Ash's Staraptor

Ash's Staraptor (Japanese: サトシのムクホーク Satoshi's Mukuhawk) was the first that   in the Sinnoh region, and his twenty-seventh overall.

Ash caught him as a in Two Degrees of Separation! while searching for, who was missing due to the antics of. 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 during a battle with. 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, as Ash used him thinking a 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 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 launched an instant, due to the. However Staravia dodged and then he launched a Wing Attack, however Cherubi dodged thanks to its quick speed assisted by its ability. Cherubi tried to use Solar Beam, but it failed due to clouds covering the sun. Cherubi switched to 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 in response, causing Staravia's health to be drained, Turtwig then launched a fast 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. 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 use the powerful Brave Bird attack in Lost Leader Strategy!, Ash was inspired to teach it to Staravia. In the third Sinnoh Gym, Staravia defeated Maylene's and , 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. Although Staravia initially struggled to deal with Honchkrow's, he evolved into Staraptor thanks in part to Ash's encouragement and learned Close Combat. He then managed to outspeed the 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. He was chosen as Ash wanted to attack from the air and had a type-advantage. His Quick Attack was countered by Medicham's and was then flung into the ground. His Aerial Ace was blocked but then used Close Combat against it, Medicham hit Staraptor with but then he knocked it out with Brave Bird. He was later recalled. He later went up against Candice's last Pokémon,. He went for an Aerial Ace, but was blocked and knocked out by a single.

He participated in and Paul's Full Battle in Pedal to the Mettle!, where he went up against  and Weavile after  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 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. After dodging a, hitting it with Aerial Ace, and surviving a , the Hibernator Pokémon stopped Close Combat with a direct hit from and defeated him with the next Hammer Arm.

Staraptor was the first Pokémon used during Ash's battle against Nando in League Unleashed!, where he battled against against. He was able to defeat it with a single Brave Bird attack, but was defeated by Nando's 's super effective.

In Familiarity Breeds Strategy!, he was used against Paul's. 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 in the process. He started to show signs of tiring, so Ash decided to recall him in place of. Later on, in A Real Rival Rouser!, Ash called Staraptor out again after fell to Paul's. However, he was unable to triumph against the superior power of Drapion's and.

Ash left Staraptor at Professor Oak's Laboratory when he decided to go to Unova.

He was mentioned in The Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion! by Professor Oak, who mentioned that Staraptor would sometimes have air races with at the lab, and  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
As a, he mostly performed duties done by 's other bird Pokémon, such as scouting and bursting 's balloon. As a, 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, which was evident in his determination to master Aerial Ace and Brave Bird. When Staravia evolved into, his personality changed, and he became fierce, fast, and proud, but always maintaining an undeterred loyalty to Ash and a love for battling.

Moves used

 * In the dub, Starly used instead of, 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 Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl manga
Ash's Staraptor appears as a Staravia in. In Friendship Power, Ash used him in battle against a powerful. 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 TCG Pokémon M (Pokémon). The following is a list of related cards.

Trivia

 * Despite the fact Staraptor and other members of his evolution family know, it is impossible for , , or to learn it in the games. This error was also present in the Japanese version. The dub changed it to  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 about it: 「ムックルが　ムクムクしんか　ムクバード」 " evolves abruptly, ."
 * 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, who was fully evolved when caught), Staraptor took the longest amount of episodes to reach his final form with 116. His needed 83 episodes,  78 episodes,  76 episodes, and  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, who entered as a Taillow.
 * Staraptor, as a Starly, is the only Pokémon to date that wasn't present while Ash caught him.