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| Season | Pokémon: Advanced Battle (Season 8) · Mossdeep City: the Mind Badge & Drake arc (AG099–AG101) |
| Episode | Season 8, episode 8 · English episode 373 · Japanese episode 376 · Bulbapedia code AG100 |
| English title | Solid as a Solrock |
| Japanese title | トクサネジム！ソルロックとルナトーン！ Tokusane Jimu! Sorurokku to Runatōn! — “Tokusane Gym! Solrock and Lunatone!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 28 October 2004 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 5 November 2005 · Kids’ WB |
| Screenplay | Junki Takegami |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Challenger!! – Rica Matsumoto · GLORY DAY ~Kagayaku Sono Hi~ (That Shining Day) – GARDEN |
| English opening | Unbeatable – David Rolfe |
| Pokémon Trainer’s Choice | Which is not a pure Fighting type? (Makuhita / Blaziken / Machamp) → Blaziken |
| Previous episode | It’s Still Rocket Roll to Me! (AG099) |
| Next episode | Shaking Island Battle! Dojoach vs. Namazun!! (AG101U) |
Plot episodeMind BadgeThunder Armor
Solid as a Solrock is the 8th episode of Pokémon: Advanced Battle, the eighth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 373rd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 376, Bulbapedia code AG100). It first aired in Japan on 28 October 2004 and in the United States on 5 November 2005. It falls within the season’s Mossdeep City: the Mind Badge & Drake stretch (EP99–EP101).
Synopsis
At the Mossdeep Gym, Rachel explains the rules of the Double Battle and the arena’s field of floating planets as Tate sends out Solrock, Liza sends out Lunatone and Ash chooses Pikachu and Swellow. Outside, Team Rocket wait with a mecha that Meowth bought online, planning to snatch the twins’ Psychic-types. In the opening exchanges the Gym Leaders’ Pokémon land Tackles while simply floating aside from Pikachu’s Quick Attack and Swellow’s Peck, and Pikachu crashes into a planet with Swellow landing on top of him. Next Solar Beam and Ice Beam collide and cancel each other out, sparking an argument between the twins. Swellow’s Aerial Ace connects with Lunatone and Pikachu’s Iron Tail with Solrock, and when the twins order a joint Tackle, Swellow whisks Pikachu away so that Solrock and Lunatone crash into each other.
Team Rocket’s mecha then smashes through the roof and traps Solrock and Lunatone in cages made of reflective “unobtainium” that turn back their Psychic attacks. Pikachu’s Thunderbolt cannot reach the fleeing machine, so Pikachu climbs onto Swellow’s back and they give chase together. Swellow battles through the mecha’s sticky yellow globs, Pikachu’s Thunderbolt breaks the cages open, and the freed Psychic-types crush the machine with Psychic until it explodes over the trio. The battle resumes outdoors on a cliff top, where Lunatone’s Light Screen reflects Pikachu’s Thunderbolt and Solrock’s Sandstorm blocks Swellow’s Aerial Ace. When Pikachu attacks from Swellow’s back, the reflected Thunderbolt hits them both. A combined Solar Beam and Ice Beam wipes out Swellow’s Double Team copies, but the real Swellow and Pikachu strike from above and send both opponents tumbling.
For the finish, Ash tells Pikachu to aim Thunder at the clouds overhead. The lightning strikes both Pikachu and Swellow, wrapping them in a golden glow of electricity, a one-off technique fans call Thunder Armor. Now supercharged, they shrug off Solar Beam and break through Light Screen; Pikachu’s Iron Tail knocks out Solrock and Swellow’s Aerial Ace defeats Lunatone. Tate and Liza, who have learned how much stronger they are when they cooperate instead of squabbling, congratulate Ash and present him with the Mind Badge, his seventh in Hoenn. It is the only one of Ash’s Hoenn Gym battles that Team Rocket interrupt, and the first time he has defeated two Gym Leaders at once. Only Sootopolis City now stands between him and the Hoenn League.
Major Events
- Mind Badge. Pikachu and Swellow beat Solrock and Lunatone in a Double Battle
- Team Rocket interrupt with a cage mecha, the only Hoenn Gym battle they interrupt
- Thunder Armor
- Swellow’s Double Team
- The only time Ash beats two Gym Leaders in one episode
- Ash’s seventh Hoenn Badge
Trivia
- The English title plays on "solid as a rock".
- The screenplay is by Junki Takegami.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Hoenn storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Team Rocket’s motto becomes a song
- Instrumental Advance Adventure and music from Mewtwo Strikes Back
- In the dub Team Rocket’s motto is sung
Part of our Pokémon: Advanced Battle guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.