Torchic is available as a starter from Professor Birch after saving him from the wild Poochyena (Ruby and Sapphire) or Zigzagoon (Emerald). It is technically 'encountered' on Route 101, but it is officially given to you in Birch's Lab in Littleroot Town. Nuzlockers may choose whether their starter counts as their catch for Route 101 or not, depending on their preferences.
Oh, Torchic, the starter considered to be the middle ground of the three Hoenn starters. On one hand, it has excellent attacking stats and it learns great moves leveling up and through TM, but on the other hand, it's not terribly fast and doesn't take hits too well. It has very nice early-game matchups, but it struggles through the mid- and late-game thanks to its typing. However, it's very useful during the Elite 4 and is definitely worth your time should you choose it. Also, it's bar-none the best Fire-type you can get in Hoenn, and it's arguably the best Fighting-type as well. If you play your Blaziken right, it is a capable Pokémon, though a difficult one to use.
Rival (Route 103): Spamming Scratch is about all you can do, so... do that.
Gym #1 - Roxanne (Rustboro City, Rock-type): Torchic should NOT see any use here unless you overlevel and evolve it. Even then so, you should only resort to doing that if you didn't get a Wingull, Lotad (Sapphire), Seedot (Ruby), Shroomish, or Beautifly. If you went through the process of evolving it, simply Double Kick-spam your way through this battle.
Gym #2 - Brawly (Dewford Town, Fighting-type): This is another decent battle for Combusken (if you don't have a Combusken by now, it's time for you to go home), but at the same time it's not your best choice. Peck will maybe 2HKO Machop, but Makuhita probably will only be 3HKO'd and will start pulling Bulk Up and Reversal shenanigans. You should probably use something bulkier or more powerful, or both. Remember, though, that STAB Double Kick is better to use against Machop and Makuhita; it has 90 base power (taking STAB into account), while super-effective Peck only has 70 base power.
Rival (Route 110): Shroomish will fall to an Ember or two, and Numel will be 2HKO'd by Double Kick. Don't let it fight Marshtomp.
Wally (Mauville City): Sure, Ralts is frail, but it could still take a hit and Confusion packs a punch. Leave it to someone else.
Gym #3 - Wattson (Mauville City, Electric-type): Combusken is quite the choice in this fight, as Magnemite and Magneton are killed by Double Kick spam. Voltorb will beat you to the punch with something like Shock Wave or SelfDestruct, both of which will HURT.
Tabitha/Matt (Mt. Chimney): In Ruby, avoid both of the Numel since they can roll a high Magnitude number and off you, but go ahead with Poochyena. In Sapphire, Double Kick away.
Maxie/Archie (Mt. Chimney): Mightyena will fall to a few Double Kicks (probably won't be OHKO'd thanks to Intimidate). Golbat's a Flying-type (read: no), and Camerupt is far too powerful. Against Archie, Combusken can take Sharpedo with a Double Kick but the other two stay the same.
Gym #4 - Flannery (Lavaridge City, Fire-type): Combusken can easily take the Slugmas with ease. Torkoal's Overheat will be doing a lot of damage to Combusken despite the resistance and it will take little damage from anything Combusken throws at it.
Gym #5 - Norman (Petalburg City, Normal-type): If you decided not to overlevel, Combusken can take Vigoroth on easily. You might be able to take on the first Slaking alright, but Facade will be a definite 2HKO so remember to heal a lot (unless your rules prohibit that, in that case use something else). The second one is capable of healing itself with Slack Off and has the bulk to shrug off a few Double Kicks, so you should, again, use something a bit more powerful. If you decided to overlevel, then Double Kick spam = win.
Courtney/Shelly (Weather Institute): Double Kick may or may not dispose of Numel, depending on whether you have a Combusken or a Blaziken at this point. Mightyena is alright for both evolutionary stages, but Combusken needs to watch out for Swagger play.
Rival (Route 119): Again, Shroomish goes down to a few Embers and Numel can be taken out with a few Double Kicks. Marshtomp is always a "no".
Gym #6 - Winona (Fortree City, Flying-type): Three words: Flying. Type. Gym. Actually, another word: don't. Unless it's Skarmory, which you can easily knock down with Flamethrower. Don't use anything else, as a miss will warrant your fall by Aerial Ace.
Rival (Lilycove City): Same old, same old. Except your rival now has a Swellow (Nope!).
Tabitha/Matt (Lilycove Hideout): Again, if you see Ground-types you should be switching out, except Numel is laughable for a fully evolved Blaziken of course. Everything else, you can Double Kick to your heart's content, yet keeping in mind that each strike will activate Rough Skin and hurt you.
Gym #7 - Tate and Liza (Mossdeep City, Psychic-type): Another battle for Blaziken to sit out. STAB Psychic no matter what. Keep it far away from the murdertwins.
Courtney/Shelly (Seafloor Cavern): Just same old. Camerupt is off limits for Blaziken, but Mightyena is not dangerous unless it pulls of a Swagger, but it's most likely not fast enough to do so by surprise. If it does, though, switch out. Sharpedo is easy as pie.
Maxie/Archie (Seafloor Cavern): lways the same. Mightyena is taken out by Double Kick, everything else on Maxie's team should be handled by something else. It goes a little better in Sapphire, where Blaziken can take on Sharpedo as well, with Double Kick.
Groudon (Cave of Origin, Ruby only): Don't. Blaziken takes way too much damage from Earthquake.
Kyogre (Cave of Origin, Sapphire only): Again, don't; Hydro Pump is even scarier than Earthquake. No way you can win.
Gym #8 - Wallace (Sootopolis City, Water-type): See the sign? It reads, "Water-type Gym". It means "Keep Blaziken away if you want it to survive". Ironically, you can actually pull off a sweep here if you spam Bulk Up against Luvdisc and heal its Water Pulse damage, because it definitely can't kill you in one hit, and then spend an X Speed on Blaziken. This will let it outspeed and kill everything with Brick Break. Just don't use anything below 100% accuracy, lest it misses at the worst possible time.
Wally (Victory Road): Altaria resists your STABs, so don't even try it. Magneton is a laugh while Delcatty is just sad. Roselia is in a similar boat. Gardevoir, on the other hand, has a lot of special bulk and resists Fighting, and is capable of striking back with a STAB Psychic so don't try it.
Elite Four Sidney (Ever Grande City, Dark-type): Brick Break (or Double Kick, if you still have it) spam your way to victory here. Watch out for Sharpedo. You can even Flamethrower/Blaze Kick/Fire Blast/Overheat your way through Shiftry and Cacturne.
Elite Four Phoebe (Ever Grande City, Ghost-type): The Dusclops have Pressure and one has Earthquake. Granted, it's pathetically weak, but they also have huge defenses and aren't weak to anything Blaziken could carry. Banettes are more frail and are likely to be OHKO'd or 2HKO'd by a Fire move. Sableye is in a similar boat. Be careful of Grudge.
Elite Four Glacia (Ever Grande City, Ice-type): Brick Break the Sealeos, Flamethrower/Fire Blast/Overheat/Blaze Kick the Glalies. Walrein is far too bulky to be OHKO'd by non-crit Brick Break and will retaliate with STAB Surf or, worse yet, Sheer Cold. Don't try it.
Elite Four Drake (Ever Grande City, Dragon-type): Dragon-type. They resist Fire and are neutral to Brick Break (Altaria and Salamence even resist it). Use something with an Ice move; if nothing is carrying Ice Beam or Blizzard, you don't know how to Pokémon.
Champion Steven (Ever Grande City, Steel-type): Skarmory can be OHKO'd by a swift Fire move. Aggron and Cradily can be Brick Break'd. Armaldo will take a Brick Break or Fire move and retaliate with Aerial Ace, so it's a bit risky. Claydol isn't weak to either of Blaziken's STABs and will strike back with a huge Earthquake. Metagross can be killed with a Fire move, but remember that if it misses or Metagross survives then it will hit with an Earthquake or Psychic.
Post-Game: Rayquaza? Nope. No way.
Rival (Route 103): Spamming Scratch is about all you can do, so... do that.
Gym #1 - Roxanne (Rustboro City, Rock-type): Torchic should NOT see any use here unless you overlevel and evolve it. Even then so, you should only resort to doing that if you didn't get a Wingull, Marill, Lotad, Seedot, Shroomish, or Beautifly. If you went through the process of evolving it, simply Double Kick-spam your way through this battle.
Rival (Rustboro City, optional): Torkoal isn't a good matchup thanks to its extremely high Defense and resistance to Fire. Mudkip isn't either, for hopefully obvious reasons.
Gym #2 - Brawly (Dewford Town, Fighting-type): This is another decent battle for Combusken (if you don't have a Combusken by now, it's time for you to go home), but at the same time it's not your best choice. Peck will 2HKO Meditite and maybe Machop, but Makuhita probably will only be 3HKO'd and will start pulling Bulk Up and Reversal shenanigans. You should probably use something bulkier or more powerful, or both. Remember, though, that STAB Double Kick is better to use against Machop and Makuhita; it has 90 base power (taking STAB into account), while super-effective Peck only has 70 base power. Stick to Peck for Meditite, though.
Rival (Route 110): Your rival has a Lombre and a Slugma, both of which will be killed by a quick Double Kick or two. Marshtomp should never even be attempted to fight.
Wally (Mauville City): Sure, Ralts is frail, but it could still take a hit and Confusion packs a punch. Leave it to someone else.
Gym #3 - Wattson (Mauville City, Electric-type): Combusken is quite the choice in this fight, as Magneton is killed by Double Kick spam. Voltorb will beat you to the punch with something like Shock Wave or SelfDestruct, both of which will HURT. Electrike isn't too much of an issue. Manectric is probably not a good fight because it's far more powerful than Combusken could hope to tango with.
Tabitha (Mt. Chimney): Avoid both of the Numel since they can roll a high Magnitude number and off you, but go ahead with Poochyena.
Maxie (Mt. Chimney): Mightyena will fall to a few Double Kicks (probably won't be OHKO'd thanks to Intimidate). Zubat's a Flying-type (read: no), and Camerupt is far too powerful.
Gym #4 - Flannery (Lavaridge City, Fire-type): Slugma can be defeated easily, but Numel has Magnitude and Camerupt is, again, too powerful. Torkoal stays has Body Slam. This will not only hurt but will also cripple Combusken, either forcing a switch or a healing item.
Gym #5 - Norman (Petalburg City, Normal-type): If you decided not to overlevel, Combusken can take Vigoroth on easily. You might be able to take on the Slaking alright, but Facade will be a definite 2HKO so remember to heal a lot (unless your rules prohibit that, in that case use something else).
Shelly (Weather Institute): Double Kick will easily dispatch Carvanha. Mightyena is alright for both Combusken and Blaziken, but Combusken needs to watch out for Swagger play.
Rival (Route 119): Same things again: Lombre gets taken out with some Double Kicks as does Slugma.
Gym #6 - Winona (Fortree City, Flying-type): Three words: Flying. Type. Gym. Actually, another word: don't. Unless it's Skarmory, which you can easily knock down with Flamethrower. Don't use anything else, as a miss will warrant your fall by Aerial Ace.
Rival (Lilycove City): Same old, same old. Except your rival now has a Tropius (Go ahead).
Tabitha (Jagged Pass Hideout): Again, if you see Ground-types you should be switching out, except Numel is laughable for a fully evolved Blaziken of course. Everything else, you can Double Kick to your heart's content.
Maxie (Jagged Pass Hideout): Always the same. Mightyena is taken out by Double Kick, everything else should be handled by something else.
Matt (Lilycove Hideout): Yet again, you can Double Kick everything to your heart's content, but keep in mind that each strike will activate Rough Skin and hurt you.
Gym #7 - Tate and Liza (Mossdeep City, Psychic-type): Another battle for Blaziken to sit out. STAB Psychic no matter what AND Earthquake from Claydol. Keep it far away from the murdertwins.
Maxie and Tabitha (Mossdeep Space Center, tag battle with Steven): Mightyenas get destroyed by Double Kick. Everything else keep Blaziken away from.
Shelly (Seafloor Cavern): Just same old. Mightyena is not dangerous unless it pulls of a Swagger, but it's most likely not fast enough to do so by surprise. If it does, though, switch out. Sharpedo is easy as pie.
Archie (Seafloor Cavern): The same still. Use Blaziken for Mightyena and Sharpedo. Keep it away from Crobat.
Gym #8 - Juan (Sootopolis City, Water-type): See the sign? It reads, "Water-type Gym". It means "Keep Blaziken away if you want it to survive". Ironically, you can actually pull off a sweep here if you spam Bulk Up against Luvdisc and heal its Water Pulse damage, because it definitely can't kill you in one hit, and then spend an X Speed on Blaziken. This will let it outspeed and kill everything with Brick Break. Just don't use anything below 100% accuracy, lest it misses at the worst possible time.
Wally (Victory Road): Altaria resists your STABs, so don't even try it. Magneton is a laugh while Delcatty is just sad. Roselia is in a similar boat. Gardevoir, on the other hand, has a lot of special bulk and resists Fighting, and is capable of striking back with a STAB Psychic so don't try it.
Elite Four Sidney (Ever Grande City, Dark-type): Brick Break (or Double Kick, if you still have it) spam your way to victory here. Watch out for Crawdaunt. You can even Flamethrower/Blaze Kick/Fire Blast/Overheat your way through Shiftry and Cacturne.
Elite Four Phoebe (Ever Grande City, Ghost-type): The Dusclops have Pressure and one has Earthquake. Granted, it's pathetically weak, but they also have huge defenses and aren't weak to anything Blaziken could carry. Banettes are more frail and are likely to be OHKO'd or 2HKO'd by a Fire move. Sableye is in a similar boat. Be careful of Grudge.
Elite Four Glacia (Ever Grande City, Ice-type): Brick Break the Sealeos, Flamethrower/Fire Blast/Overheat/Blaze Kick the Glalies. Walrein is far too bulky to be OHKO'd by non-crit Brick Break and will retaliate with STAB Surf or, worse yet, Sheer Cold. Don't try it.
Elite Four Drake (Ever Grande City, Dragon-type): Dragon-type. They resist Fire and are neutral to Brick Break (Altaria and Salamence even resist it). Use something with an Ice move; if nothing is carrying Ice Beam or Blizzard, you don't know how to Pokémon.
Champion Wallace (Ever Grande City, Water-type): Assuming you read "Water-type" and decided not to use Blaziken, you are fine. If not, kiss your Blaziken goodbye.
Post-Game: The Steven fight is essentially the exact same as the Ruby and Sapphire Champion fight; refer to it for details. Rayquaza? Nope.
Moves[]
Torchic starts off with the typical Scratch and Growl, then gets Focus Energy at level 7. Ember comes next at level 10 and is, unfortunately, your best Fire move for a while. If you choose to delay its evolution, Fire Spin comes next at level 25 and is even worse than Ember. Quick Attack may sound nice, but it learns that leveling up anyway and the delay isn't necessary. Flamethrower at 43 is probably your best bet delaying its evolution, but that hardly matters because you can just buy that TM anyway. If you evolved it like a normal person, then you get Double Kick right after evolving at level 16 and that's another move you'll have to put up with for a good while. Peck is next at level 17, and that's good for the time being against Brawly and such. Next up is Sand-Attack, which is rather pathetic. Bulk Up comes next and is a great move for Blaziken to have at its disposal. Quick Attack comes next at level 32 and is a fantastic move because it picks off opponents at low health that are faster than it. Right after evolution it gets Blaze Kick, which is its best non-TM Fire-type move. Slash and Mirror Move come next and generally aren't worth it. Sky Uppercut would be an excellent move to replace Double Kick with, but unfortunately it comes at level 59, which is a bit excessive for Elite 4 grinding.
Blaziken also gets some good moves through TM. Focus Punch is a good move to have alongside Substitute. Roar and Toxic aren't too good on an offensive Pokémon like Blaziken. Bulk Up is good but it gets that leveling up. Hidden Power isn't too helpful unless it's Grass or Electric. Sunny Day is cool but the low PP and turn it uses up make it not so great. Hyper Beam is powerful but very impractical. Protect is up there with Roar and Toxic. Frustration shouldn't need explaining. Earthquake may seem nice but Fighting hits everything Earthquake does except Poison and Electric, and there aren't very many Poison-types in Hoenn (the most notable is Wallace's Tentacruel, which Blaziken shouldn't be fighting anyway) and by the time you get the TM there won't be very many Electric-types anymore. Return isn't necessary as it doesn't grant Blaziken any real coverage. Dig is in a similar boat as Earthquake. Brick Break, however, is a glorious combination of reliability and power which is outright mandatory on Blaziken. Don't bother with Double Team. Flamethrower and/or Fire Blast can be purchased and used alongside or in place of Blaze Kick as STAB. Rock Tomb and Aerial Ace are rather weak and should be used on Pokémon who need them more, but Rock Tomb could be useful to hit Flying-types with. Facade is rather useless because status isn't so widespread in Hoenn. Same goes for Secret Power. Rest and Attract are situational at best and shouldn't really be considered. Overheat is an excellent move because it provides an "emergency nuke button" which will leave a massive dent in anything that doesn't resist it or have a lot of bulk. Unfortunately the only HMs Blaziken gets are Cut, Rock Smash, and Strength. Nope.
Recommended moveset: Brick Break / Sky Uppercut, Quick Attack / Overheat, Blaze Kick / Fire Blast / Flamethrower, Bulk Up
Other[]
Torchic's stats[]
Stat
Range
At Lv. 50
At Lv. 100
HP:
45
105 - 152
200 - 294
Attack:
60
58 - 123
112 - 240
Defense:
40
40 - 101
76 - 196
Sp.Atk:
70
67 - 134
130 - 262
Sp.Def:
50
49 - 112
94 - 218
Speed:
45
45 - 106
85 - 207
Total:
310
Other Pokémon with this total
Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.
Combusken's stats[]
Stat
Range
At Lv. 50
At Lv. 100
HP:
60
120 - 167
230 - 324
Attack:
85
81 - 150
157 - 295
Defense:
60
58 - 123
112 - 240
Sp.Atk:
85
81 - 150
157 - 295
Sp.Def:
60
58 - 123
112 - 240
Speed:
55
54 - 117
103 - 229
Total:
405
Other Pokémon with this total
Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.
Blaziken's stats[]
Stat
Range
At Lv. 50
At Lv. 100
HP:
80
140 - 187
270 - 364
Attack:
120
112 - 189
220 - 372
Defense:
70
67 - 134
130 - 262
Sp.Atk:
110
103 - 178
202 - 350
Sp.Def:
70
67 - 134
130 - 262
Speed:
80
76 - 145
148 - 284
Total:
530
Other Pokémon with this total
Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.
Torchic Line Ratings
Availability
Matchups
Movepool
Survivability
Type Usefulness
Team Role
Offensive Utility
Defensive Utility
Tankiness
Fun Factor
Overall
What Nature do I want? You probably want something that raises Blaziken's offenses or Speed. Lowering its defenses might sound bad, but remember that it appreciates the power and speed boosts it gets. As such, Lonely, Naughty, Mild, Rash, Hasty, and Naive are all nice. Adamant and Modest are good for Fighting and Fire moves respectively, but are bad for the Fire and Fighting respectively. Anything that lowers Speed is bad because Blaziken really likes to be able to outspeed stuff given its relative frailty.
At what point should I be evolved? Probably before fighting Roxanne (first time) and a while after beating Norman (second time). There's no real need to delay its evolution.
How good is the Torchic line in a Nuzlocke? It's the middle ground for starters and Pokémon everywhere: It's not spectacular, but it gets the job done. If the mid-late game wasn't chock-full of Water-types and bad matchups Blaziken would be a lot better, honestly.
Torchic's type matchups:
Weaknesses: Ground, Water, Rock
Resistances: Steel, Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug
Immunities: None
Neutralities: Normal, Fighting, Poison, Ghost, Electric, Dragon, Flying, Psychic, Dark
