BW068

An Amazing Aerial Battle! (Japanese: フキヨセジム！VSフウロ空中決戦！！  Gym! VS, A Decisive Air Battle!!) is the 68th episode of the , and the 725th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on March 1, 2012 and in the United States on June 30, 2012.

Blurb
After some convincing by a group of young challengers and Skyla’s grandfather, Skyla takes Ash up on his Gym Battle challenge. Skyla remains convinced she’s going to win (after mentally envisioning what Pokémon Ash will use), but Ash has other ideas! The three-on-three match begins with Ash’s Krokorok versus Skyla’s Swoobat. Swoobat’s aerial attacks prove to be too much for Krokorok, and Ash is soon down one Pokémon.

Next, Ash chooses Tranquill, in a battle of two Flying types! They appear to be evenly matched, but Tranquill’s speed quickly proves to be too much for Swoobat, who’s worn out from its first battle.

When Skyla calls for Unfezant, Ash switches Tranquill out for Pikachu—and Pikachu takes Unfezant down easily with a supereffective Electro Ball! Skyla calls on her Swanna next, and Ash is preparing for a quick victory—but Skyla has figured out how to overcome Swanna’s huge type disadvantage, and uses Aqua Ring to deflect Pikachu’s Electric-type attacks! Pikachu just can’t get through Swanna’s defenses, and Swanna is victorious.

But it’s not over yet, because Ash’s Tranquill can still battle! At first it struggles against the much faster Swanna—but in the heat of battle, it evolves into Unfezant! This amazing event makes things much more evenly matched, and a fierce Flying-type battle ensues. Unfezant’s new moves prove to be too much for Swanna, and Ash wins the match!

After awarding Ash the Jet Badge and resolving to battle for real from now on, Skyla tells him the closest Gym is in Icirrus City. Our heroes decide to make that their next destination, and Ash is excited to realize that he only needs two more badges to enter the Unova League!

Plot
Ash reveals his choices for his Gym against Skyla:, , and. Skyla commends Ash for his well-balanced team, but she believes that she will win so there will be no point in battling. However, the Pokémon Trainers who were spectating the earlier battle between Cilan and Skyla want to see Skyla battle Ash, allowing Ash to skip all of their turns to watch another true battle. With some convincing from as well as 's agreement, Skyla accepts Ash's challenge. Skyla runs through an Air Battle and deduces that Krokorok, with Flying's immunity to moves, Krokorok will lose to her. Her, being the evolved form of Tranquill, will easily outclass Ash's Tranquill. With two of them out of the way, only Pikachu has a fighting chance. Ash tries to voice his opinions, but Skyla stops him and tells him to come back to the Gym the next day at noon.

Later that night at the Pokémon Center, Ash plans his strategy to take down Skyla. Ash tells and  that he had decided to use Tranquill, Krokorok, and Pikachu on a whim, but he decides that the will of his  will help him prevail. The next day, Ash, Iris, and Cilan return to the Gym where a large crowd has gathered to finally see a real Gym battle. Cilan hopes that Ash will win and change Skyla's heart so that Cilan's battle the previous day wasn't for nothing. As Miles introduces Ash and Skyla, Ash ascends from underground on a platform to the field. On the opposite side, a large cannon comes out and fires Skyla high into the sky. After a flashy display of gliding through hoops tied to balloons with her glider pack, Skyla lands on the field ready to begin the match. Miles declares that the Gym Battle will be 3-on-3 and promptly begins the match.

Ash sends out Krokorok first as Skyla sends out her Swoobat. Krokorok starts off by using, however Swoobat dodges and retaliates with. Krokorok quickly uses to dodge the attack to stay underground, out of Swoobat's reach. Swoobat flies low trying to predict where Krokorok will appear. Krokorok jumps from out of the ground and unleashes. Swoobat reflects it back at Krokorok it with but one manages to hit Swoobat while all of the others repelled by Gust are dodged by Krokorok. Swoobat recovers from its damage and fires off an Air Cutter attack, which throws Krokorok into the ground, knocking it out.

Tranquill is sent out to replace Krokorok. Tranquill starts off with an Air Cutter, but Swoobat counters with its own Air Cutter. Tranquill then uses Gust only to be stopped by Swoobat's own Gust. Skyla tells Swoobat to fly up high, but Tranquill chases it. Tranquill attacks with which Swoobat manages to dodge, but she follows up with Air Cutter which hits Swoobat and sends it to the ground, putting it out of the battle.

Ash asks Skyla if she has changed her mind yet, but Skyla replies that Swoobat was already at a disadvantage from its battle with Krokorok, and that the battle is going exactly as she had planned. Skyla decides to call out her Unfezant, which puts Tranquill at a disadvantage due to its higher form. Tranquill starts off with a, but Unfezant dodges and then starts to fly downward with Tranquill following, then suddenly ascends causing Tranquill to stop her attacks. Unfezant fires off an but Tranquill manages to dodge all of the attacks, but is heavily fatigued.

Ash decides to recall her back for now, and Pikachu steps into the field to challenge Unfezant. With the advantage of Pikachu's Electric type over Flying types, Pikachu starts off with an but Unfezant quickly flies up to dodge. Unfezant retaliates with an Air Slash, which manages to hit Pikachu. Unfezant starts to use. Ash tells Pikachu to ready an and wait until Unfezant gets close. Right as Unfezant is about to hit Pikachu, Pikachu attacks Unfezant with his prepared Iron Tail then hits Unfezant with an Electro Ball, causing Unfezant to faint.

With the advantage now on Ash's side, he asks Skyla what she thinks now. Skyla, still says things are going the way she had thought, since she knew Ash would rely on Pikachu heavily in the battle. Skyla calls out Swanna. Pikachu attacks with but Swanna activates an  which neutralizes Thunderbolt. Pikachu tries to attack with Electro Ball, but Aqua Ring once again blocks it. Skyla reveals that she watched videos of Miles back when he was the Gym Leader and learned of this strategy to help fight off Swanna's glaring weakness to Electric attacks. With no possibility that Pikachu can utilize his electricity, Pikachu attacks with Iron Tail, but Swanna flies up high and dodges. As Ash notices the rings, which Skyla flew through during her decent to the field, he tells Pikachu to use Quick Attack. Pikachu uses the rings to help it reach Swanna and Quick Attack barely manages to hit Swanna. Swanna attacks back with which knocks Pikachu off of the rings then continues to attack with. Hurricane throws Pikachu into the air and Swanna attacks with. Pikachu crashes into the ground. Skyla expects that Pikachu is finished, but Pikachu stands up. However, the damage is too much for Pikachu and Ash decides that Pikachu shouldn't push himself anymore. Miles declares Pikachu unable to battle.

Ash sends Tranquill back out and Tranquill starts off with a Quick Attack, which clips Swanna. Tranquill unleashes an Air Cutter attack which Swanna dodges until one manages to score a clean hit on it. Tranquill quickly rushes back down to the ground and attacks with Gust, but Swanna counters and overpowers Gust with a Hurricane. Hurricane swallows Tranquill and throws her onto the ground, injuring her. However, Tranquill begins to glow as she stands back up, Tranquill evolves into. With her new form and her new found vigor, Unfezant attacks with Air Cutter but Swanna flies up to dodge. Unfezant chases after it, but Swanna quickly turns and attacks with Brave Bird, hitting Unfezant. Swanna tries to attack once more but Unfezant flies faster than Swanna, allowing it to escape the attack. Swanna begins to tail Unfezant throughout the Gym but is unable to hit her. Unfezant snaps behind Swanna and uses her new move, Aerial Ace. Swanna and Unfezant fly around in circles trying to hit one another with no avail. Unfezant finally manages lock onto Swanna and attacks it with Aerial Ace, causing an explosion. As the smoke clears, Swanna falls down to the field, knocking it out, allowing Ash to win the match.

After the battle, Skyla announces that she will no longer use Air Battles, realizing that the efforts of both the Trainer and their Pokémon can bring unpredictable results. She apologizes to Miles, but Miles is happy that Skyla has realized the error of her ways and looks forward to her new start, battling the way Gym Battles were meant to be. Without further delay, Skyla thanks Ash for the great battle and awards him with the. Skyla, after asking Ash where he plans on heading out to next, suggests that he should head out to Icirrus City.

Major events



 * 's is revealed to know.
 * Ash's Tranquill evolves into and learns.
 * Ash battles Skyla in his sixth Unova Gym match and wins, earning himself the.
 * Ash learns that the next Unova Gym is in Icirrus City and decides to head there.

Pokémon debuts

 * Ash's Unfezant

Humans

 * Skyla
 * Audience
 * Skyla
 * Audience
 * Audience
 * Audience

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international)  (male) (Japan)
 * (evolves)
 * (newly evolved)
 * (Skyla's)
 * (Skyla's)
 * (Skyla's)
 * (Skyla's)
 * (Skyla's)
 * (Skyla's)

Trivia

 * Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster: Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice/.
 * A scene from this episode was first seen in even before previews were shown in Japan.
 * Music from Arceus and the Jewel of Life is used in this episode.
 * The cannon that Skyla uses to make her entrance in this episode is the same that the undefined uses in the to reach Skyla as part of Mistralton Gym's puzzle in.
 * Rival battle theme from and an instrumental version of  are used as background music.
 * This is the first time since she was captured as a Pidove when has used any new moves, the time between these two episodes being 66 episodes.
 * This is also the first episode she has used since her first evolution.

Errors

 * When the trainers are telling Skyla they want to see her in the real battle, not air-battle before arrives, 's stripe on her neck is colored light-gray instead on gray.
 * During one scene when Miles is telling Skyla to fight and not to use an air battle anymore, Skyla's hair near her neck swapped colors with the background.
 * When Skyla accepted the battle against, Skyla's belt button on her breasts is half colored the same way as her belt.
 * During several scenes throughout the episode, Skyla's neck is too large.
 * During one scene of Ash's comment, got a ribbon on her hair by mistake.
 * During the scene where Skyla is flying through the rings, the rings on her boots were completely dark-blue instead of light-green.
 * In one scene for a split frame, Skyla's left glove is colored the same way as her belt.
 * When Ash and Skyla are about to begin the Gym Battle, Skyla's body has a bit smaller size, her pants are bigger instead being a bit smaller, and her belly button is near her breasts, not in the middle of her stomach.
 * Tranquill used in this episode, despite the fact that the  family cannot legally learn that move in the games.
 * This is also the first anime move error made in the.
 * During Who's That Pokémon? revelation, Skyla's Japanese voice can be heard.
 * When counters 's   with, Miles behaves as if he had never seen it before although he is revealed to have used the same strategy himself in a flashback.
 * When Skyla appears surprised at Ash's newly evolved, the wrong sides of her pigtails are darkly-colored by the shadows. This error was fixed on the Japanese DVD version.

Dub edits

 * The above move error was seemingly picked up on by the producers of the dub as, rather than commanding, instead tells  to "Attack now" (although the animation is left unchanged, meaning Tranquill's wings glow for seemingly no reason).
 * The instrumental version of was replaced with  in the dub.

In other languages
Ein Luftkampf mit Überraschungen! EP730 BW068 BW編第68話 精灵宝可梦 超级愿望 第68集