DP108

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Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

DP109 : Leading a Stray! →

Dealing With Defensive Types!

DP108   EP574 ミオジム戦！はがねのバトル！！ Mio Gym Match! Steel Battle!!

First broadcast Japan December 25, 2008 United States May 30, 2009

English themes Opening Battle Cry - (Stand Up!) Ending

Japanese themes Opening ハイタッチ！ Ending あしたはきっと

Credits Animation Team Iguchi Screenplay 藤田伸三 Shinzō Fujita Storyboard 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada Assistant director 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada Animation director 岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

Dealing With Defensive Types! (Japanese: ミオジム戦！はがねのバトル！！ Mio Gym Match! Steel Battle!!) is the 108th episode of Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, and the 574th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on December 25, 2008 and in the United States on May 30, 2009.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

With Oreburgh Gym Leader Roark as referee, Ash starts his 3-on-3 Gym battle against Byron, Canalave's fossil-loving Gym Leader. Byron's first Pokémon is the Steel-and-Psychic Bronzor, so Ash sends out Chimchar, a Fire-type Pokémon. But Bronzor's Ability, Heatproof, helps protect it against Chimchar's Fire attacks, and then it uses Rain Dance to rain on Chimchar's parade! Chimchar refuses to give up, and uses Flame Wheel in a head-on charge against Bronzor's Gyro Ball—the hit knocks out Bronzor, but Chimchar barely manages to stay on its feet!

Elsewhere in the Gym, Team Rocket sneaks in to steal Byron's fossils... and the contents of his fridge! However, Byron's Omanyte, Omastar, and Kabuto blast the intruders back where they came from. Over on the battle floor, Steelix takes on Buizel; Buizel should also have a type advantage, but it can't get past Steelix's Screech. Before Ash can counter, Steelix hammers Buizel with Iron Tail, and Buizel's fight is done! Ash sends Chimchar back in to knock out Steelix with Flame Wheel, and now it's faced with Byron's prized Bastiodon.

As Team Rocket sneaks back into the Gym, only to be tossed out again by Byron's Armaldo and Cradily, Chimchar proves too exhausted to defeat Bastiodon. Now it's up to Ash's Gliscor, making its Gym battle debut! It takes a pummeling from Bastiodon, but it keeps fighting and uses its aerial advantage to get past Bastiodon's defenses. That lets it knock Bastiodon out with an explosive Fire Fang! Gliscor's first Gym battle is a success, and Ash is now the proud owner of a Mine Badge!

Plot

Ash's Gym battle with Byron is about to begin as Roark prepares to officiate the match. Byron summons Bronzor while Ash summons Chimchar. Roark recognizes Chimchar from his battle against Paul. Chimchar immediately jumps up and fires Flamethrower. Bronzor stays in place and resists the attack thanks to its Ability Heatproof, something Byron trained for. Chimchar repeats the attack as Bronzor uses Rain Dance to change the weather and weaken Chimchar's Fire-type moves. Chimchar Digs as the Rain Dance wears off. Chimchar comes out and fires Flamethrower, but Bronzor uses Gyro Ball to dodge and hit, knocking Chimchar down. Chimchar gets back up as a second Gyro Ball comes about. Chimchar meets the attack head-on with Flame Wheel. The collision creates a huge explosion, bringing both Pokémon down. Ash and Byron urge their Pokémon to get up. Though both struggle to get up, Bronzor collapses, unable to battle. Noticing Chimchar's fatigue, Ash recalls Chimchar from battle.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket sneaks around the Gym to try and steal the Fossils. However, they make a detour to the kitchen to steal the food. A Kabuto, Omanyte, and Omastar find them. Omanyte and Omastar use Water Gun and Kabuto uses Aqua Jet to send Team Rocket blasting off from the Gym for good.

Byron sends out Steelix as Ash calls upon Buizel to battle. Dawn believes in the type advantage since Steelix is a Steel and Ground type, but everyone else knows that it may not be a big advantage. Knowing about Steelix's strong defenses, Ash hesitates to make a move, but Byron's motivation gets him moving. Buizel fires Water Gun as Steelix uses Screech to both repel the attack and stall Buizel. Dawn notices how the move is the same technique that Roark's Onix used in Ash's first battle with Roark. Steelix uses Bind to ensnare Buizel before using Iron Tail to toss Buizel and slam him to the ground. When the dust clears, Buizel still stands, but he collapses unable to battle. After checking to make sure Buizel wasn't severely injured, he recalls his Pokémon.

Ash summons Chimchar once again to battle. The Chimp Pokémon fires Flamethrower immediately, striking and causing Steelix to falter. However, Chimchar staggers, still reeling from the first round. Steelix launches Iron Tail as Chimchar back-flips to dodge. After a brief hesitation, he digs into the field, but Steelix uses Iron Tail on the battlefield to force Chimchar. Steelix tries to bind Chimchar, but it dodges before digging again. Steelix repeats its attempt, forcing Chimchar out and attempting another Bind, but Chimchar dodges again. Steelix tries to follow up, but the ground near Steelix caves and throws the Pokémon off balance, due to Chimchar's digging. Chimchar hits with Flame Wheel to Steelix's head, knocking it out. Meanwhile, Team Rocket attempts to sneak into the building again, but a Kabutops chases them away.

Byron summons his prized Pokémon Bastiodon. Ash reflects on how it stopped Rampardos's Head Smash and notices Chimchar's declining energy. Wanting to finish quickly, Ash has Chimchar launch Flamethrower immediately. Bastiodon's Iron Defense easily deflects the attack before it counters with Metal Burst, blasting Chimchar against a rock. Chimchar struggles to rise, but he falls back down, unable to battle and Ash recalls him.

Team Rocket returns to the Gym and finds a display room showing special Fossils. They run into an Armaldo and a Cradily, but the two Fossil Pokémon manage to blast Team Rocket out from the Gym with their combination of Hyper Beam and Energy Ball.

Ash summons his final Pokémon, Gliscor. Dawn questions why he didn't choose Staravia for aerial attacks, but Brock believes in Ash's choice, this being Gliscor's first Gym battle. Gliscor gets behind Bastiodon and uses Steel Wing, but Bastiodon uses Iron Defense to repel. Gliscor tries to get behind again and attempts Fire Fang, but Bastiodon's Flash Cannon hits Gliscor and halts the attack. While Gliscor hits the turf, Bastiodon charges with Iron Head. Gliscor quickly flies up to dodge, but Bastiodon comes back around and tosses Gliscor up with a second Iron Head. Bastiodon succeeds with a third Iron Head, keeping Gliscor suspended. Bastiodon fires Flash Cannon, but Gliscor spreads its wings to dodge before jumping on Bastiodon's back, grabbing its horns, and landing a Fire Fang.

Bastiodon tries to throw Gliscor off but Gliscor hangs on and repeats Fire Fang. Bastiodon tosses it off and fires Flash Cannon, but Gliscor uses its tail to trip Bastiodon and causes the attack to miss. Bastiodon and Gliscor are both exhausted. Both Ash and Byron know that the last hit will decide the outcome. Bastiodon charges with Iron Head. Gliscor uses X-Scissor to stop Bastiodon, but it fails. Ash tells Gliscor to take cover behind a rock, so Byron has Bastiodon smash it. It does so, but Gliscor manages to fly up at the last moment. Bastiodon fires Flash Cannon, but Gliscor dodges and uses Sand Attack to cloak the area before hitting with a close-range Fire Fang. The explosion tosses both Pokémon aside, but Bastiodon falls, unable to battle. Ash wins the match as Gliscor hugs Ash. Afterward, Roark and Byron congratulate Ash on his victory. Byron gives Ash the Mine Badge, which he gladly accepts.

Major events

Ash holding the Mine Badge

• Ash battles and defeats Byron in a Gym battle, earning the Mine Badge.

For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Dawn
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Byron
• Roark
• Gym referee

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Piplup (Dawn's)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Chimchar (Ash's)
• Buizel (Ash's)
• Gliscor (Ash's)
• Onix (Roark's; flashback)
• Bastiodon (Byron's)
• Bronzor (Byron's)
• Steelix (Byron's)
• Omanyte (Canalave Gym's)
• Omastar (Canalave Gym's)
• Kabuto (Canalave Gym's)
• Kabutops (Canalave Gym's)
• Cradily (Canalave Gym's)
• Armaldo (Canalave Gym's)

Trivia

• Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Examination: Machoke
• This is Gliscor's first Gym battle, and as of this episode, Ash's entire team has now participated in at least one Gym battle.
• This episode marks the shortest time between Gym battles for Ash against a Sinnoh Gym Leader. Ash's last Gym battle was just six episodes ago, against Fantina.
• Coincidentally, 108 episodes into the Johto League arc is Nerves of Steelix!, another episode featuring Ash earning his sixth regional badge in a battle that involves a Steelix.
• Music from Mewtwo Strikes Back and Pikachu's Vacation is used, while Pokémon Symphonic Medley is used as background music.
• Meowth breaks the fourth wall during this episode.
• A remixed version of Team Magma and Team Aqua's battle music is used in this episode.
• Team Rocket doesn't recite their motto during this episode.
  • Team Rocket does, however, recite part of a variation of their motto without the background music. Before they could finish, though, Meowth cuts it short and, while breaking the fourth wall, says, "Look, kids, since you know what comes next, let's cut to the chase."

Errors

• In multiple scenes, the stripes on Byron's pants are colored gray instead of yellow.
• After colliding with Flame Wheel and Gyro Ball, respectively, both Chimchar and Bronzor initially appear to fall, even though Bronzor is the only one to actually fall.
• The scene where Ash sends Gliscor out is recycled from Chim - Charred! when Paul sends out his Gliscor and the same errors are present; the black lines on Gliscor's arms are missing, and the upper part of its wings is colored red instead of gray.

• 

  Byron's miscolored pants

• 

  Gliscor's arm error

Dub edits

• In the English dub, Onix's voice during the flashback of A Gruff Act to Follow! sounds different from how it sounded in the actual episode.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		水脈道館賽！鋼系對戰！
Czech		Zápas s obrannými typy
Danish		Forsvar er det bedste angreb!
Dutch		Omgaan met defensieve types!
Finnish		Puolustustyyppien kohtaaminen!
European French		L'art de la défense!
German		Wohl bedacht ist halb gewonnen!
Italian		Trattare con chi sta sulla difensiva!
Korean		운하체육관 시합 지우 VS 동관!
Norwegian		Å takle defensive typer!
Polish		Damy sobie z nimi radę
Portuguese	Brazil	A Defesa é o Melhor Ataque!
	Portugal	Lidando Com Tipos Defensivos!
Romanian		O Luptă de Tip Defensiv
Russian		Эш против Байрона! Esh protiv Bayrona!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Lidiando Con Tipos Defensivos!
	Spain	¡Enfrentándose a Defensas Fuertes!
Swedish		Att handskas med defensiva typer!

← DP107 : Ancient Family Matters!

Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

DP109 : Leading a Stray! →

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.