NERDCULTURE SMACKDOWN! POKÉMON OF THE WEEK! AUGUST 3- AUGUST 9/13!

#390 CHIMCHAR, #391 MONFERNO, & #392 INFERNAPE

If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm the sort of Pokémon player who goes with the Fire Starter every time and, unless Fennekin evolves into something that sucks, this is unlikely to change any time soon. Another thing you might've figured out by now is that my favorite generation is 4th Generation. I love the designs, the mechanics, the games, etc, I could go on, and the 4th Generation Starters are my favorites. That's why, this week, I'm excited to talk about the Fire/Fighting simians of the Sinnoh region.

LAST WEEK'S POKÉMON: #347 ANORITH & #348 ARMALDO

Picking a 4th Generation starter wasn't easy; Piplup was a frickin' adorable Penguin that evolved into a badass Emperor Penguin with Water/Steel typing, Turtwig evolve into a giant bushido bonsai Grass/Ground Tortois, and, my choice, was Chimchar because HE EVOLVED INTO AN AWESOME CHINESE MYTHOLOGY FIRE/FIGHTING MONKEY GOD!

A cute little fire monkey, with a name and a tail that is a call back to Charmander, Chimchar is my second favorite starter (cuz Tepig is my fave). Fun fact? One of my favorite Pokémon in the 1st Gen was Mankey-- a symbol of my preference for monkey and pig Pokémon. Chimchar is the butt of many a joke, pun intended, because is butt is constantly aflame as a reference to the colorful display of baboon behinds, but I still like him anyways.

WATCH THIS INCREDIBLE FIGHT FOR PETE'S SAKE!

Chimchar is a fan favorite from the anime because of his backstory that, basically, took Charmander's backstory and made it far more personal. Chimchar was abandoned by his owner, just like Charmander, but unlike Charmander, his owner wasn't a one-off character. His original owner was Ash's rival in the Sinnoh Region. Ash developed a relationship with Chimchar that had him fighting to prove himself by evolving into Monferno and Infernape (evolution is a big deal in the anime).

By the time Ash fought Paul at the end of the series, Infernape was a powerhouse of his team and, as I've discovered through research, the animation has really picked up over the years. Frickin' Infernape goes frickin' Super Saiyan in this episode. Look at that ****!

LOOK AT THIS SHIZNIT!

Infernape is in contention with Emboar as my very favorite third stage evolution of a Starter Pokémon-- what do you think?