May's Blaziken: Difference between revisions

[[File:May choosing Torchic.png|thumb|left|220px|As a Torchic, being picked to be May's [[starter Pokémon|first Pokémon]]]]

In ''[[AG001|Get the Show on the Road!]]'', Blaziken was given to May by [[Professor Birch]] in [[Littleroot Town]] when it was still a {{p|Torchic}}. She chose it as her [[starter Pokémon]] because she thought {{p|Treecko}} was creepy and scary, and {{p|Mudkip}} had attacked her earlier with a {{m|Water Gun}} in the face. In contrast, she seemed to like Torchic's cute appearance and sweet nature, which it showed by hopping over to her immediately and nuzzling against her legs affectionately.

In [[AG002|the next episode]], May used Torchic to try to catch her first [[wild Pokémon]], an {{p|Azurill}}. Despite trying its best, the Azurill was too fast and agile for Torchic, easily dodging its attacks and causing Torchic to run into other objects. This eventually angers Torchic enough to fire an Ember attack, which hits not only Azurill but a {{p|Marill}} and {{p|Azumarill}}. They all simultaneously spray Water Gun at Torchic, knocking it out in one shot.

In ''[[AG003|There's no Place Like Hoenn]]'', May introduced Torchic to her family, much to the disappointment of her brother [[Max]]. It later participated in its first battle against {{TRT}}, but it and May's inexperience led to it getting kidnapped. After being rescued by {{Ash}} and {{AP|Pikachu}}, May attempted to once again command Torchic in battle, though all of its attacks ended up hitting Max instead. Despite the setbacks, Pikachu was able to defeat the evil trio, and Torchic and May took one more step towards becoming a team.  

Due to it being very immature and inexperienced, May did not use Torchic very often after catching {{TP|May|Beautifly}} and {{TP|May|Skitty}}. During ''[[AG034|Having a Wailord of a Time]]'', Max voiced his concerns about this, wondering if May even liked Torchic.

In ''[[AG045|A Togepi Mirage!]]'', Torchic teamed up with Pikachu to face [[Colonel Hansen]]'s {{p|Ninjask}} in order to stop him from opening the portal to the [[Togepi Paradise]]. Unfortunately, the speedy Pokémon were able to knock Torchic out with a {{m|Shadow Ball}}, leaving Pikachu to handle them alone.

[[File:May Combusken battling Breloom.png|thumb|220px|As a Combusken, battling against a wild Breloom]]

In ''[[AG082|A Shroomish Skirmish]]'', Torchic got separated from its Trainer and got lost alongside [[Ash's Corphish]]. Some wild {{p|Shroomish}} and a {{p|Breloom}} started attacking them, causing Torchic to evolve into Combusken. Breloom challenged Combusken to hand-to-hand combat. Combusken obliged, and a vicious fight ensued. Both Pokémon were hit numerous times in the face by punches and kicks, and in the end a cross-counter knocked out both Pokémon.

After evolving into Combusken, it proved to be very useful for [[Pokémon Contest]]s. The first time it took part in one was in ''[[AG090|Pokéblock, Stock and Berry]]'' and ''[[AG091|Lessons in Lilycove!]]'', when May used it in the {{ci|Lilycove}} Contest. Even though its {{m|Fire Spin}} caused problems during the [[Appeal|Appeals Round]], Combusken managed to get a score of 23.6, which helped May to reach the [[Contest Battle]]s. After defeating [[Jessie]] and {{TP|James|Chimecho}}, May had to battle {{ho|Kelly}}, a fellow [[Pokémon Coordinator]] she met prior to entering the Contest. Kelly and her {{p|Grumpig}} showed great talent and effort, but May and Combusken turned out as the winners, earning them the Lilycove [[Ribbon]].

When May got the five required Ribbons, she participated in the [[Hoenn Grand Festival]], where Combusken was used in her quarter-finals battle round against [[Drew]]'s {{p|Flygon}} and {{TP|Drew|Roselia}}, alongside Skitty, in ''[[AG123|Rhapsody in Drew]]''. Together, they managed to put up a great fight, but they were defeated, leaving May within the Top 8 Coordinators of the Festival.

=====Kanto=====

During May's Kanto journey, Combusken had more appearances due to the Pokémon Contests allowing Coordinators to use different Pokémon for each round. In ''[[AG144|A Hurdle for Squirtle]]'', Combusken was used for the Appeals Round of the [[Saffron City]] Contest, where it used Fire Spin and Sky Uppercut on May's untied bandanna to knot it back to her head. Later on, in ''[[AG151|Weekend Warrior]]'', it was used for the battle rounds of the {{ka|Silver Town}} Pokémon Contest. May and Combusken faced Coordinator {{OBP|Jeremy|AG151}} and his {{p|Venusaur}} in the final match; after a really close battle, where the Grass type used the powerful {{m|Frenzy Plant}} attack, May and Combusken ended as the winners, earning them the Ribbon.  

In ''[[AG162|Spontaneous Combusken]]'', it was used once again for the battle rounds, this time in the [[Chrysanthemum Island]] Contest. May and Combusken first faced Jessie and {{TP|James|Mime Jr.}}. Though Mime Jr. was able to {{m|Mimic}} Combusken's Fire Spin and hit it with the unusual {{m|Tickle}} attack, Combusken managed to land a Sky Uppercut through the opposing Fire Spin and win the battle. In the second battle, Combusken was seen beating a {{p|Skarmory}} with {{m|Quick Attack}}. In the final battle, May and Combusken faced [[Brianna]] and her {{p|Vibrava}}. After being weakened by {{m|Screech}}, Combusken managed a Fire Spin, however it was countered by {{m|Dragon Breath}} and was trapped by Vibrava's {{m|Sand Tomb}} and remained immobilized while May's points decreased, until it broke out with a new move: {{m|Mega Kick}}. Combusken was able to swiftly win the match and May received her third Ribbon.

[[File:May and Combusken.png|thumb|220px|As a Combusken, in the Kanto Grand Festival]]

Finally, in ''[[AG174|New Plot, Odd Lot!]]'', Combusken was used for the Appeals Round of the [[Mulberry City]] Pokémon Contest. {{TRT}}, who banded together with May's [[rival]] [[Harley]], attempted to ruin her performance: Harley loaned James and Meowth his {{p|Ariados}} to sabotage May's appeal and kick her out of the Contest, so she would not get the last Ribbon she needed to get into the Grand Festival; however, surprisingly, their plan backfired when Combusken's Fire Spin started enveloping Ariados' web, going upwards in a spiral manner, not only setting Combusken free from it, but also surprising [[Contest Judge|all three judges]] in the process. May managed to advance to the battle rounds (narrowly, though), and went on to defeat Jessie, who this time had borrowed Harley's {{p|Banette}}, in the final round.

For the [[Kanto Grand Festival]], Combusken was used for one of the Appeals Rounds and two of the battle rounds. Its appeal performance during ''[[AG180|May, We Harley Drew'd Ya!]]'', just like the one in the Mulberry Contest, involved a frisbee, and easily led her to the next round. Combusken was used for May's battle against Drew, which started in ''[[AG181|Thinning the Hoard!]]'' and ended in the following episode, ''[[AG182|Channeling the Battle Zone!]]''. It battled against Drew's Flygon and {{p|Absol}}, alongside {{TP|May|Squirtle}}; however, the fierce battle left only Combusken and Absol on stage after the first half of the five minutes. Just when Absol started to get the advantage, Combusken learned {{m|Overheat}} and gave its very best until the end of the match; by an extremely narrow difference, May and Combusken were announced as the winners of the round, and May moved on to the semi-finals. Combusken faced [[Solidad]]'s {{p|Pidgeot}} and {{p|Slowbro}}, battling along with {{TP|May|Munchlax}}. As Solidad had been observing May's battling style, she was able to evade their attacks and defeat them with relative ease, leaving May at the Top 4 of the Grand Festival.

In ''[[AG191|Once More With Reeling!]]'', Combusken [[Evolution|evolved]] into {{p|Blaziken}} while attempting to stop Team Rocket from stealing {{AP|Pikachu}} and several other Pokémon. It used its newly-learned {{m|Blaze Kick}} to send Team Rocket flying, upon which Ash remarked that he would like to battle Blaziken. Afterwards, May used Blaziken in the Battle Round of the [[Terracotta Town]] [[Pokémon Contest]], an informal event not sanctioned by the [[Pokémon Activities Committee]]. It went up against [[Ash's Sceptile]] in a hard-fought match that saw both Pokémon activating their {{Abilities}}. At the end of the five-minute time limit, May and Ash were tied in points, but due to the event's informality, a sudden-death round did not take place, and the battle ended in a draw, with May and Ash splitting the commemorative {{DL|Ribbon|Terracotta Medal}}. Later, it left for [[Johto]] with May and the rest of her Pokémon.

In ''[[DP076|A Full Course Tag Battle!]]'', Blaziken was used in the [[Seven Stars Restaurant]] Tag Battles, in which it battled alongside [[Dawn's Piplup]]. When it was first called out, Ash seemed to be pleased at seeing it again, and {{an|Brock}} remarked that it had gotten stronger as well. After the food retrieval from Team Rocket, it was called out once again for the Tag Battle. Blaziken started off with a {{m|Blaze Kick}} but failed to hit the opponent and got hurt by Girafarig's {{m|Bite}}. The battle concluded with a combination of Piplup's {{m|Bubble Beam}} and Blaziken's {{m|Fire Spin}}, resulting in a fusion of the {{type|Fire}} and {{type|Water}} moves, knocking off both of the opponents as a result. Blaziken was not seen in the [[Wallace Cup]].

Much like May at the beginning of her {{pkmn|journey}}, Blaziken, while it was a Torchic, was very inexperienced and unsure of itself. It was also shown to be a rather curious, ditzy, and playful Pokémon. It did not know how to {{pkmn|battle}} and it tended to wander around aimlessly when brought out of its {{i|Poké Ball}}. Additionally, it used to panic when in dangerous situations.

As a Fire Pokémon, Torchic had a fear of water, as demonstrated in ''[[AG019|Sharpedo Attack!]]'', when it chose not to follow its Trainer in jumping into the ocean.

* Blaziken is the only [[Hoenn]] [[starter Pokémon]] belonging to a main character that did not fall in love.

* Blaziken is the first {{type|Fighting}} Pokémon to be owned by a main character other than Ash.

* Both [[AG082|its first battle]] as a Combusken and [[AG191|its first official battle]] as a Blaziken resulted in a tie. Coincidentally, in both instances, it fought a fully-evolved {{type|Grass}} Pokémon.