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| Season | Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension (Season 11) · Veilstone: Maylene, Reggie & Team Galactic arc (DP066–DP070) |
| Episode | Season 11, episode 16 · English episode 531 · Japanese episode 535 · Bulbapedia code DP068 |
| English title | A Triple Fighting Chance! |
| Japanese title | トバリジム！ルカリオ対ブイゼル！！ Tobari Jimu! Rukario Tai Buizeru!! — “Tobari Gym! Lucario VS Buoysel!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 28 February 2008 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 2 August 2008 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Shōji Yonemura |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Together – Fumie Akiyoshi · Kaze no Messēji (Message of the Wind) – Mai Mizuhashi |
| English opening | We Will Be Heroes – Kirsten Price |
| Previous episode | Crossing the Battle Line! (DP067) |
| Next episode | Enter Galactic! (DP069) |
Plot episodeCobble BadgeDrawn Gym battle
A Triple Fighting Chance! is the 16th episode of Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension, the eleventh season of the Pokémon anime, and the 531st episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 535, Bulbapedia code DP068). It first aired in Japan on 28 February 2008 and in the United States on 2 August 2008. It falls within the season’s Veilstone: Maylene, Reggie & Team Galactic stretch (EP66–EP70).
Synopsis
Her confidence restored by her battle with Dawn, Maylene accepts Ash’s challenge. Ash leads with Staravia against Machoke: Quick Attack is met by Brick Break, and Machoke dodges Aerial Ace before landing Cross Chop, more Brick Breaks and Seismic Toss. Staravia comes back with a lightning-fast Quick Attack and Aerial Ace that knock Machoke out. Meanwhile Team Rocket sneak into the Gym hoping to steal its Pokémon, but they get sidetracked in a relaxation room. Maylene’s second Pokémon, Meditite, blocks Quick Attack and Aerial Ace with Detect while powering up with Meditate, drains Staravia with Drain Punch and confuses it with Confusion, so Ash recalls it. Chimchar’s Scratch is blocked by Detect too, until the move finally fails from overuse and Chimchar lands several hits, but Confusion turns its Flame Wheel around and sends it rolling into a wall.
Ash swaps Chimchar for Staravia, whose confusion has worn off. Staravia pushes through Drain Punch and finishes Meditite with Brave Bird, Meditite’s last Confusion failing for lack of energy. Brock warns that Brave Bird hurts its user as well, and when Maylene sends out Lucario, its Metal Claw intercepts Staravia’s next Brave Bird and knocks it out. Chimchar returns, but Lucario’s speed lets it dodge Flamethrower and Scratch, and Force Palm paralyses Chimchar so that Flame Wheel fails. After several hits from Bone Rush, Chimchar escapes underground with Dig, but Lucario senses its Aura, flushes it out with Aura Sphere and knocks it out with Metal Claw. As Ash sends out his last Pokémon, Buizel, Brock notices that Croagunk is missing: it has found Team Rocket elsewhere in the Gym, where it was quietly practising Poison Jab on a pot of sand, and it stares them down before jabbing them into a blast-off.
Buizel’s Water Gun is met by Aura Sphere, but Buizel dodges Bone Rush and overtakes Metal Claw with Aqua Jet. SonicBoom trades with Bone Rush, Buizel withstands several Aura Spheres, and after taking a Force Palm it learns Water Pulse. Water Pulse and Aura Sphere collide in an explosion that blows a hole in the Gym roof, and a Metal Claw nearly finishes Buizel. Then rain pours through the hole, activating Buizel’s Swift Swim ability. Buizel dodges Bone Rush and combines Water Pulse with Aqua Jet, colliding head-on with Force Palm, and when the dust settles both Pokémon are unable to battle. Connally explains that in a tie the Gym Leader decides whether the challenger has earned the Badge, and Maylene, calling it the best battle of her life, awards Ash the Cobble Badge with her Pokémon’s approval. It is the only official Gym battle Ash has ever drawn, and the second Gym battle in a row fought without Pikachu.
Major Events
- Cobble Badge. Staravia beats Machoke and Meditite, whose Detect fails from overuse
- Lucario beats Staravia and Chimchar
- Buizel learns Water Pulse and its Swift Swim activates
- Buizel and Lucario knock each other out and Maylene awards the Badge
- Ash’s only drawn official Gym battle and his second in a row without Pikachu
Trivia
- The English title plays on “a fighting chance”, for a three-on-three battle at a Fighting-type Gym.
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Sinnoh storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- In Japan, Type: Wild plays as Staravia battles Meditite
Part of our Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.