Ash's Torkoal

Ash's Torkoal (Japanese: サトシのコータス Satoshi's Cotoise) was the fourth that   in the Hoenn region, and his twenty-fourth overall.

Hoenn
Torkoal first appeared in All Torkoal, No Play. found Torkoal in the Valley of Steel being attacked by a group of and a. After the group of Pokémon left, it thanked  and ran off. Torkoal was later found being attacked by the same Pokémon again. With the help of, May's Torchic, and , Torkoal made the other Pokémon flee; however, it fainted afterwards. After nursed it back to full health it heard a roar echo through the valley and again ran off incredibly fast. Later, Torkoal, once again with the gang, fended off a wild while  rescued Torchic from a long fall off of a cliff. As they reached the end of the valley, a revealed itself as the leader of the Steel types in the valley and began a battle with Torkoal. Despite the type disadvantage, Steelix was able to dominate the battle. Ash thought back to Flannery's Torkoal and then commanded it to use Overheat. Steelix was then defeated, and before the other Steel types attacked, Steelix got up and issued respect to Torkoal. Ash then asked Torkoal if it wanted to join his team. Torkoal agreed to the idea and tackled Ash to the ground. In the next episode, Ash introduced Torkoal to the rest of the gang's Pokémon, which it greeted by releasing smoke from its nostrils. At a games carnival thrown by Team Rocket Torkoal attempted to go on its back legs to kick a soccer ball, but ended up falling flat on its back. It was captured by Team Rocket along with and, but rescued by the intervention of , Wattson, and. After Electrike evolved into, Torkoal was so happy that it engulfed them all in smoke. Ash and Wattson then decided to have an informal rematch, and Ash decided to put Torkoal up against the newly evolved Manectric. Torkoal was shown quickly to be very good defensively, using Iron Defense to avoid damage from Manectric's, and its shell was tough enough to absorb without taking damage. Torkoal pushed back with an Overheat, the powerful attack blasting through Manectric's and scoring a direct hit. Manectric then began to use, and held firm even against two more Overheats and a Flamethrower. Manectric let loose a devastating Thunder Wave, which Torkoal couldn't counter as its power had been drained from successive Overheats. Thunder Wave hit and knocked out Torkoal in a single hit.

In Balance of Power!, Ash used Torkoal as his second Pokémon in his Petalburg Gym Battle against Norman, Torkoal went up against Norman's Slakoth. Torkoal used Flamethrower while Slakoth used, with Flamethrower overpowering Blizzard and hitting Slakoth, defeating it, causing Torkoal to cry emotionally. Torkoal then went up against Norman's, Torkoal used Overheat which was dodged and Vigoroth used a powerful , defeating Torkoal in one hit.

In Pearls are a Spoink's Best Friend, Torkoal befriended a and, along with Ash and the gang, helped it to recover its lost pearl. They were later reunited in Clamperl of Wisdom when Spoink was floating in the ocean.

In Vanity Affair!, Ash used Torkoal in a practice battle with an unknown Trainer and his. Scizor used and Torkoal used Flamethrower, only to make Scizor dodge and switch to, which Torkoal protected itself from with. Scizor then attempted to use, but Torkoal successfully stopped Scizor in its tracks with a powerful Overheat, which knocked it out and gave Torkoal the win.

In From Brags to Riches, Torkoal and battled Dominick's  and  in the Ever Grande Conference. It managed to hold on after being hit by, as its Iron Defense was more than enough to block the attack. It was blown back by a powerful, but managed to hit Tropius with Flamethrower. After a collision of Torkoal's Overheat and Tropius's, both Pokémon were knocked out of the battle.

In Shocks and Bonds, Ash uses Torkoal as his first Pokémon in his Full Battle against in the Victory Tournament. It went up against her. Venomoth used and Torkoal blocked it with Iron Defense, Venomoth then used, preventing Torkoal from using Iron Defense for a while. Torkoal then used Flamethrower which Venomoth dodged. Katie then recalled Venomoth and sent out her, who had a type-advantage. Torkoal used Body Slam which was successfully countered by. Golduck then used, defeating Torkoal. In Choose It or Lose It!, Ash used Torkoal as his third Pokémon in his Full Battle against Morrison in the Victory Tournament, it went up against his. Steelix used, which Torkoal blocked with. Torkoal used Overheat and Steelix countered with Dragon Breath, with Overheat overpowering Steelix's Dragon Breath, dealing major damage. Torkoal used Flamethrower and Steelix used Dragon Breath, which were evenly matched and created smoke. Taking advantage of the smoke, Steelix used Dig. Torkoal used Iron Defense, but it didn't help as the attack came from below, Steelix used Dragon Breath again, hitting Torkoal and knocking it out.

In At the End of the Fray, Ash used Torkoal as his second Pokémon in his Full Battle against in the Victory Tournament, it went up against his  which had a type-advantage. Torkoal used multiple Flamethrower attacks, but Shiftry used his agility to dodge them all. It then hit Torkoal with its. Shiftry used, knocking Torkoal back. Torkoal used Flamethrower again but Shiftry jumped and dodged, however Torkoal jumped as well, allowing Flamethrower to hit Shiftry to the ground, defeating the Wicked Pokémon. Then it went up against Tyson's. Torkoal used Flamethrower, but Hariyama used, blocking the attack and allowing it to move closer, with Hariyama being assisted by its ability, which halved the power of  attacks. Hariyama got close enough to Torkoal and used on it, knocking it out.

Kanto Battle Frontier
In The Right Place and the Right Mime, Torkoal met the rest of Ash's Pokémon back in Kanto at Professor Oak's laboratory, striking up a quick friendship with. After Ash decided to challenge the, he left Torkoal and with the rest of his Pokémon.

Torkoal was brought back to Ash's team in Overjoyed! to battle 's, having mastered Heat Wave during its time at Oak's lab. It managed to hit with a Flamethrower and Body Slam, impressing Scott, but failing to do any significant damage to Registeel. Registeel jumped onto the offensive with, which Torkoal blocked, but after using , Torkoal was forced to defend itself with Iron Defense. Torkoal avoided taking too much damage but was. Torkoal used Body Slam, and managed to transfer the paralysis to Registeel, preventing Brandon from countering with. Registeel threw Torkoal, but Torkoal used the wall to re-direct another Body Slam. Brandon was impressed but called Ash over-confident. Torkoal unleashed Heat Wave, but Brandon had Registeel break free from the attack and Ash ordered another Flamethrower. Registeel blocked Flamethrower with and trapped Torkoal in the vortex, but Torkoal pushed the sandstorm back onto Registeel with Heat Wave. Torkoal then used the power of the Sandstorm to strengthen its Body Slam. Torkoal remained on top of the battle, but Registeel used Lock-On followed by another Zap Cannon. The explosion broke apart the Sandstorm, and although Torkoal seemed to hold on, it collapsed and Ash lost his second match with Brandon.

Torkoal was reunited with Ash at the Lily of the Valley Conference in An Old Family Blend!, where it was sent to spend some time with Ash training, helping to unfreeze Ash after Glalie froze him with.

Torkoal was the second Pokémon Ash used to battle 's after  in The Semi-Final Frontier!. It launched a Flamethrower that was countered by a powerful which wiped out Torkoal upon contact.

Torkoal was 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
Torkoal has a habit of crying and releasing smoke from its nostrils and back when it is happy. It will usually do this every time it's released from its Poké Ball and when it wins a battle. Although not ill-intended, the smoke will usually blacken any surrounding object or person. This was demonstrated relatively often when Torkoal was first captured.

Ash's Torkoal, as Brock points out, is quite an emotional individual and very friendly towards people and other Pokémon. It has a slight comic element to it, most notably when it tried to play a soccer carnival game in Manectric Charge! and falling over in the process.

In the Ash & Pikachu manga
Ash's Torkoal first appeared in I'll Win With My Own Battle Style!! where it battled Norman's. It reappeared in Start Of The Pokémon League!! where it was shown fighting Morrison's.

In the TCG
Ash's Torkoal is featured in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. The following is a list of related cards.

Trivia

 * Torkoal is Ash's only Pokémon who has no evolution family.
 * Torkoal is the only Pokémon Ash caught in Hoenn that isn't capable of evolving.
 * Torkoal is Ash's only Pokémon from the that he didn't catch through the usual method of battling it first.

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