AG100

← AG099 : It's Still Rocket Roll to Me!

Advanced Generation series

AG101 : Vanity Affair →

Solid as a Solrock

AG100   EP374 トクサネジム！ソルロックとルナトーン！ Tokusane Gym! Solrock and Lunatone!

First broadcast Japan October 28, 2004 United States November 5, 2005

English themes Opening Unbeatable Ending

Japanese themes Opening チャレンジャー!! Ending GLORY DAY 〜輝くその日〜

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 武上純希 Junki Takegami 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

Solid as a Solrock (Japanese: トクサネジム！ソルロックとルナトーン！ Tokusane Gym! Solrock and Lunatone!) is the 100th episode of the Advanced Generation series, and the 374th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on October 28, 2004 and in the United States on November 5, 2005.

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

Blurb

Ash's battle with the Mossdeep Gym Leaders is set to begin. He calls out Swellow and Pikachu versus Tate's Solrock and Liza's Lunatone, taking into account the strange planet-filled aerial battlefield they will be using. Pikachu and Swellow appear to be at a disadvantage, but it is quickly negated by the fact that Tate and Liza aren't working together. Their Pokémon's attacks cancel each other out, and the two even collide head-on when attacking.

Team Rocket interrupts the battle, capturing Lunatone and Solrock with their robot and then escaping in their balloon. Swellow and Pikachu destroy the balloon, freeing the two Rock- and Psychic-types.

The Gym battle must resume, but the Gym has been destroyed—so it is decided they will battle by the water. Unfortunately for Ash, Tate and Liza now have their teamwork back, and they deliver a real pummeling to Ash's Pokémon. Each of his attacks is countered successfully, until he charges his team with Pikachu's Thunder and they break through Lunatone's Light Screen, finishing off the opposing team with Iron Tail and Aerial Ace and winning Ash his Mind Badge!

Plot

Tate and Liza's mother, Rachel, is acting as the referee for the match. She explains the rules of the Double Battle and gives a detailed explanation of the special field they're using. The field has mock-ups of all the planets orbiting the sun, creating obstacles that wouldn't be there ordinarily. Tate and Liza start by choosing Solrock and Lunatone, respectively. Ash instantly chooses Pikachu and, after thinking about how it would be good to have an aerial fighter against these particular foes and in this particular field, he chooses Swellow.

Outside, Team Rocket plots to steal Lunatone and Solrock. They launch into a boss fantasy, in which they imagine him being sad in the dark. Suddenly, Solrock and Lunatone arrive, filling the room with light. An ecstatic Giovanni, donning a top hat and suit, begins to dance happily as the two Pokémon continue shining light on the Team Rocket boss. After the fantasy concludes, Jessie and Meowth happily rush off to the Gym to begin, but James stops them. He explains that both Solrock and Lunatone are Psychic types, so they'll be more difficult than usual to capture. Meowth says not to worry as he tells them his plan...

Back at the Gym, the battle begins. Solrock uses Tackle on Pikachu, hitting the Mouse Pokémon. Lunatone uses Tackle as well, hitting Swellow. Ash then orders Pikachu to use Quick Attack on Solrock and tells Swellow to use Peck on Lunatone. As Pikachu charges into its attack, Solrock floats out of the way, causing Pikachu to crash into one of the floating planets. The same thing happens with Swellow--it charges toward Lunatone, it dodges, and Swellow crashes right into another floating planet. Pikachu falls down, and soon after Swellow lands on it. Things aren't looking too good for Ash at this point...

Tate and Liza are now ready for the next attack. Solrock is told to use SolarBeam while Lunatone is told to use Ice Beam. The two attacks combine and are headed right for Pikachu and Swellow, who are still reeling from their last defeat. Suddenly, the two beams stop in midair! Ash wonders what has happened and soon he sees Tate and Liza arguing amongst themselves! They’re blaming each other for their mistakes, which is keeping them from continuing the battle. Ash sees this as his chance, so he orders Swellow to use Aerial Ace on Lunatone, and it hits. Pikachu is also ordered to attack, so it hits Solrock with an Iron Tail. Tate and Liza notice that their Pokémon are getting beaten while they quarrel, so they both rejoin the battle and order their Pokémon to use Tackle attacks on Pikachu. Pikachu is about to be sandwiched by the two Psychic Pokémon, but it is rescued when Swellow swoops in and scoops it up. Lunatone and Solrock crash into each other, which causes Tate and Liza to begin arguing again.

As the twin Gym Leaders blame each other for their constant blunders, the ground starts to rumble. Suddenly, a hole is blown into the roof, and Jessie and James appear! The two Team Rocket members ride in on a flying sun and moon, and they perform their motto. It ends with the roof caving in even more, and a giant robot appears, piloted by Meowth. Meowth tells the group that this mecha has been designed specifically to capture Lunatone and Solrock. Liza complains about the battle field being ruined, so Tate and Liza send out their Pokémon to attack. The Team Rocket mecha fires two round cages. Lunatone and Solrock are ordered to use Psychic, but the attacks are being absorbed by their cages! Team Rocket laugh at their futile efforts as the mecha makes its escape.

Ash and the others start chasing after, and they are able to keep up until they get to the cliff where Team Rocket has parked their giant Meowth balloon. Team Rocket attaches the mecha to the blimp, and soon the robot is seen dangling from the hot air balloon as Ash and the others arrive on the scene. Ash orders Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, but the Mouse Pokémon's attack isn't able to reach it. So, Ash has Pikachu jump on Swellow and has them chase Team Rocket in the air. Jessie and James look worried, but Meowth tells them not to worry as he presses a button, causing the robot to fire yellow globs at the two Pokémon. Swellow presses through as Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on the mecha, causing it to release the two Pokémon. The newly-freed Pokémon are told to use Psychic on the robot, crushing it into a small cube. The mecha explodes, and Team Rocket is sent blasting off again.

Now that everyone's safe, Liza complains about the Gym field being destroyed. Rachel suggests that they just have the battle there, on the cliff that Team Rocket took off from, and everyone agrees that this is a good idea. Rachel announces the continuation of the battle. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on Solrock, but Lunatone slides in front of it and guards it with Reflect. The attack hits Pikachu, smashing it into a rocky cliff. Brock comments on how much better their combination has gotten since the Team Rocket battle.

After Pikachu recovers, it is ordered to hop on Swellow's back. The now-airborne Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on Solrock, but the same thing that happened before happens again--Lunatone reflects the attack right back at it. However, this time both Pikachu and Swellow are hit. Tate and Liza are surprised to see that Swellow doesn't seem to be affected as well, considering that it's a Flying type.

Swellow is then ordered to use Double Team, creating copies which surrounds Solrock and Lunatone. The two Psychic-type Pokémon fly back to back as Tate and Liza gauge the situation. Solrock uses SolarBeam while Lunatone uses Ice Beam as the two Pokémon spin around, sweeping the air and taking out all the shadow Swellow and Pikachu. Soon they're all disposed of, and Tate and Liza are confused about the whereabouts of the real Swellow and Pikachu. Suddenly, they see the two Pokémon flying from above, ready to strike. Solrock and Lunatone are ordered to quickly whip up a SolarBeam and Ice Beam combination, hitting Ash's Pokémon. The Pokémon start plummeting toward the earth, but Swellow is able to recover quickly enough and swoops up to safety in the nick of time.

Liza tells Ash that he'll never break through their combination as the young Trainer wonders how he'll win. He notices some clouds forming overhead, and suddenly has an idea. He tells Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on the clouds, confusing the Gym Leaders. Soon, the clouds spit back a streak of lightning, directly hitting Pikachu and Swellow. Pikachu and Swellow are being supercharged by the lightning and after the shock of electricity, the two Pokémon appear to be covered in a golden coat, and Ash is now prepared to attack.

The now super-powered Swellow uses Quick Attack, so Solrock fires a SolarBeam attack on it. Swellow and Pikachu are hit, but they just ignore it and power on through. Lunatone tries an Ice Beam, but its attack is just as futile. Pikachu uses Iron Tail on Solrock while Swellow uses Aerial Ace on Lunatone. Both super-powered attacks hit, and as the Pokémon’s golden power-ups fade, the two Pokémon are knocked out. Rachel announces that Pikachu and Swellow have won the battle. Ash goes to hug his two Pokémon and receives a shock from the two. Guess they're still a little supercharged from their battle...

After the battle, Tate and Liza give Ash the Gym Badge. As he proudly holds the Mind Badge up, the narrator announces that he only has one Badge left before the Hoenn League!

Major events

• Ash's Swellow is revealed to know Double Team.
• Ash defeats Tate and Liza, earning the Mind Badge.

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

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• May
• Brock
• Max
• Jessie
• James
• Giovanni (fantasy)
• Tate
• Liza
• Rachel

Pokémon

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

Pokémon Trainer's Choice: Blaziken

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Swellow (Ash's)
• Lunatone (Liza's)
• Solrock (Tate's)

Trivia

Thunder Armor

• Pikachu uses an improvised technique, Thunder Armor, that doesn't exist in the games, and only serves as a Deus ex machina.
• In the dub, Team Rocket uses a variation of their motto and turn it into a song.
• After Team Rocket steals Solrock and Lunatone, James breaks the fourth wall by announcing that "this concludes today's episode of Advanced Pokémon Stealing", obviously a spoof of what was the current season, Pokémon: Advanced Battle.
• This episode features a rare occasion where Wobbuffet does not make an appearance in the motto, although it did appear earlier in the episode.
• The English title of this episode is based on the phrase "as solid as a rock", though it is also similar to the title of AG087, "Crazy as a Lunatone".
• Music from Mewtwo Strikes Back and Pokémon Heroes is used as background music.
• This is one of the few, if not only, official battles in which the referee declares that a Pokémon "cannot battle" instead of "unable to battle".

Errors

• Before the battle started, Ash's shirt-sleeves were colored blue like his jacket. The same mistake happens in Sitting Psyduck.
• For a moment one of Liza's white hair ornaments is missing.
• Solrock is able to use SolarBeam immediately, despite Liza telling Tate in the previous episode that the move had to charge first.

Dub edits

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

• Question: Trainers, which one of these Pokémon isn't a pure Fighting-type?
• Choices: Makuhita, Blaziken, Machamp
• Answer: Okay, Trainers! If you chose Blaziken you were right!

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		綠嶺道館！太陽岩與月石！
Finnish		Kova kuin Solrock
Canadian French		Solide comme un Solaroc
German		Bei aller Freundschaft
Hebrew		קרב התאומים krav hate'omim
Italian		Incontro tra le stelle
Brazilian Portuguese		Sólido como um Solrock
Spanish	Latin America	¡Sólido como un Solrock!
	Spain	Sólido como un Solrock
Swedish		Upprymd igen!

← AG099 : It's Still Rocket Roll to Me!

Advanced Generation series

AG101 : Vanity Affair →

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