DP016

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Diamond & Pearl series

DP017 : Wild in the Streets! →

A Gruff Act to Follow!

DP016   EP482 ズガイドスＶＳピカチュウ！！ Zugaidos VS Pikachu!!

First broadcast Japan January 18, 2007 United States June 28, 2007

English themes Opening Diamond and Pearl Ending

Japanese themes Opening Together Ending 君のそばで 〜ヒカリのテーマ〜

Credits Animation Team Iguchi Screenplay 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka 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

A Gruff Act to Follow! (Japanese: ズガイドスＶＳピカチュウ！！ Zugaidos VS Pikachu!!) is the 16th episode of the Diamond & Pearl series, and the 482nd episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on January 18, 2007, and in the United States on June 28, 2007.

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

Synopsis

This episode starts off with a flashback from the previous episode. The narrator tells of Paul's victory. Now Ash asks if Paul will stay to watch his battle.

Paul laughs, saying it's funny that Ash wants him to watch Ash lose. Before a fight breaks out, both Dawn and Pikachu break it up. Dawn realizes something was wrong. That something was Paul didn't even know her name. All comedy aside, Ash becomes stoked about his battle. Unfortunately, Roark wants to move the battle to the next day.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket are at a museum, plotting to steal some 'cool stuff'. Meowth suggests that first that figure out interesting facts about Pokémon first. As they gazed in awe at a colossal structure of coal, they are approached by a man named Kenzo, who is a Pokémon Researcher.

When inquiring where the trio would like to see in the museum, they all respond by saying the fossil restorer. Dr. Kenzo gladly takes them to it. On the way, he explains that the museum is split into two parts. The main part houses the exhibits, whereas the second part holds many places to do research. He explains that in the research part of the museum, they study the prehistoric Pokémon and their abilities to learn more about them. They then restore the Pokémon and place them in a special environment.

Back with the gang, we see Paul at the Pokémon Center healing his Pokémon. He turns to see Ash and friends. Ash is choosing which Pokémon he is going to use against Roark. After a short brainstorm, Ash decides it'd be best to use Turtwig because it's a Grass-type, Aipom because of her Focus Punch, and Pikachu because of its Iron Tail. Staravia was extremely upset by this, making Brock think that it really likes battles.

When Ash begins to wonder what to do to when, Paul decides to tell Ash to imitate him. Of course, Ash refuses to treat his Pokémon the way Paul does. Just then, a small boy ran up to Paul, thanking him for the Azumarill Paul gave him. Ash is surprised that Paul gave away his Azumarill just because it lost. Ash then says he thought Azumarill was Paul's friend and that Paul could have kept training. Paul said that Azumarill wasn't going to get any better. He then claims he thought Ash wanted to win. Ash says he wants to win, but not the way Paul does. With that, Paul left and Ash vowed not to lose to him again. Dawn seems upset, saying that there are just different kinds of trainers. She then wonders what Elekid and Chimchar think of Paul.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket was plotting to steal the fossil restoration machine. Team Rocket thinks back to when Kenzo showed them the fossil machine. He placed a fossil in one machine and said that the restoration process takes only 24 hours to be complete. One machine was finished restoring an Omanyte. Then they decide to steal fossils as well. However, none of them have a plan.

The episode switches to Ash's Gym battle against Roark. After the rules are stated, Ash is sure that he will show Paul some 'real battling'. Roark first sends out his Cranidos, surprising Ash and Dawn who expected Roark to save Cranidos for last as he did with Paul. Ash decides to start things off with Aipom, hoping to win using her speed. The referee begins the match, and Ash commands Aipom to use Focus Punch. Aipom jumps into the air, spinning herself into a ball. Brock notes the smart move by Ash, getting Aipom into the air should give him an advantage with Cranidos stuck on the ground. Roark tells Cranidos to use Headbutt and Cranidos surprises everyone by jumping into the air and hitting Aipom in the stomach with Headbutt, negating Focus Punch. After Aipom hits the ground, Roark has Cranidos use Flamethrower. Ash is able to keep Aipom out of harm's way with Double Team. However Cranidos easily gets rid of all the Aipom illusions, so Ash decides to go on the attack with Swift sending Cranidos reeling back. Ash now has Aipom try another Focus Punch, so Roark has Cranidos counter with Zen Headbutt. Both attacks collide, causing a massive explosion. However Aipom comes out of it the worst, as she flies into Ash's arms unable to battle. Ash recalls Aipom for some rest and decides to use Pikachu next.

Right off the bat, Ash has Pikachu to use Thunderbolt and Roark commands Cranidos to dodge and use Zen Headbutt. Although Cranidos successfully avoids the Thunderbolt, Pikachu strikes back with Iron Tail, landing a direct hit and knocking Cranidos backwards and smashing down one of the rocks on the Gym floor. Ash believes that should finish Cranidos off, however it surprises him by quickly getting back on its feet and using Headbutt. Pikachu tries to dodge and use Thunderbolt by jumping into the air but Cranidos jumps as well, hitting Pikachu and canceling out the attack. Pikachu tries to use Thunderbolt again but is thwarted by Cranidos' Zen Headbutt. Again, Cranidos uses Headbutt on Pikachu, knocking it to the ground.

Unimpressed, Paul decided it was time to leave. However, Pikachu defended Ash by using a powerful electric attack in the air, making Paul regain interest.

Ash went back to battling, telling Pikachu to use Quick Attack. Cranidos countered with Flamethrower. However, Pikachu was able to dodge it and then used Iron Tail on Cranidos' head. Cranidos, despite all of the damage, was still standing. Roark took a chance and used Head Smash. Ash, too, took a chance, and countered with Volt Tackle. Both moves collided, causing a massive explosion and injuring both Pokémon.

Ash decided it was best to return Pikachu, so he sent out Turtwig instead. He started Turtwig off with a Razor Leaf, which was easily countered by Flamethrower. Turtwig dodged the Flamethrower and used Bite on Cranidos' arm. Cranidos countered again with Zen Headbutt, hitting Turtwig directly on the head. Cranidos then used Flamethrower on Turtwig. Turtwig took massive damage, but was able to jump out of the Flamethrower and use Razor Leaf on Cranidos, finally knocking it out. Ash was relived but knew that he and his Pokémon went through far too much just to knock out one of Roark's Pokémon.

Roark used Onix as his next Pokémon, while Ash still stayed with Turtwig. He immediately told Turtwig to use Razor Leaf, but Onix dodged the attack and used Double-Edge which knocked Turtwig out. Ash used his final Pokémon, Pikachu, once again. Onix used Slam, countering Pikachu's Iron Tail and causing an explosion. Both Pokémon took some damage; however, Pikachu seemed to take the most, being wiped out from battling Cranidos.

Pikachu then used Thunderbolt on the field. When Onix tried to use Double Edge, it was hit by the rocks from Pikachu's Thunderbolt, which also slowed Onix down. Ash then used Quick Attack, but Onix countered by using Screech. Pikachu receives the attack, and is heaved into the nearby rocks which takes him out. Right before Paul left, he only had one thing to say about Ash's loss, calling him pathetic.

Thus ends the battle between Roark and Ash, and Ash losing his first Sinnoh Gym battle.

Major events

• Paul gives his Azumarill to a young boy.
• Ash battles Roark in his first Sinnoh gym match and loses.

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

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Dawn
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Paul
• Roark
• Ian
• Dr. Kenzo
• Boy
• Researcher
• Tourist

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Aipom (Ash's)
• Staravia (Ash's)
• Turtwig (Ash's)
• Onix (Roark's)
• Cranidos (Roark's)
• Aerodactyl (fantasy)
• Kabutops (fantasy)
• Cradily (fantasy)
• Chansey
• Omanyte
• Armaldo

Trivia

• This is the second episode of a four-episode arc in which Ash and co. are in Oreburgh City.
• Music from Jirachi: Wish Maker, Destiny Deoxys, and Lucario and the Mystery of Mew are used as background music.
• Professor Oak's lecture: Ash's Turtwig
• Pokémon senryū: ナエトルは　あたまにはっぱ　はえとるぞ Naetoru wa, atama ni happa, haetoru zo "Naetle, the leaf on its head is growing."
• Jessie, James and Meowth narrate the next episode preview.
• This is the first time Ash has lost to the first Gym leader of a region since he faced Brock in Showdown in Pewter City.
  • This is also the first time that Ash has lost to a Gym Leader that didn't use all of their Pokémon since facing Brock. In this case, Roark used only two of his three Pokémon.
• This is one of the few episodes of the Diamond & Pearl series where Dawn's Piplup does not appear.

Errors

• When Paul meets up with Ash at the Pokémon Center, one young trainer passes by to thank Paul for his Azumarill. Ash's Staravia is seen for a second. After both Ash and Paul have their conversation, Staravia disappears in the next scene.
• Dawn says that Paul has already battled Ash once, when in truth the two of them have battled three times.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		頭蓋龍對抗皮卡丘！
Czech		Já to taky dokážu
Dutch		Norse bomen vangen veel wind!
Finnish		Näytön paikka
European French		Premier match à Sinnoh !
German		Alles auf eine Karte! *
Italian		Un aspro finale' & Fine del primo atto
Polish		Trudny pojedynek
Portuguese	Brazil	Enfrentando um Grande Desafio!
	Portugal	Uma Atitude Incorrecta!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Un estilo que no se copia!
	Spain	Una actuación difícil de superar

← DP015 : Shapes of Things to Come!

Diamond & Pearl series

DP017 : Wild in the Streets! →

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