Water Pokemon are the best choice for starters

I thank bhu for the opportunity to debate a topic such as this.PREFACE I'd like to point out, before continuing, that arguments 2, 3 (somewhat), and 4 are appeals to authority, and 5 is simply a baseless opinion. They are simply "because x Pokemon type is favored by y group of people, then it must be good." This is a logical fallacy and I suggest these arguments not be considered to the voters. If opponent presents no new args in R2, I shall refute accordingly.As well, this is a shared BoP debate, as outlined in the structure: bhu must prove Water type is superior to Fire, and I must prove Fire is superior to Water. My case will revolve around the game style of Kanto, the gyms of Kanto, the stats of the Pokemon in question, and evolutions. Let's begin.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The players have chosen their starters. Tom decides to go with Bulbasur (Tom you idiot). James heads with Squirtle, and ULTRA MEGA BAD*SS KYLE picks Charmander.Now, before I go further, here's a map of the Kanto Region in FireRed/LeafGreen: [1] This map is key when talking about different Pokemon and their strengths/weaknesses throughout the game.CHARMANDER - EARLY GAMEEarly on in the game, many consider Charmander "weak" against the gyms, which is true, however, this promotes training harder to overcome and adapt a harder obstacle. It promotes exploration to find Pokemon that can help take out Brock, Misty, and even Lt. Surge. This is the true nature of a Pokemon game. Many don't like Bulbasaur because he's essentially a free pass past the first two gyms, which completely goes against an idea of exploring and training your Pokemon to overcome harder obstacles. As well, against later gyms the person will be weaker in comparison to the other two.Squirtle is a fine mix between easy and hard. He doesn't struggle against the gyms and doesn't thrive either. Again, it doesn't promote exploration and training as much as Charmander, and isn't as great in the end either. With Charmander, training from the user pays off more, as Charizard is able to adapt to lots of situations, as opposed to Blastoise. Simply looking at their potential movesets [2] [3] shows that Charizard is able to adapt to more than Blastoise, reducing its overall weaknesses and countering with moves of his own. But I'll go into this later.Viridian Forest is a good farming ground for early-level Charmanders. Since Bug is weak to Fire, Charmander is easily able to take down the bugs and get free XP. As well, Pikachu is able to be caught, and will be useful to the player later on.GYM I: BROCKThis is probably the hardest for Charmander. The player must get some Normal/Bug type Pokemon in order to have a chance beating him. As well, they need to be relatively high level. Again, this promotes the nature of Pokemon; finding other Pokemon and training them well, not simply using only one Pokemon (most commonly your starter).GYM II: MISTYAnother hard matchup. If you scavenge Viridian Forest, you're able to find a Pikachu, which helps a lot with this battle. Again, hard matchups earlier on promote growth of more Pokemon and not simply your starter. Around this point Charmander should be near Charmeleon.GYM III: LT SURGECharmander (or Charmeleon, depending on farm) will finally no longer be at a disadvantage. And he will be able to level up even higher, and this is around when the tough early game starts to pay off. Charmander is no longer against a Gym that is a type he is weak against, so now he can gain some training of his own.Because Charmander is no longer restricted, this is a good place to level up and for Charmeleon to gain more experience on the road to becoming Charizard.SOMEWHAT MID GAMEGYM IV: ERIKAEasy for Charmeleon. Free XP and Pokemon that are weak to his type. Likely near Charizard by now.GYM V: KOGACharmeleon needs to play careful here, because Poison is a dangerous type to go against. He should try to utilize other Pokemon, but primarily use the Charmeleon if he is the highest level, as the Pokemon need to be taken care of quickly.GYM VI: SABRINAPreferably the Trainer should avoid use of the Fighting Type Hitmonchan or Hitmonlee he acquired a while ago. If he has Ghost Pokemon (from Lavender town), he should try to use those to his advantage. LATE GAMEGYM VII: BLAINE Charmander should sit out here, and let some Water Pokemon do the job, preferably those acquired on the way there. GYM VIII: GIOVANNI Easy, as Ground types cannot attack Flying types. As well, Water is super effective to Ground.My argument is very brief, because it essentially boils down to this point: Charizard promotes the main theme of Pokémon, which is exploration and adapting to your opponents to overcome them. With Squirtle and Bulbasaur, the same isn't possible, and isn't near the same as the Pokemon experience provided. As well, it's pretty hard for a person to gain a good Fire type anywhere else within the game. With Charmander on your side, it's by far a better adventure than Bulbusar and Squirtle.For these reasons, I believe the Fire type to be far superior to the Water type as a starter in the Kanto Region.SOURCES:[1]http://fc08.deviantart.net...[2]http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net...[3]http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net...