Charmander originally belonged to Professor Oak as a potential starter for new Trainers, along with Bulbasaur and Squirtle.
In File 1: Red, Red picked it as his because it fit his name and his burning desire to be a Trainer. Its first battle was against a wildPidgey, which escaped. Charmander was then used in Red's first battle against Blue's Squirtle. Due to Red's inexperience and Squirtle's type advantage, Charmander was easily defeated.
During Red's Gym battle against Brock, Charmander was Red's initial choice, but when learning about the advantage that Brock's Geodude has on Fire-type Pokémon, it was soon recalled. However, it would still end up as Red's last healthy Pokémon against Onix. Red and Charmander emerged victorious thanks to Red's strategy.
It was revealed in File 2: Cubone that Charmander evolved into Charmeleon some time after Red's Gym battle against Misty. In that same episode, Red used Charmeleon in Lavender Town to face the ghost who terrorized the inhabitants of the city, which was later to be revealed to be the spirit of a Marowak who was killed by members of Team Rocket.
It was revealed in File 3: Giovanni that Red used Charmeleon again in his battle against Erika, and it managed to get him his fourth Badge. After several battles, Charmeleon evolved into a Charizard. Red used Charizard in his first battle against Giovanni at Silph Co. Even though the Fire-type Pokémon tried its best, it was easily subdued by Giovanni's Nidoqueen. Charizard was used again in the final battle against Giovanni, where it faced Giovanni's Rhydon. After a hard battle, Charizard managed to win and Giovanni decided to change his attitude.
In File 4: Charizard, at the Pokémon League in the final battle against Blue, Charizard was the final Pokémon Red used. It went against Blue's Blastoise. The two Pokémon fought hard, but Charizard ultimately proved victorious with a combination of Fire Spin and Fire Blast, landing it, along with Red and the rest of his party, in the Hall of Fame as Champions. From then on, Red resolved to capture all the Pokémon in the Kanto region. Charizard was used in a battle against a Moltres, which ended up being captured by Red.
During Red's battle against Mewtwo, Red sent out Charizard as his last hope, after the rest of his team had been defeated. Initially, Charizard was no match for Mewtwo either, being defeated by being thrown into a lake together with its Trainer. With the use of a Mega Stone, given to Red by Mr. Fuji and its great bond with Red, it was able to Mega Evolve into Mega Charizard X. With this new level of power, Charizard was able to match Mewtwo's power. And so, after a series of powerful moves, it was able to defeat Mewtwo, allowing Red to catch it.
Personality and characteristics
Charizard's Charizardite X
As mentioned by many Trainers, Red and Charizard have a great bond between them. Charizard is very loyal to Red, even when it was still a Charmander and its Trainer was rather inexperienced. In terms of power, it is one of Red's strongest Pokémon, even being able to beat powerful opponents that its type is usually weak against.
Thanks to this union and its power, Charizard is able to Mega Evolve, something that is rarely seen in the Kanto region.
In the Super Smash Bros. series, the Pokémon Trainer character, an incarnation of Red by default, uses a Charizard as his powerhouse. It uses heavy-hitting moves, above-average dash speed (slightly faster than Pikachu), and long-range attacks. Charizard's drawbacks include large weight, subpar aerial game, and slow walking speed. Its varied arsenal of attacks includes Rock Smash, a powerful frontal attack, and Fly, a recovery move that sends Charizard skyward and allows it to glide. It can also use Flamethrower to attack from a short distance, but its power decreases over time. It uses Fire Blast in the Pokémon Trainer's Final Smash, Triple Finish.
In the Subspace Emissary, Charizard is found shortly after Ivysaur, completing the Trainer's team.
Pokémon Centers and participating Animate stores began to sell a range of exclusive TCG merchandise from December 26, 2012. Each of the products available at this time came in two varieties: one set features illustrations of original core series protagonist Red and his rival Blue alongside their Charizard and Venusaur as created by Hitoshi Ariga.
Card boxes: Each long card box can store up to 750 cards and contain card 3 dividers.
Official Red & Blue Long Card Box (Japanese: オフィシャルロングカードボックス レッド・グリーンOfficial Long Card Box: Red•Green)
Deck cases: Each deck case has the capacity to store 180 cards and include 2 dividers that can be used to organize them.
Official Red & Blue Deck Case (Japanese: オフィシャルデッキケース レッド・グリーンOfficial Deck Case: Red•Green)
Files: Each file has 30 fixed four-pocket pages that can store and display up to 240 cards.
Official Red & Blue Card File (Japanese: オフィシャルカードファイル レッド・グリーンOfficial Card File: Red•Green)
Sleeves: Each pack contains 62 card sleeves.
Official Red & Blue Sleeves (Japanese: オフィシャルデッキシールド レッド・グリーンOfficial Deck Shield: Red•Green)
Official Red Blue Long Card Box
Official Red & Blue Deck Case
Official Red & Blue Card File
Official Red & Blue Sleeves
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
The Sneak-Peek Tins
November 2018 accessories
From November 22, 2018, Pokémon Centers and the Pokémon Center Online made numerous products that had previously sold out available to purchase again, albeit with "version 2" appended to their names.
Red & Blue Version 2 Long Card Box (Japanese: ロングカードボックス レッド＆グリーン ver.2Long Card Box: Red & Green ver. 2)
↑Confirmed in games only. Can be Tough Claws after becoming a Mega Charizard X, or Drought after becoming a Mega Charizard Y when fought in the Battle Tree.
Charmander and Red on the first Pokémon Power
A 3DS theme featuring Charizard
