Ash's Boldore

Ash's Boldore (Japanese: サトシのガントル Satoshi's Gantle) was the eighth that   in the Unova region, and his fortieth overall.

History
Boldore was introduced as a in Gotta Catch A Roggenrola! when it literally crashed into 's food in distress. Ash battled it, but it managed to knock out both and. It later met Ash again when they came to investigate a tunnel, where they found harvesting wild Roggenrola for their cannon. It too was collected, and Ash managed to save it, but not before Team Rocket caused a cave in with a powerful Flash Cannon created by all the Roggenrola they collected. After they escaped the tunnel, they found Team Rocket in a warehouse where Ash and Roggenrola managed to free the other Roggenrola. Once they were reunited, they sent Team Rocket blasting off with a combined Flash Cannon. After being cured at the Pokémon Center, Roggenrola challenged Ash to a rematch, where it was eventually defeated by Tepig and captured.

In the next episode, Roggenrola was used to help locate where the missing were going. Cilan stated that Roggenrola had sensitive hearing similar to Audino and could pick up sounds that were inaudible to humans. Thanks to it, they were able to find out where the Audino were being kept. It also made use of its Stone Edge by destroying Team Rocket's sound wave machine that controlled the Audino, thus setting them free.

In Battle For The Underground!, Roggenrola was used to propel the train cart Ash and friends were riding on to get away from Team Rocket; along with Tepig using, which soon became , and using. In Stopping the Rage of Legends! Part 2, Roggenrola helped rescue the members of the Forces of Nature from Team Rocket. It repeatedly used Flash Cannon on Dr. Zager's helicopter until it was joined by Pikachu, Iris's Axew and and Cilan's Pansage to cause the forcefield prisons trapping the trio to break.

Roggenrola was Ash's final Pokémon in his Driftveil Gym battle against Clay and his, despite the type disadvantage, Ash chose Roggenrola as he wanted it to endure 's powerful attacks and then counterattack. Roggenrola used Sandstorm creating a, but this did no visible damage to Excadrill being a part  and part. Excadrill then used Drill Run underground, hitting Roggenrola multiple times by going in and out of the ground. Excadrill then used its one-hit knockout move on Roggenrola, but Roggenrola endured it thanks to its, but looked damaged. It then immediately evolved into a. Excadrill used Horn Drill again but was blocked by Sturdy once more, and then went for another Drill Run. Boldore caught this and used its red stones to communicate with Ash about its new move, Rock Blast. Using Rock Blast Boldore was able to deal damage to Excadrill and knock it back. It then communicated its other new move Rock Smash, which it immediately used. Excadrill used Rock Smash as well and whilst both were powerful, Boldore's Rock Smash overpowered Excadrill's, defeating the Subterrene Pokémon and winning Ash the.

In Evolution Exchange Excitement!, Ash used Boldore in a Tag Battle against 's newly evolved and Professor Juniper's newly evolved, accompanied by Cilan and his. Boldore was able to hit both of its opponents with Rock Smash at the start of the battle and alongside Crustle, held back Escavalier's. While Escavalier was dodging Crustle's, Boldore was able to hit it hard with Rock Blast until Accelgor came to Escavalier's defense with. Taking advantage of a weakened Accelgor, Ash ordered Boldore to use Flash Cannon on it, but Escavalier was able to deflect the attack. Boldore was knocked back into Crustle by Escavalier's Fury Attack and, protecting its partner, was knocked out by Escavalier and Accelgor's combined attacks.

In Rocking the Virbank Gym! Part 1, Ash used Boldore as his first Pokémon during his Gym battle against Roxie, sending it out to face her. At first Boldore attacked with Sandstorm, but Koffing endured it and countered with. Next Boldore used Rock Blast, but Koffing blocked it and attacked with. The Ore Pokémon managed to endure it and overcome Koffing's following attack with Flash Cannon, but then Boldore was defeated by the Poison Gas Pokémon when it attacked again with Gyro Ball, easily penetrating Boldore's Sandstorm defense.

In Battling Authority Once Again!, Boldore was used in the second round of the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup against Geraldo's. It was able to knock out Reuniclus with a powerful Rock Blast and won the battle. Thus, Ash advanced to the semi-finals.

In Cameron's Secret Weapon!, Ash used Boldore as his first Pokémon in his Vertress Conference battle against 🇺🇳 and his. The Brutal Pokémon proved itself a tough opponent for the Ore Pokémon, immediately scoring direct hits with and. Although Hydreigon was able to avoid Boldore's Rock Blast, it was unable to dodge a super effective Rock Smash. However, this wasn't enough, as Hydreigon then attacked with, another Tri Attack, and finally Dragon Pulse, which easily overpowered Boldore's Flash Cannon, defeating the Pokémon.

In Farewell, Unova! Setting Sail for New Adventures!, Professor Juniper sent Boldore to Professor Oak's laboratory before Ash left for Kanto, touring through the Decolore Islands. It later reunited with Ash and the entire Unova team at Oak's lab in The Dream Continues!. Boldore joined in with them to launch a group attack on Team Rocket, using Flash Cannon to send them blasting off for the final time in the. Boldore later posed in a group photo with the rest of Ash's Pokémon. Then, it was left at the lab when Ash set off for the Kalos region.

Personality and characteristics
As a Roggenrola, Boldore has shown to be very resourceful, using a stand-alone bowl for defense, as well as using its Flash Cannon attack to destroy falling boulders, or its Sandstorm to put out a fire. It also appears to care deeply for others and goes out of its way to ensure their safety, such as the lengths it went to save the other Roggenrola, even to go as far as to risk its life facing Team Rocket's mecha head on. It also made sure other wild Pokémon in the general area knew of the impending danger, despite the issue not involving them. This is also seen in Where Did You Go, Audino? when it sought out the missing with its hearing ability. It was also shown to get quite excitable, bouncing up and down, when helping to save the day in Battle for the Underground and Stopping the Rage of Legends! Part 2.

After evolving, Boldore was shown to retain its friendly personality, even affectionately climbing on top of Ash when he hugged it after he won his match against the Driftveil City Gym Leader Clay.

Trivia

 * Boldore is the first Pokémon owned by Ash.
 * Boldore is Ash's only Pokémon caught in Unova without a confirmed gender.
 * As a Roggenrola, it used a different variation of in every episode where it used the move.
 * Boldore is Ash's first Pokémon that can evolve via trade.
 * Boldore is Ash's only single-type Pokémon from Unova that isn't a starter.

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