An evolution, a badge, and a lesson learned, Skyla did get on my nerves some bit but not as much and it was still a pretty good battle . Coming from last episode, Skyla has defeated Cilan but Ash has challenged her. With some pleas from the audience and her grandfather, Miles, Skyla accepts Ash's challenge and next morning the battle for, not only Ash's 6th badge, but also to teach Skyla a lesson and discontinue the "Air Battles" begin! Can Ash work his way around Skyla's "Air Battle" predictions or will the battle follows as Skyla planned it? What were the three Pokemon that Ash showed Skyla and why does she think she'll win? Why did Ash choose those 3 Pokemon? And how can Ash show Skyla that battles are unpredictable? Hey, wait, where is the silly question? Well this time it's not a silly question but rather a stupid answer, and to find out you'll just have to read below:

Winging It:
We start the episode with a recap with what happened last time as we start off with Ash sending out his three Pokemon though this time we get to see who they are! Ash's Pokemon for his 6th Badge is Tranquill, KROKOROK (yes, in its not only first Gym Battle but first battle under your control, put it at a type disadvantage), and I guess Pikachu as it gives out a yell (though why then last episode we heard three Pokemon being released from their Pokeballs?)(BTW, where's BOLDORE, your ROCK-type). As last time Skyla says she'll win, Ash says he will, and now we reach the point where we left off with Skyla first having to accept the battle. Before Skyla could make her decision though, a boy from the crowd of trainers says they want to see Skyla battle again and he's followed by all the other trainers saying they also want to see Skyla battle which surprises her. Miles asks Skyla how can she ignore those pleas and even he would like to see Swanna spread its wing and fly which Skyla thinks about and, after Swanna gives an approving quack, Skyla decides to accept Ash's challenge. Skyla says she's still going to win though and goes into an "Air Battle" where Swoobat wins against Krokorok's because its Ground-type attacks won't reach it (while I agree Krokorok is a poor choice *coughshouldhavechoseBoldorecough*, it can however still hurt the part Psychic-type Swoobat with it's Dark-type attacks), her Unfezant wins against Tranquill simply because it hasn't evolved yet (because a pre-evolution can't beat it's evolution?), though she says Pikachu is Ash's only dependable choice. Ash angrily asks how does she know how the battle will go but Skyla stops him and says the battle will be in Mistralton Gym tomorrow and then she goes off you fly her plane as Ash & co. (+ Miles) look on and Ash vows to win (and unlike Cilan, Ash has cheating powers on his side just like Skyla so it'll be a fair battle!).

That night at the Pokemon Center, in their room we see Ash is sitting on his head mediating (Ash, in order to rush blood to your brain you first need to have a brain) and Ash eventually says he got his strategy against Skyla (wing it (no pun intended) like always and see what happens?).

Cilan: Are you saying you showed Skyla those three particular Pokemon without a plan?
Comment: Cilan, how long have you been travelling with Ash? It's been at 4 Gyms not counting your own, after the disaster that was the Nimbasa Gym Battle you should know what to expect, or in this case not expect, from Ash by now.

Ash says not to worry as he has something up his sleeve that'll knock Skyla off guard: guts and spirit (what about ability, knowledge, bravery, tactics, and luck?).

You all may now agree with Iris and Cilan.

The next day at the Mistralton Gym, the ceiling opens up and on the balconies we see it full of people waiting to watch the battle. On the floor, Iris notes the crowd and Cilan says that if Ash wins today his loss won't be in vain and may get Skyla to think things over. Miles starts the introductions and introduces Ash as the platform Ash is on springs up throwing him into the air.

Geez, at least pad the platform if you're going to to that.

Ash lands with no problem though and the audience goes wild as Miles introduces Skyla and... isn't that one of the cannons from the games?

As you can see, Skyla isn't one to show off... though at least we know what those diamond rings are there for.

Miles is happy to see Skyla doing another real battle as Skyla tells Ash she's going to win and it'll be exactly how she predicted it (and I'll be here to nitpick whenever a slight thing goes off your prediction. ) but Ash says he'll be the on winning. Miles explains the rules, the typical 3 vs. 3 battle, winner is the first to knock out all of their opponent's Pokemon, only Challenger can substitute Pokemon. Ash sends out Krokorok and Skyla sends out Swoobat, so at least from the get-go it's following the "Air Battle" unlike Cilan's battle. Iris notes the Flying-types are immune to Ground-type attacks info (why does everyone keep forgetting about that Krokorok is part Dark-type and Swoobat is part Psychic-type?) while Cilan says the key for Ash winning this battle is how they handle Swoobat's aerial attacks.

Miles declares the start of the battle and Krokorok starts with a Crunch leaping at Swoobat but Swoobat dodges and uses Air Cutter. Krokorok quickly uses Dig to dodge Swoobat's Air Cutter which Skyla compliments on as Swoobat flies low to seek out Krokorok who jumps out behind it and uses Stone Edge. Swoobat tries blowing the Stone Edge away with Gust however some stones get through and hit (so much for not reaching, eh?) though Krokorok has to dodge around the stones which Swoobat flapped back. Swoobat takes this chance to use Air Cutter which hits Krokorok, slamming it into the ground which knocks it out. Cilan says if Stone Edge wasn't partially deflected it could have changed the "flavor" of the battle and Skyla says that, for a Ground-type Pokemon, Krokorok battled hard (well, the only Ground-type attacks it knows and used was Dig for a defensive purpose, but otherwise it attacked with attacks which would be super effective against Swoobat).

Ash's next Pokemon is Tranquill which Skyla says isn't a surprise (well Ash did show you all his Pokemon) but "sound strategy all the same" as both Tranquill and Swoobat use Air Cutter which collide and nullify each other. Next both Tranquill and Swoobat use Gust which collide and create a tall dust tornado before nullifying. Cilan says both Tranquill and Swoobat are equal in power so far as Skyla tells Swoobat to ascend with Tranquill following close behind and uses a Wing Attack (which oddly the Pidove family can't learn even though their Attack stat is their highest stat). Swoobat dodges though despite Tranquill's multiple attempts to hit but Tranquill then switches over to Air Cutter which eventually hits knocking out Swoobat. Ash asks Skyla what she thinks now saying it's not going as she thought (well technically she never did a Swoobat vs. Tranquill battle and I can't really fault her for not switching to Unfezant since she's not allowed to switch out) and Skyla says Swoobat was weak from the first battle.

Skyla: Believe it or not, the unexpected never happens, no matter what you think.
Comment: ... you do know what the definition of unexpected it, right? Also may I remind you that your battle Cilan was full of UNEXPECTED events (like you almost losing)?

Skyla says so far every event has been predicted and sends out her Unfezant which Iris notes evolves from Tranquill and Cilan says Ash is at a disadvantage (isn't he always?). Tranquill uses Quick Attack but Unfezant dodges it and uses Air Slash which Tranquill is barely able to dodge as Iris informs us that Tranquill has been tired from the last battle. Skyla tells Ash no more surprises but Ash does something which Cilan should have done which would completely askew Skyla's predictions: switching out!

Ash returns Tranquill and sends out Pikachu.

Skyla: Pikachu, I figured Ash would save his ace for last.
Comment: Except Pikachu isn't his last Pokemon, Tranquill is if Ash doesn't switch Pikachu out for it.

Pikachu starts with an Electro Ball but Unfezant dodges and uses Air Slash which Pikachu tries to dodge but it hit by an after blast sending it sliding. Unfezant uses Aerial Ace which Ash tells Pikachu to lure it in and use Iron Tail as it gets closer, Closer, CLOSER, and finally Ash gives the word and... Who's That Pokemon! Yeah, anyway Pikachu scores a hit with Iron Tail sending Unfezant tumbling back (in the air, somehow) and follows up with an Electro Ball that hits Unfezant in the face which knocks it out!

Cilan: And that proves Electric-type moves are super effective against Flying-type Pokemon.
Comment: ... who was doubting that? Throughout this whole battle everyone has been saying Pikachu has the advantage, did you think that was because people thought Pikachu's cuteness was going to help it win?

Ash asks Skyla what does she think now and Skyla says she thought Ash was going to depend on Pikachu and he is (hey, Skyla, want to know something else? You predicted that with your match of Pikachu versing Swanna essentially saying it'll win. Guess what? Swanna is your last Pokemon so by yout "Air Battle" logic YOU JUST LOST!). Iris says Skyla isn't surprised by Ash's strategy (well, from what it looks like, Ash's strategy was to follow Skyla's "Air Battle"... you're not really helping the situation all that much, Ash) and Cilan says he hopes Ash can hold out until Skyla decides to change her mind (well first Ash has to stop following the "Air Battle"!).

Skyla sends out Swanna as Iris notes its quadruple weakness to Electric-type attacks though Cilan reminds her that Skyla is a Gym Leader (yeah, and Pikachu's level is 9001...). Pikachu starts with a Thunderbolt but Swanna counters with... Aqua Ring (yeah, Thunderbolt's power is 95 + STAB (x1.5) + quadruple weakness (x4) = 570 Power. Not to mention Swanna's defensive stats are its lowest stats. Yeah, 1/16th of health means nothing when you're already at 0 HP). But, oh wait, we forgot that Swanna's Aqua Ring has cheating powers and it deflects the Thunderbolt which surprises everyone as Pikachu tries an Electo Ball but still no go. Skyla explains that she examine footage of her grandfather's battles and apparently he had used this move before to same effect (so it's Miles who has the GameShark!)(Also, being it looks like you can't move while using Aqua Ring, all Ash and Pikachu have to do is wait until Swanna drops the Aqua Ring). But no, instead Pikachu uses an Iron Tail which Swanna dodges but this puts Swanna in front of one of those diamond rings, framing it, which gives Ash an idea. Pikachu uses Quick Attack and hops through the diamond rings and hits Swanna though it's only a grazing (but it's still a bit stunned which means you should be using this time to use an ELECTRIC-TYPE ATTACK!). Swanna then goes in for the finish with a BubbleBeam, Hurricane, and Brave Bird yet Pikachu still gets back up... or not, Pikachu falls just as Ash picks it up and Miles declares it unable to battle.

Skyla: You see? Just as I predicted.
Comment: NO, you predicted that Pikachu would win against Swanna, yet it lost.

No One Expects The Bird Evolution:
Ash puts Pikachu down against the wall and sends out Tranquill who he asks if okay to battle which it nods yes to and so Tranquill starts with a Quick Attack which grazes Swanna yet again. Tranquill follows with an Air Cutter as Swanna tries to dodge but it still gets hit. Tranquill uses Gust but Swanna counters with Hurricane which goes through the Gust and hits Tranquill which knocks it out of the sky.

Hm, we're trying to show that Skyla can't predict battles so what's the most unexpected thing Tranquill can do? Oh, I know:

EVOLUTION TIME! No PokeRinger Contest required!

Skyla is surprised as Ash... THIS IS THE SECOND TIME YOU'RE SCANNING UNFEZANT WITH THE FIRST TIME BEING LAST EPISODE! Oh, we also discover the gender of Ash's Unfezant, it's female (bit odd, in this battle the male Unfezant was being used by the female trainer and the female Unfexant us being used by the male trainer. Maybe Ash & Skyla should trade Unfezants ). Back to the episode, Cilan notes that, because female Unfezant don't have the plume, Unfezant's speed should be able to match Swanna's. Ash also notes that Unfezant has learned a new move but first uses Air Cutter which Swanna dodges but Unfezant stay on Swanna's trail. Swanna flies around Unfezant and uses a Brave Bird which hits however it recovers as Swanna tries another Brave Bird but this time Unfezant is able to dodge it. However Swanna isn't done yet as it chases down Unfezant with Brave Bird.

Skyla: YES! THIS IS HOW A FLYING-TYPE BATTLE IS SUPPOSE TO BE!
Comment: And now that Skyla has learned her lesson, it's time for Ash and Unfezant to finish things up.

Unfezant uses its new move, Aerial Ace, and both Flying-type Pokemon are now flying and jetting around each other to hit the other with its Flying-type move first. Unfezant gets behind Swanna and, with one last Aerial Ace attempt, scores a hit and causes an explosion. From the black smoke Swanna falls out the sky, knocked out, meaning Ash and Unfezant have won the Gym Battle!

That afternoon, Ash & co. (+ Skyla and Miles) are outside of the Mistralton Gym and Skyla thanks Ash for the battle and says she's no longer going to do "Air Battles" saying she never thought a challenger and their Pokemon would work so hard to catch her off guard. Cilan says he's happy to hear that as Skyla apologizes to Miles for worrying him but he says he's just glad Skyla is battling for real again. With all that said and done:

Jet Badge get!

Skyla asks Ash what Gym is he planning on challenging next though Ash says he hasn't planned that yet so Skyla tells him the closest Gym is in Icirrus City (well, Gyms that are in the games, there are at least 3 of those anime only Gyms the rivals go to even closer ). Ash decides Icirrus Gym will be his next Gym then and says that he'll have all 8 Badges soon as the narrator comes in to close the episode.