A Gruff Act to Follow
ズガイドスVSピカチュウ！ Zugaidos VS Pikachu!
Broadcast dates
Japan	January 18, 2007
USA	June 28, 2007
Theme songs
Opening	Diamond and Pearl
Japanese theme songs
Opening	Together
Ending	君のそばで 〜ヒカリのテーマ〜
Credits
Animation	Team Iguchi
Screenplay	冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka
Storyboard	浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
Assistant director	浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
Animation director	岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane
Screenshots on Filb.de

A Gruff Act to Follow (Japanese: ズガイドスVSピカチュウ！ Zugaidos VS Pikachu!) is the sixteenth episode of Diamond & Pearl. It first aired in Japan on January 18, 2007.

Ash asks Paul to watch his own Gym Battle. Set out to impress Paul, has he underestimated the strength that Roark has already shown?

Synopsis

Major events

• Paul gives his Azumarill to a young boy.
• Ash battles Roark in his first Sinnoh gym match.
  • Ash's Aipom is defeated by Roark's Cranidos.
  • Ash's Pikachu fights Roark's Cranidos before being recalled by Ash.
  • Ash's Turtwig defeats Roark's Cranidos.
  • Ash's Turtwig is defeated by Roark's Onix.
  • Ash's Pikachu is defeated by Roark's Onix.
  • Ash loses the match.

Debuts

Characters

Humans

• Ash Ketchum
• Brock
• Dawn
• Jessie
• James
• Paul
• Giovanni (fantasy)
• Roark
• Ian (Japanese: イワオ Iwao; Seiyū: 田中正彦 Masahiko Tanaka)
• Dr. Kenzo (Japanese: ケンゾウ Kenzō; Seiyū: 木内秀信 Hidenobu Kiuchi)
• Boy (Seiyū: 林原めぐみ Megumi Hayashibara*)
• Researcher
• Tourist

* No official credit was given for this character.

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Aipom (Ash's)
• Staravia (Ash's)
• Turtwig (Ash's)
• Onix (Roark's)
• Cranidos (Roark's)
• Chansey
• Aerodactyl (fantasy)
• Kabutops (fantasy)
• Omanyte
• Armaldo
• Cradily (fantasy)

Trivia

• This is the second episode of a four-episode arc in which Ash and co. are in Oreburgh city.
• Music from Destiny Deoxys and Lucario and the Mystery of Mew are used as background music.
• Professor Oak's lecture: Ash's Turtwig
• Pokémon senryū: ナエトルは　あたまにはっぱ　はえとるぞ Naetoru ha, atama ni happa, haetoru zo Naetle, the leaf on its head is growing.
• Jessie, James and Meowth narrate the next episode preview.
• This is the first time Ash has lost to the first Gym leader of a region since he faced Brock in Season 1.
• This is the first time that Ash has lost to a Gym Leader that didn't use all of their Pokémon. In this case, Roark used only two of his three Pokémon.

Errors

• When Paul meets up with Ash at the Pokémon Center, one young trainer passes by to thank Paul for his Azumarill. Ash's Staravia is seen for a second. After both Ash and Paul have their conversation, Staravia disappears in the next scene.

Dub edits

In other languages

• Brazilian Portuguese: Enfrentando um Grande Desafio!
• Italian: Un aspro finale & Fine del primo atto
• Latin American Spanish: ¡Un estilo que no se copia!

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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each episode of the Pokémon anime.