Storyline

Squirtle starts in a prank era. A small squad owns the road with booby-trap pits and swaggering sunglasses. Trouble forces a turn. A town fire breaks out, and the same squad pulls a hose line, clears onlookers, and wins Officer Jenny’s respect¹². The leader watches smoke curl off wet stone and chooses a straighter path.

Ash meets that leader soon after. He speaks plainly, offers a place on his team, and gets a nod. The shades fold and go into the shell for keeping. Squirtle keeps pace with Pikachu on long days and learns to answer quick calls instead of pranks.

On the island where a giant shell sleeps, Squirtle returns to its old crew. The team follows a scuffed trail in the sand, times their pulls, and frees the jam that holds Blastoise. Jigglypuff’s song almost sinks the rescue, but the squad swims the sub back anyway³⁴.

Later, Captain Aidan drills a full brigade. Squirtle takes tight corridors and crawl spaces, Wartortle covers general lines, and Blastoise anchors big streams. Under a city blaze, the plan holds, and a clear chain of orders carries the day⁵⁶.

Growth Life Cycle

Beginnings

Squirtle learns attention the hard way. It spends mornings running streets with the Squad and laughs when a harmless splash tricks a passerby, but the first call changes that tempo. A midday blaze forces the Squad into a bucket line, and Squirtle feels the weight of timing in its arms while heat rolls across the street. A scuffed lens, a burned step, and a quick nod from Officer Jenny mark the shift from pranks to duty. Ash arrives soon after, offers a place, and Squirtle takes it with a small grin that fades when work starts.

Emerging Patterns

Orders land and Squirtle moves. In drills, it checks footing, sets its shell, and fires on the count, then resets without chatter so the team can keep cadence. Midday water sets become a quiet habit on hot days; steady reps in heat raise output and steady breathing when crowds press close. Squirtle keeps tools where hands find them and keeps pace with Pikachu, who trusts that the shell will slide into the right lane when noise rises. That rhythm turns mischief into muscle memory, and it holds through travel.

Encounters

Calls with Aidan or Jenny tighten those habits. Squirtle waits for the short signal, commits, and covers flanks for slower partners so they can work without panic. When a rush hits, Squirtle taps the ground, anchors, and then drives forward, which turns wild pressure into clean openings the team can use. On the island where Blastoise sleeps, it assigns lanes, checks timing with two fingers, and keeps heads clear when a lullaby threatens to stop the rescue. The work finishes without fuss and the squad leaves the beach in quiet formation.

Becomings

Travel with Ash adds pace and purpose. Squirtle studies spacing, hands off tasks with short nods, and trusts partners to switch roles midstream instead of chasing credit. Captain Aidan’s cadence sticks, so Squirtle braces before action and lets stance carry power, a small rule that turns rushes into openings on training days and match days alike. The sunglasses stay folded on the table as a badge of where it began, and the steps grow steadier with each route cleared.

Training

Days start with a route. Squirtle jogs the edge of town, shoulders rolling, and finishes with short bursts into a line of hydrant cones. A tire scuff on its shell shows where it practiced bracing for impact. After breakfast, it runs hose drags and pivot turns until the count feels automatic.

Afternoons switch to control and breath. It holds a stream on a narrow target while a partner shifts the angle, then swaps and spots for them. Captain Aidan’s cadence sticks; calls come clipped and repeatable. When the sun peaks, Squirtle takes a cooldown in the shade and reviews signals with hand taps and nods.

Evenings keep the gear honest. Goggles stay clean, straps sit flat, and the pack rests dry. A last five-minute hold on a moving target builds patience for late-match stalls. It sleeps easily when the kit is squared and tomorrow’s route is chalked on the curb.

Battle

Squirtle sets the ring by inches. It circles once to map footing, plants its shell to draw a swing, then slides a step to open space. A quick burst forces guard hands high, and a second beat tags ankles or a shaky stance. When a heavier rival presses, Squirtle lowers, absorbs, and answers off the recoil.

Timing matters more than size. It waits for the tell, clips the angle, and drives pressure where the stance breaks. Team calls keep shape; on a double, Squirtle pulls attention, and its partner cleans the lane. If the field floods, it shifts to patient marks, holding a line until the count changes.

Late, breaths grow long and choices shrink. Squirtle keeps the center, uses the shell for quick covers, and saves one hard push for the moment a corner opens. A clean exit is the goal: stable steps, clear view, and no loose gear on the floor.

Behavior

Under pressure, it favors short calls and steady hands. It holds doors, spots footwork, and takes the first bump when a friend wavers. The shell reads like intent; a half-turn means stay close, a full square means get behind it.

Off duty, order shows in small ways. The sunglasses sit folded on the table. Tools line up by use, and towels dry on a single rail. When jokes start, the grin lives for a minute, and then work returns to the front.

Environment

Heat changes decisions. Shade lines become staging spots, and the team rotates through them to hold pace. On blacktop, the surface shimmers, so Squirtle shortens bursts and saves long pushes for moments when the air settles.

Rain rewrites the floor. Grip drops, so it widens stance and trims spin. Wind asks for the same care; drift steals effect if left alone. In tight alleys it favors right-angle turns, and on a shoreline it checks current before crossing and comes home with dry packs and light steps.

Collector’s Guide

Base Set Squirtle 63/102 set the template with Mitsuhiro Arita’s art and a place in the Blackout theme deck 78. Legendary Collection kept that art and introduced the fireworks-style reverse holo that still stands out in binder pages⁹.

Two commons in EX FireRed & LeafGreen showed the early-2000s split between simple attacks and small utility, a pattern that carried into POP Series 4’s Shell Retreat on a widely traded promo print 10. Expedition’s e-Reader entry is a favorite for players who enjoy card-scanning lore and era flavor¹⁷.

Competitive decks in Black & White often reached for Boundaries Crossed 29/149, since Shell Shield kept it safe on the Bench while lists built toward Blastoise engines. Plasma Blast supplied a parallel option, but most players stuck with the Bench protection print¹¹¹³.

Modern attention returned with Team Up’s Kanto nods and, later, the Scarlet & Violet: 151 campaign that put every original partner back in view. McDonald’s 25th Anniversary packs brought an easy Squirtle pickup for kids and binder collectors, while 151 rolled out with products and dates across official and fan press^12141516.

Sources

1. Bulbapedia: EP012 “Here Comes the Squirtle Squad” ↩︎
2. Pokemon.com: EP12 episode page ↩︎
3. Bulbapedia: EP060 “Beach Blank-Out Blastoise” ↩︎
4. Serebii: EP060 episode guide ↩︎
5. Bulbapedia: EP106 “The Pokémon Water War” ↩︎
6. Serebii: EP108 “The Pokémon Water War” ↩︎
7. Serebii: Base Set Squirtle 63/102 (Blackout deck listing) ↩︎
8. TCGplayer: Base Set Squirtle 63/102 (artist/details) ↩︎
9. Bulbapedia: Legendary Collection set overview ↩︎
10. PKMNcards: POP Series 4 Squirtle 14/17 ↩︎
11. Pokemon.com: Boundaries Crossed Squirtle 29/149 (Shell Shield) ↩︎
12. Pokemon.com: Team Up Squirtle 23/181 ↩︎
13. PKMNcards: Plasma Blast Squirtle 14/101 ↩︎
14. PokéGuardian: McDonald’s 25th Anniversary promos (2021) ↩︎
15. PokéBeach: SV 151 products and dates ↩︎
16. Pokémon Press: SV 151 launch media alert (Sept. 22, 2023) ↩︎
17. Serebii: Expedition Base Set Squirtle 132/165 (e-Reader data) ↩︎