AG058

←	AG057 : Going for a Spinda

All Torkoal, No Play

AG058

EP332

ハガネの谷を突破せよ！コータスVSハガネール！！
Breaking Through Valley of Steel! Cotoise VS Haganeil!!

First broadcast

Japan	January 8, 2004
United States	November 27, 2004

English themes

Opening	This Dream
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	アドバンス・アドベンチャー
Ending	スマイル

Credits

Additional credits
Animation	Team Ota
Screenplay	冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka
Storyboard	秦義人 Yoshito Hata
Assistant director	秦義人 Yoshito Hata
Animation director	宍戸久美子 Kumiko Shishido

All Torkoal, No Play (Japanese: ハガネの谷を突破せよ！コータスVSハガネール！！ Breaking Through Valley of Steel! Cotoise VS Haganeil!!) is the 58th episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 332nd episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on January 8, 2004, and in the United States on November 27, 2004.

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

Blurb

Ash and friends are walking through the Valley of Steel on their way to Petalburg Gym when they encounter a Torkoal being attacked by a Skarmory and several Magnemite. May's Skitty and Torchic drive the Steel-type Pokémon away.

The Pokémon of the Valley of Steel turn out to be very territorial, and both Torkoal and the kids have put themselves in danger by trying to cross the valley. Regardless, they decide to press on.

Team Rocket is in pursuit, though at first the trio is attacked by Skarmory and later Steelix. They are sent blasting off and nearly hit Ash and his friends on the way down, falling into a chasm instead. May tumbles off the edge, and Ash and Torkoal work together to save her. They are attacked by a Magneton, which Torkoal sends flying using Flamethrower.

Magneton is found by the Steelix, who then goes looking for Torkoal and the kids. When they meet, it turns out that Torkoal came to the valley looking for a fight with this powerful Pokémon. The two begin to fight, with Ash directing Torkoal. Steelix has the advantage until Torkoal uses Overheat, knocking the giant Steel-type out.

Torkoal joins Ash's roster of Pokémon, and the gang leaves the Valley of Steel.

Plot

Eager to reach Mauville City, Brock leads Ash, May, and Max into what he believes is a shortcut. Instead, he manages to get them hopelessly lost in a bleak-looking wilderness, the Valley of Steel. As they look at the map, Ash suddenly sees something strange in the sky, a Torkoal being attacked by a pair of Magnemite and a Skarmory! Ash rushes towards the fight with Pikachu; together, they are able to drive off the angry Pokémon. Happy to be rescued, the Torkoal thanks Ash and his friends by accidentally covering them with soot. Suddenly, it hears a noise and runs off into the distance leaving a very confused Ash behind. Up in the sky, Jessie, James, and Meowth float by in their Meowth balloon. Meowth notices a Skarmory and translates its cries as a warning for the trio to leave the area. Before they can turn around, the angry Pokémon blast Team Rocket off by slicing open their balloon with a Wing Attack.

Back on the ground, Ash and his friends are about to cross a rocky valley, which Brock claims will get them back to the main road. Suddenly the two Magnemite from before appear, and begin attacking. The group is forced to hide behind some rocks. Pikachu tries another Thunderbolt, but the two Magnemite are unfazed, and soon Ash and Pikachu also retreat to safety. Taking some of Max's advice, May calls out Torchic, who drives them off using Ember. May praises her Pokémon's efforts, while Brock becomes increasingly suspicious of the wild Pokémon's aggressive behavior.

A sudden explosion alerts the group, and it is revealed to be Torkoal, who once again is being attacked by Skarmory and three Magnemite. Ash leaps to the rescue. May decides to join in, and just as she and Torchic are about to join the battle, her Skitty emerges from its Poké Ball. May is initially agitated, but Max and Brock remind her that by combining Skitty's Assist and Torchic's Ember, the double attack could prove more effective. May orders an Assist, which turns into Beautifly's String Shot, which tangles the Magnemite trio in sticky threads. Torchic launches an Ember which frees the Magnemite, though they quickly fly off. Skarmory replies with a Swift attack, and Pikachu's Thunderbolt attracts the Pokémon's attention away from May. Just as Skitty and Torchic are running in to attack, Torkoal uses its Flamethrower which sends Skarmory flying away. The effort causes Torkoal to collapse from exhaustion.

While tending to Torkoal's injuries, Brock tells everybody that they stumbled into the Valley of Steel, a place filled with wild and very aggressive Steel Pokémon. Torkoal probably got lost and was attacked by the Pokémon, just like they were. Ash suggests Torkoal should team up with them, and explains that he is certain that its power, along with their other Pokémon, will be enough to get them safely out of the valley. Torkoal agrees, but suddenly the sound from before rings out, and Torkoal runs off toward it. Brock speculates that the noise might be coming from another Pokémon, one far stronger than the Skarmory and Magnemite. They head in the direction Torkoal ran. In another part of the valley, Team Rocket runs away from an angry Magneton. Its Electric attacks send them blasting off for a second time. They land directly in front of a very large and angry Steelix. Not wanting to be attacked, Team Rocket tries to be nice to it by polishing its body. Thinking they have done a good job, Steelix's tail glows a brilliant white. However, Team Rocket is met with Steelix's Iron Tail attack, which sends them blasting off yet again. They land right next to Ash and his friends, who have reunited with Torkoal on the edge of a big crevice. Bouncing away, Jessie, James, and Meowth fall into the fissure, inadvertently knocking May and Torchic in as well.

Grabbing onto a branch, May is able to keep herself from falling to the bottom of the crevasse. But a wild Magneton soon arrives and tries to knock her off using Electric attacks. Torchic, Pikachu, and Torkoal all use both of their attacks to keep it away, while Brock and Max lower Ash down on a rope to rescue May. After successfully dragging May back up, Torkoal manages to hit the Magneton with a Flamethrower, driving it away for good. Injured, the Magneton flies to Steelix's location and tells it where Ash and the others are. Angry, the Steelix uses Dig and begins heading towards them. Ash and his friends finally reach the edge of the valley, which is marked by a river. Before they can cross, the Steelix suddenly comes out of the ground and begins to attack. Brock realizes that this Steelix is the reason Torkoal entered the valley; it wanted to challenge it to a fight to prove its strength. Just as the other Steel Pokémon are about to join the battle, Steelix wards them off with its stern gaze. With Ash giving out commands, Torkoal and Steelix square off in single combat. Ash soon realizes that Torkoal's Flamethrower is doing little damage to Steelix, despite its weakness to fire attacks. Steelix digs into the earth, and Ash anticipates its attack he remembers his fight against Flannery, who had her Torkoal perform Overheat. Despite Brock's warning that Overheat gets weaker after each time it is used, Ash orders Torkoal to perform the attack. The gaps in its shell glow red, as Torkoal and Ash wait anxiously. Steelix suddenly resurfaces, but Torkoal manages to land a direct hit. Steelix swats the attack with an Iron Tail, much to Ash's surprise. However, Steelix collapses from exhaustion. Just as Skarmory and the others are about to swoop in on the match, Steelix rises up again. A few moments pass as Steelix and Torkoal exchange intense stares, but the Steel Pokémon retreat. Ash suggests that Steelix finally recognized Torkoal's strength, and the group prepares to finally leave the valley. After crossing the river Ash asks Torkoal if it'd like to join his team. Torkoal tearfully accepts his offer and agrees to become one of Ash's Pokémon, as the journey continues.

Major events

Torkoal joining Ash's team

Ash catches a Torkoal.

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Ash's Torkoal

Characters

Humans

Ash
May
Brock
Max
Jessie
James
Flannery (flashback)

Pokémon

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

Pokémon Trainer's Choice: Numel

Trivia

The episode's English dub title is a variation of the proverb "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", a quote first coined by the Egyptian sage, Ptahhotep, in 2400 BCE. This quote was made famous in The Shining, a best-selling horror novel written by author Stephen King and even more so in Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of the same name.
This episode is featured on the Volume 2: Fire edition of Pokémon Elements.
Team Rocket breaks the fourth wall near the beginning of this episode when they say, "We're blasting off already!".
Team Rocket doesn't recite the motto in this episode.
OK! is used as background music during the battle between Torkoal and Steelix.
Despite Sky Attack having existed in the games since Generation I, this is the first time it is used in the main series anime.

Errors

When May commands Torchic to use Ember, her bandanna's pattern is on the wrong side.
When Team Rocket lands on the ground before falling into the canyon, the black circle on Torkoal's head is missing.
When Magneton reappears, Ash says "not them again", despite Magneton being one Pokémon.
Just before fighting Steelix, Ash says "So, Steelix, why did you hurt my Torkoal like that?", even though he hadn't caught it yet.
When Torkoal uses Overheat, May says, "Wow! So that's an Overheat attack!", even though she saw Flannery's Torkoal use Overheat only two episodes earlier.
In the English dub, Ash says "Now it's you and I, Torkoal", which is grammatically incorrect; the correct pronoun would be "me" instead of "I".

May's bandanna error
Torkoal's missing circle

Dub edits

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

Question: Trainers, Which Pokémon evolves into Camerupt?
Choices: Torkoal, Slugma, Numel
Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose Numel, you were right!

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		突破鋼之谷！煤炭龜VS大鋼蛇！
Danish		Sådan leger vi ikke
Dutch		Op hete Torkoalen zitten
Finnish		Tulinen Torkoal
European French		La vallée infernale
German		Qual aus Stahl
Hebrew		עמק ברזלemek habarzel
Hindi		जिद्दी Torkoal Ziddi Torkoal' *
Italian		Non entrate in quella valle!
Korean		코터스! 강철계곡을 돌파하라!
Norwegian		Bare Torkoal og ikke noe gøy!
Portuguese	Brazil	O Torkoal
Portuguese	Portugal	Torkoal Sem Diversão
Russian		Так закалялся Торкол
Spanish	Latin America	¡Un Torkoal en problemas!
Spanish	Spain	Con Torkoal no se juega
Swedish		Ståldalen!