After observing the talents and skills of Laverre Gym Leader Valerie in action, it’s time for Ash to challenge her for his sixth Kalos Gym badge! First, Valerie’s Sylveon is up against Ash’s Fletchinder. Valerie is quite adept at drawing out the full potential of her Pokémon, but with help from Fletchinder’s Steel Wing attack (which is super effective against Fairy-type Pokémon), Ash gets the first win—as Sawyer takes copious notes.
Valerie next sends out Spritzee, who gains the speed advantage by using Trick Room and knocks Fletchinder out. The score is now one to one! Ash sends in Hawlucha, who uses a powerful X-Scissor to break through Spritzee’s Trick Room, leading the way to Ash’s victory and the Fairy Badge!
Sawyer really wants Ash to teach him how to battle with the same unique brand of creativity and power. Ash can’t quite figure out how to put his strategy into words...but he promises to battle Sawyer later by way of explanation, as the journey to the Kalos League continues!
After witnessing Sawyer's loss against Valerie, Ash and his friends arrive at the Laverre City Gym for Ash to challenge her to a battle as well. Sawyer has come along in order to watch Ash's Gym match. Entering the Gym, the group is greeted by four Furisode Girls, who show them into the main battle area. Sawyer brings out his Treecko just before Valerie arrives in order to help both of them grow stronger by watching Ash.
After Valerie's dramatic entrance, Kali acts as the referee, stating that each Trainer will use two Pokémon each. Valerie immediately calls out her Sylveon and has a quick conversation with it in Pokémon language, much to the surprise of Ash and the others. Valerie then explains that she wants to be a Pokémon, so she learned how to speak to her Pokémon. After this brief discussion, Ash calls on Fletchinder to battle Valerie's Sylveon. Fletchinder quickly hits its mark with a Steel Wing attack, and Sylveon responds with Disarming Voice. When Fletchinder attempts to use Peck, Sylveon dodges and catches Fletchinder with its feelers, swinging Ash's Pokémon around and hitting it with Fairy Wind at the same time. In order to break free from Sylveon's grasp, Fletchinder uses Flame Charge, making it faster as well as hitting Sylveon. Finally, a collision of Giga Impact and Steel Wing results in Fletchinder's victory in the first round.
Valerie recalls Sylveon and sends out the Spritzee that battled Sawyer's Bagon the day before. Ash realizes that the only move of Spritzee's that he knows of is Dazzling Gleam, so he has no idea what the battle will be like. After another Steel Wing attack from Fletchinder, Valerie orders Spritzee to use Trick Room. Ash responds by ordering Fletchinder to increase its speed by using Flame Charge again. This alarms Clemont, who explains to the others that because of Trick Room, the faster Fletchinder gets, the slower it will move. Despite receiving several direct attacks from Spritzee, Ash orders Fletchinder to keep on using Flame Charge. Suddenly, the Trick Room vanishes, and Ash seizes his chance with Fletchinder's boosted speed, ordering his Pokémon to use Steel Wing on Spritzee. However, Spritzee uses Moonblast and knocks Fletchinder out.
Much to everyone's surprise, Ash sends out Hawlucha to battle Spritzee despite its type disadvantage. Hawlucha opens with Karate Chop, but Spritzee dodges and once again uses Trick Room. After Spritzee hits Hawlucha with another Moonblast, Ash comments on Spritzee's strength with Hawlucha. Responding to Valerie's query if he can speak to Pokémon as well, Ash explains that he can sense rather than translate what his Pokémon are saying. Hawlucha then uses X-Scissor, but it misses and hits the wall of Trick Room. Working with Hawlucha's battle style of taking on its opponent's attacks, Ash orders Hawlucha to grab onto Spritzee just as it connects with Gyro Ball. Using the speed from Spritzee's attack, Hawlucha bounces off of the wall and executes a spinning X-Scissor, cutting through Dazzling Gleam and ramming Spritzee with enough force to shatter the Trick Room. Clemont then realizes that X-Scissor was so effective on the Trick Room because it is a Bug-type move and Trick Room is a Psychic-type technique. As Hawlucha and Spritzee continue exchanging attacks, Hawlucha finally defeats its opponent with High Jump Kick.
Following their fierce battle, Valerie congratulates Ash on his win and presents him with the Fairy Badge. Inspired by Ash's battling style, Sawyer begs him to explain how he battles so well, and Ash suggests that the two of them go back and have a battle.