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) is the first Pokémon that Ash Ketchum caught in the Sinnoh region.
History
Diamond & Pearl series
Ash caught him 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, he successfully found Pikachu, later Starly had his 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 his evolution, Staravia had perfectly learned Aerial Ace. Evolving has also allowed him to grow much stronger and become very 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, he was upset by this but promised by Ash he 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, he 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. He 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 he later got out. Turtwig then used Leaf Storm which was very powerful and knocked him into a tree, knocking him 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, he went up against Cherubi. Cherubi launched an instant Solar Beam, due to the harsh sunlight. However Staravia dodged and then he 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 he was out of reach. Ash had Staravia come down slowly and then he 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 showing slight anger, since he lost the last time. Staravia used Wing Attack but the Tiny Leaf Pokémon easily dodged it, just like last battle. Staravia then 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 then launched a fast Tackle, defeating Staravia again.
After seeing Reggie's Staraptor use the powerful Brave Bird attack, 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!, a PokéRinger competition was held in Squallville where Ash entered and won with Staravia, who evolved into a Staraptor in the process. Shortly after his evolution, Staraptor learned Close Combat and defeated Paul's Honchkrow, earning Ash his first victory over Paul.
In Sliding Into Seventh! he was the second Pokémon in his Gym Battle against Candice, going up against her Medicham, he 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 he knocked it out with Brave Bird. He was later recalled. He later went up against Candice's last Pokémon, Abomasnow. He went for an Aerial Ace but was blocked and was knocked out by a single Ice Punch.
He participated in Ash and Paul's Full Battle in Pedal to the Mettle! where he went up against Torterra and Weavile after Gliscor had previously battled the former. Paul had 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, he managed to defeat Weavile with Close Combat and Brave Bird, giving Ash the first win of the battle. He was then recalled afterwards. In Evolving Strategies! he also fought against Paul's Ursaring, but 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.
Staraptor was used in League Unleashed! against Nando's Roserade. He 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!, he 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, he managed to use Close Combat on the ground to get away, but was hit with an Ice Beam in the process. He started to show signs of tiring, so Ash decided to recall him in place of Buizel. Later on in A Real Rival Rouser!, after Buizel fell to Paul's Drapion Ash called him out again. However, he 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.
Best Wishes series
He 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 he and the rest of Ash's Pokémon posed in a group photo with him.
Personality and Characteristics
While a Starly he mostly performed duties done by Ash's other bird Pokémon such as scouting and bursting Team Rocket's balloon. As a Staravia, he was shown to love 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 evident in his determination to master Aerial Ace and Brave Bird. When Staravia evolved into Staraptor his personality changed to become fierce, fast, and proud, however always maintaining an undeterred loyalty to Ash.
Moves used
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| An × shows that the move cannot be legitimately known by this Pokémon in the games. | |||||||
| 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 know Gust but can know Whirlwind. After it evolved into Starvia, the move has been consistently dubbed as Whirlwind, first being called as such in Getting the Pre-Contest Titters!.
In the manga
In the Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl manga
Ash's Staraptor appears as a Staravia in Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl. In Friendship Power, Ash used him in 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 evolution 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."
- Though Staraptor is confirmed to be male, the Czech dub refers to him as female. The same happens in the Latin American Spanish dub.
- 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-like 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 taking 76 episodes, and Unfezant taking 66 episodes to fully evolve.
- When he entered as a Staravia, Staraptor was the second of Ash's Pokémon to evolve during a PokéRinger tournament. The first was Swellow, who entered as a Taillow.
- Staraptor was Ash's first regional Flying-type Pokémon to evolve into its second stage before challenging the first gym.
Related articles
For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Starly, Staravia, and Staraptor.
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
