Received From: Professor Gary Oak’s Pokemon laboratory in Pallet Town, Kanto as his starter Pokemon.
Characteristic: Somewhat stubborn
Evolution History (under Briar’s care): Charmander —> Charmeleon —> Charizard
Charizard generally has a very serious and stern personality. He is very no-nonsense and doesn’t like to fool around. This demeanor can be rather off-putting to other Pokemon at times, though Charizard doesn’t seem to care very much. He is not a very sociable Pokemon--being somewhat withdrawn and preferring to keep to himself rather than interact with others. This can lead to him seeing rather cold at times. However, he does appear to have a soft spot for small or baby Pokemon and will jump to the task of protecting them if they need it--he may even be willing to play with them a little (as long as nobody is watching).
He takes his training and battling very seriously and will even go off and train by himself while the other Pokemon play or relax--with or without Briar. Charizard is a very offensive battler, and likes to show his beauty through his sheer power. He likes to be able to attack from a close range and get into his opponent’s face rather than attacking from afar. However, Charizard often struggles to make his attacks shine in the way that Briar and the contest judges are looking for, and often has a hard time with combination attacks. This is something that can be incredibly frustrating for him and often leads to him going off and training on his own. Charizard is eventually able to learn how to take inspiration from other Pokemon and the way that they make their attacks shine during contests and use it for himself.
Briar first received Charizard as a Charmander from his father’s Pokemon laboratory in Pallet Town. Charmander, alongside Briar, struggled with Pokemon Contests at first. Neither of them could seem to get a proper grip on what it meant to compete in contest. However, after finally winning their first ribbon, the two agree not to give up and to keep on working as hard as they can until they’re able to win the Grand Festival one day.
Just before Briar and Charmander go to compete for their fifth ribbon in Viridian City in 2033, they, alongside Skylar Ketchum, have an encounter with a gang of Pokemon Hunters. Charmander gets hurt in a battle with them and one of the hunters’ Scyther manages to injure Briar before they can get away. The Scyther goes for another hit on Briar, and in an act of desperation to rescue his trainer Charmander evolves into Charmeleon and springs into action to save Briar. Charmeleon ends up being strong enough to protect Briar and Skye until help from Ash Ketchum arrives, and the Pokemon Hunters are properly handled. Briar and Charmeleon end up missing the contest and aren’t able to enter the Kanto Grand Festival that year because of it.
Two years later, in 2035 when Briar has returned to enter Kanto contests again, he enters the final contest of the season in Celadon City in hopes of earning his fifth ribbon. He manages to make it to the final round, though ends up struggling heavily when Charmeleon cannot get a combination attack that they had been practicing together right. Briar’s opponent comes close to knocking Charmeleon out, but Charmeleon and Briar both have the same desire to win the match--not wanting to miss out on the Kanto Grand Festival again, and Charmeleon uses that desire to evolve into Charizard. With Charizard’s massive increase in skill and power, he’s finally able to land the combination move correctly and ends up taking the match.
