Ash's Rowlet

This Rowlet is a /-type Pokémon owned by Ash Ketchum and the first Pokémon he obtained in the Alola region.

Personality
Rowlet isn't a bright or an intelligent Pokémon, as it once mistook a wind-chime for a piece of fruit. However, Rowlet can also come off as a loyal Pokémon who would do anything to protect its friends and anyone who Rowlet closes to, as it jumped into the fray to save the tribe it belonged to from Team Rocket. It only joined Ash after the insistence of Toucannon as it saw the bond it already developed with Ash. A unique trait about Rowlet is it likes to sleep inside of Ash's backpack also it doesn't mind when other Pokémon sleep with it inside the backpack as well, shown with Nebby. Rowlet sometimes can be quite lazy and has to be awoken up by Ash or anybody else who needs it's help. Additionally, Rowlet is smuggy and likes Rotom to photo its poses. On the other hand, Rowlet loves the scent emitted by Mallow's Steenee, much to her dismay and annoyance.

Its courage is further shown when it helped Litten by blocking Castform's Water Gun while battling Totem Lurantis.

In addition, Rowlet loves eating. Every time when someone mentions food, it quickly wakes up from its sleep.

Biography
Originally, Rowlet lived with a tribe of Pikipek and a Trumbeak with Toucannon as a leader, who treated it as one of its children since the day it hatched.

Rowlet was shown flying with Trumbeak and Pikipek, searching and getting the fruits that people and other Pokémon offered. However, while the others brought berries for the leader Toucannon, it brought a wind-chime instead. Trumbeak later scolded it when it gave the wind-chime to the Toucannon but it fell asleep, thus Trumbeak woke it up and scolded it even louder and Rowlet had to fly away to get a fruit again. Later, Rowlet was lured by the aroma created by Mallow's Bounsweet and when it noticed Bounsweet, it saw Bounsweet as a mangosteen and decided to grab her but Bounsweet fought back when Rowlet got close to her. Rotom Pokédex quickly identified it when it was flying spinningly in the sky, who was beaten by Bounsweet once again. Rowlet who fainted, was then hung on an electric wire of an electric pole and Ash rescued it from falling down. When it woke up, it took a liking to Ash's backpack due to laying on it while recovering then became happy when it saw the bowl of honeydew melon. Ash then fed it a banana and it gobbled the banana up. When Ash asks Rowlet if he can catch it but it took away their watermelon instead, prompting Ash, Mallow, Rotom Pokédex, Pikachu, and Bounsweet to follow it. After Rowlet returned to its nest with the watermelon, where it was praised by Trumbeak for getting it, Ash, along with Pikachu and Mallow showed up. Rowlet was pretty happy to see Ash as it flew into his backpack until Team Rocket showed up and decided to take its family away. Rowlet made success in rescuing them while helping Pikachu who got hurt by Team Rocket, by using Leafage against Jessie's Mimikyu and took him away with its feet while flying. Later, Rowlet was sad because Ash wanted to let it stay with its family until Toucannon encouraged it to go with him, much to its happeniness and flew into Ash's backpack. As the latter was happy and eagered that it wanted to come with him, he caught it with his Poké Ball, then he let it out as it went back inside Ash's backpack and showed its affection towards him.

Rowlet fell out of Ash's backpack when the latter arrived at school and opened it, causing Rowlet to hit a pillar of the balcony and fainted for a while.

Rowlet accidentally dirtied Ash's clothes when Professor Kukui left home. Then Rowlet saw Ash barfed out the food at Pikachu and got affected by Pikachu's electric explosion. Later in the shopping mall, Ash, Sophocles and Rowlet got separated with Rotom, Pikachu and Sophocles' Togedemaru because of Team Rocket. Luckily, they got back together and Team Rocket was carried away by Bewear.

At first, Rowlet was used as the second Pokémon to help Lillie overcome her phobia but it accidentally scared Lillie after shouting loudly before going back to sleep. Then Rowlet was sent out to battle against Hobbes' Oricorio. Unfortunately, after Oricorio used Teeter Dance, Rowlet, Ash, Pikachu and Rotom were affected, and it got knocked out by Oricorio, causing it to fall onto Mallow's head. Then, it helped Lillie and the others to defeat the wild Salandit who attempted to eat the Alolan Vulpix egg along with Pikachu and Oricorio.

Ash sent Pikachu and a sleeping Rowlet to face Totem Gumshoos, though the two yelled at Rowlet to wake up. Pikachu went to use Thunderbolt and Rowlet used Tackle, but both were swept by Gumshoos' Sand Attack, while Yungoos attacked Rowlet. Suddenly, both Yungoos and Gumshoos used Crunch, which Pikachu and Rowlet dodged. Rowlet engulfed Yungoos and Gumshoos with Leafage, while Pikachu went to use Iron Tail. Suddenly, Ash noticed Rowlet was gone, who was behind Yungoos, making Hala remarked how stealthy it is. Rowlet tackled Gumshoos and Pikachu executes Iron Tail on Yungoos, defeating them both. Then, while fighting Totem Gumshoos, Rowlet went to use Tackle, but Totem Gumshoos used a rock and hit Rowlet with it, bashing it away. Ash saved Rowlet and thanked it for saving Pikachu, then called it back.

Rowlet was sent out to fight against Hala's Crabrawler in the Melemele Grand Trial. It dodged Crabrawler's Bubble Beam and attacked it with Peck. However, when Rowlet was going to repeat its attack, it then got swung by Crabrawler, who grabbed its left wing and used Brutal Swing and later Power-Up Punch, though Rowlet didn't get much injuries and fired Leafage. After multiple times using Leafage, it snuck up behind Crabrawler and used Peck, but it got punched by another Power-Up Punch. When Crabrwler had one more time to used one more Brutal Swing, Rowlet avoided it and used Tackle to defeat it. Yet, it grew tired and fell from the sky, sleeping unconsciously, so Ash had to call it back into its Poké Ball.

Rowlet learned how to do the Normalium Z-Move Breakneck Blitz while training at the beach but the power of the move caused the young Pokémon to be exhausted, so it was returned to its Poké Ball.

Rowlet went with Ash, Kiawe and Pikachu for a swim, but then they met a group of wild Mareanie, much to its fear. Later, Rowlet tried to help it's friends to fight by saving Pikachu using its Leafage but got poisoned by James' Mareanie. Fortunately, it recovered quickly after Professor Kukui sprayed an Antidote on it and could play with the others again, though it was caught in Popplio's bubble for a while.

Rowlet was told by Ash to find Lillie but it found a watermelon instead. Then Ash commanded it to use Leafage in order to rescue Lillie and Snowy.

Rowlet was sleeping when Ash and Pikachu were training Rockruff but later followed it's friends after Ash woke it up from its dream. Then, it was disguised as a Damaruka but was quickly regonized by Rockruff, much to its displeasure.

Rowlet went to the beach with it's friends. At first, it was seen sleeping in Ash's backpack but later flew out as Ash called it and Rockruff, though it continued sleeping. Unfortunately, after Bounsweet sneezed and woke it up, it wanted to eat her but got blasted into the sky, which caused it and Popplio got stuck into Popplio's balloon, carrying them far away. Worse than that, after Rowlet was boasting to Popplio how happy its trainer would feel if it reunites with him and believed Popplio would get punished instead and accidentally bursted the bubble, and the two of them landed at Team Rocket's Secret Base in the forest and made the ring thing stuck on its bady, making it unable to fly and had to apologize to Team Rocket. After having some trouble escaping, they were saved by Litten from Mareanie and Meowth and followed Litten to Litten and Stoutland's new home, but it was quite scared of Stoutland's affection and even got punched by Popplio to wake it up. Soon, they followed Stoutland's advice and visited different places during their adventure, but were then caught by Team Rocket. Fortunately, Litten, who refused to join Team Rocket, helped them to send the villains away, with Rowlet using its Breakneck Blitz. Then Rowlet and Popplio reunited with their trainers and Ash freed it from the ring, and they watched Litten going back to its home at the sunset.

Rowlet, Pikachu and Bounsweet, along with Mallow and Ash, went to find the nectar for the Alolan stew. On their way, it got attracted by the scent of Bounsweet and she continuously repelled it. When a Pelipper was attracted and put Rowlet into its mouth, Rowlet seemed to be startled at first but then felt enjoyed. As Mallow and Ash left the cave and reached the meadows, Rowlet, Pikachu and the two youngsters were caught by Team Rocket in a net. Luckily, they were rescued by Steenee, who evolved from Bounsweet. In the end, it ignored the warning of Pikachu and wanted to get close to Steenee but got bashed by her leaves and was left hurt on the floor.

When Tapu Koko demanded a rematch, Rowlet and Rockruff wanted to fight with Tapu Koko but they got pushed onto the ground instead.

As Rowlet and Rockruff met Litten and Stoutland, it was happy to see Litten again which Litten returns with a slight smile. Then, Rowlet, Rockruff and Rotom watched Litten joined the team where Rowlet and everyone formed a close friendship with Litten.

Once again, the gang went to the beach, though most of the time Rowlet was sleeping. It was seen encouraging Litten, who failed to use Fire Fang. When Litten and Ash were inside the body of Palossand, it couldn't help them because its Leafage failed and Palossand tried to attack it. After the chaos were over, Rowlet and Rockruff gave each other a high five. Back in the house, Rowlet and Rockruff were seen admiring the efforts of Litten.

Later, it was briefly used when Ash sent it out along with his Rockruff and Litten to find a Charjabug and give it to Sophocles for a present. However, despite being able to fly, it didn't find the Charjabug with the rest of them and was probably lost in the woods for a little while.

It was shown play fighting with Rockruff. At first it got its foot stuck in the sand but later it still managed to fire Leafage and almost did a strike-attack, yet they still bumped onto each other. But unlike Litten, who was ready to fight with Rockruff, who enraged Litten, Rowlet was sleeping and became extremely startled when Rockruff bit on its head.

Rowlet went camping with Ash and the others. For the rest of the camping trip, it was seen sleeping except seeing the revived tree the next morning. The night after the camp, it woke up in the middle of the night and Ash and Pikachu assured it that Morelull didn't drained its energy before it went back to sleep again.

Rowlet, Rockruff and Litten befriended Snowy when Pikachu was having a temporary stay at Lillie's home.

Rowlet was being squished by Olivia's face when she was saying how cute it is.

Rowlet was told by Ash to help grabbing a Mago Berry but it fell asleep when it reached the top of the hill where the Berry Tree was located. After Ash, Mallow and their Pokémon along with Rotom escaped from the group of enraged Fomantis, they arrived at Lush Jungle and there they encountered Totem Lurantis, which Rowlet and Litten fought with. During the battle, Rowlet helped Litten by blocking Castform's Water Gun and soon defeated Castform. As Ash received his Grassium-Z from Lurantis, Olivia, who was hiding all along, appeared and squezed Rowlet and Litten with a big hug.

Rowlet was seen practicing on how to use the Grassium Z-Move, Bloom Doom but it didn't work because Ash didn't have the movements right until Mallow showed him what to do. Then, Ash used Rowlet along with Rockruff in his Grand Trial against Olivia who was using her Lycanroc and Probopass. He commanded Rockruff to use Rock Throw and Rowlet to use Leafage but both attacks were overpowered by Lycanroc's Rock Slide. Then, the two were surrounded by Probopass's Stealth Rock, Rockruff hastily attacked the stones and took damage. Ash had Rowlet lifted Rockruff into the air and it used Leafage on Probopass but the pair became surrounded by Probopass's mini noses, the Puppy Pokémon used Rock Throw to take out two of them but got knocked into the sky by the third one landing on the Stealth Rock. Rockruff was carried by Rowlet again, who used Leafage as a cover to escape, was stopped by Lycanroc who used Accelerock. Seeing Rowlet in trouble, Rockruff kicked one of Probopass's mini noses to defend the Grass Quill Pokémon from a Zap Cannon. Rowlet tried to thank Rockruff but it showed its aggressiveness towards Rowlet, much to everyone's alarm. Soon the two were surrounded again and Lycanroc used its signature Z-Move Continental Crush but the two avoided the attack. Rowlet used Leafage to counterattack Lycanroc's Rock Slide, then it was tailed by the Compass Pokémon's mini noses until the Grass Quill Pokémon caused the noses to hit Probopass instead. Then, Rowlet performed Bloom Doom and defeated Probopass. After Probopass was defeated, Rockruff wanted to continue the battle against Oliva's Lycanroc by itself. When Rowlet tried to help, Rockruff suddenly used Bite, which caused Rowlet to get wounded as a result.

It, along with Litten, was alerted that Ash was missing, but was relieved that he and Pikachu were alright. Once the pair was okay, the returned Ash who informed them that Rockruff was missing and they searched for their friend. When they found Rockruff, Rowlet witnessed Ash, Rockruff and the two other Lycanroc being healed by Tapu Lele. They also saw Rockruff evolve into a Dusk Lycanroc. Afterwards, Rowlet was seen playing with Lycanroc's mane and with Ash, Litten, and Pikachu, they praised Lycanroc upon evolving while Rowlet forgave it for its aggressiveness during the Grand Trial. Soon, Rowlet and the others went back to Melemele Island after the special classes on Akala Island had ended.

Rowlet attended the lecture in the Cerulean City Gym, where it missed the strength of Brock's Steelix due to it falling asleep, but watched Ash's Pikachu fight Misty's Gyarados.

Rowlet quickly became close friends with Nebby, whom Ash promised Solgaleo and Lunala to look after. It seemed to take a liking to sleeping with Nebby in Ash's backpack and even had the ability to recover immediately after it got slapped by Steenee, whose aroma attracted it while calming Nebby down as this act made Nebby laugh.

When Ash and his friends went to Aether Paradise, Faba was very crossed when he got Rowlet out of Ash's bag instead of Nebby who teleport itself away, then he threw Rowlet. Luckily, Ash was able to catch it just in time before scolding Faba's action.

Rowlet was happy Lillie can touch it, after getting over her fears, then it was sleeping with Nebby while the others were playing. Rowlet was the first to noticed that Nebby was missing, then notified Ash and the others about the situation.

Rowlet was in Ash's backpack sleeping then it woke up seeing Nebby glowing where it got out of the bag all freaked out. Rowlet was seen on Ash's head when he explained to Tapu Koko how Nebby is not moving or anything.

Voice actors

 * Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese)
 * Roger Callagy (English)

Trivia

 * Rowlet is the third starter Pokémon to hatch from an egg belonging to a main character, after Dawn's Quilava and Ash's Greninja.
 * Rowlet is being called as モクちゃん (Moku-chan) by Delia in the original Japanese version, while she called it Rowlie in the English dub.