Recap / Pokemon S 3 E 18 Charizards Burning Ambitions

Japanese Title: The Valley of Lizardon! Until We Meet Again!!

Original Airdate: February 10th, 2000

US Airdate: February 3rd, 2001

When Ash hears of the nearby Charicific Valley, he is sure a quick trip would be just the thing to reignite his Charizard's flagging spirits. When they reach the valley, though, they find its dragon denizens anything but cordial. Judged weak, and denied entrance to the valley, Charizard is left more dejected than ever.

Tropes

• Acoustic License: Averted. Liza has to use a phone to communicate with the people in the basket her Charizard is towing.
• Break His Heart to Save Him: To get Charizard to stay, Ash rejects him for being weak. However, given the exchange between him and Pikachu, Charizard realized what Ash was doing.
• Compressed Vice: Charizard has never displayed such incompetence at flying before.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The Charicific Valley Charizard beat Ash's Charizard without breaking a sweat.
• Determinator: No matter how badly he's beaten, Charizard keeps rematching the Charizard in the valley until the valley's owner kicks him out. He then stays in the river for the entire night without falling asleep.
• Deus Exit Machina: Charizard gets written off of Ash's team simply because he would end up breaking ninety percent of the gym battles this arc.^note Falkner already had to have his team completely reworked just so he could pose a threat to Ash's Charizard. Misty and Brock even hang a lampshade by lightly reprimanding Ash on how it was kind of unfair Ash has Charizard to fall back on and how most battles with him likely wouldn't be challenging before the episode proper begins.
• Failure Montage: Charizard trying to fly with Ash.
• Gentle Giant: Despite its larger size, one of the Charizard is more gentle, so when Ash's Charizard cannot beat others, Liza suggests to battle it. That said, Ash's Charizard is still no match for it.
• Humble Pie: Charizard eats a plate of this when he realizes that he's not that strong compared to the Charicific Valley Charizard.
• Identical Twin Id Tag: Liza's Charizard Charla has a bow on her head.
• ISO-Standard Urban Groceries: Liza's groceries include a baguette and leeks.
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Inverted. This episode establishes that, for all his past badassery, Ash's Charizard is really not that exceptional by the standards of his species. When up against the Charizard of the Charicific valley (which are admittedly among the strongest on earth), each of them defeats him in one or two hits at most. They are also a LOT bigger than him. Charizard decides to leave his tiny pond and train with the big fishes.
• Pants On Fire: While trying to show off, Charizard sets Ash's pants on fire.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Charizard roars in anguish as Ash runs off, leaving him.
• Put on a Bus: With his being left at the Charicific Valley, this is Charizard's last episode as a member of the main cast during the Original Series. Charizard would return as a guest star in several later arcs and become a main cast member again for the last 25 episodes of the Black & White series, over 600 episodes later.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Team Rocket took pity on Charizard's plight, that they willingly sacrificed their Humongous Mecha for the sake of helping Charizard earn entry to the Charicific Valley. Except Liza knows that beating the mech wasn't a testament to Charizard's strength. She was only allowing Charizard entry because of his determination to prove himself.
• Shoo the Dog: Ash tells Charizard that he's too weak to get him to stay in the Charicific Valley.
• Sympathy for the Hero: Team Rocket feels so sorry for Charizard that they deliberately lose a fight to him so he can get in Charicific Valley.
• Training from Hell: All the Charizard in the valley intensely train and fight against each other on a daily basis. Ash's Charizard decides to stay in the valley to do this as well, and it would definitely show in his later appearances.
• Very Special Episode: As is the case for other Pokémon release episodes.