Blaziken

Blaziken
National Pokédex Combusken - Blaziken (#257) - Mudkip
Series	Pokémon series
First game	Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
Designed by	Ken Sugimori
Voiced by (English)	Darren Dunstan (4Kids) Bill Rogers (TPCI)
Voiced by (Japanese)	Katsuyuki Konishi

Blaziken, known in Japan as Bursyamo (バシャーモ), is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Blaziken first appeared in the video games Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise.

Concept and characteristics

Blaziken, known as the Blaze Pokémon, evolves from Combusken at level 36, and is the final form of Torchic. Blaziken appears as if it's wearing a sleeveless jacket on its torso. It has a crest on its head with two points, which resembles a letter "V". It also has long hair behind its head and a small face almost completely covered in feathers. Its strong, muscular legs help it jump up a skyscraper with one kick and with ease. It can make flames spout from its wrists and ankles, cloaking its feet or fists. It may also launch a fiery kick at the opponent. A female has shorter "hair" than a male. The V-shape on a female's "mask" is also smaller. Every several years, its old feathers burn off, and new, supple feathers grow back in their place.

Appearances

In the video games

Blaziken first appears in the Game Boy Advance games Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and in its remake Pokémon Emerald. It is the evolved form of Combusken, which evolves from Torchic. Torchic is one of the three starting Pokémon that players get to choose from along with Treecko and Mudkip. It has appeared in every main Pokémon title since. In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Torchic can be obtained from Steven Stone after obtaining all 16 badges and beating the final boss, Red, which can evolve into Blaziken. Outside of the main series, the three of them are featured in Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, Pokémon Trozei!, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon titles, the Pokémon Ranger titles, Pokémon Channel, and PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure.

In the anime

The character May obtains a Torchic in the Pokémon anime, which eventually evolves into Combusken and finally into a Blaziken during the break of a Pokémon Contest when they were trying to stop Team Rocket from stealing Pikachu and other Pokémon. May then used Blaziken in the Battle Phase against Ash's Sceptile. Blaziken appeared again when May made a guest appearance in Sinnoh, taking a break from Johto contests. It was used in tag battles, and battled alongside Dawn's Piplup. In the anime, Blaziken was first seen used by Harrison to defeat a Sneasel that was blocking access to the flame of Ho-Oh. Harrison later used Blaziken in a climatic battle with Ash's Charizard. Blaziken was also seen in Destiny Deoxys under the ownership of Rafe.

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Sapphire received a Torchic (nicknamed Toro) from her father, Professor Birch which eventually evolved into Combusken and finally into Blaziken in a bout against Winona. It is Sapphire's most trusted team member, and was used in almost every single major battle she had. It teamed up with Ruby's "Zuzu" in a double battle against Archie and Maxie at Seafloor Cavern. In the Emerald arc, Toro was Sapphire's most used Pokémon in the numerous Battle Dome and Battle Tower battles, and it learned the ultimate fire attack, Blast Burn, from Kimberly's metal ring.

Reception

Blaziken has received positive reception, 1UP.com's Michael Vreeland described Blaziken as an "interesting combination fire/fighting powerhouse". IGN's Pokémon Chick wrote that Blaziken was a "clear-cut favorite over his comrades", so much so that she had never seen such a difference before. She commented that while it may have to do with the abundance of Water types and how Grass types are not "very good all-around" she will "give Blaziken the benefit of the doubt and just say he's popular because he kicks butt". In a poll by Official Nintendo Magazine's Tom East, Blaziken was voted as the third best Fire-type Pokémon. They stated "A kung fu chicken? What's not to like?". East also wrote that Blaziken was a good idea for inclusion in a hypothetical fourth Super Smash Bros. title. GamesRadar used Blaziken as an example of a human shaped Pokémon done right. Bitmob's Chas Guidry cited Blaziken's Dream World form as an example of a Dream World starter Pokémon that does not have the "same boring abilities" that starters usually have. The Escapist's John Funk wrote that Blaziken was "awesome" and used it as an example of a Pokémon that players who refused to play past Red and Blue were missing out on. Authors Tracey West and Katherine Noll ranked Blaziken the ninth best Fire type Pokémon as well as the second best Pokémon overall. They wrote that its combination of Fire and Fighting made it "one of the strongest Pokemon around". They added that "a Blaziken is one of only a few Pokemon to stand up to Ash's Charizard".