and started obeying him, even defeating Poliwrath in a rematch. Cilan then wonders why Charizard isn't still in Ash's team, even though it had become his friend. Ash explains that when he had entered the Johto region, he and his friends had met Liza and found out about the Charicific Valley, where lots of Charizard were training to become stronger. Ash's Charizard had tried to test its powers with the Charizard in the Valley, but was proven to be seriously underleveled compared to them. Making one of the hardest decisions of his life, Ash had decided to leave Charizard at the Valley, so that it could train and become more worthy and stronger battler. Since then, Charizard had rejoined Ash in several important fights, such as in his Gym battle against Clair, his Silver Conference battle against Gary, as well as his Battle Frontier match against Noland's Articuno, proving that its training at the Charicific Valley had indeed paid off.

The young lady and her Charmander then appear, apologizing for all the trouble they had caused. Ash tells Charmander not to try too much, and it and its Trainer then leave. Ash thinks that he now wants to meet Charizard again, making both Iris and Cilan excited of the idea to see it, Cilan mostly because he wants to see how Ash's relationship with Charizard differs from the one with Pikachu. He makes a phone call to Professor Oak, who tells that Charizard has already been sent from the Valley to the lab, waiting to be transferred. Oak asks which Pokémon Ash is going to send to him as an exchange, to which Ash says that he's going to send his Unfezant. Oak is interested of how it would get along with Ash's other Flying-types at the lab, and agrees. The exchange is then made, sending Unfezant's Poké Ball to Professor Oak, while Charizard's Poké Ball appears at the Pokémon Center.

Ash joins the others on the outside at the battlefield. Iris and Cilan are eager Ash to show Charizard, so Ash, after taking a deep breath, sends out the Flame Pokémon, which emerges from the Ball with a ground-shaking roar. Pikachu jumps on Charizard's shoulder, and the others are amazed at the sight of the magnificent Flame Pokémon. As Ash introduces Charizard to his friends, it greets him with its usual Flamethrower scorching. Ash compliments Charizard's Flamethrower, and they have a fist tap. Even N is impressed, seeing how much their friendship has deepened just because of Charizard long absence, saying that they are indeed true friends. Ash then calls out his Unova team to greet Charizard, and Iris does the same. Ash introduces his new Pokémon to Charizard, but quickly Charizard's eyes focus on Iris's Dragonite, who glares back at it with an equally fiery stare. Noticing the sprouting rivalry between their Pokémon, Ash challenges Iris and Dragonite to a battle, saying that it'll be the only way to let the two Pokémon to settle their differences without everything getting out of control. Iris gladly accepts the challenge, making Cilan extremely excited.

The battle begins with Dragonite firing a Flamethrower, which Charizard counters with its own Flamethrower. Charizard then takes flight, with Dragonite following right on its tail. Iris tells Dragonite to use ThunderPunch, which Ash counters by having Charizard use Wing Attack, effectively blocking Dragonite's attack. Ash then has Charizard use Slash, and Iris counters by having Dragonite use Dragon Rush. The two moves collide in a big explosion, and Iris gets excited because of how strong her Dragonite is. However, her hopes are soon crushed as Charizard emerges from the dust cloud and roars loudly. Ash decides to show the results of Charizard's training by having it to counter a Dragon-type attack with another Dragon-type attack, and tells Charizard to use Dragon Tail. Iris tells Dragonite to fly away, but Charizard quickly catches up and hits the Dragon Pokémon, sending it crashing into the ground. When the dust clears, Dragonite is seen holding its right arm, clearly damaged. N then calls off the battle, saying that the two Pokémon have already settled their differences. Cilan is impressed, and says that it was a good idea to hold this a battle. Iris, however, wonders why Dragon Rush wasn't super effective on Charizard, since it was a Dragon-type attack. The others then are mildly surprised, N even chucking a bit, and Ash corrects Iris that Charizard is not a Dragon-type. Iris is shocked and asks how Charizard could be able to use a Dragon-type attack and look so much like a Dragon-type, to which Ash replies by showing her Charizard's Pokédex entry, which clearly states that Charizard is a Fire/Flying-type, shocking Iris even more, as she had already thought about catching herself a Charmander. Ash decides to take Charizard with him on his Unova journey, making both his friends and Charizard excited, with the latter firing a celebrating Flamethrower into the sky.

Major events

• Ash's Charizard returns and is revealed to have learned Wing Attack, Slash, and Dragon Tail.
• Charizard battles Iris's Dragonite. The battle is called off by N.

For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Iris
• Cilan
• Professor Oak
• Tracey
• N
• Nurse Joy
• Magikarp salesman
• Misty (flashback)
• Brock (flashback)
• Nurse Joy (flashback)
• Jessie (flashback)
• James (flashback)
• Damian (flashback)
• Koga (flashback)
• Tad (flashback)
• Liza (flashback)

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?: Charmander

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Axew (Iris's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket; flashback)
• Pidgeotto (Ash's; flashback)
• Charizard (Ash's)
• Charmander (Ash's; flashback)
• Charmeleon (Ash's; flashback)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's; flashback)
• Squirtle (Ash's; flashback)
• Primeape (Ash's; flashback)
• Oshawott (Ash's)
• Pignite (Ash's)
• Snivy (Ash's)
• Boldore (Ash's)
• Excadrill (Iris's)
• Emolga (Iris's)
• Dragonite (Iris's)
• Togepi (Misty's; flashback)
• Audino (Nurse Joy's)
• Magikarp (Magikarp salesman's)
• Bulbasaur (starter Pokémon)
• Charmander (starter Pokémon)
• Squirtle (starter Pokémon)
• Charmander (unknown Trainer's)
• Spearow (multiple; flashback)
• Golbat (Koga's; flashback)
• Aerodactyl (flashback)
• Magmar (Blaine's; flashback)
• Pikachu (Ritchie's; Sparky; flashback)
• Poliwrath (Tad's; flashback)
• Charizard (Liza's; Charla; flashback)
• Dragonair (Clair's; flashback)
• Blastoise (Gary's; flashback)
• Articuno (Noland's; flashback)
• Charizard (multiple; flashback)

Trivia

• Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster: Pokémon Global Link's Dragonite event for BW117.
• This is the first appearance of Ash's Charizard since Pace - The Final Frontier!, 309 episodes ago.
  • This is also the first appearance of Ash's Primeape outside of an opening since its departure to train with Anthony, 744 episodes ago, appearing in the Charizard flashback sequence.
• This is the first time Misty had a speaking role since The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon.
  • This is also the first time since Following A Maiden's Voyage!, 306 episodes ago, when Tracey has made an appearance in person.
• This episode marks the first time since Bulbasaur... the Ambassador! in which one of Ash's Kanto Pokémon (besides Pikachu) is in his regular party (rather than for just a day or for a single event).
• This episode features the following flashbacks, which have all been reanimated to match the style introduced in Best Wishes series:
  • Ash and Brock saving Charmander from the rain, and Ash later capturing it from Charmander – The Stray Pokémon.
  • Charmander battling Primeape from Primeape Goes Bananas.
  • The battle between Charmander and Koga's Golbat from The Ninja Poké-Showdown.
  • Charmander, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur and Squirtle huddling with Ash from Snow Way Out!.
  • Charmander's evolution into Charmeleon in The March of the Exeggutor Squad.
  • Charmeleon beginning to disobey Ash in The Problem with Paras.
  • The battle between Charmeleon and Aerodactyl which caused Charmeleon to evolve from Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon.
  • Charizard defeating Blaine's Magmar from Volcanic Panic
  • Charizard refusing to battle for Ash, costing him the Indigo League from Friend and Foe Alike.
  • Charizard being defeated and severely weakened by Tad's Poliwrath, and Ash's later actions that allowed him to regain Charizard's trust in Charizard Chills.
  • Charizard's desperation to be accepted at the Charicific Valley and Ash leaving it behind in Charizard's Burning Ambitions.
  • Defeating Clair's Dragonair from Better Eight Than Never.
  • Defeating Gary's Blastoise from Can't Beat the Heat!.
  • Battling Noland's Articuno from The Symbol Life.
• Unlike the other moves seen in the flashbacks, Clair's Dragonair's Iron Tail was not reanimated to match the move's appearance in Best Wishes series.
• This is the first time a flashback to a previous Pokémon League that is not the most recent one is shown. A flashback is shown of the Indigo League, and Ash had just recently competed in the Vertress Conference.

File:BW116 Team Rocket.png

Team Rocket trio's only appearance in this episode

• This episode marks the first time that Seismic Toss is not in Charizard's moveset since it was first used in Volcanic Panic.
  • Despite being part Flying-type, this episode also marks the first time Charizard is seen using a Flying-type move.
• This is the first time when Ash has sent a Pokémon from his Unova team to Professor Oak's Laboratory, namely Unfezant.
• Jessie, James and Meowth only appear briefly in a flashback being burned by Charmander's Flamethrower, leaving only their weak silhouette visible.
• The Magikarp salesman makes a speaking cameo appearance in this episode as one of the vendors at the Kanto Fair, meaning he has now appeared at least once in every anime series so far.
• Ash's Sinnoh attire is the only one he was not shown wearing during this episode, as his Charizard does not appear throughout the Diamond and Pearl series.

Errors

• During the flashback of Snow Way Out!, some of the feathers on Pidgeotto's head are colored yellow like its evolved form instead of pink.
  • This was fixed in the dub
• During the flashback of Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon, Aerodactyl's leg is colored orange while it holds Ash.
• During the flashback when Ash was sending Charizard to the Charicific Valley, Ash's sleeve is discolored.
• Before Oak sent Ash's Charizard for his Unfezant, his eyes are colored brown instead of black.
• After Ash picks up Charizard's Poké Ball, the wrist of his glove is colored green instead of red.

• 

  Pidgeotto with Pidgeot's feathers on its head

• 

  Aerodactyl with Charizard's coloration

• 

  Ash's sleeve is blue like the rest of his jacket

• 

  Oak's miscolored eyes

• 

  Ash's glove has the same coloration as the one he wore during the AG series

Dub edits

• The Pidgeotto's feather coloration and Aerodactyl's leg coloration errors were corrected for the international release.

In other languages

← BW115 : The Pokémon Harbor Patrol!

Best Wishes series

BW117 : Team Plasma's Pokémon Manipulation! →

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.