The Sinnoh League quarterfinal battle between rivals Ash and Paul is turning out to be one for the ages! Ash still has all six of his Pokémon, while Paul’s Aggron and Gastrodon have been eliminated. But the tide begins to turn at this point as Paul’s true strategy begins to emerge: to predict and counter whatever Ash does! Paul’s Drapion sets up a nasty trap with Toxic Spikes and, mere moments later, a dazzling tactical display renders Ash’s Buizel, Staraptor, and Torterra unable to battle.
Next, Ash’s Gliscor comes in against Paul’s amazingly fast Ninjask. When Gliscor hits the ground and takes a lot of damage from Toxic Spikes, Ash switches it out in favor of Infernape—and this is where some creative strategizing on Ash’s part begins to erode Paul’s strategy, as an underground Flare Blitz burns off the Toxic Spikes!
After his Ninjask is eliminated, Paul brings out his Froslass, while Ash calls on Pikachu. Although Froslass is powerful and its evasion skills are impressive, Pikachu’s tenacity rules the bout, and Froslass is eliminated!
When Paul again calls on Drapion, Ash gets Gliscor back into the battle. Although Gliscor is still feeling the effects of previous battling, the magnificent training it received from the Air Battle Master is evident. We leave the action just as Gliscor is diving directly into Drapion’s Pin Missile! How will this incredible battle end?
The Lily of the Valley Conference quarterfinals Full Battle between Ash and Paul continues from where it left off, with Buizel trapped in the grip of Drapion's tail. When Buizel tries to use Sonic Boom with his free tail, Drapion just grabs it with its pincer, shutting the attack down. Ash instructs Buizel to inflate and instantly release the floatation sac on his neck, which allows him to escape and hit Drapion with Water Gun, propelling himself into the air in the process. However, Paul expected this outcome and has Drapion use Toxic Spikes, which litters the field with them and poisons Buizel when he lands. Drapion uses Pin Missile to finish Buizel off, finally bringing Ash down one Pokémon.
Ash recalls Buizel and sends out Staraptor, who, as a Flying type, is immune to the effects of Toxic Spikes. Drapion fires off another Pin Missile barrage, which Staraptor manages to dodge, despite all the damage it had taken from Gastrodon. Staraptor goes in for an Aerial Ace, but Paul has Drapion deke by entering an interception position, before dodging at the last second and capturing Staraptor with its pincer tail. Drapion turns around and hits the trapped Staraptor with Cross Poison, before slamming the Predator Pokémon onto the ground, poisoning it with the remnants of Toxic Spikes and knocking him out.
Ash recalls Staraptor, and, now aware of Drapion's battling style of luring opponents in and trapping them with its tail, sends out the much bigger Torterra (only for Paul to scoff and Reggie to remark that it was foolish for Ash to do this), who instantaneously gets poisoned by the Toxic Spikes. Drapion goes in for a Cross Poison, but Torterra overpowers it with a quick Energy Ball. Ash has Torterra immediately follow that up with z Leaf Storm, hitting Drapion again, before it pulls itself together and shuts the attack off with Pin Missile, resulting in a huge explosion. Ash, thinking Torterra is too big for Drapion to entrap, has him go in for a Rock Climb. However, it turns out that Ash has underestimated Drapion; it manages to stop Torterra's attack cold with its pincers, vindicating Paul and Reggie's earlier statements about it being a bad move for Ash to send Torterra out against it. Drapion uses Poison Fang to send Torterra plummeting back down to the battlefield, causing him major damage. Torterra uses Synthesis to regain some energy, but despite this, he ends up getting taken out after Drapion unleashes another Pin Missile onslaught.
Ash recalls Torterra, and Paul asks Ash if his Gliscor will be his sixth Pokémon, to which Ash responds that Paul is correct. Paul recalls Drapion as he tells Ash that he was able to figure out his strategy and Pokémon team by purposely letting him defeat Aggron and Gastrodon, and also that, ever since he sent out Drapion, he had been able to predict every one of Ash's moves. However, Ash shows no signs of worry and tells Paul that there is no one like him, which is why he is going to win this battle before Paul replies that he is the one who will win.
Ash sends out Gliscor and Paul sends out his fourth Pokémon, Ninjask, which uses Agility right from the start. Ash tells Gliscor to use its newest attack, Stone Edge. However, with Ninjask's Agility and Speed Boost Ability working in conjunction, Gliscor is unable to land a hit. Ninjask comes in with a quick Fury Cutter, hitting Gliscor countless times. While falling, Gliscor regains lift and tries to use Fire Fang, but Ninjask dodges, reappears from behind, and hits Gliscor in the back with another Fury Cutter, knocking it into the battlefield. Gliscor manages to stand up, but ends up getting poisoned by the Toxic Spikes, so Ash recalls it in favor of Infernape, who also gets poisoned by the Toxic Spikes. Ash realizes that he's at a major disadvantage as long as the Toxic Spikes are active, but he quickly comes up with a plan and has Infernape use Dig, which surprises everyone since a Flying type like Ninjask is immune to Ground attacks. Infernape uses Flare Blitz from underground, causing the entire field to become red hot and a subsequent eruption of fire, which not only eliminates the Toxic Spikes but also causes Ninjask massive damage. Reggie is shocked at the unusual strategy, noting that Ash's tactic had to have surprised Paul as well. After Infernape resurfaces, Paul tells Ninjask to use Giga Drain, and it begins sapping Infernape of his energy. However, it turns out that all of the damage it endured from Infernape's underground Flare Blitz took a major toll on its speed, which allows Infernape to carefully scrutinize its movements and intercept it with a Mach Punch, knocking it out. Ash and Paul are now tied with three Pokémon each, and since Infernape is starting to get tired, Ash recalls him.
Paul sends out his fifth Pokémon, Froslass, and Ash chooses Pikachu. Paul starts things off by having Froslass use Hail, and a thick cold mist soon covers the entire battlefield. Froslass's Snow Cloak Ability comes into effect as she begins fading in and out of view, preventing Pikachu from following her movements, and the situation becomes even more dire when Pikachu starts to take damage from the hail. Ash commands him to use Thunderbolt, but the Hail severely restricts the attack, and it doesn't even come close to hitting Froslass. Paul has Froslass use Ice Shard, and Ash commands Pikachu to dodge, but he doesn't do so in time and suffers a direct hit. Barry worries that the attack barrage will become one-sided at this rate. Ash decides to use physical attacks instead and has Pikachu use Volt Tackle, but this doesn't work either, as Froslass simply phases through it and takes no damage. Froslass attempts to use another Ice Shard from behind, but Pikachu dodges it by leaping into the air, before finally scoring a supereffective hit on Froslass with Iron Tail, knocking her into the ground; with all of the damage this caused, Hail finally subsides, leaving Froslass with nowhere to hide. Although Paul is impressed at this, he continues battling and has Froslass use Ice Beam, which freezes Pikachu. Froslass prepares to use another Ice Shard, but Pikachu manages to escape his icy prison by smashing through it with Volt Tackle, before hitting Froslass with it before she can launch the Ice Shard. As Pikachu suffers from the recoil, Froslass is revealed to have fainted, thus leaving Paul with two Pokémon remaining. Although Dawn and Barry are happy that Ash is in the lead again, Brock reminds them that while Ash may have more remaining Pokémon, they have all taken considerable damage, whereas one of Paul's remaining two Pokémon has yet to enter the battle. Because of that, Ash is still operating at a disadvantage. Ash knows the round took a lot out of Pikachu, so he calls him back to the sidelines.
Paul sends Drapion back out and Ash calls on Gliscor again, encouraging it to show Paul what it learned from McCann. Drapion uses Pin Missile to start things off and Gliscor dodges easily by launching into the sky. Gliscor uses Stone Edge, and Drapion uses Cross Poison to neutralize the attack, leaving behind a large smoke cloud that encases Gliscor. Ash tells Gliscor to use Giga Impact, and it readies the attack, before flying erratically inside the smoke cloud to keep Paul and Drapion guessing where it will emerge from. When Gliscor does emerge, Paul commands Drapion to use Poison Fang, but Gliscor hits Drapion in the back before it can do so. Paul commands Drapion to turn around and counterattack as it did with Buizel and Staraptor, but both are shocked to find Gliscor is nowhere to be seen. They look up to see that Gliscor had used the recoil from the attack to quickly launch itself back into the air, safe from attack while it recharges from using Giga Impact. Reggie remarks that Paul can no longer predict Ash's strategies, and with Paul's greatest strength now rendered moot, the winner of this battle is now anyone's guess. Reggie's thoughts are proven right as Paul realizes that he fell for Ash's strategy of using Stone Edge to divert his attention. Paul has Drapion launch yet another slew of Pin Missiles, but Gliscor fearlessly flies right into the attack, expertly dodging every shot. Gliscor readies an X-Scissor and dives straight for Drapion, with both Ash and Paul ready to give it their all as the battle enters its final stages.
