What caused Charmeleon to become so disobedient to Ash?


Early in the series when Charmander evolves to Charmeleon, almost right away
it begins to disobey Ash and refuse to listen to him. this continued to
Charizard who would lounge around and blast Ash with a fire breath until he
was frozen in ice during Ash's travels though the Orange Islands and Ash
stayed up all night trying to melt the ice.

from what i remember Charmander willingly went with Ash when it's trainer
abandoned it and he was about to die from the rain. if i followed the game
logic i could assume that it was because Charmander's Level went too high in
comparison to what badges Ash had however....

  * there was no signs of disobedience until after the evolution
  * the 8th badge of any region allows full control no matter the level however Charizard was still disobedient even after Ash got Kanto's Earth Badge. 
    * not to mention that the level control ability of another regions badges would be made obsolete for someone like Ash who gets badges from other areas

So what caused Charmeleon to become so disobedient to Ash?




I found this interesting and helpful tidbit of info from [an old PokeCommunity
forum thread](http://www.pokecommunity.com/archive/index.php/t-73298.html).
It's not conclusive, but it is explanatory:

> I think of it as like Charmeleon was like a teenager. It had paid attention
> to Ash when it was young and naive, because it Ash showed it caring and
> love. However, when it got older, and learned more, it became cocky and saw
> Ash for what he was-- a rookie trainer that was still learning many of the
> basics. I think Charmeleon felt as if he didn't have any respect for Ash.
> When he started listening to Ash in the Orange Islands, it was after he saw
> how dedicated and serious Ash could be, even to something that was
> repeatedly rude and menacing to him. I think that when Charizard saw Ash
> doing that, he began to have some respect and admiration for the boy.
>
> Charizard may have been a 'plot device' to show pokemon that disobey, but it
> was important because it showed that not even Ash could 'wow' every pokemon
> with a couple days of friendship. It also was an indication of Ash maturing.

And here's another interesting viewpoint from [an old question on
Quora](https://www.quora.com/Why-didnt-Charmeleon-and-Charizard-obey-Ash-in-
Pok%C3%A9mon-Indigo-League):

> Since Charmander was once rejected as weak he had gained an inferiority
> complex. He was always trying to prove himself. When he evolve into
> Charmeleon, he lost his fear and considering itself as proud. He gained
> self-pride and was considering itself as strong pokemon. Thus he was
> arrogant, and didn't listened Ash's orders. Later it evolved into a
> Charizard to prove its strength in front of a Aerodactyl. Charizard retained
> his disobedience to Ash as of Charmeleon. However, when Ash saved him after
> being frozen by Tad's Poliwrath's Ice Beam, Charizard's loyalty to Ash
> returned in full force; the best part of Charmander's pre-evolved
> personality was back. So the arrogance and disobedience that Charizard (or
> Charmeleon) was beacause he was boastful of his immense power.

