Infernape is better than Torterra, now with that out of the way:
You're aware all of those Ice Fangs, if you've been keeping Torterra at a decent level, don't come close to OHKOing him? The fact you call them equal on Crasher Wake as well, hurr. Infernape has no chance of defeating Gyarados, Grass Knot included. Torterra can Leech Seed by this point, and hit him with STAB neutral attacks. Infernape is also threatened by STAB Aqua Jet from Floatzel at least as much as Torterra is from Ice Fang.
Ice Fang can be an easy 2HKO (4x weakness, anyone?). However, I did oversell Infernape in this gym, as I plainly just forgot about Aqua Jet. Since Torterra is most likely going to outspeed Quagsire as well, and can take down Gyarados eventually, Torterra gets the total advantage here.
Turtwig also has a +1 on the first gym for not being threatened by Onix, or Cranidos, who you will fail to KO with Mach Punch (in Onix case, 3HKO at best unless you have a +Attack nature.. and even then it is not certain).
Cranidos is easily OHKO'd, where Onix is a three or a two if you got lucky with natures. However, you seem to forget that Fire/Fighting is neutral to rock, and thus Monferno can easily survive
You mention that Torterra has no good attacks by Veilstone City, but it SHOULD be a Torterra by the Gym battle, and those have Earthquake. You seem to neglect, or don't know how Torterra levels up. This should be a draw.
I mentioned Grotle here, not Torterra, since frankly that is what stage he was at when I was cruising through the game (I had a Starly/Staravia in my party since Gardenia's Gym that helped suck away some EXP.). In hindsight, though, we could call this gym a draw.
Don't act like Monferno has it easy against the Ghost gym either. Both outspeed Duskull and OHKO it. There is no threat of Will-O-Wisp. Haunter outspeeds both, and can put either of them to sleep. Monferno is more threatened by his lesser defenses. Mismagius outspeeds both of them again, but this time OHKOs Monferno with Psybeam. Why lol at Bite? It destroys every Pokemon, whereas Flame Wheel does less? Grotle wins this Gym, and easily.
Hm, yes, I gave Monferno too much credit here. I must have thought that he'd be Infernape at this point (which is entirely plausible with fighting most of the trainers on Cycling Road). I could give Grotle the full advantage here.
I might argue Byron should also be a draw, but Infernape's secure OHKO on Steelix is a great selling point. The fact is, Torterra has the potential to OHKO each though, and in fact, is not threatened by Steelix's Ice Fang as much as Infernape is by missing with Fire Blast.
That's true enough with the accuracy issue, but Torterra doesn't OHKO Steelix with any of his moves, not even Leaf Storm. Ice Fang isn't too much of a problem, but I still feel Infernape is much better here overall.
Torterra walls Volkner's Jolteon, where Jolteon actually threatens Infernape. Whereas you mention Torterra is threatened by Signal Beam, evens things out. Infernape is at risk in this battle if he uses Close Combat too much, as three of the four Pokemon carry Quick Attack to dispatch it. Even worse, if you're running a -Def nature for mix attacking.
Jolteon only gets the chance for one hit in before being OHKO'd, and Infernape's defenses are enough to get him by. T-Wave is taken care of with a berry (if you actually want to waste the time giving it to him, lol) Jolteon's and Raichu's Quick Attacks do pitiful damage really, even after a CC drop or two. Infernape can also use the EQ TM by this point too (although it's found in Wayward Cave, and thus inaccessible because it's...optional. :P)
Infernape is definitely better, but you're stretching it pretty far.
I agree, I did. I suppose it was just late, I wasn't thinking too straight, and I let my Infernape fanboyism come over me. :P Thank you for bringing up those points.
EDIT: Score recap
Gyms:
#1 Roark: +0
#2 Gardenia: +2, Chimchar
#3 Fantina: +2, Turtwig
#4 Maylene: 0
#5 Crasher Wake: +2, Turtwig
#6 Byron: +1, Chimchar
#7 Candice: +2, Chimchar
#8: Volkner: +1, Chimchar
It's 6-4 in favor of Chimchar, unless there are any other issues you'd like to bring up. I suppose I'll add in the E4 in a bit.
EDIT:
Here's my analysis of Chimchar's/Turtwig's match-ups versus the Elite Four. Reccommended sets for the two:
Infernape @ Whatever
-Calm Mind
-Grass Knot
-Close Combat (for Lucian: Shadow Claw)
-Flare Blitz (for Cynthia: Flamethrower/Fire Blast)
Torterra @ Leftovers/Yache/Lum berries
-Curse
-Wood Hammer (for Cynthia/Lucian: Light Screen)
-Earthquake
-Crunch
Up first we have Aaron, who has Yanmega, Scizor, Heracross, Vespiquen, and Drapion. Infernape pretty much runs rampant with either Flare Bitz/Fire Blast, and as long as you don't use Close Combat on the first turn you face Drapion you'll be able to survive his Aerial and 2HKO back at the least. Needless to say Torterra has a hard time against everyone, even against Drapion with it's great defense; Drapion will also probably outspeed it with its respectable 95 base speed and smack it with any of its 3 moves, bar Cross Poison, for SE damage.
Advantage: Chimchar +2
Next up is Bertha with her entourage of ground types: Whiscash, Gliscor, Golem, Hippowdon, and Rhyperior. Four of those five are mauled with Infernape's Grass Knot, but the ape will have problems with Gliscor if he isn't able to OHKO with GK (Ground/Flying is neutral to Grass). The same is likewise for Torterra, but the dinosaur has to watch out for recoil damage as Bertha's team packs a lot of HP. Both have trouble with Gliscor, but I'd say Torterra fares a little better due to immunity to Sandstorm damage (like that's not a problem for Infernape anyway since he's OHKO'ing most of his enemies first-turn anyway), and higher defense to deal with the flying scorpion. If I can get confirmation that Infernape can OHKO Gliscor with relative ease, this'd be a tie, but without further ado:
Advantage: Turtwig +1
Flint turns on the heat, in rapid succession, with his team of Houndoom, Flareon, Rapidash, Infernape, and Magmortar. The first two are overwhelmed by Close Combat, and the rest of team has a chance of being OHKO'd as well from CC. If not, you can always use an X-Attack on the first few turns of the battle, as Houndoom can't really touch Infernape. Needless to say Torterra has a snowflake's chance in Hell (no, not Dante's version) of overcoming Flint, even with the option of using Stone Edge.
Advantage: Chimchar +2
Lucian is te next hurdle for our two competitors, with a showcase of Mr. Mime, Espeon, Bronzong, Alakazam, and Gallade. Shadow Claw and Flare Blitz both bring the hurt on Mr. Mime, and if you're lucky enough Infernape might be able to outspeed Espeon and OHKO him as well. Bronzong is rather sturdy and will not go down as easily, but a strong fire move should make it an easy 2HKO at the least; Earthquake will hurt but is not as dangerous as it may appear with Bronzong's rather low Attack score, but watch out for CM+Psychic. Alakazam is a huge pain to face if you can't outpace it, but Gallade's low HP and Defense make it an easy target. Torterra gets Crunch, but on the other hand, is slower than 4 out of five members of Lucian's team, doesn't like Mr. Mime's Reflect, and can't really scratch Bronzong outside of Leech Seed and a Curse- boosted Crunch. Torterra can learn Light Screen to help take hits while it sets up, but has to watch out for CM'd Psychics from Bronzong too. This battle is really close, but I think Torterra pulls out ahead.
Advantage: Turtwig +1
Finally we approach the Champion, Cythnia, with her famed Spiritomb, Roserade, Togekiss, Lucario, Milotic, and Garchomp. Although Infernape conquers Lucario and Roserade with relative ease (Lucario's ES will hurt a bit though, so I don't reccomend using CC here), the same can't be said likewise of the four remaining; to stand a chance he'll need to set up on Spiritomb with either Calm Mind or Swords Dance (SD is obtained in the Veilstone Game Corner, so it won't be as accessible as CM would be, as a level-up move.). If you're going the physical route, Infernape won't appreciate repeated Psychics from Spiritomb either.
Torterra can set up Curse a bit easier with Light Screen, but Roserade's Posion moves are still going to hurt, and Toxic can ruin its Tanking capability. Torterra also hates Togekiss's Air Slash, but thankfully it has Hustle, not Serence Grace, for its ability. Lucario and Garchomp should be no problem by using EQ from a +6 Atk and Def under your belt, but be wary of Garchomp's Flamethrower.
Milotic's the toughest of the bunch for both starters, and is the reason Infernape should go with a CM set for this battle. I don't know if Light Screen is enough to save Torterra from being OHKO'd by Ice Beam, but there's always Yache berry if you're unlucky enough. In th end, I'd say Infernape fares better here, since both have the need to set up in order to succeed; he outspeeds all of Cynthia's fighters and makes shorter work of this match then Torterra would.
Advantage: Chimchar +1
Barring future discussion, here is the final score:
Gyms:
#1 Roark: +0
#2 Gardenia: +2, Chimchar
#3 Fantina: +2, Turtwig
#4 Maylene: 0
#5 Crasher Wake: +2, Turtwig
#6 Byron: +1, Chimchar
#7 Candice: +2, Chimchar
#8: Volkner: +1, Chimchar
Elite Four:
#1 Aaron: +2, Chimchar
#2 Bertha: +1, Turtwig
#3 Flint: +1, Chimchar
#4 Lucian: +1, Turtwig
#5 Cynthia: +1, Chimchar
Final Tally:
Chimchar: 10
Turtwig: 6
And so, the Tiny Leaf pokemon gets left in the dust! Comments, retifications are appreciated. I'll have to update how Piplup does against the gym challenges as well..