Riding the Winds of Change! – Pokémon Season 11, Episode 12

Plot episodeAsh catches GligarPaul catches Gliscor

Riding the Winds of Change! is the 12th episode of Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension, the eleventh season of the Pokémon anime, and the 527th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 531, Bulbapedia code DP064). It first aired in Japan on 24 January 2008 and in the United States on 5 July 2008. It falls within the season’s Solaceon: the Unown ruins & Dawn’s slump stretch (EP60–EP65).

Synopsis · Major Events · Trivia · All episodes

Synopsis

Picnicking in a city on the way to Veilstone, Ash and Turtwig keep practising Energy Ball, still without much accuracy, until a flock of Gligar led by a larger Pokémon swoops down and steals the food. Turtwig’s Energy Ball and Razor Leaf both miss the leader, which Brock and the Pokédex identify as Gliscor, Gligar’s evolved form. Suddenly an Ice Beam from a Weavile knocks Gliscor out of the air: Paul has arrived, and his Murkrow scatters the flock. When a strong wind rises, Gliscor leads its followers away, but one slow Gligar lingers to finish an apple, pulls a face at the group and crash-lands on Ash before fleeing under the glares of Pikachu, Piplup and Turtwig. Paul remarks that Gliscor lives up to its reputation, tells the others to stay out of his way and walks off. Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy then arrive and explain that the city’s food has been stolen again and again.

A storm blew Gliscor into the city, they explain, where the winds between the skyscrapers trapped it, and its cries, amplified by the buildings, have drawn Gligar from all around. Jenny’s plan to lure the flock into a wind current that will carry it out of the city is spoiled when Team Rocket capture Gliscor and the Gligar in a container beneath their balloon that resists Thunderbolt, Bubble Beam and X-Scissor. The rope proves weaker than the container: the slow Gligar cuts it, the container crashes into a ruined building, and Ash runs to save the little Pokémon, which lands on him again. The freed flock’s X-Scissors bring the balloon down, but the debris blocks the road and the plan cannot be repeated, so the group decide to create a wind current of their own using Gust from the Pokémon at the Pokémon Center. Later Paul’s Weavile freezes the Gligar, Gliscor melts the ice with Sandstorm, and the flock escapes again.

Paul tracks Gliscor down with Weavile and Electabuzz. Their Ice Beam and Thunder combination cannot find a clear target among the swarming Gligar until Thunder Punch scatters them, and Gliscor’s X-Scissor sends Electabuzz flying. Ash arrives with the friendly Gligar to offer Gliscor help returning to the wild, but before it can answer, Paul’s combination knocks it down and he catches it, scans it with his Pokédex and ignores Ash’s protests about the leaderless flock; when the little Gligar charges him, Electabuzz swats it aside with Thunder Punch. Ash and Dawn lure the confused Gligar to the Pokémon Center, the little Gligar reassures the others, and the Center’s Pokémon blow the flock out of the city with Gust. Team Rocket strike once more, and Turtwig’s Energy Ball finally lands, destroying their balloon for their third blast-off of the day. Turtwig launches the slow Gligar after its flock with another Energy Ball, but it flies straight back and lands on Ash, so he catches it.

Major Events

• Ash catches Gligar and Paul catches Gliscor. A Gliscor-led flock of Gligar trapped by the winds between skyscrapers
• Turtwig masters Energy Ball
• Team Rocket blast off three times
• Gliscor’s TV debut

Pokémon making their anime debut

• Gliscor#0472 · DP064

Captures and evolutions

• Gligar#0207 · Ash · the slow Gligar that keeps landing on him
• Gliscor#0472 · Paul · the leader of the Gligar flock

Trivia

• The English title plays on the Scorpions’ “Wind of Change”, for Gligar, the FlyScorpion Pokémon, riding the wind.
• The screenplay is by Shinzō Fujita.
• This is a plot episode: it advances the Sinnoh storyline.

Part of our Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.