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| Rocking the Virbank Gym! Part 1
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激闘タチワキジム！VSホミカ(前編）
Fierce Fighting at Tachiwaki Gym! VS Homika!! (Part 1)
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First broadcast
| Japan
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June 14, 2012
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| United States
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October 13, 2012
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
| Animation
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Team Kato
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| Screenplay
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冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka
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| Storyboard
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川田武範 Takenori Kawada
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| Assistant director
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浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
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| Animation director
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岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane
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| No additional credits are available at this time.
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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） Fierce Fighting at Tachiwaki Gym! VS Homika!! (Part 1)) is the 83rd episode of the Best Wishes series, and the 740th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on June 14, 2012 and aired in the United States on October 13, 2012.
Synopsis
Template:Incomplete synopsis
In order to get his eighth Badge required for entering the Unova League, Ash finally passes through the gates of the Virbank Gym. The Gym Leader is Roxie, the vocalist in the super punk band "Koffing and the Toxics", which was named after Roxie's main Pokémon, a Koffing which she acquired in Kanto. The Gym also serves as both a live venue and a battlefield. The screams of an audience that love both battles and live concerts fills the air, and Ash livens up the hall with a Thunderbolt from Pikachu.
Brimming with confidence, Roxie makes the outrageous suggestion that Ash will battle with six Pokémon, while she will only use three.
When the battle begins Roxie goes with her Koffing first showing of its incredible speed instantly which Cilan and Iris take note of as Ash proceeds to bring out his Boldore as his first Pokémon, Roxie and her band play as the crowd cheer Ash's name which confuses both Ash and Iris, the referee then begins the battle.
Ash has Boldore use Sandstorm which does some damage but Cilan points out however that Roxie isn't bothered and has Koffing counter with Clear Smog which blows away the Sandstorm and does considerable damage to Boldore pushing it back however it stands its ground and uses Rock Blast which Koffing counters with Gyro Ball and breaks through Rock Blast with ease hitting Boldore and doing critical damage, Koffing then uses Sludge Bomb which Ash has Boldore counter with Flash Cannon evenly matched, Koffing then uses Gyro Ball again attempting to block it with Sandstorm, Boldore is hit by Gyro Ball and is knocked out.
Ash sends out Unfezant next to counter Koffing's speed, starting off with Quick Attack which does little damage, Koffing then proceeds to use Will-O-Wisp which is blown back by Gust, which does a lot of damage, Iris and Cilan compliment Ash on his move and Meloetta is shown smiling, Ash then has Unfezant use Air Cutter which Koffing easily dodges and follows with Sludge Bomb which leaves Unfezant poisoned which Cilan notes is a common tactic from a Poison type gym leader. Koffing then uses Clear Smog doing more damage to Unfezant as she feels the pain of being poisoned. As Ash is worried about Unfezant, she turns to show him that she is okay and proceeds to use Aerial Ace which clashes with Koffing's Gyro Ball, She is pushed back but clashes with Koffing again but is knocked out in the process leaving Ash with 4 Pokémon left.
Ash surprises everyone when be brings out his next Pokémon his Leavanny, with Iris and Cilan commenting that a Grass type like Leavanny is at a disadvantage against a Poison type like Koffing, starting with Energy Ball that does little damage to Koffing, Roxie goes for a head on attack with Gyro Ball which is wrapped up by Leavanny's String Shot, Koffing then tries to use Sludge Bomb but is stopped when Leavanny swings the string making it dizzy and unable to counterattack, Ash has Leavanny reel it in and hit it with Energy Ball which knocks it out at close range.
Roxie brings out her next Pokémon, Scolipede, with higher defense than Koffing. It doesn't feel the Razor Leaf from Leavanny then uses Toxic which leaves Leavanny badly poisoned. Unable to stand due to the poison's effects, Leavanny falls to the ground as the episode ends...
Major events
- For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.
Debuts
Humans
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: Koffing
Trivia
- Due to being shown back-to-back with Rocking the Virbank Gym! (Part 2), there's is no Professor Oak's Live Caster following this episode.
- Prior to the start of the episode in the original Japanese airing, a clip of Ash, Pikachu, and the text saying "Pokémon Movie & TV Anime 15th Anniversary" (Japanese: ポケモン映画＆ＴＶアニメ １５周年), with multiple anime characters saying "Pokémon Anniversary", is presented. This was also shown the airing before the episodes after BW084.
- This is the first time Ash has battled with a Gym Leader and used a different amount of Pokémon than her/him since his rematch with Whitney in A Dairy Tale Ending.
- This method is similar to the way Gym Battles work in the games, where the player is allowed to use any of their six possible Pokémon, while the number of Gym Leader's Pokémon is more limited.
- This episode marks the first physical appearance of a pre-Generation V Pokémon in Unova other than Pikachu and Meowth.
- This two-part episode marks the first time an episode has received a known dub title before airing in Japan, as the titles were revealed two days before this episode aired.
- This episode marks the first time when the status condition "badly poisoned" is seen in the anime.
- This was the first new episode to air after the English release of Pokémon Black and White Versions 2.
Errors
- When Roxie approaches the Trainer with the Gothitelle she had just defeated, the bottoms of her shoes are purple and not blue.
- In one scene for a split second, the pupil in Roxie's right eye is missing.
- Despite being already seen by Ash, Ash used his Pokédex to look up Koffing's entry.
Dub edits
In other languages
Dutch
