>>51260190>>51261542>>51260432>>51260591>>51261729>>51261767The Dex entries aren't to be taken literally, especially since they're not always consistently translated. We DO have official media showing Charizard getting submerged without its tail going out (Red's Charizard gets completely submerged during the Mewtwo fight - and yes, Origins IS official Pokemon media and DOES count, plus Red's Charizard got dunked in that one episode during the Johto arc without dying), and Kiawe's Charizard is seen relaxing with him in a hotspring - which would be a very dangerous risk to take if dousing the tail flame was an actual threat to its life.
We also get a weird semi-canon in-game instance if you play any of the PMD Explorers games as a Charmander - you wash up on the beach at the beginning when you meet your Partner regardless of your choice of character, meaning your Charmander just survived a swim in the ocean.
Since these are official depictions by the PMC (whether you like it or not) and since we already know the Pokedex embellishes a lot of things, we can assume that the tail flame isn't a literal flame that can be extinguished (and doesn't actually burn unless it wants it to, like Ponyta's mane in the anime - otherwise there would be forest fires whenever one of them walked through tall grass). There's a reason Rain Dance doesn't make it faint in-game.
Also, read this:
>https://scientificpokedex.tumblr.com/post/119948237830/in-pokemon-origins-reds-charizard-somehow 
