Pokemon, Season 1, Episode 11: Charmander, the Stray Pokemon
So, our heroes are still lost, as you do in basically two out of three Pokemon episodes. And while Bulbasaur is my favourite Kanto starter, I don't think I'm alone in recognizing that Charmander's debut episode is the best one out of the three Kanto starters. It's became kind of a classic for the simple reason that it sort of foregoes the usual slapstick and actually resorts to some drama. And there's even the threat of death -- something that is memorably not censored in the English version.
Anyway, our heroes meet a Charmander sleeping on a rock, and the Pokedex quickly establish a fact that a Charmander will straight-up fucking die if the flame on its tail is extinguished. Brock points out to Ash that because this particular Charmander's tail flame is weak, Ash should be able to catch it without any problem, but, of course, this doesn't work out and Charmander breaks out of the ball a couple of times. A short bit of adorable Pika-charades later, and we find out that Charmander has a trainer, and he's waiting for him.
Leaving Charmander behind, our heroes arrive a log cabin Pokemon Center and seek refuge, and I think this is the first time we see Pokemon Centers doubling as like a tavern for these adventuring kids. It's storming heavily, though, and we get a brief glance of poor Charmander covering himself and his tail flame with a gigantic leaf. Brock is very worried (he clearly is the parent of the team), but then gets super angry when they coincidentally find out that Charmander's trainer, Daisuke (known as Damien in the dub, and Douchebag in this review)... and Daisuke is like Gary, but without any redeeming qualities. He has his groupies of yes-men, and boasts about his impressive collection... before telling them that he used to have a Charmander, who he junked because it was too weak.
Abandoning a weak Pokemon is pretty horrible, and we kinda see some abandoned Pokemon in the previous episode, but Douchebag then continues to tell the story that the Charmander keeps following him, so he just tells him to "wait here, I'll be back". What a dick! Brock, understandably, gets angry and tells Douchesuke to go back and take responsibility, because the Charmander will wait until he dies. Especially in this storm. Brock and Ash very nearly get into a fight with Douchebag and his groupies until Nurse Joy tells them to stop the fight.
After a brief gag of Brock being smitten at Joy's prettiness, he shakes it off and goes off to rescue Charmander. Misty goes, complaining all the way, but also makes it clear that, hey, she can't very well leave the Charmander alone -- which is sweet. We get a pretty sad scene of poor Charmander, shielding his tail flame with a huge leaf, and then he gets attacked by a bunch of feral Spearows, because Spearows are dicks. Pikachu scares them off with a lightning show, and we get our heroes hurriedly wrapping Charmander up in their raincoats and rushing him to the PC. It's a genuinely dramatic scene, with all the wind and rain and the darker filter they put the scene through, and I definitely like it.
I do like the scene of this Joy doing the same thing as the Joy from Viridian City, being absolutely aghast at how hard they worked the Charmander, before they set her straight and tell her that this wasn't even their Charmander. And I do really like the scenes showing Brock being all worried about Charmander as it's being taken into the operating room and whatnot... which honestly makes me kinda disappointed that it isn't Brock that gets Charmander. I know Ash is the main character, but the episode really sets up Brock as the one that is the most protective of the little lizard, doesn't it?
In the next morning, Charmander escapes from the PC, and our heroes morosely realize that while Charmander is probably thankful, until Charmander acknowledges Daisuke's not a nice man he will keep waiting and waiting. It's... it's a surprisingly mature topic to tackle, and while this sort of Stockholm's Syndrome/abuse theme isn't developed particularly well, it's one that feels like it's brought to a satisfying conclusion better than, say, the Sandshrew or the high school episodes.
All this drama is given some leeway as we get some Team Rocket hijinks. Jessie and James tell Meowth that they have a giant transforming mecha to help them catch Pikachu. Meowth is utterly amazed... until the giant transforming mecha just helps them drill a hole. A hole that James and Jessie have to cover up themselves, because "science can only go so far", as Jessie puts it. That's hilarious! We even get a brief visual gag of Team Rocket forgetting to hide the machine, and had to hurriely have it walk and hide very unconvincingly behind a tree.
Thankfully, the twerp trio are as dumb as Team Rocket, and they fall into the pitfall anyway. Team Rocket shows up with rubber hazmat armour and a bizarre gun that shoots out a rubber bubble. And considering that they're going to be thundershocked almost regularly for 600+ episodes going forwards, it's surprising that they don't don ruber clothes 24/7... but I digress. It's also a bit silly for our heroes to not call out like Pidgeotto or Butterfree or Zubat or whatever, but, of course, we need Charmander to be the hero! Charmander just unleashes a gigantic burst of flame that burns all the rubber off and drives Team Rocket running away.
Douchesuke, who's apparently just been hiding in the bushes randomly, realizes how powerful his Charmander has gotten, and shows up "as promised". The trio call him out on his douchebagginess, and credit where credit's due, Daisuke is at least honest enough, going into a rant about how of course weaklings should be thrown away, and that he never planned on coming back... but that all changes because, hey, Charmander's strong now, so he can return.
Finally realizing what a douchebag Daisuke is, Charmander whacks the pokeball to Daisuke's face and then burns him when he threatens to unleash his dozen pokemon. Pikachu joins in with a thunderbolt and I can't blame the little rat for joining in. And then... Brock tells Ash to get Charmander because "you protected its tail flame", which... isn't a good reason, but whatever. Charmander jumps into Ash's pokeball, none of this "fight me to prove you're worthy stuff" that Bulbasaur pulled off, and we're just one member short of completing a full six-man party!
Anyway, I really do like this episode. I'm pretty sure they reuse this plot again in future seasons (for Ash's Chimchar and Tepig, I believe?) and for good reason. I won't say that a merchandise-driven children's Saturday morning cartoon is trying to make any sort of grandstanding announcement about abandonment issues or breaking free of your abusers or anything, but the dude on the writer's seat for this episode is certainly a lot more superior compared to much the filler droll we'll be having in the future.
Pokemon Index:
- Pokemon: Spearow, Pikachu, Charmander, Meowth
- Humans: Ash, Brock, Misty, Nurse Joy, Daisuke, James, Jessie
Assorted Notes:
- So a couple episodes later we see that trainers are restricted to six Pokemon on-hand, just like the games, so I'm not sure why Douchebag Dude is allowed to run around with like 20+ pokeballs... unless he is a total tool and is actually boasting with empty pokeballs. I mean, this isn't Pokemon Special, you can't see what's in those things...
- Charmander's life being tied to his tail-flame is sort of an exaggeration of the original Pokedex noting that the tail-flame is tied to Charmander's health. It's became canon in future games, though, I believe.
- The Japanese narrator establishes that our heroes are lost somewhere near Route 24, which is actually accurate -- in the games, Route 24 is indeed near Cerulean City. Directly north of it, in fact. In Pokemon Yellow and the Let's Go games, this is where a (significantly less douchebaggy) NPC gives you a Charmander.
- I have some questions as to whether Daisuke has formally released Charmander or not prior to abandoning him, but I guess he has, considering how free Charmander was to choose which trainer to follow afterwards.
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