So far a lot of the Pokemon to be blessed with Mega Evolutions are the classic Pokemon of Generation One. With all the changes that have come with each new generation of the games, many of the original 151 Pokemon have found it a bit hard to keep up, and Mega Evolution gives these Pokemon, like the one I’m about to talk about, just the edge they need.
This is Mega Factor!
This next iconic Pokemon has been twice blessed with the power of Mega Evolution, making it a force to be reckoned with. Presenting the fully evolved Fire-Type Starter Pokemon of the Kanto Region, Charizard.
Charizard is one of the Pokemon that really made me want to play the first generation games. Of course when I finally got my copy of Pokemon Blue, my cousin made me start the game with Bulbasaur because of my inexperience, and insisted that I get all the way through to the end of the game before I could start a new one with Charmander. Unfortunately, it was a fairly long time before I was able to start a fresh game with the Starter Pokemon that I wanted. It took me maybe six or ten tries before I finally got to the end and beat the Elite Four for the very first time. As soon as my game got through to the end credits, I shut off my Gameboy and turned it back on to start a new game with Charmander.
In the original Generation One games, Charmander was considered the “difficult” setting because it had a major type disadvantage against the first two gyms of the Kanto Region. Despite this, its fully evolved form of Charizard ended up being a major fan favorite because of its dragon characteristics. Of course despite its looks, Charizard was never a true Dragon-Type Pokemon but merely a Fire and Flying-Type. Another problem that this classic mascot of Pokemon Red suffered from in the games was that other much stronger Pokemon simply outclassed. Since the advent of Generation 6 though, things are finally starting to look up again for Charizard, because now it has not one but two Mega Evolutions that have made it into the powerful Pokemon that fans always dreamed that it could be.
Natural Evolution: Rookie trainers receive this Pokemon at the start of their journey as the adorable fire lizard known as Charmander. At level sixteen, Charmander loses its cuteness and evolves into the cooler-looking Charmeleon. The anime shows that at this stage of evolution, Charmeleon sometimes tend to be more rebellious and can disobey their trainers, as we saw with the anime’s hero, Ash. It took Ash like what, fifty episodes to get that fire lizard to finally obey him? At level thirty-six, Charmeleon takes on its fully evolved form of Charizard, gaining a pair of wings and a more dragon-like body. It’s actually quite amusing that despite having those wings, Charizard could not learn the HM move, Fly in Red and Blue. Thankfully that little error in logic was corrected in the Yellow Version and beyond (now that I think about it, a trade and trade-back with Yellow would’ve been a good way to have Charizard be able to use Fly in Red and Blue).
X Factor: Mega Charizard X is probably Charizard’s most iconic Mega Evolution. It’s most notable appearance has been under the ownership of Alain, the hero of the anime’s Mega Evolution Specials (somebody really needs to tell that guy he’s working for an evil mastermind). Mega Charizard X also made a rather controversial appearance in the botched Pokemon Origins miniseries under the ownership of Ash’s super competent game counterpart, Red. Charizard’s Mega Evolution from Pokemon X not only gave it a vastly improved design; it also transformed the fire lizard into a dual Fire and Dragon-Type Pokemon. This transformation eliminates a lot of Charizard’s original type weaknesses, and its Fire typing makes it the only dragon in the game that has a resistance to Fairy-Type moves. Mega Charizard X also gains the ability called Tough Claws that increases the power of attacks that make physical contact. With access to moves like Fire Punch, Dragon Claw and Dragon Rush, there are a lot of ways for Mega Charizard X to take advantage of this ability.
Y Factor: This Mega Evolution of Charizard was the first one revealed to the public, but was pretty much eclipsed by its Dragon-Type counterpart. Charizard’s Mega Evolution from Pokemon Y basically takes what its original form does and makes it better. In addition to having a stronger special attack stat, Mega Charizard Y also has Groudon’s signature ability, Drought. Of course since the advent of Generation 6, Drought has been reduced to nothing more than a Sunny Day attack that activates automatically. Despite its now temporary nature though, Drought still gives more power to its incredible arsenal of Fire-Type moves like Flamethrower. Abilities and game stats aside, Mega Charizard Y is also a fairly impressive-looking Pokemon. Its design may not be as impressive as its counterpart from Pokemon X, but it still looks pretty cool.
X vs. Y: When it comes to the question of which Mega Evolution of Chaizard is better, I’d have to go with Mega Charizard X hands-down. For one thing, Mega Charizard X has a much cooler design. Plus the fact is that Mega Charizard X just has better typing. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with Fire/Flying-Type Pokemon. Ho-Oh, one of my favorite Legendary Pokemon is a Fire and Flying-Type. Still, the type combination of Fire and Dragon makes Mega Charizard X the more formidable Mega Evolution.
That wraps it up for this week’s edition of Mega Factor. Next week I’ll be talking about another one of the very first Mega Evolutions to ever be revealed to the public. Until then, may the force be with you (that’s a hint about the next Pokemon).
