Card of the Day: Base Set Charizard

Charizard #4 (Base Set)

HP:  120   Retreat Cost:  3   Weakness:  Water   Resistance:  Fighting

It has the highest HP and a resistance, so it’s understandable that it has a high retreat cost.  However, if you have the power to fuel a retreat cost, you can destroy whatever is forcing you to retreat.   But if you don’t have the energy, your Charizard will unfortunately be caught in the line of fire and you’ll lose your powerful weapon.

Pokémon Power:  Energy Burn

Without this power, Charizard would still be pretty fierce, but with the ability to turn any Energy Card into Fire Energy makes Charizard amazing.  You could hypothetically put Charizard in any type deck and it could still fight, since Charmeleon and Charmander each have an attack that doesn’t require Fire Energy.

Fire Spin (4F):  100

Fire Pokémon in Base Set are known for their powerful attacks that require you to discard Energy Cards.  Giving up two for 100 Damage is a fair price, and thanks to Energy Burn, you can discard whatever you want.  Double Colorless Energy Cards help provide quick ammunition for this attack.

Strategies Against Charizard

Water Pokémon are your best bet against Charizard.  If you manage to build your Blastoise first, Charizard will present no threat.  If you don’t have Water on your side, your best bet is to use Energy Removal to eliminate Charizard’s power.  Chansey is the only other Pokémon that can withstand a Fire Spin, so if you manage to get a little bit of damage in before Chansey comes out, Double-Edge will come in handy.  Whatever you do, pray you don’t have mostly Grass or Fighting Pokémon in your deck.

Charmeleon Overview

HP: 80   Weakness: Water   Resistance: None   Retreat Cost: 1

Once Charmander has evolved, it is only a matter of time until Charizard is coming thanks to Charmeleon’s high HP. It can stick around for a long time on its own, dealing adequate damage with Slash or heavy damage with Flamethrower. However, the discarding of Fire Energy will slow Charmeleon down a bit. Still, you could easily get by with only using Charmeleon to support your Fire deck, as long as you have plenty of Energy Retrievals. C+

Charmander Overview

HP: 50   Weakness: Water   Resistance: None   Retreat Cost: 1

Charmander has high HP for a Basic Pokémon that evolves twice, which makes it ideal for early combat. Scratch is pitiful, dealing only 10 Damage, so if there is no Fire Energy in your deck, you are severely hindered. Ember is much better, but again, it’s not fun to discard Energy so early in the game. Taking hits is the best job for an early game Charmander. On its own, it won’t support a Fire deck very well; only use it if you plan to evolve it. D

Sample Charizard Deck

Charizard's best friend is Venusaur.  By combining Venusaur’s Energy Trans with Charizard’s Energy Burn, Charizard can have an endless supply of ammo. All of the Grass Energy that gets transported to Charizard will become Fire Energy. If Blastoise’s Rain Dance didn’t only apply to Water Pokémon, the starter trio would be a force to be reckoned with.

2 – Charizard
3 – Charmeleon
4 – Charmander
2 – Venusaur
3 – Ivysaur
4 – Bulbasaur
3 – Magmar
3 – Doduo
2 – Pokemon Trader
2 – Bill
4 – Energy Retrieval
4 – Double Colorless Energy
10 – Fire Energy
14 – Grass Energy

Final Grade: A+

Charizard is famously powerful and unstoppable. It takes a while to set up, but once it is prepared, it can decimate entire decks. It is the focus of whatever deck it is in.  Everyone loved it when it came out for good reason.

Pocket Monsters: PM005 and PM006

PM005 - Search for the Mirage Pokémon Mew!!

PM005 - Search for the Mirage Pokémon Myuu!!

Synopsis: While searching for the Mew that stole Clefairy's Moon Stone, Red eventually catches up with Green, who has tracked the Mew to an abandoned shack. Although it seems empty, a trapdoor reveals a high-tech lab hidden beneath the floor. A group of strange and fierce-looking Pokémon creatures surprise the heroes, but they are revealed to be fake by a humanoid-cat monster. He explains that he is the scientist Bill, who performed experiments on Pokémon with his wife. He had attempted to make Pokémon hybrids, but when that failed, he tried to combine monster DNA with his own, resulting in his appearance (as well as his wife who is now a Mew). By using the Moon Stone in the machine, Bill and his wife would be able to transform back to their rightful forms. Unfortunately, Green still wants to capture the Mew to complete his collection. Clefairy defends her by battling Green's Charmander, who suddenly evolves into Charizard. Now at a disadvantage, Bill tries to use one of his machines to shrink Charizard down to Clefairy's size. Both Pokémon end up shrunk, ending the battle. Mew and Bill are allowed to transform back and they are revealed to be a beautiful woman and a horribly ugly man.

New Character and Pokémon Breakdown

Green's Charizard

Here is one of the biggest differences between the Pocket Monsters manga and all other versions of the franchise.  Pokémon can evolve and devolve to any of their stages, seemingly at random.  While forms of devolution exist in a few canons, it is usually only in special cases.  Here, Charmander just becomes Charizard, as if it is part of an attack.  And by the next chapter, he'll be a Charmander again.  Evolution works a lot similar to the way it does in the Digimon universe.  I don't really know how to feel about universal devolution.  I think it works for this manga, but only for this manga.

Mew/Bill's Wife

So it turns out that Mew wasn't really Mew at all.  Now, this may just be a translation issue, but I don't really understand why she turned into a complete Mew when Bill became a half-animal-half-human thing.  Is it just because Mew resembles a cat?  Was this supposed to reference the origin of Mewtwo (who is often treated as part-human and part-Pokémon)?  Do actual Mews exist in this universe?  We'll have to wait and see.

Bill

Of all versions of the "Bill turning into a Pokémon" subplot, this is by far the strangest.  It appears that he was trying to create something akin to the "PokéGod" concept, where in two strong Pokémon fused or bred to create something even stronger.  I recall rumors about these creatures to be all the rage early in Generation I.  It kind of makes sense, and thematically links to the big Mewtwo story from later.  But then I'm confused about the logistics of the cat (or is it a cat-like Pokémon) transforming the two scientists.  Why does Bill become a cape-wearing Pumaman?  Also, Bill is so horribly off model.  I get that it's a joke, but yeesh, didn't the Bill TCG card exist by this point?

The PokéGods

I know these aren't actual Pokémon in the story, but I think the idea behind them is still very cool.  With everyone enjoying the popular "Pokéfusions" I'm surprised we don't see more examples of these creatures in the main storylines.  And Slowbro doesn't count.

Bill's Failed Experiment:  Rattata + Slowpoke = Poliwrath Thing?

I do not understand this series of panels.

Setting

Route 25 and Bill's Cottage

Rather than being a prominently displayed cottage/lighthouse on a cliff by the sea, Bill's homestead is hidden in the woods by a river, and even further hidden underground.  Apparently, his experiments must be illegal or at least frowned upon by society.  Bill is usually highly regarded in the games.  Also, his laboratory is massive and filled with strange inventions, instead of just the simple Pokémon Transport System (which allows the PCs of Kanto to work).

Overall Review:  B+

This is another solid entry in the series, as it gives a unique spin on an event from the games.  I enjoy the concept of Mew being part of Bill's experiments, as well as the idea that he is trying to create stronger Pokémon.  What holds it back from a perfect score is that the turn of events are a little confusing (and coincidental; why is the Moon Stone the only thing that can save them?).  The story also takes a while to get going with Clefairy and Pikachu's antics before finding the shack.  I wish they had gotten their quicker so Bill would have more time to explain what exactly is going on.  At this point in the series, there is very little in the way of a throughline for a larger story, so it would have been nice to see this chapter have an impact on later events.

PM006 - Great Success in the Mountains or the Seas!?

PM006 - Great Success in the Mountains or the Seas!?

Synopsis: While enjoying a picnic on a hill, Clefairy accidentally drops a rice ball into a nearby cave.  Red decides to explore the cave, and Clefairy upsets a local Diglett by stepping on its head.  It challenges him to a fight, which results in a massive Whack-a-Mole scenario that causes an earthquake and tunnel collapse.  Red and the gang emerge in Vermilion City where they find a strong love for fishing and Water Pokémon.  However, an annoying American named Lt. Surge has docked his ship, the S.S. Anne, and begun capturing all of the town's Pokémon.  Red challenges him to a fight aboard the boat, and Surge throws out his Poké Ball (which turns out to be a Pokémon). Clefairy and Pikachu fight the electric Voltorb, but are set back when it evolves into an Electrode.  The Electrode proves to be much quicker and stronger, so Clefairy uses a piece of the ship to use as a bat.  He bats the Electrode into one of the ship's large guns, causing the ship to explode and sink.  All of the Water Pokémon are freed as Surge laments his loss.

New Character and Pokémon Breakdown

Lt. Surge's American-ness always seems to get lost in translation.  Here, he is explicitly treated as an unwelcome visitor on Japanese territory, and his army get-up and warship further emphasize his invasive nature.  The Japanese/Kanto citizens are living peaceful lives of solace, when this American upsets the natural balance with is greedy behavior.  He doesn't come off as villainous, but rather unaware of the harm he is causing.  While people in the games tend to enjoy the presence of Lt. Surge, his Electric Pokémon stand against everything they believe in in this story.

Lt. Surge's Voltorb/Electrode

The anime and the games(!) always seem to get this wrong.  A Voltorb should be the size of a Poké Ball.  Otherwise, people wouldn't confuse the two!  Here, Voltorb remains palm-sized, which allows them to get the upper hand on an unsuspecting Clefairy.  But then my question is, why bother with the Electrode evolution at all.  Here, it stays the same size and in other canon, it is massive.  If it's large, it defeats the purpose of disguise, but if it's small, then it defeats the purpose of evolving.  Electrode is a mystery, but I prefer this smaller version anyway.  (Actually, I think Pokémon Adventures will get it correct.)

The Fishing Guru

The Fishing Guru acts as the leader of Vermilion City.  He presents Red with the Old Rod as they look over the crowd enjoying the harbor.  And when Lt. Surge arrives, he leads the townspeople in an uprising against him.  I wonder if his brothers will make an appearance.

The Vermilion Harbor Water Pokémon:

Kingler, Horsea, Seel, Tentacruel, Seaking, Blastoise, Shellder, Poliwhirl, Magikarp, and others

The only Pokémon here of great note is Kingler, whom Clefairy catches on is fishing pole.  It is immediately confiscated by Lt. Surge who claims to already own it, as he does with 500 other Pokémon.  It's interesting that the Cerulean City chapter featured only one Water Pokémon, despite Misty being a Water specialist.  However, the fishing harbor does seem like the better place to house all of these species.

Diglett

It's almost as if the Diglett story is a short feature before the main attraction of the Surge battle.  (And its surprising that Diglett didn't come into play later, being a handy Ground type and all).  Diglett just doesn't like getting stepped on, but he does enjoy participating with his pals in a Whack-a-Mole game.  To each is own.  (Also, Diglett has a mouth that is clearly not his nose, so for those of you confused on the matter, there is your answer.)

Setting

Diglett's Cave

Interestingly, Red enters the cave before coming to Vermilion City instead of after.  Did he backtrack to Route 2 after helping Bill?  Or was he just chilling on Route 11 when he decided to check the cave out.  Either way, he ends up at Vermilion at the end to heal his Pokémon at the spa-like Pokémon Center, due to the damage suffered from the cave in.

Vermilion City and the S.S. Anne

Taking the beach town atmosphere to the extreme, Vermilion features a boardwalk with an amusement park, proving that this is a popular destination.  But rather than have a Gym, like other cities, Lt. Surge must travel by boat.  Here, the S.S. Anne is his own vessel, and it's not a cruise ship (although cruise ships are present in the city).  Lt. Surge owns a legitimate war vessel, so to see that coming to the shores can be a bit unnerving.  (In fact, the images of the Japanese characters sinking an American ship is a little collar grabbing to witness.)

Overall Review: A

While this is another case of the main story taking forever to develop, the two plots are very well paced.  I enjoy the Diglett's Cave portion a lot, as it's actually grounded in something from the games (rather than Clefairy and Pikachu just fooling around for the heck of it).  I enjoy this portrayal of Lt. Surge as an unintentional villain and it gives him a much more interesting attitude than Brock and Misty, who were just merely strong trainers.  Everything makes sense, and I even enjoy the token Green cameo in the Pokémon Center, where Red learns that he hasn't caught enough Pokémon to meet Oak's standards (his 3 vs. Green's 50).  Each aspect of this story works exactly as it should.