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Rocking the Virbank Gym! Part 1 (Japanese: 激闘タチワキジム!VSホミカ!!(前編), HepburnFierce Fighting at Virbank Gym! VS Roxie!! (Part 1)) is the 85th episode of Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes! and 35th episode of Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies.

Synopsis[]

On their way to the Virbank City Gym, our heroes are surprised to come across several Trainers who are still reeling from their defeat at the hands of the Gym Leader, Roxie, who specializes in Poison-type Pokémon. With Cilan’s help, Ash discovers the Gym in an underground music club, where Roxie is the leader of the punk-rock trio known as Koffing and the Toxics. Roxie accepts Ash’s challenge, on one condition: she wants him to use all six of his Pokémon against her team of three! Ash is a little unsure about this, but she assures him that he’ll appreciate the numbers advantage. He agrees, and the unusual battle begins—in front of a crowd of rowdy fans and with plenty of musical accompaniment!

First up, it’s Roxie’s Koffing versus Ash’s Boldore. But, as the losing Trainers warned, Roxie proves to be extremely powerful and resourceful, and Boldore is quickly eliminated. Ash sends out his Unfezant next, hoping a Flying type will be able to keep up with Koffing’s incredible speed—but it’s just not enough, and Unfezant is knocked out.

Ash’s third Pokémon is Leavanny, much to everyone’s surprise—as a Grass-type Pokémon, it’s at a disadvantage against Poison-type foes. But Ash has a strategy this time, and he directs Leavanny to wrap Koffing up with a String Shot and reel it in for a close-range Energy Ball. Koffing is finally eliminated, and Roxie is one Pokémon down!

Next, she sends out her Scolipede, and it uses Toxic to send Leavanny reeling! Will Ash be able to recover from this poisonous assault and win his eighth Gym badge?[1]

Episode plot[]

The heroes are heading over the Pokémon Center to get some rest. Ash remembers he needs to plan a strategy for his upcoming Gym Battle. Suddenly, a boy runs near them to the Pokémon Center, Cilan suspects he had a Gym Battle recently. Meanwhile, the Pokémon Ash rescued in PokéStar studios observes him. The heroes enter the Center and see the Trainer with his Pokémon, poisoned. Nurse Joy assures him that they are used to dealing with poisoned Pokémon and has Audino prepare the antidote. They speak with the boy, who talks about the Gym Leader, her specialty being Poison. They also hear other Trainers, who also report their Pokémon were poisoned, some even saying that they lost to just one of her Pokémon. The heroes see this is a serious difficulty. Ash thinks of his team to defeat the Gym, bearing in mind he needs an anti-poison team. He gets hungry, though, and runs off.

Team Rocket, on the other hand, report they encountered the Mythical Pokémon, but it vanished. Dr. Zager understands that and promises to send some goggles to allow them to detect the Pokémon. He logs out, while Team Rocket think that Pokémon lies in Virbank City. Next morning, Ash runs out, while Cilan and Iris order him to slow down. Cilan stops and sees the entrance to the Virbank Gym, a simple door. They come in, down the stairs and enter the Gym itself. They are suddenly overpowered by the sound of loud music, and see that the Gym Leader has just defeated another challenger and his Gothitelle. Cilan notices the Gym Leader's Koffing, stating that it's the first time he's seen one in person. The Gym Leader still congratulates on the challenger for this brave battle which the audience applauds. The challenger is surprised, calls Gothitelle back and thanks her for the battle, then leaves after she tells him to come back and challenge her again soon.

The Gym Leader, Roxie, spots Ash, her new challenger. He greets her and Roxie sees Ash is from Kanto; she mentions that she met Koffing at a concert there and they have been tight partners ever since. Cilan wonders what she means by concert, so Roxie replies they are a punk band known as "Koffing and the Toxics"; they not only battle at the gym they also play music around as well which their fans love. Iris and Cilan see that nobody can think of a strategy with all that noise, so Ash's Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, displaying power. Ash challenges Roxie to the Gym Battle, showing he needs a final badge to enter the Unova League. Roxie is impressed, but replies that she won't make it easy for him, though Ash replies it is worth the Gym Badge. Roxie proposes a 3-on-6 battle. Ash replies it is unfair he has to use six, while she uses three Pokémon. Roxie replies she needs to see how well he has trained and bonded with his Pokémon. Plus, he will thank her later for that opportunity.

Cilan and Iris feel that Roxie must have a lot of faith in her Pokémon, as this battle will require brains and tactics not numbers. The battle starts, and Roxie sends out Koffing and Ash his Boldore. The heroes are surprised that everyone is cheering for both Roxie and Ash. Boldore starts with Sandstorm, which deals considerable damage to Koffing, but it then uses Clear Smog to blow away Sandstorm. Boldore uses Rock Blast, but Koffing uses Gyro Ball to deflect the attack and hit Boldore. Koffing then uses Sludge Bomb, which clashes with Boldore's Flash Cannon. Koffing uses Gyro Ball again, and Boldore tries to slow it down with Sandstorm, but fails and gets hit and defeated. Ash admits Koffing is strong, but it only makes this Gym Battle interesting, making Roxie pleased by his thoughts. Ash recalls Boldore and sends out Unfezant.

Unfezant starts with Quick Attack, hitting Koffing. Koffing uses Will-O-Wisp, but Unfzant blows it away with Gust. She uses Air Cutter, but misses and gets poisoned by Sludge Bomb. Koffing then uses Clear Smog, affecting Unfezant. Concerned, Ash asks Unfezant if she can still battle, and Unfezant confirms. She uses Aerial Ace, but is countered by Koffing's Gyro Ball. Unfezant repeats the attack, but is once again countered and finally defeated. Ash calls Unfezant back, knowing it will be hard if they are struggling with Roxie's first Pokémon. He brings Leavanny, though Roxie reminds him that the Grass-type is vulnerable to poison. Leavanny uses Energy Ball, hitting Koffing, who uses Gyro Ball. However, Leavanny stops it using String Shot.

Koffing tries to use Sludge Bomb, though Leavanny spins it around, reels it in and uses Energy Ball to defeat Koffing. Cilan realizes Ash wanted to lower Koffing's Special Defense, then reel it in with String Shot, knowing the next move would defeat it. The Pokémon Ash saved before watches the battle and is glad Ash won. Roxie is amazed by Ash's strategy, but does not give up and raises the difficulty, sending out Scolipede. Leavanny uses Razor Leaf, but Scolipede is not affected by that move. It blasts Leavanny with Toxic, poisoning him.

Debuts[]

Character[]

Pokémon[]

Trivia[]

  • Who's That Pokémon?: Koffing (JA and EN)
  • Sponsor card messages:
    Main episode
    いよいよバトルスタート!」「VSホミカ! 大激闘のゆくえは?
  • Like in "The Great Eight Fate!", Ash battles the Gym Leader (Roxie here, Juan in the past), the battle split into two episodes in a row. In addition, Ash had to fight both of them for the eighth and final badge.
  • Roxie is the first Gym Leader who made her anime debut prior to the game she was in, Pokémon Black 2 and White 2.
  • There was a moment similar to "Electric Shock Showdown" where Trainers were being beaten one after another by Roxie.
  • The effects of poison has the same visual as the effect of paralysis in the anime, only purple.
  • This is the second time Koffing was featured in "Who's that Pokémon?" in the English version. The first time was way back in "Pokémon Emergency!"
  • This episode marks the first time Ash faced a Gym Leader and used more Pokémon than they did since his rematch with Whitney in "A Dairy Tale Ending".
  • This episode marks the first time that a pre-Generation V Pokémon besides Pikachu and Meowth has physically appeared in Unova.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ^ (n.d.) . "Rocking the Virbank Gym! Part 1 | Pokémon TV (pokemon.com)". From The Official Pokémon Website | Pokemon.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2024.
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