Ash's Quilava

**Ash's Quilava** (Japanese: **サトシのマグマラシ** *Satoshi's Magmarashi*) was the third Pokémon that Ash caught in the Johto region, and his seventeenth overall.

## 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 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 and caught Cyndaquil in an effort to protect it from the blast. Koji then reappeared and challenged Ash to a battle for ownership of Cyndaquil., which Ash accepted against his friends' orders. Cyndaquil, despite having the type disadvantage, was able to use its speed and Tackle attack to defeat Koji's Sandslash. Koji then resorted to stealing Cyndaquil anyway in a net, only to get badly burned when the Pokémon used a Flamethrower at him.

In *Gettin' The Bugs Out!*, Ash used Cyndaquil as his first Pokémon in his Azalea Gym battle, going up against Bugsy's Spinarak. Although Misty thought Cyndaquil was a good choice, it was tired and its flame wasn't ignited, causing Cyndaquil to struggle. Eventually, Ash recalled Cyndaquil back and replaced it with Chikorita. Later, Cyndaquil went up against Bugsy's last and most powerful Pokémon, his Scyther. After dodging some of Scyther's Fury Cutters, Cyndaquil finally managed to ignite its flames, although Scyther kept using Swords Dance to defend itself from Flamethrower. Eventually, Ash told Cyndaquil to attack Scyther from above, allowing him to bypass its defensive strategy and win the battle, earning him the Hive Badge.

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 to ignite the flames on its back at will whilst fending off some wild Beedrill. In a rematch, Cyndaquil took down Skarmory with Flamethrower.

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.

It took part in Ash's Olivine Gym battle in *Nerves of Steelix!*, where 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, winning Ash the battle and earning him the Mineral Badge.

Cyndaquil was used in Ash's Gym battle against Pryce in *Nice Pryce, Baby!* where it battled and defeated Dewgong but was easily beaten by Piloswine's Blizzard, whom it had rescued from its icy tomb in the previous episode.

Cyndaquil was used briefly in the Battle Park in *One Trick Phony!*, where it was defeated by a powerful Venusaur used by James after its Flamethrower was overpowered by Solar Beam. In a battle against Satchel in *You're a Star, Larvitar!*, it faced his Magby, but was defeated with Dynamic Punch. This loss, along with Satchel's comments, made Ash consider evolving Cyndaquil. Ultimately, this didn't happen.

Cyndaquil helped Ash get through the screening round matches 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.

### Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire and Pokémon Chronicles

During *Showdown at the Oak Corral*, Cyndaquil was seen relaxing on the ground near Professor Oak's laboratory building. Cassidy stepped on Cyndaquil while she was approaching the building's window and Butch sprayed it with a fire extinguisher. Cyndaquil was not badly harmed and later helped defeat the two Team Rocket members using a Flamethrower attack commanded by Professor Oak.

In *Journey to the Starting Line!*, a string of events caused by Kingler caused Cyndaquil to get spooked by Snorlax and accidently awaken the Tauros, who in turn stampeded through Professor Oak's lab. This allowed a group of starter Pokémon to escape.

Following Ash's adventures through the Hoenn region, Cyndaquil greeted Ash's Torkoal in *The Right Place and the Right Mime*.

### Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

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 Snorlax, Bayleef, Totodile, and Corphish when Team Rocket attempted to steal them. While trying to find and reunite with Ash, Cyndaquil was attacked by one of Team Rocket's mechas. In the battle against Team Rocket, Cyndaquil demonstrated that it had learned the move Flame Wheel during its time at Oak's lab. Despite its new attack, Cyndaquil was having trouble defeating the robot. Cyndaquil then evolved into Quilava and used its new Eruption attack to destroy their mecha.

In the following episode, Quilava was the second Pokémon Ash used to battle Nando in the first round of the Lily of the Valley Conference after Staraptor. Quilava went up against Nando's powerful Armaldo, and during the battle it was revealed that it had learned Aerial Ace. When Quilava's Aerial Ace and Armaldo's X-Scissor collided, Armaldo went down first. Quilava smiled to itself but then fainted, thus both Pokémon were knocked out.

### Pokémon the Series: Black & White

Quilava was reunited with Ash in *The Dream Continues!*, where it and the rest of Ash's Pokémon posed for a group photo with their Trainer.

### Pokémon Journeys: The Series

In *Advice to Goh!*, Quilava reunited with Ash during his visit to Professor Oak's Laboratory with Goh. Some time before, Quilava had battled against Ash's Infernape before he had left the lab to battle Moltres.

Quilava, along with the rest of Ash's Pokémon at the lab, reunited with Ash in *Friends, Rivals, Lend Me Your Spirit!*. During the visit, it helped train Ash's Gengar to learn Will-O-Wisp, and later watched the battle between Ash and Paul. Before Ash left, it posed with the rest of Ash's Pokémon in a group photo with him.

From *Battling as Hard as Stone!* onwards, Quilava watched Ash's Masters Eight Tournament matches against Steven, Cynthia, and Leon. In *Partners in Time!*, Quilava appeared as a vision to Pikachu during his battle against Leon's Charizard.

In *Heroes Unite!*, Quilava, along with the rest of the Pokémon at the lab, welcomed Ash back to Pallet Town after his victory over Leon.

In *The Rainbow and the Pokémon Master!*, Quilava assisted Ash in looking for a missing Charmander around Oak's lab, but to no avail.

## Personality and characteristics

Personality-wise, Cyndaquil was the "baby" of Ash's team. 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. Despite this, Quilava is loyal to Ash and its friends. During its time at Professor Oak's lab, Quilava is usually with Ash's other Fire types and gets along really well with them. Quilava also befriended Gengar during its visit to the lab.

## Trivia

* Quilava, as a Cyndaquil, took the longest to evolve out of Ash's Pokémon, having been a Cyndaquil for 507 episodes, longer than a decade. Previously, this record was held by Donphan, which spent 198 episodes as a Phanpy.
	+ Quilava also took the longest to evolve out of any Pokémon featured in the anime that has evolved onscreen.
* Quilava learned all of its moves in pairs, excluding Aerial Ace.
* Quilava is Ash's only Fire-type starter Pokémon to:
	+ Never have known Ember.
	+ Not evolve in the region it was caught.
	+ Not be under the ownership or care of another individual, nor endure any tragedy related to said individual prior to joining Ash's ownership.