an interesting what-if scenario from "Charmander - The Stray Pokemon"

[Pewter City Geodude]

I just reviewed Charmander - The Stray Pokemon, and it raised an interesting question. Knowing what we now do about the anime, how do you think the course of the anime would have changed had Brock decided to keep Charmander instead of letting Ash catch it? Brock HAD done a lot for Charmander and DID seem to be the most concerned about it, so I think it's an interesting question.

[Kojiro]

Well then, probably Charmander might not of evolve for a longer time,since Brock would not use him in GYm Battles,and when he did evolve,he would probably listen. Also Ash might of got Vulpix instead of Brock.

[Venasaur89]

Yeah, that's quite interesting. It is becuase of CHarmander that Ash lost to Harrison...or even fought it. It could be also that if Charizard wasn't there, then Gary would have beaten Ash, and then he wouldn't have meet Harrison closely, who persuaded him to go to Hoenn.

[Iveechan]

Maybe if Ash didn't have Charmander, he would have some other big disobediant Pokemon. Maybe Tauros would be part of the team. Nah, Ash needs a big flyer to look cool and ride on rare occasions. Keep Pidgeot?

[Gravy]

Well...personally, I think if Charmander had gone with Charmander, the groups team may have turned out to be similar to the current AG group's line-up eg. Each one has one of the starter pokémon. Ash had caught Bulbasuar in the previous episode, so if Brock had indeed been given Charmander, Misty would have recieved Squirtle.
Although Ash would never had got Charizard, it may not have been so bad, because we'd see a larger variety of Pokémon on his team, instead of half of it including starters. We'd may have probably got to see a lot more of Kingler, Muk, Heracross etc.
But, then again they could have probably just given him a pokémon like Aerodactyl whilst he was in that canyon.
As for the league battles, well, he'd most likely have been given Snorlax or one of his other power pokes to battle with *shrugs*

[Craig]

Im sure if Brock caught Charmander, it would still be one, also Ash would have died in pokemon the 3rd movie

[AKA Pokemon Fan]

Originally posted by Craig
Im sure if Brock caught Charmander, it would still be one, also Ash would have died in pokemon the 3rd movie

Or even earlier when Aerodactyl tried to eat him and Charizard was the one who stopped it. Really, things could have been very different if even small changes happened much as Gary pointed out during the Silver Conference how if Ash had gotten to Oak on time that first day of his training career the two of them may have ended up in completely different parts of the world doing who knows what. Ah... its nice to contemplate possibilities sometimes...

[God of Fire]

It's possible that if Ash never got Charmander, another of Ash's Pokemon would have gained enough experience to evolve since Ash would be using less Pokemon, and become as strong as Charizard is now.

[Entropy]

The question at hand is a bit too vague for me. Realistically, the same situation can be applied to Togepi where Ash found the egg but Togepi would up choosing Misty for its mother.

Thinking at the basis of it all, I think Brock would it taken care of it rather well. It may have evolved without such stubborness as the anime informs us later. A more interesting question to ask is how Charmander may have aided Brock in his breeder quest.

[homeofmew]

very intresting.

Ash wouldn't have won all those battles Charizard won
Charmelon would have listened to brock
Charmander would be a Basic pokemon for longer.

[Pewter City Geodude]

Originally posted by Entropy
A more interesting question to ask is how Charmander may have aided Brock in his breeder quest.

What do you mean exactly? None of his Pokemon have really specifically done anything related to that...

[Mikey]

Hmm, I doubt Charmander would've evoled at all. It probably would have been left at the gym too or given away. It would have been a dull Pokemon if it was given to Brock. (Is happy Ash got it.)

[Entropy]

Originally posted by Pewter City Geodude
What do you mean exactly? None of his Pokemon have really specifically done anything related to that...

Thinking about it logically, Brock didn't have any of those other Pokemon at that particular point in time so it's irrelevant. The only thing I can think of is that Charmander's heat could've aided in cooking or heating ingredients to help produce foods or medicines that Brock made.