How to unlock Cyndaquil
Cyndaquil is one of the free starters: pick it from the starter selector at the start of a run and it costs no tickets. Later copies come from the Johto banner, where it sits in the 1★ pool. The 1★ band takes 45% of all pulls and holds 233 partners, so one specific Cyndaquil works out to about 0.1931% per draw. The 70-pull pity counter only applies to 5★ results, so Cyndaquil has no floor of its own and no targeted pull. A duplicate Cyndaquil refunds 15 coins at the 1★ rate.
Cyndaquil stats and rank
Cyndaquil carries 88 HP, 105 speed, a ×1.03 attack multiplier, ×0.99 physical, ×1.03 special, 43 defense and 50 special defense, 309 in total. On the three-stat percentile this is 23.8 out of 100, which puts Cyndaquil at rank 770 of 966 and in tier C. What separates it from its neighbours is shape, not size: its strongest slot is speed (47th percentile) and its weakest is HP (6th percentile), so every one of its stats sits below the roster median, so its case rests on move pool and availability rather than raw numbers.
Best moves in Cyndaquil's pool
At move level 5 the pool is led by Fire Spin at 33.6 damage per 0.30s (115.5 effective DPS, ×1.03 multiplier), then Body Slam at 75.6 damage per 0.71s (105.0 effective DPS, ×0.99 multiplier), then Tackle at 33.6 damage per 0.38s (88.7 effective DPS, ×0.99 multiplier). 7 of its 14 damaging moves scale with the physical multiplier and 7 with the special one, alongside 4 support moves. Its special multiplier is the higher of the two (×1.03 against ×0.99), so special moves convert better. The top option beats the second by 10.4 DPS, which decides slot one and leaves slot two as a judgement call.
Evolution cards for Cyndaquil
Its starting move, Ember, evolves into Fire Blast once the move is at level 5 and you hold the Power card, which boosts attack for that run. Menu upgrades use a separate system and never stand in for Power. 14 of its 18 moves carry an evolution card, across 6 distinct cards (Vigor, Sprint, Power, Reflexes, Armor and Synthesis). The strongest of them is Fire Spin at 115.5 effective DPS, so that is the one worth holding a card for first.
Cyndaquil compared to similar partners
The two closest stat lines in the roster are Charmander (+0 HP, +0 speed, same attack multiplier, +0 total) and Chimchar (+2 HP, -1 speed, -0.01 attack, +0 total). Against Charmander, the two are level on speed and the two carry an identical ×1.03 attack multiplier, and the rank gap is 1 places. Read those deltas as swap costs, because a gain on one line is usually paid for on another, so neither side is a strict upgrade and the move pools have to break the tie.