Ash's Staraptor
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 Ash's Staraptor | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ash's Staraptor (Japanese: サトシのムクホーク Satoshi's Mukuhawk) was the first Pokémon that Ash caught in the Sinnoh region, and his twenty-eighth overall.
In the anime
History
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl
Ash caught it as a Starly in Two Degrees of Separation! while searching for Pikachu, who was missing due to the antics of Team Rocket. Aipom was swinging through the trees and accidentally bumped into Starly, so the two Pokémon battled. Weakened by Aipom, Starly was captured and immediately used in the search for Pikachu. In When Pokémon Worlds Collide, it successfully found Pikachu. Later Starly had its first battle against another Starly belonging to Paul and lost.
In A Staravia is Born!, Starly evolved into a Staravia during a battle with Team Rocket. Immediately after its evolution, Staravia had perfectly learned Aerial Ace. Evolving had also made it stronger and it become more useful in searches.
Staravia was the only one of Ash's Pokémon who didn't participate in Ash's first Sinnoh Gym battle against Roark. It was upset by this but Ash promised it would be involved in the next Gym Battle.
In The Grass-Type Is Always Greener!, Ash used Staravia as his second Pokémon in his unofficial two vs two battle against Gardenia. It went up against her speedy Turtwig, as Ash used him thinking a Flying-type would be faster. Staravia used a fast Wing Attack but Turtwig was faster. Staravia used multiple Quick Attacks, all of which were dodged. It then went for an Aerial Ace, which Ash assumed was unavoidable, but Turtwig was even able to dodge Aerial Ace, causing Staravia to crash into some grass, but it later got out. Turtwig then used Leaf Storm and knocked Staravia into a tree, knocking it out and causing Gardenia to win the battle.
In The Grass Menagerie!, Ash used Staravia as his second Pokémon in his Eterna Gym Battle against Gardenia. It went up against Cherubi. Cherubi launched an instant Solar Beam, due to the harsh sunlight. Staravia dodged and it launched a Wing Attack, however Cherubi dodged thanks to its quick speed assisted by its Chlorophyll ability. Cherubi tried to use Solar Beam, but it failed due to clouds covering the sun. Cherubi switched to Magical Leaf and Ash got Staravia to fly up into the sky, causing Magical Leaf to fail as it was out of reach. Ash had Staravia come down slowly and then it used Wing Attack, with Cherubi unable to dodge due to the sun blinding Cherubi. Staravia used Quick Attack and then Aerial Ace successfully on Cherubi defeating the Cherry Pokémon. Gardenia then used her second Pokémon, Turtwig, which Staravia showed slight anger, since it lost the last time they matched up. Staravia used Wing Attack but the Tiny Leaf Pokémon easily dodged it. Staravia used multiple Wing Attacks, all of which were dodged. Staravia then used Wing Attack near the ground causing Turtwig to move backwards and eventually fall into a tree, trapping it. This allowed Staravia to launch and hit a powerful and super-effective Aerial Ace, but this also freed Turtwig. Staravia used Wing Attack but Turtwig then launched a Leech Seed in response, causing Staravia's health to be drained. Turtwig used Tackle, defeating Staravia again.
In Smells Like Team Spirit!, Staravia was used in the semi-finals of the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition. It was paired off with Paul's Torterra and was up against Brock's Croagunk and Holly's Farfetch'd. Paul showed total disregard for Ash, ordering Torterra to blast Farfetch'd with Hyper Beam, not caring that Staravia was hit as well. With Farfetch'd out, Croagunk challenged Torterra and managed to damage it with a powerful Brick Break to the head. Before Croagunk could follow up, Torterra recharged and hit Croagunk with Leaf Storm, winning the round single-handedly.
After seeing Reggie's Staraptor use the powerful Brave Bird attack in Lost Leader Strategy!, Ash was inspired to teach it to Staravia. In the third Sinnoh Gym battle, Staravia defeated Maylene's Machoke and Meditite, as well as successfully mastering Brave Bird.
In Pursuing a Lofty Goal!, Ash learned that a PokéRinger competition was going to be held in Squallville and decided to enter with Staravia. During the event, Ash and Staravia were able to defeat their opponents to reach the final round, where they found themselves against Paul and his Honchkrow. Although Staravia initially struggled to deal with Honchkrow's speed, it evolved into Staraptor thanks in part to Ash's encouragement and learned Close Combat. It then managed to outspeed the Big Boss Pokémon to make Ash the winner of the Squallville PokéRinger. This marked Ash's first victory over his rival Paul.
In Sliding Into Seventh!, Staraptor was the second Pokémon in his Gym Battle against Candice, going up against her Medicham. It was chosen as Ash wanted to attack from the air and had a type-advantage. His Quick Attack was countered by Medicham's Confusion and was then flung into the ground. His Aerial Ace was blocked but then used Close Combat against it, Medicham hit Staraptor with Fire Punch but then it knocked it out with Brave Bird. It was later recalled. It later went up against Candice's last Pokémon, Abomasnow. It went for an Aerial Ace, but was blocked and knocked out by a single Ice Punch.
It participated in Ash and Paul's Full Battle in Pedal to the Mettle!, where it went up against Torterra and Weavile after Gliscor had previously battled the former. Paul predicted that Staraptor would be used against Torterra next and kept it in long enough to immediately strike the Predator Pokémon with a super effective Stone Edge before switching for Weavile. Despite this and his type-disadvantage, it managed to defeat Weavile with Close Combat and Brave Bird, giving Ash the first win of the battle. It was then recalled afterwards. In Evolving Strategies!, it also fought against Paul's Ursaring. After dodging a Hammer Arm, hitting it with Aerial Ace, and surviving a Focus Blast, the Hibernator Pokémon stopped Close Combat with a direct hit from Slash and defeated him with the next Hammer Arm.
In Uncrushing Defeat!, Staraptor, along with the rest of Ash's Sinnoh team, was under the care of Nurse Joy in the Lake Acuity Pokémon Center, suffering bodily repercussions from the rough Full Battle loss against Paul. Later, it helped rescue Pikachu from Team Rocket by knocking James's Carnivine out with a single Aerial Ace, before blasting them off with another one.
Staraptor was the first Pokémon used during Ash's battle against Nando in League Unleashed!, where it battled against Roserade. It was able to defeat it with a single Brave Bird attack, but was defeated by Nando's Armaldo's super effective Rock Blast.
In Familiarity Breeds Strategy!, it was used against Paul's Gastrodon. Ash realized that Paul's Gastrodon could use Counter Shield, and Staraptor was hit by the technique. When Gastrodon slammed him on the ground, it managed to use Close Combat on the ground to get away, but was hit with an Ice Beam in the process. It started to show signs of tiring, so Ash decided to recall him in place of Buizel. Later on, in A Real Rival Rouser!, Ash called Staraptor out again after Buizel fell to Paul's Drapion. However, it was unable to triumph against the superior power of Drapion's Cross Poison and Toxic Spikes.
Ash left Staraptor at Professor Oak's Laboratory when he decided to go to Unova.
Pokémon the Series: Black & White
It was mentioned in The Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion! by Professor Oak, who mentioned that Staraptor would sometimes have air races with Swellow at the lab, and Unfezant would make a good addition to those races.
Staraptor was later reunited with Ash in The Dream Continues!, where it and the rest of Ash's Pokémon posed in a group photo with him.
Personality and characteristics
As a Starly, it mostly performed duties done by Ash's other bird Pokémon, such as scouting and bursting Team Rocket's balloon. As a Staravia, it loved battling to the point of sulking when Ash didn't choose him to participate in his first Gym battle. Staravia was very adamant about training, which was evident in his determination to master Aerial Ace and Brave Bird. When Staravia evolved into Staraptor, his personality changed, and it became fierce, fast, and proud, but always maintaining an undeterred loyalty to Ash and a love for battling.
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. | |||||||
- In the dub, Starly used Whirlwind instead of Gust, since the Starly evolutionary family cannot legally learn Gust but can learn Whirlwind. After it evolved into Staravia though, the move has been consistently dubbed as Gust, first being called as such in Getting the Pre-Contest Titters!.
In the manga
Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl
Ash's Staravia appeared in Friendship Power, where Ash used it to battle against a powerful Garchomp. Unlike the anime, it was not shown if he caught it as a Starly or not.
In the TCG
Ash's Staraptor is featured in the Pokémon Trading Card Game as a Pokémon 
. The following is a list of related cards.
| Ash's Staraptor Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats. | |||||||
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| Card | Type | English Expansion |
Rarity | # | Japanese Expansion |
Rarity | # |
| Staraptor
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Movie Commemoration Random Pack | 018/022 | ||||
Trivia
- Despite the fact Staraptor and other members of his evolutionary family know Gust, it is impossible for Starly, Staravia, or Staraptor to learn it in the games. This error was also present in the Japanese version. The dub changed it to Whirlwind in Starly's initial appearance, but left it as Gust until Getting the Pre-Contest Titters!, after Starly had evolved into Staravia, when it was dubbed as Whirlwind again, and has been since.
- For Shapes of Things to Come!, Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Encyclopedia is about Ash's Staravia. He writes this senryū about it: 「ムックルが ムクムクしんか ムクバード」 "Mukkuru evolves abruptly, Mukubird."
- In the Czech dub and Latin American Spanish dub, Staraptor is referred to as female.
- Staravia's evolution to Staraptor was first revealed in a Japanese movie poster for Arceus and the Jewel of Life.
- Out of all of Ash's bird Pokémon (not including Noctowl, who was fully evolved when caught), Staraptor took the longest amount of episodes to reach his final form with 116. His Talonflame needed 83 episodes, Pidgeot 78 episodes, Swellow 76 episodes, and Unfezant taking 66 episodes to fully evolve.
- Staraptor, as a Starly, is the only Pokémon to date that Ash caught without Pikachu with him.
Related articles
For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Starly, Staravia, and Staraptor.
References
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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 Pokémon animation. |
