Ash's Charizard/History/Original Series/Kanto/With Ash

Charmander immediately became one of Ash's main Pokémon, being used in the very next episode as a torch to help Ash through the caves. Also, it joined with a group of other Charmander on the St. Anne in Battle Aboard the St. Anne to repel s. In The Tower of Terror, Ash sent it out to lead the way through the haunted tower, but it was terrified of the and Ash recalled it after it became paralyzed by 's.

In Primeape Goes Bananas, Charmander battled a berserk. It finally subdued its opponent by using and. Charmander made its Gym Battle debut in the next episode, where it defeated Erika's after burning  and then striking a powerful Skull Bash. However, the pure stench emitting from her caused Charmander to choke and faint.

In The Ninja Poké-Showdown, Charmander battled Koga's briefly before their match was interrupted by Team Rocket. For the official Gym battle, Charmander went up against Koga's Golbat and defeated it with Ember and Fire Spin. Charmander's power continued to grow, easily defeating a owned by a biker named Chopper, despite the type disadvantage in The Bike Bridge Gang. The flames from Charmander's attack were so powerful that Golem continued to burn and the heat went through the Poké Ball.

The rise in Charmander's battle experience reached its peak in March of the Exeggutor Squad, where it helped stop a large number of rampaging. Subsequently, Charmander evolved into. However, in The Problem with Paras, it was revealed that Charmeleon was no longer loyal to Ash, attacking a when Ash was trying to deliberately lose in order to help Paras evolve. Casandra's grandmother explained that Charmeleon's skill level had exceeded Ash's, and therefore it did not respect him. Ironically, a rampaging Charmeleon was stopped when Paras, desperately trying to avoid punishment, jabbed at it with a claw. After evolving into, it put Charmeleon to sleep with and allowed Ash to recall it. Cassandra's grandmother warned Ash that he needed to learn to control Charmeleon. Ash stopped using his disobedient Charmeleon but tried again in Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon to repel wild Fossil Pokémon, which it refused to do. When an swooped past, knocking Charmeleon over, Charmeleon proudly fought back but was unable to do anything. It then jumped up and grabbed the escaping Aerodactyl's tail and followed it into the open air, but was shaken off. Upset, Charmeleon evolved into and flew after Aerodactyl to avenge its injured pride. It managed to catch Ash and put him on the ground, but unfortunately, retained its disobedience. Charizard's disloyalty began to cause Ash some serious problems during his journey, losing a battle with Blaine in Riddle Me This, as it simply loafed off and allowed an easy win with. In the next episode, Charizard refused to help dam the volcano, but changed its mind after seeing Blaine's powerful contributing. After working together, the duo were left with a burning desire to test each other's strength. Blaine permitted a battle at the peak of the volcano, and the two seemed evenly matched. Magmar dropped Charizard into the lava, but Charizard regained the upper hand by dazing Magmar with an aerial Submission attack and then knocking it out with its powerful Seismic Toss.

While confronting 's original clones of the three Kanto starters in their final evolutions (Mewtwo Strikes Back), Ash released Charizard to fight alongside Corey's Bruteroot and Neesha's Shellshocker against the clones. After Bruteroot and Shellshocker were quickly overpowered by their clones, Ash attempted to turn the tables by having Charizard focus on speed and evasion over raw power in its confrontation with the clone Charizard, but this strategy failed. Once Ash released the captured originals to confront the clones, Charizard battled the cloned Charizard once again but ended the battle to cry for Ash after his sacrifice to try and stop the battle between Mew and Mewtwo. After Mewtwo departed with Mew and the clones upon witnessing Ash's resurrection, it erased these actions from the memories of all people and Pokémon present, returning Charizard to its familiar disobedience.

The most costly incidence of Charizard's disloyalty was in the battle against Ritchie during the Indigo League in Friend and Foe Alike. Down to one Pokémon, Ash called Charizard into battle against Zippo, and surprisingly decided to battle and force Zippo to flee from a far superior Flamethrower, causing Ritchie to recall it and concede the round. However, when Sparky came out, Charizard condescendingly stomped the ground and flapped its wings against the little Pikachu before going to sleep, refusing to battle. Due to this, Ash lost the round and Ritchie advanced to the next round.