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| Season | Pokémon DP: Galactic Battles (Season 12) · Lake Acuity: the Full Battle arc (DP130–DP133) |
| Episode | Season 12, episode 26 · English episode 593 · Japanese episode 598 · Bulbapedia code DP131 |
| English title | Pedal to the Mettle! |
| Japanese title | フルバトル！シンジＶＳサトシ！！-前編- Furu Batoru! Shinji Tai Satoshi!! (Zenpen) — “Full Battle! Shinji VS Satoshi!! -Part 1-” |
| First aired (Japan) | 11 June 2009 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 7 November 2009 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Hai Tatchi! (High Touch!) – Satoshi (Rica Matsumoto) & Hikari (Megumi Toyoguchi) · Moeyo Gizamimi Pichū! (Get Fired Up, Spiky-eared Pichu!) – Shōko Nakagawa |
| English opening | Battle Cry – (Stand Up!), Version 2 – Erin Bowman |
| Previous episode | Frozen on Their Tracks! (DP130) |
| Next episode | Evolving Strategies! (DP132) |
Plot episodeFull Battle, part 1Paul’s Magmortar
Pedal to the Mettle! is the 26th episode of Pokémon DP: Galactic Battles, the twelfth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 593rd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 598, Bulbapedia code DP131). It first aired in Japan on 11 June 2009 and in the United States on 7 November 2009. It falls within the season’s Lake Acuity: the Full Battle stretch (EP130–EP133).
On Cartoon Network’s standard-definition feed this and the next episode were zoomed to 4:3, and on the HD feed the cold open appeared in 3:2.
Synopsis
Ash and Paul begin their six-on-six Full Battle at Lake Acuity, trading knockouts as Staraptor defeats Weavile and Honchkrow defeats Grotle. At the Pokémon Center, Reggie explains that the two rivals both want to grow stronger with their Pokémon and differ only in method, and the referee Olivier opens a new battlefield with free substitutions.
Ash leads with Gliscor against Paul’s Torterra, blinding it with Sand Attack and dodging Frenzy Plant, but Torterra traps Gliscor’s tail with Crunch and drains it with Giga Drain until Ash recalls it. Staraptor’s Brave Bird is stopped by Stone Edge, then Staraptor endures Weavile’s Blizzard and Metal Claw and knocks it out with Brave Bird.
Paul’s Electabuzz sets up Light Screen and swaps out for Honchkrow, which outmanoeuvres Grotle with Haze and Night Slash. When Grotle stops to heal with Synthesis, Sky Attack knocks it out, and Brock and Reggie note that Ash’s eagerness clouded his judgement. Pikachu asks to battle next, and Paul sends out Magmortar, his Magmar having evolved.
Major Events
- The Full Battle begins. Six-on-six with free substitutions, refereed by Olivier
- Staraptor beats Weavile
- Honchkrow beats Grotle
- Paul’s Magmar has evolved into Magmortar
- Brock’s Light Screen explanation is the anime’s first use of the term special attack
- Magmortar’s TV debut
Pokémon making their anime debut
Magmortar#0467 · DP131
Captures and evolutions
- Magmar → Magmortar#0467 · Paul · evolved off screen, revealed in the Full Battle
Trivia
- The English title plays on “pedal to the metal”, with the mettle of a Full Battle.
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Sinnoh storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Cartoon Network’s standard-definition feed zoomed it to 4:3, and the cold open appeared in 3:2 on the HD feed
- Reggie’s line that Ash and Paul are “two sides of the same coin” is removed, causing a continuity error when it is recalled later
- Brock says Ash has battled Torterra several times
Part of our Pokémon DP: Galactic Battles guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.