BW116
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The Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion!
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First broadcast
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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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.
Blurb
Continuing their journey to the White Ruins, our heroes (traveling with N) come across the Kanto Fair: a festival celebrating the sights and sounds of the Kanto region! Of course, since Ash is from Kanto originally, this takes him right back to memories of his home. And when our heroes see Professor Oak’s presentation on the three Kanto Pokémon available to beginning Trainers—Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle—memories of Ash’s own early Pokémon journey come flooding back.
Ash tells everyone the story of how he first met Charmander. Just like Tepig, Charmander was abandoned by its original Trainer. Ash rescued it, and soon it became part of his Pokémon family! However, when it evolved into Charmeleon, it stopped taking commands from Ash, doing whatever it wanted. But Ash never gave up on his beloved Pokémon, and soon it evolved into an awesome and fearsome Charizard!
The two of them traveled together for some time, until their journey took them to the Charicific Valley, where many Charizard engage in intensive training against each other, and Ash took the opportunity for his Charizard to become stronger. Although the two have reunited on several occasions, Ash now wants to see his old friend again, and everyone else can’t wait to meet it! So a Pokémon exchange is made with Professor Oak, and Charizard comes for a visit!
When it meets Iris’s Dragonite, sparks fly immediately, and the two of them start trying to pick a fight—and rather than trying to stop them, Ash decides to turn it into a proper battle! It’s clear that Charizard has been training hard in the Charicific Valley, and both Pokémon show just how strong they are! N calls the battle to an end, and observes that the two Pokémon have found real respect for each other.
Ash asks if Charizard would like to rejoin him on his journey, and the answer is an enthusiastic yes! So, it’s off once again to the White Ruins, but now with Charizard along, reunited with our heroes once again!
Plot
Ash and his friends have arrived at a Kanto Fair, and Ash feels both nostalgic and excited to see lots of Kanto Pokémon crafts. N realizes that Ash's excitement must be because he's from Kanto, which Ash confirms. Iris is also excited, and she runs along with Ash to explore the Fair, followed by Cilan and N. As they make their way through the Kanto Fair, Ash hears a familiar voice, and sees a video of Professor Oak 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 replies that Pikachu is Ash's starter. N is confused until 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 great. The video presentation ends and a young lady, the Host of the Fair, then appears on a small stage to present an actual 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, producing a shower of beautiful flames, but soon becomes dizzy. It accidentally knocks over and is hit by a lamp and a section of the stage wall. 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 treats it with adhesive bandages. She notices Ash and his friends outside of the room and comes out to tell them that Charmander is going to be all right. The group is relieved.
With Charmander recovering, Ash and his friends sit down to drink. Ash tells how this Charmander reminded him of his own Charmander. Cilan is confused by how he had a Charmander if Pikachu was his starter. Ash admits that that is the truth, but that he also later encountered an abandoned Charmander...
Charmander had been abandoned by its Trainer, who had left it on a rock promising to return when he had no intention of doing so. Ash, Brock, and Misty saved Charmander from a downpour and a flock of wild Spearow, its tail flame barely burning. The gang rushed to the Pokémon Center, protecting the tail from the pouring rain. They then waited as Charmander recovered, but it left to return to the rock and wait. A while later, Charmander proved its strength by saving Pikachu from the hands of Team Rocket, prompting its Trainer to return and want it back since its had learned Flamethrower. Witnessing how selfish its Trainer was, Charmander refused to rejoin him. Instead, it agreed to go with Ash and let itself be captured by him, becoming his fifth Pokémon.
Ash and Charmander then went through many experiences together, such as helping Ash catch a Primeape, defeating the Fuchsia Gym, and warming him up during a snowstorm. Things changed when Charmander evolved into a Charmeleon and started to disobey Ash, much to his frustration. Ash kept on using Charmeleon, so it soon evolved again into a Charizard in order to battle an Aerodactyl. Despite the evolution, Charizard was still disobedient, but decided to help Ash defeat the Cinnabar Gym. Charizard's attitude did not change, and its disobedience at the Indigo Plateau cost Ash his battle in the round of 16 in the Pokémon League.
Iris wonders how this could have happened. Cilan reminds her how she had the same kind of problems with her Excadrill and Dragonite. N asks Ash if his relationship with Charizard ever improved, and Ash confirms it did when they went to the Orange Islands...
Charizard battled against a powerful Poliwrath and suffered its first loss since evolving. A powerful Ice Beam encased Charizard in ice and nearly put out its tail flame, severely weakening it. Ash stayed by Charizard's side all night trying to help it recover. After seeing how unselfishly Ash was taking care of it, Charizard decided that Ash deserves its trust and started obeying him, even defeating Poliwrath in a rematch.
Iris asks what Charizard is up to now, and Cilan wonders why Charizard isn't still in Ash's team, even though it was a powerful ally. Ash explains that when he traveled to the Johto region, everything changed.
Ash and Charizard were proud of defeating every opponent they went up against. However, when he and his friends met Liza and found out about the Charicific Valley, where lots of Charizard were training to become stronger, they learned the hard way that there were many tougher opponents out there. Ash's Charizard 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 decided to leave Charizard at the Valley so that it could train. Since then, Charizard rejoined Ash in several important battles, such as his Gym battle against Clair, his Silver Conference battle against Gary, and his Battle Frontier match against Noland's Articuno, proving that its training at the Charicific Valley was effective.
The Kanto Fair Host and her Charmander then appear, apologizing for all the trouble they caused. Ash tells Charmander to be more careful from now on, and the two leave together. Reminiscing has left Ash wanting to see Charizard again, an idea that excites both Iris and Cilan, who want to see how Ash's relationship with Charizard differs from the one he has with Pikachu. His mind made up, Ash makes a phone call to Professor Oak requesting Charizard's Poké Ball, and Oak tells him 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 him for the exchange, which Ash says is Unfezant. Oak thinks it's a good choice and states he is interested in how she would get along and have super-speed battle races with Ash's other Flying types at the lab. 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 to see Charizard, so Ash, after taking a deep breath, sends out the Flame Pokémon, who emerges with an earth-shaking roar. Pikachu jumps on Charizard's shoulder, and the others are amazed at the sight of the magnificent Pokémon. As Ash introduces Charizard to his friends, it greets him with its usual Flamethrower scorching. Ash compliments Charizard's Flamethrower, and they do a fist bump. N is impressed by their deep friendship and notes their long history. Ash then calls out his Unova team to greet Charizard, and Iris does the same. Ash begins introducing his new Pokémon to Charizard, but its eyes quickly focus on Iris's Dragonite, who glares back at it with an equally fiery stare. Noticing the budding 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 accepts the challenge, which excites Cilan.
Iris begins the battle with Dragonite's Flamethrower, which Charizard copies and counters. Charizard then takes flight, but Dragonite follows 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 from how strong her Dragonite is. Her exultation ends when 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, and tells Charizard to use Dragon Tail. Iris tells Dragonite to dodge it, but Charizard quickly catches up and hits the Dragon Pokémon, sending him crashing onto the ground. When the dust clears, Dragonite is seen holding his right arm, clearly hurt. N then calls off the battle, saying that the two Pokémon have already settled their differences, and now have total respect for each other. An impressed Cilan says that it was a good idea to hold this battle. Iris wonders why Dragon Rush wasn't super-effective to Charizard, since she thought it was a Dragon-type Pokémon. The others are mildly surprised, N even chuckling a bit, and Ash tells 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. Ash shows her Charizard's Pokédex entry, which clearly states that Charizard is a Fire/Flying, shocking Iris even more since she had been thinking of catching and training herself a Charizard too.
As a result of the exhibition match, Ash decides to take Charizard with him on his Unova journey, making both his friends and Charizard happy, and the mighty Pokémon celebrates by firing a 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.
- Charizard rejoins Ash's team.
- For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.
Debuts
Pokémon debuts
Characters
Humans
- Ash
- Iris
- Cilan
- Professor Oak
- Tracey
- N
- Kanto Fair Host
- Nurse Joy (two; one in flashback)
- Magikarp salesman
- Misty (flashback)
- Brock (flashback)
- Jessie (flashback)
- James (flashback)
- Damian (flashback)
- Koga (flashback)
- Fossil hunters (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 (Kanto Fair Host'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.
- A flashback sequence in this episode is the only appearance of Ash's Primeape outside of an opening since its departure to train with Anthony.
- Another flashback sequence marks the only appearance of Misty outside of an opening since The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon.
- This episode also marks the only time that Tracey has made an appearance in person since Following A Maiden's Voyage!, 306 episodes ago.
- 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 that 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.
- Except for the flash back from Snow Way Out!, all the flash backs are in chronological order - this is a reference to the fact that Snow Way Out! was originally planned to air directly before The Battling Eevee Brothers instead of before Showdown at the Po-ké Corral.
- Unlike the other moves seen in the flashbacks, Clair's Dragonair's Iron Tail was not reanimated to match the move's appearance in the Best Wishes series.
- Re-animated footage from the third movie was planned to be in the episode, but was cut due to time[citation needed].
- This is the first time that a flashback to a previous Pokémon League that is not the most recent one is shown. Flashbacks are shown of the Indigo Plateau Conference and Silver Conference, and Ash had just recently competed in the Vertress Conference.
- This episode marks the first time that Seismic Toss is not in Charizard's moveset since it was first used in Volcanic Panic.
- This is the first time that Ash has sent a Pokémon (Unfezant) from his Unova team to Professor Oak's Laboratory.
- Because of the Magikarp salesman's speaking cameo appearance in this episode as one of the vendors at the Kanto Fair, he has now appeared at least once in every anime series prior to the XY series.
- Ash's Sinnoh attire is the only one he was not shown wearing during this episode, as his Charizard does not appear during 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.
- In one shot of the flashback of Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon, Aerodactyl's leg is colored orange like Charizard while it holds Ash.
- In one shot of the flashback of Ash sending Charizard to the Charicific Valley, Ash's left sleeve is colored blue like the rest of the jacket instead of white.
- Before Oak and Ash exchange Charizard for Unfezant, Oak's eyes are colored brown instead of black.
- As the view zooms in on Charizard's Poké Ball after Ash receives it, the cuff of his glove is colored green like the ones he used in Hoenn and Sinnoh.
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
Dub edits
- The colorations of Pidgeotto's feathers and Aerodactyl's leg (as noted above) were corrected for the international release.
- In the original version, upon finding out that Charizard isn't a Dragon-type, Iris exclaims that she was already planning to catch a Charmander of her own. In the dub, she talks about getting a Charizard rather than Charmander.
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
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| Mandarin Chinese | 燃燒吧噴火龍！VS快龍！！ | |
 Dutch
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Het vuur van een gloeiend hete hereniging! | |
 Italian
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Un ritorno fuoco e fiamme! | |
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
