Pokémon‘S ketchup had to learn the hard way with Charizard that not every Pokémon would automatically obey the trainer, as that ultimately cost him a championship match. However, the comic version of events shows just how terrifying a disobedient Pokémon like Charizard would really be.
In the anime, Ash’s Charizard refuses to fight Ritchie’s Pikachu in the Indigo League, after scaring his Charmander with a fierce Flamethrower. As a result, Ash lost the match, leaving him out of the tournament. It will take a long time before Charizard fully learns to behave, and Ash often struggles with disobedience and unwillingness to face non-Fire-type Pokémon. In The Electric Tale of Pikachu, a manga adaptation of the television anime, Ash’s battle with Ritchie plays out very differently, and this time, it’s because Charizard decides to fight at full strength.
Charizard’s Bloody Indigo League Battle
Ash’s Charizard sucks blood in the Electric Tale of Pikachu Pokemon manga.
In chapter 13 of the manga, Ash enters the fifth round of the tournament, where he is pitted against Richie (no “t” in this part). Ash first pitted his Squirtle against Richie’s Butterfree, and then Ash’s Pikachu against Richie’s Pikachu, with both matches ending in a draw. Ash and Richie send their next Pokémon, and it is revealed that they are both using Charizard. The pair immediately engage in a battle of teeth and claws, which Brock says the Charosaurs fight on pure instinct, like a territorial dispute in the wild. Ash’s Charizard lunges at Richie’s Charizard’s neck, with its teeth tearing the skin and bleeding.
Even when Ash ordered it to be turned off, it ignored him and got very close to killing the enemy Charizard. Ash has no choice but to call it back and admit defeat, being eliminated from the tournament. It’s a much more realistic depiction of what a poorly trained Charizard would be like than the anime: a wild creature that fights to the death. This is one of the few times in the entire Pokémon franchise where a Pokémon bleeds, much less due to being attacked by another Pokémon. Another example that closely resembles that scene is the Charizard scene in Detective Pikachu, which has no blood, but shows a real Charizard losing control in a rage.
This depiction of a purely more violent Pokémon battle these days is a bit surprising to see, but as evidenced by Detective Pikachu, it hasn’t completely disappeared, even though it’s justified by the use of drugs. In fact, Pokémon like Charizard will be some truly terrifying creatures, capable of doing unimaginable damage, and The Electric Tale of Pikachu offers a glimpse into just how dangerous Charizard can be. wild. Maybe Pokémon Anime’s Ash should be glad his Charizard just wants to let loose, because the alternative is so much worse.