Zippo

Zippo (Japanese: ジッポ Zippo) was the first Pokémon introduced on Ritchie's team. It is unclear whether Zippo or Sparky was Ritchie's first Pokémon. It first appeared in A Friend in Deed.

Kanto
Zippo was introduced as a during the Indigo Plateau Conference, breaking open a wall in a van  trapped Ritchie and  in with  when Ash's Bulbasaur couldn't do it on its own. Later, during Ritchie's battle with Ash, Zippo was sent out against Ash's Pikachu when Ritchie's Butterfree, Happy, was defeated. Even though Pikachu dodged multiple s, he wasn't able to keep up and lost to Zippo's. Zippo's next opponent was. Zippo ran away from Charizard's far stronger Flamethrower after using Flamethrower itself. This caused Ritchie to recall it. In Friends to the End, it was briefly shown battling Assunta's. It was revealed to have been knocked out later when Ritchie's last Pokémon was shown to be Sparky. In that same episode, it saved Ash's Pikachu along with Sparky when they were captured by Team Rocket.

Johto
Zippo reappeared in A Parent Trapped! during the Whirl Islands, now as a. It was sent out along with Ash's Cyndaquil to take on Butch's and Cassidy's. It wasn't able to match up with the opposing Pokémon as the headgear they were wearing made them more powerful.

In the special, Oaknapped!, Zippo was sent out to take on Butch's. It used Flamethrower on Mightyena but some of the flames landed in 's hair. Zippo then used on it, also hitting Cassidy's. The opposing Pokémon landed on their Trainers, leaving Sparky a chance to blast them off with.

Personality and characteristics
Zippo, as a Charmander, was willing to battle any opponent, including ones that have evolved as shown when it was battling.

In The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga
In the manga series The Electric Tale of Pikachu, Zippo competes against Ash's Charizard in the Indigo Plateau Conference in the chapter The Indigo Finals and is defeated and heavily wounded during the battle. Unlike in the anime, however, Zippo has already evolved into a by this point.

In the original Japanese version, it retains its nickname of Zippo. However, in the VIZ Media English translation, it is renamed to Charley.

Trivia

 * Zippo shares its name with.

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