It was once claimed that their awful speed was the reason which Quilladin, much to their trainers' frustration, never struck first in combat. But this viewpoint never was too widely accepted, for against extremely slow pokemon, they absorbed their foe's first strike, then turned around and attacked twice in a row.
In truth, although Quilladin become as excited as any pokemon in the midst of battles, they are extremely reluctant to battle except in self-defense, and because of this were once used as an argument against forcing pokemon into battle. But if this argument is to be taken as true, it is true only with regard to the Quilladin, for other pokemon do not hesitate to strike the first blow, unless commanded otherwise by their trainers as a stall tactic to take advantage of their foe's lingering injuries.
When two Quilladin confront one another in battle, surprisingly, it does not lead to an eternal stalemate. The two pokemon instead exchange words in their language, and simultaneously they launch the weakest attack they can muster – an emulation of real, stronger techniques, but one which resembles them as a high-five resembles a double-slap - in order to break the stalemate. Once this ritual is completed, and their guilt over striking first is assuaged, the two Quilladin will fight each other as fiercely as in any other match.
For although Quilladin enjoy battles, they do not see them as competition for competition's sake, and motivate themselves by ensuring that they always can claim the defender's moral high ground. Trainers have attempted to convince their pokemon that being released onto a battlefield means they are already in combat, but the Quilladin refuse – not because they are fools, but because for all our rituals to disguise this fact, pokemon matches remain battles.