Zippo

Zippo ジッポ Zippo

Zippo

Debuts in A Friend in Deed Caught at Kanto Evolves in Prior to A Parent Trapped! Gender Unknown Ability Unknown Current location With Ritchie

→ This Pokémon spent less than 143 episodes as Charmander.

Voice actor Japanese English As Charmander Yūji Ueda Michael Haigney As Charmeleon Yūji Ueda Eric Stuart

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

In the anime

As a Charmander

Zippo was introduced as a Charmander during the Indigo League Conference, breaking open a van wall Team Rocket trapped Ritchie and Ash in with Slash when Ash's Bulbasaur couldn't do it on its own. It is unclear whether Zippo or Sparky was Ritchie's first Pokémon. Later, Zippo was sent out when Ritchie's Butterfree, Happy, was taken out. Even though Pikachu dodged multiple Flamethrowers, it wasn't able to keep up and loses to Zippo's Tackle. Zippo's next opponent was Charizard and it was ready. However, Zippo runs from Charizard's Flamethrower after shooting a Flamethrower of its own. Afterwards, Zippo forfeits the battle when Ritchie recalls it. In Friends to the End, it was briefly shown battling Assunta's Rhydon. Afterwards, it was one of the Pokémon knocked out when Ritchie was left with Sparky. In that same episode, it saves Ash's Pikachu and Sparky when they were captured by Team Rocket.

Zippo reappeared in A Parent Trapped! during the Whirl Islands in its Charmeleon stage. It was sent out along with Ash's Cyndaquil to take on Butch's Hitmontop and Cassidy's Houndour. It wasn't able to match up with their foes as the headgear made them more powerful.

In the special, Oaknapped, Zippo was sent out to take on Butch's Mightyena. It uses Flamethrower on Mightyena but some of the flames land on Professor Oak's hair. Zippo then Fire Spins it along with Cassidy's Sableye which lands on their trainers, leaving Sparky to blast them off. In Celebi and Joy, Zippo finishes off the workers with Flamethrower combined with Sparky's Thunderbolt.

Personality and characteristics

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

Moves used

Using Slash as a Charmander	Move First Used In Slash A Friend in Deed Flamethrower A Friend in Deed Tackle × Friend and Foe Alike Fire Spin Oaknapped
An × shows that the move cannot be legitimately known by this Pokémon in the games.
A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.

In the manga

Charley in the Electric Tale of Pikachu

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 Charizard by this point.

Ritchie running to his heavily wounded Charley

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

Moves used

Trivia

• Zippo was named after a brand of a lighter of the same name.
  • Zippo's name also belonged to a highly intelligent Troodon from the Dinotopia franchise.

Related articles

For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Charmander and Charmeleon.

Ritchie's Pokémon
On hand:	Zippo	Sparky	Happy	Cruise	Rose
Status unknown:	Spearow	Tentacool
Borrowed:	Ponyta

This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.