Fire starters are literally the SLOWEST lvlers ive seen but have you ever EVER raised a Blazekien, frikin sweet but i have to admit it was a hastle, ( im lookin at rock gym, flying gym, psychic gym, water/ice gym ) mudkip was a useful little guy better after getting water gun not much problems with him ( fighting grass, ice, metal were big problems )
these are my opinions ( NOTE : I DO NOT USE MUDKIP EVER, IF I MISSED SOMETHING I APOLOGIZE )

im gonna go make my Blaziken lvl to 79
tell me what starter ( torchic or mudkip ) you like and why ( if you use treecko, i dont like your choice of starter, im sorry but that's how i role