BW061

Battling the King of the Mines! (Japanese: 地底のジム戦！VSヤーコン！！ Underground Gym Battle! VS !!) is the 61st episode of the, and the 718th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on January 5, 2012 and in the United States on May 12, 2012.

Blurb
After fulfilling Clay’s request for the rare Revival Herbs, Ash is more than ready for his Gym Battle...and finally, so is Clay! They proceed to the battlefield in the Driftveil Gym, located deep underground in one of Clay’s mines. The battle will use three Pokémon per side. Clay starts by bringing out his powerful Krokorok, and Ash realizes that he can’t use Pikachu, who’s been eager to battle, because its Electric-type moves won’t work at all against Clay’s team of Ground types. He picks Oshawott instead, and the battle begins!

Krokorok is powerful indeed, but Ash executes a brilliant strategy to knock it out and give him the lead. Then Clay brings out his Palpitoad, which appears to be much stronger than Ash’s own Palpitoad. Oshawott is defeated with a crushing Rock Smash, and Snivy is up next. Another unusual strategy and an excellent type advantage lead to Palpitoad’s defeat, and Clay is not pleased.

Finally, the Gym Leader turns to his secret weapon—a super-strong Excadrill, whose Rapid Spin keeps deflecting Snivy’s attacks until it’s able to knock Snivy out. Both sides are down to just one Pokémon left, and Ash calls on Roggenrola, hoping its toughness will keep it standing against repeated powerful attacks from Excadrill.

Excadrill’s attacks are unyielding, but sure enough, Roggenrola endures—and then evolves into a powerful Boldore, which turns the tide of the battle considerably! Both Boldore and Excadrill are extremely tough, and the attacks continue to fly—but in the end, Boldore emerges victorious, and Ash wins the Quake Badge! Then, upon Nurse Joy’s recommendation, our heroes set their sights on the Mistralton City Gym, where Ash will vie for his sixth Unova Gym badge!

Plot
Returning to the Driftveil Gym with the s from Milos Island, for the third time, comes to the Gym to finally battle Clay. As the door to the Gym opens a answers and lets Ash,, and  inside when Ash presents the bag of herbs to the worker. The worker leads them to an elevator and they descend down deep underground to a mining tunnel. Ash sees Clay and presents the bag of Revival Herbs to him. Seeing as they are good quality he accepts Ash's request for a Gym battle. Clay leads the group to a wall and press a button on the door that leads them to the Gym Field.

Iris and Cilan head to the sidelines as Ash enters the field. The Referee declares that the Gym battle will be a three-on-three match and then begins the match. Clay sends out his first, a. eagerly wants to battle Krokorok but Ash quickly reminds Pikachu that moves don't work on s, so he'll have to sit out this match. Ash sends out his then promptly commands an, but Krokorok dodges Oshawott by using , causing Oshawott to crash into the wall. Krokorok leaps out the ground then unleashes, causing sand to fly furiously on the field. As Oshawott is buffeted by the Sandstorm, sand gets into his eyes, blinding him. Krokorok uses on Oshawott. Oshawott tries to attack with, but with sand in his eyes, Oshawott just blindly swings his scalchop around wildly. Krokorok attacks with a. Oshawott takes a considerable amount of damage. Oshawott barely stands up from Krokorok's attacks as well as Sandstorm's effects. Clay tells Krokorok to finish the round up, however an idea pops into Ash's mind. He orders Oshawott to use on the field. Oshawott rapidly spins as he fires off a Water Gun to create a water geyser which causes a downpour, effectively stopping the sandstorm as well as washing out his eyes. Krokorok digs underground but Oshawott fires a Water Gun into its hole, flushing it out into the air. Oshawott proceeds to use Aqua Jet which scores a hit on Krokorok, then finishes it off with a Razor Shell.

Iris comments that Oshawott's super effective moves helped Ash win the round. Cilan reminds Iris that Krokorok is only his first Pokémon. As Clay returns Krokorok back into its Poké Ball, he praises Ash for his gutsiness, but reminds him to stay serious as he sends out his next Pokémon, a. Iris notes that Clay's Palpitoad seems a lot stronger than Ash's Palpitoad. Ash asks Oshawott if he's okay, and Oshawott nods his head. Oshawott fires a Water Gun, but Palpitoad counters with a. Both attacks collide, but Hydro Pump has much more power, thus it dissipates Oshawott's Water Gun and sends him into the wall. Oshawott shakes off his damage and proceeds to use Razor Shell, however Palpitoad fires a which hits Oshawott and knocks his scalchop out of his hands before he could unleash his attack. Oshawott retrieves his scalchop, but Palpitoad slams Oshawott into the ground using, knocking him out. Ash returns him to his Poké Ball.

Clay taunts Ash saying that his gutsiness has come to an end. Ash assures him that he isn't finished yet. Realizing that Palpitoad is both a Ground and Pokémon, Ash sends out his. However instead of starting off with a attack, Ash orders Snivy to use, which causes Palpitoad to become infatuated. Snivy attacks with followed by, both hitting Palpitoad without any problems. Clay tries to get Palpitoad to snap out of his infatuation, but with no avail. Snivy finishes off Palpitoad with a, knocking him out.

Clay is furious by Ash's tactic by using Attract, stating that it isn't a strategy or fair. Ash is left utterly confused. Clay takes off his hat and scrunches it in his fist then throws it to the ground. Clay sends out his best Pokémon, an ! Excadrill lets out a roar. Snivy starts off by using Vine Whip, but Excadrill counters with a, deflecting all of the hits. Snivy tries to attack with a Leaf Blade, but Excadrill easily overpowers Snivy with another Rapid Spin. Snivy then tries to use Attract, but once again, Excadrill stops the attack with Rapid Spin. Snivy desperately tries to attack with her last move, Leaf Storm, but, again, Rapid Spin overpowers her move. Excadrill unleashes a devastating attack, instantly knocking out Snivy.

Iris and Cilan are amazed by Excadrill's sheer power. As Ash returns Snivy to her Poké Ball, Ash declares that he isn't ready to throw in the towel and declares his dream to become a Pokémon Master, so giving up in the Gym isn't an option. Clay tells Ash that he's still naïve and shows Ash his prized pickaxe. When he was Ash's age, he and Excadrill worked hard mining to become where they are today. Clay blames that Ash is just lightly throwing around his dream to the world without truly working hard. Ash defends that he is serious to become a Pokémon Master, and he'll show it with his last Pokémon. Clay says that it's all talk for now. Ash assesses his situation, he needs a Pokémon that can endure Excadrill's power. Ash decides to send out his. Iris and Cilan are confused why Ash chose a Pokémon to face a Ground/ Pokémon. Cilan thinks Ash chose it for its grit. Roggenrola starts off with a Sandstorm, but Excadrill digs underground using and then attacks Roggenrola from under its feet then quickly digs back into the ground and repeatedly attacks with Drill Run. Roggenrola is tossed across the field, taking each successive hit. After being pummeled by multiple Drill Runs, Roggenrola is winded, but still standing. Clay is amazed that it hasn't fainted yet, but then decides to wrap it up with a Horn Drill attack. Excadrill slams his drill into Roggenrola, however Roggenrola does not fall. In fact, it doesn't make a sound at all. Ash is worried, he calls out to it, but then Roggenrola begins to glow!

Roggenrola evolves into a ! Ash quickly scans it with his Pokédex, finding out that Boldore has learned some new moves. Excadrill's attacks with Horn Drill, but Boldore endures the hit with. Excadrill attacks with Drill Run, but Boldore catches Excadrill before it could hit it. Boldore and Excadrill both try to wrestle the other to the ground, but both are equally matched. Suddenly Boldore's crystals begging to glow. Understanding the power building in Boldore, Ash orders Boldore to attack with. Excadrill takes the attack and stands up, but drops down to one knee. Boldore's crystals continue to glow, and Boldore attacks with its newly learned Rock Smash as Excadrill does the same. As both Rock Smash attacks collide, a huge shockwave shakes the ground. However, Excadrill winces from its damage and Boldore takes the opportunity to overpower Excadrill and slams it into the ground. As the dust settles, Excadrill is on the floor, knocked out. Boldore is declared the winner and Ash wins the match.

Ash runs out to the field and hugs his new Boldore. Boldore happily jumps onto Ash, knocking him onto the ground. Ash continues to praise Boldore as Clay smiles at Ash. Outside of the Gym, Clay thanks Ash for the great battle and encourages him to continue his journey to become a Pokémon Master. Clay presents him with the, thus Ash now has five Unova Badges. Later that night at the Pokémon Center Ash, Iris, and Cilan chat about the Gym Battle. As Nurse Joy returns Ash's Pokémon, she asks him what he plans on doing next. Ash declares that he'll go and get his sixth Badge at the next Gym available. Nurse Joy recommends that he should continue on to Mistralton City, thus Ash, Iris, and Cilan plan on heading there next.

Major events

 * 's evolves into  and learns  and.
 * Ash battles Clay in his fifth Unova Gym match and wins, earning himself the.
 * Ash learns that the next Gym is located in Mistralton City and decides to head there.

Humans

 * Nurse Joy
 * Clay
 * Gym referee
 * Clay's underground staff
 * Clay
 * Gym referee
 * Clay's underground staff

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international)  (Japan)


 * (evolves)
 * (newly evolved; debut)
 * (Clay's)
 * (Clay's)
 * (evolves)
 * (newly evolved; debut)
 * (Clay's)
 * (Clay's)
 * (Clay's)

Trivia

 * Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster:
 * Seven-colored Arch replaced Can You Name All the Pokémon? BW as the Japanese ending theme.
 * Who's That Pokémon? returns in the original version and replaces the former eyecatch.
 * This is the first episode to feature the Who's That Pokémon segment in the original version since Hoenn Alone!, over 440 episodes ago, and is the first to be featured outside of the original series.
 * and narrate the preview for the next episode.
 * Ash's idea to clean 's eyes with a water move is similar to the time when this happened to in Pace - The Final Frontier!.
 * This episode marks a new time the evolution scene changes since Sunglasses Sandile evolved in Dancing With the Ducklett Trio!.

Errors

 * When Krokorok attacks with, the long black stripe going down its back disappears.
 * When is first brought out against Palpitoad, they appear to be exactly the same size even though later scenes show Palpitoad being considerably larger than Snivy is.
 * As Snivy avoids Excadrill's, her eye lacks sclera and the iris takes over all of her eye.
 * Upon 's evolution, calls it by its newly evolved form's name before using the Pokédex, although he never saw one before.

In other languages
Der Kampf gegen den König der Minen! EP723 BW061 BW編第61話 精灵宝可梦 超级愿望 第61集