Solid As A Solrock (376)

[Murgatroyd]

I said no speculation. Thread Closed until the episode airs.

[Dogasu]

This is the first Gym Leader battle I've been able to see since I came to Japan in March. It'll also be the last one I'll get to see here. Anyways, here's the bullet points:

-Rei, Tate and Liza's mother, is acting as the referee for the match. She explains the rules of the double battle, explaining about the special field that they're in. The field has mock-ups of all the planets floating freely in the air, creating obstacles that wouldn't be there ordinarily. Tate and Liza start by choosing Solrock and Lunatone. Ash instantly chooses Pikachu and, after thinking about how it would be good to have an aerial fighter against these particular foes and in this particular field, he chooses Swellow.

-Outside, Team Rocket plots to steal Lunatone and Solrock. They launch into a Boss Fantasy, in which they imagine him being sad in the dark. Suddenly, Solrock and Lunatone arrive, filling the room with light. An ecstatic Giovanni, donning a top hat and suit, begins to dance happily as the two pokemon continue shining light on the Team Rocket boss. After the fantasy concludes, Jessie and Meowth happily rush off to the Gym to begin, but James stops them. He explains that both Solrock and Lunatone are psychic types, so they'll be more difficult than usual to capture. Meowth says not to worry as he tells them his plan...

-Back at the gym, the battle begins. Solrock uses Tackle on Pikachu, hitting the mouse pokemon. Lunatone uses Tackle as well, hitting Swellow. Now it's Ash's turn. He orders Pikachu to use Quick Attack on Solrock and tells Swellow to use Peck on Lunatone. As Pikachu charges into its attack, Solrock floats out of the way, causing Pikachu to crash into one of the floating planets. The same thing happens with Swellow--it charges toward Lunatone, Lunatone dodges, and Swellow crashes right into a floating planet. Pikachu falls down, and soon after Swellow lands on it. Things aren't looking too good for Ash.

-Tate and Liza are now ready for the next attack. Solrock is told to use Solar Beam while Lunatone is told to use Ice Beam. The two attacks combine and are headed right for Pikachu and Swellow, who are still reeling from their last defeat. Suddenly, the two beams stop in midair! Ash wonders what happens, and soon he sees Tate and Liza arguing amongst themselves! They’re blaming each other for their mistakes, which is keeping them from continuing the battle. Ash sees this as his chance, so he orders Swellow to use Aerial Ace on Lunatone. The attack hits! Pikachu is also ordered to attack, so it hits Solrock with an Iron Tail attack. Tate and Liza notice that their pokemon are getting beaten while they quarrel, so they both rejoin the battle and order their pokemon to use Tackle attack on Pikachu. Pikachu is about to be sandwiched by the two psychic pokemon, but it is rescued when Swellow swoops in and scoops it up. Lunatone and Solrock crash into each other, which causes Tate and Liza to begin arguing again.

-As the twin Gym Leaders blame each other for their constant blunders, the ground starts to rumble. Suddenly, a hole is blown into the roof, and Jessie and James appear! The two Team Rocket members ride in on a flying sun and moon, and they perform their motto like some weird opera duo (I loved it when they said their names..."Musashiiiiiiii~~~~~~~! Kojirooooou~~~~~~!") The motto ends with the roof caving in even more, and we see a giant robot, piloted by Meowth! Meowth tells the group that this mecha has been designed specifically to capture Lunatone and Solrock! Liza complains about the battle field being ruined, so Tate and Liza send out their pokemon to attack. The Team Rocket mecha fires two round cages (think of the cages used to catch the three legendary birds in the second movie) at the pokemon, capturing them both. Lunatone and Solrock are ordered to use Psychokinesis, but the attacks are being absorbed by their cages! Team Rocket laughs at their futile efforts as the mecha makes its escape.

-Ash and the others start chasing after, and they are able to keep up until they get to the cliff where Team Rocket has parked their giant Meowth balloon. Team Rocket attaches the mecha to the blimp, and soon the robot is seen dangling from the hot air balloon as Ash and the others arrive on the scene. Ash orders Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, but the mouse pokemon's attack isn't able to reach. So, Ash has Pikachu jump on Swellow and has them chase Team Rocket that way. Jessie and James look worried, but Meowth tells them not to worry as he presses a button, causing the robot to fire yellow globs at the two pokemon. Swellow presses through as Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on the mecha, causing it to release the two pokemon (they're alright, though, because they're both rock-types). The newly-freed pokemon are told to use Psychokinesis on the robot, crushing it into a small cube. The mecha explodes, and Team Rocket is sent blasting off again.

-Now that everyone's safe, Liza complains about the gym field being destroyed. Rei suggests that they just have the battle there, on the cliff that Team Rocket took off from, and everyone agrees that this is a good idea.

---commercial break---

-Rei announces the start of the battle! Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on Solrock, but Lunatone slides in front of it and guards it with Reflect. The attack hits Pikachu, smashing it into a rocky cliff. Takeshi comments on how much better their combination has gotten since the Team Rocket battle.

-After Pikachu recovers, it is ordered to hop on Swellow's back. The now-airborne Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on Solrock, but the same thing that happened before happens again--Lunatone reflects the attack right back at it. However, this time both Pikachu and Swellow are hit. Tate and Liza know that Pikachu will be alright, but they're surprised to see that Swellow doesn't seem to be affected as well, considering that it's a flying type and all.

-Next, Swellow is ordered to use Double Team, surrounding Solrock and Lunatone. The two psychic types fly back to back as Tate and Liza gauge the situation. Solrock uses Solar Beam while Lunatone uses Ice Beam as the two pokemon spin around, sweeping the air and taking out all the shadow Swellow and Pikachu. Soon they're all disposed of, and Tate and Liza are confused about the whereabouts of the real Swellow and Pikachu. Suddenly, they see the two pokemon flying from above, ready to strike! Solrock and Lunatone are ordered to quickly whip up a Solar Beam and Ice Beam combination, hitting Ash's pokemon! The pokemon start plummeting toward the earth, but Swellow is able to recover quickly enough and swoops up to safety in the knick of time.

-Liza tells Ash that he'll never break through their combination as the young trainer wonders how he'll win. He notices some clouds forming overhead, and suddenly he has an idea. He tells Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on the clouds, confusing the Gym Leaders. Soon, the clouds spit back a streak of lightning, directly hitting Pikachu and Swellow. Pikachu is being supercharged by the lightning, but what about Swellow? It's doing fine as well, and after the shock of electricity the two pokemon appear to be covered in a golden coat. Ash is ready to attack.

-The now super-powered Swellow uses Quick Attack, so Solrock fires a Solar Beam attack on it. Swellow and Pikachu are hit, but they just ignore it and power on through. Lunatone tries an Ice Beam, but its attack is just as futile. Golden-Pikachu uses Iron Tail on Solrock while Golden-Swellow uses Aerial Ace on Lunatone. Both super-powered attacks hit, and as the pokemon’s golden power-ups fade the two rock-type pokemon faint! Rei announces that Pikachu and Swellow have won the battle! Ash goes to hug his two pokemon and receives a shock from the two. Guess they're still a little supercharged from their battle...

-After the battle, Tate and Liza do the standard "give Ash a Gym Badge during a sunset" scene. As Ash proudly holds the Mind Badge up, the narrator announces that he only has one badge left before the Houen League!

The golden-type power-up at the end of the battle seemed too deux ex machina-ish for my tastes, but otherwise it was a nice battle episode. I hope the eighth Gym Battle (whoever it's against) doesn't pull this "a bird type is somehow superpowered by a shock of electricity" type of nonsense.

[frednmethod]

Wow, sounds like a cool episode.

I was kinda expecting (or maybe hoping) Ash to lose in this battle, but I guess he did a pretty good job with swellow and pikachu.

[Shiny May]

overall the gym battle looks like a nice one. The quarreling between Tate and Liza will be funny and it's a good chance for Ash to attack but this goldensun superpower thing is a bit weird and it's so fantasy like. I can't say I like that part of the battle. Like you said Dogasu, I hope they don't do this in the next gym battle because I don't like it !

[Pika Hikari KT]

Oh; so Swellow used Double Team? That had me confused for a while, considering both Pikachu and Swellow learn the move naturally...Man, when's Pikachu going to learn another move?! Well nevertheless, Ash has his Mind Badge; so it's off to Sootopolis City and it's Gym Leader...Whoever it may be, but it's probably going to be Wallace...

[Looper Bone]

H.O.R.R.I.B.L.E.

The fact that he used Pikachu and Swellow to begin with was pretty stupid. And this "golden veil" and "super poweredness" just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It would've better if it were a real battle where he used Corphish and Grovyle or even Torkoal.

This is the worst gym battle of Hoenn so far.

[V Faction]

The golden-type power-up at the end of the battle seemed too deux ex machina-ish for my tastes...

I completely agree. That was WAAAY too convenient and downed the ending. If they were going to pull a win from out their asses like that, they should've at least gone with a new move. This really doesn't sound like it's going to be one of my favorite Gym Battles. Half cookie-cutter, half outrageous.But on the good side, Lunatone and Solrock kicked some tail.

[Chris]

It would've better if it were a real battle where he used Corphish and Grovyle or even Torkoal.

Did you even read the first half? Pikachu and Swellow couldn't even touch the two without resorting to going airborne. Corphish and Torkoal are far too slow to compete against Psychic-types who are notorious for their speed and Grovyle would've gone through the same problem Pikachu did.

Okay, so no Endeavor in this episode, but I was right about Pikachu having something to do with the attack affecting it and Swellow when we all saw the preview.

[PDL]

hmm... the Golden power up thing... it is a bit deux ex Machina-ish, but it could make some sense...

It's only natural that Pikachu could have been powered up in a thunderstorm, but maybe Swellow could have been powered up by it's Guts ability kicking in, we've seen this sort of thing before when Ash caught Taillow...

[Shiny May]

Well I don't like the whole Pikachu and Swellow golden thing. It did look cool. I have to admit that but I dont like that they used that. Pikachu's shock should have weakened Swellow a lot and not giving it a golden color.

[Hales]

Yay! Swellow and Pikachu won! Knew they could do it!

Golden Swellow and Pikachu? cool, a bit out-of-the-blue yes, but cool nevertheless!

I like the idea of Ash trying to hug his victorious Pokemon and still get zapped

Edited to say I saw the Episode pictures and there really cool, especially the pic after Ash gets zapped, the cute picture afterwards where Pikachu and Swellow are looking has me cracking up, cheeky! ;D

[Swellow]

Darn It I was So Hoping for Ash to lose, then rethink And Not Use Pikachu maybe Use Grovyle surfing on Swellow, and an Electric Attack being Super Effective on a Rock attack what Gives right after the Commercial Break

[Serebii]

You guys forget, its not Rock thats resistent to Electric, its Ground

[Swellow]

Not Really I No All Well By Playing Pokemon Yellow, But I didn't think Electric Types could hurt Rock Types As much as it seems they do in Dogasu's Summary of the episode

[JazzJazz]

But I didn't think Electric Types could hurt Rock Types As much as it seems they do in Dogasu's Summary of the episode

Look back at Ash's first gym battle, against Brock... rock-types can surely be hurt by electric attacks, given the right circumstances.

[Chris]

The Pokémon have to be at a certain level of power in order to do any damage to Rock-types with Electric attacks. Pikachu happened to have a good amount of experience and good enough attacks to use to do damage. Ground-types are INVULNERABLE, not Rock-types.

[Gravy]

Gold-plated pokémon eh? Surprising to say the least. Surprising and somewhat disappointing. I'm all for out-of-the-blue manuevors, but the whole concept of this gold power-up thing just seems ridicullous. I know Swellow is supposed to be a tough contender when it comes to being hit with electricity, but getting enhanced strength due to it? Kinda makes me raise an eyebrow and get that 'wtf were they thinking?' feeling.
Of course someone is going to come along and say 'Oh, well, Pikachu channeled its energy into Swellow, so theres your answer'. Well, I say bah to that.
...And I'm still pee'd off at the fact thare was no psychic mind-link between the twins
~end whining~

[MugenKeiji]

Super Swellow/Pikachu...I'm sorry but off all things considered in Pokemon this has got to be one of the biggest copouts I've ever seen. That is of course Diamond/Pearl would do something like that for team battles.

My guess is that Pikachu manipulated the electric current somehow serving as a filter against the electricity making the pulse supercharge itself and Swellow instead of taking pain from the blast.

You know like Magmar's electricproof Air Lens created from heat.

Ah who am I kidding, it's a freaking excuse for Ash to once again use Pikachu and have a use for another unlikely Pokemon to battle. I'm surprised Brock didn't tell him to remember how Rock-types are impervious to Flying-types.

Obviously someone in the creative department's been playing too much Sonic games (I know I could say DBZ, Bomberman, G-Gundam or anything else that uses Gold=Super equation but hey it's my choice)

The Pokémon have to be at a certain level of power in order to do any damage to Rock-types with Electric attacks. Pikachu happened to have a good amount of experience and good enough attacks to use to do damage. Ground-types are INVULNERABLE, not Rock-types.

Rock types on their own take neutral damage from electric attacks unless they're part grass or anything else resistant. That sounds more like fire to me.

[sCiZoR]

I'm not one to bash a Gym match, but this episode absolutely sucked IMO.

TR's plan this time around was brutal and funny. I don't think they've gotten this far in a Gym Leader Pokemon capture plan within AG. They got blown away at Rustboro, Dewford Island, and in Fortree (the others were side-stories). BUT, that whole deal was just so time would be wasted. The actual battle(s) only amounted to 6 or 7 minutes.

The writers seemed to have rushed this battle, hence Pikachu/Swellow going Super-Gold (Masked Rider reference lol) to lay waste...that was cornball. I had thought that Ash was going to have Pikachu shoot its Thunder into the clouds to hit Solrock/Lunatone at a greater power when the back-blast occured, not back at themselves. And, I do agree, at that much power, the electricity should have fainted Swellow, regardless of how much Guts it has. Thumbs down to the writers for this one.

I'm glad that Ash won the Mind Badge and all, but this takes the place of Ash's Mauville Gym match (which I really did enjoy) as the lamest AG Gym battle.

[Murgatroyd]

Those of you who say Oosubame should have been KOed by that blast, I think you're forgetting the episode where Satoshi caught it. Satoshi didn't forget, and so he was able to think of this utterly insane tactic, which is actually a fairly logical extension of what he did 84 episodes ago, in his battle against Tsutsuji. And so, using physical attacks backed by the full power of the Thunder called down by Pikachu, they pulled off a victory.

Edit: On an only slightly related note, is my memory faulty, or was that new music that came with this attack?