This episode proven to be very good in suspense and synopsis. The character of the day - who had good resemblances of a minor antagonistic person, made this episode just the more interesting and competitive. It made you feel cheering for Ash and being satisfied when Ash captured Cyndaquil at the end of the episode. I think Cyndaquil was like the underdog of Ash's party during Johto and in some way, it maybe was good to change Charizard for a newer Pokémon.
Also, [SPOIL] According to Bulbapedia, it took 507 episodes for Cyndaquil evolve to Quilava, just slightly under a decade [/SPOIL]