Ash's Quilava
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Ash's Quilava (Japanese: サトシのマグマラシ Satoshi's Magmarashi) was the third Pokémon that Ash caught during his travels through Johto.
History
Original series
Quilava first appeared as a Cyndaquil in Good 'Quil Hunting. On the way to Azalea Town, Ash heard from a Trainer named Koji that the forest he and his friends were traveling through was populated with Cyndaquil. Ash decided to search for one, but he was separated from his friends and chased into a cave by Team Rocket. While running through the cave Ash found Cyndaquil. The two of them were attacked by Team Rocket's mecha, but Cyndaquil unleashed a powerful Flamethrower to defeat it. The mecha began to explode, so Ash threw a Poké Ball to capture Cyndaquil in order to protect it from the blast. Cyndaquil was successfully captured, even though Ash hadn't really intended to do so. Koji then reappeared and challenged Ash to a battle for ownership of Cyndaquil. Even though Misty and Brock told Ash that Cyndaquil was rightfully his and he didn't have to battle for it, Ash accepted the challenge. Cyndaquil, despite having a disadvantage, was able to use its speed and Tackle attack to defeat Koji's Sandslash. Koji then decided to try to steal Cyndaquil anyway in a net, only to get badly burned when the Pokémon used a Flamethrower at him.
Cyndaquil's Gym battle debut came only three episodes later in Ash's battle with Bugsy. Ash had been confident that Cyndaquil could provide the firepower needed to take down the Bug-type Gym. Unfortunately, Cyndaquil's couldn't ignite its fiery quills or use fire-type attacks when called upon. Bugsy's Spinarak used this opportunity to land several Poison Stings and then tied Cyndaquil with a String Shot. Ash recalled Cyndaquil, but sent it out again as his last resort against Scyther. Cyndaquil was put at a disadvantage against Scyther's Slash and its use of Swords Dance to deflect Flamethrower. However, it won the battle by leaping over Scyther's head, hitting it from above, where Scyther was unable to dodge.
Cyndaquil's sluggish battle skills were overcome in Hot Matches!, where it was outclassed by Miki's Skarmory. Ash trained with Cyndaquil, raising its attack and speed, and it also learned how to ignite the flames on its back at will whilst fending off wild Beedrill. In a rematch, Cyndaquil took down Skarmory with Flamethrower.
In Spell of the Unown, Cyndaquil defeated Lisa's Mankey with a single Flamethrower. It helped Ash and his friends break into the crystal mansion, but was quickly defeated by Entei.
In A Goldenrod Opportunity, Cyndaquil easily took down Whitney's first two Pokémon. However, Whitney's Miltank proved far too powerful and knocked out Cyndaquil with a trio of Rollouts. In the rematch, it lost to Miltank again, but managed to tire it out so that Pikachu could finish the battle. Against Morty in From Ghost to Ghost, it defeated Morty's Gastly with Tackle, since Gastly was still vulnerable to physical attacks from Noctowl's Foresight. Later, Cyndaquil was stuck battling against Haunter after it used Mean Look. It managed to strike with Swift and counter Hypnosis with a SmokeScreen, but Haunter plucked Cyndaquil from the safety of the smoke and used Lick. It then tossed it to the ground, eliminating it from the battle.
In a Christmas special, it was seen helping Delibird find his lost presents and helped to build a Snorlax Snowman.
Arguably, its most notable battle was in the episode, Nerves of Steelix! when Cyndaquil took down Jasmine's powerful Steelix. Steelix used Sandstorm to block Flamethrower, and a series of Digs and Iron Tails to attack Cyndaquil. However, Cyndaquil managed to hide in the holes dug by Steelix and took it down with an inferno fed by a sustained Flamethrower. It also defeated Pryce's Dewgong in Nice Pryce, Baby!, but was easily beaten by Pryce's Piloswine's Blizzard, whom it had rescued from its icy tomb in the previous episode.
Cyndaquil helped Ash get through the screening processes of the Silver Conference in A Claim to Flame!, and was entered in battle against Jackson at Misty's recommendation, in order to counter his powerful Meganium. However, it didn't get to fight Meganium, losing to Jackson's Shiny Magneton's Thunder Wave and Tri Attack combination.
Ash left Cyndaquil along with the rest of his Johto team at Professor Oak's Laboratory when he wanted to start his journey fresh in the Hoenn region.
Advanced Generation series
During the special episodes, Cyndaquil was seen laying on the floor. It was trod on by Cassidy and was squirted with foam by Butch.
It reappeared in The Right Place and the Right Mime, where it greeted Ash's Torkoal.
Diamond & Pearl series
Ash called Cyndaquil back into his party for the Lily of the Valley Conference in An Old Family Blend!. It was separated from Ash along with Bayleef, Totodile, Snorlax and Corphish when Team Rocket attempted to steal them. After finding the others, Cyndaquil was the only one left for Ash to search for. While looking for Ash, it was attacked by one of Team Rocket's mechas. During the battle, it showed that it had learned the move Flame Wheel during its time at the lab. When the mecha had Cyndaquil cornered, it evolved into Quilava and used its newly learned attack Eruption to destroy it.
In the following episode, Ash used Quilava to battle Nando in the first round of the Lily of the Valley Conference where it went up against Nando's powerful Armaldo. During the fierce battle, it was revealed Quilava had learned Aerial Ace. When Aerial Ace and X-Scissor both landed, Armaldo went down first. Quilava grins briefly but then it faints, thus both Pokémon were knocked out.
Best Wishes series
Quilava was reunited with Ash in Dream Continues!, where it and the rest of Ash's Pokémon posed in a group photo with him.
Personality and characteristics
Personality-wise, Cyndaquil was the "baby" of Ash's group. It started off very weak and lazy, and was easily tired out. In battles, it usually had to wait for the flame on its back to ignite before using any Fire-type attacks, though its excellent reflexes usually made up for it. After training with Ash in Hot Matches!, Cyndaquil was able to ignite at will. Its evolution into Quilava marked a significant spike in its maturity and skill level. Quilava's personality was completely revamped as it became calm, serious, and stoic.
Moves used
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In the manga
In the Ash and Pikachu manga
Ash's Quilava appears as a Cyndaquil in The Murkrows' Plot.
In the movie adaptations
Cyndaquil appeared in Emperor of the Crystal Tower: Entei.
Moves used
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| A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves. | ||||||||||
Trivia
- Cyndaquil is Ash's only Fire-type starter Pokémon that was not owned by another Trainer first. All of Ash's other Fire-type starters had previous owners who mistreated and abandoned them.
- Quilava, as a Cyndaquil, took the longest to evolve out of any Pokémon in the anime, having been a Cyndaquil for 507 episodes, longer than a decade. However, it took slightly less than a decade for the dub, due to the fact that its introduction episode aired dubbed 338 days after the original, while its evolution episode aired dubbed only 149 days after the original.
Related articles
| Ash's Pokémon | ||||||
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| For a list of Pokémon Ash has temporarily owned, used, or commanded, see here | ||||||
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime. |