XY036

←	XY035 : The Forest Champion!

Battles in the Sky!

XY036

EP835

スカイバトル！？ルチャブル対ファイアロー！！
A Sky Battle!? Luchabull VS Fiarrow!!

First broadcast

Japan	July 24, 2014
United States	September 20, 2014

English themes

Opening	Pokémon Theme (Version XY)
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	メガＶ（メガボルト）
Ending	ピースマイル！

Credits

No additional credits are available at this time.
Animation	Team Kato
Screenplay	大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi
Storyboard	尼野浩正 Hiromasa Amano
Assistant director	渡辺正彦 Masahiko Watanabe
Animation director	夏目久仁彦 Kunihiko Natsume

Battles in the Sky! (Japanese: スカイバトル！？ルチャブル対ファイアロー！！ A Sky Battle!? Luchabull VS Fiarrow!!) is the 36th episode of Pokémon the Series: XY, and the 835th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on July 24, 2014 and in the United States on September 20, 2014.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

Our heroes have arrived at the majestic Kalos Canyon, where they witness their first Sky Battle—a battle in midair between two flying Pokémon and their Trainers, who wear wing suits! After a quick lesson, Ash is ready to try it himself, and accepts a challenge from Moria and her Talonflame. Ash's Fletchling wants to battle, but Talonflame wants a tougher opponent: Hawlucha! So Fletchling is forced to sit out—along with Bonnie, who's told she's too small to participate.

Hawlucha is at a disadvantage, since it can glide but not truly fly. It puts up a good fight, but Talonflame defeats it—and then Talonflame finds itself trapped in a net attached to Team Rocket's balloon! But the villains didn't count on one thing: this time, the Twerps can fly! Fletchling pitches in to send them blasting off again.

Talonflame is impressed with Fletchling's heroism, and agrees to battle the small Pokémon. With Bonnie cheering all the way, Fletchling evolves into Fletchinder in the middle of battle, and Talonflame is defeated!

Plot

As Ash and his friends are continuing their journey, they come across the famous Kalos Canyon. The group looks at the canyon in awe, admiring the very appearance of it. They decide to bring out their Pokémon for a break and Ash's new Hawlucha startles Fletchling. Ash introduces Hawlucha to the group, and almost everyone seemed excited to meet their new friend, with the exception of Froakie, who didn't seem as excited as everyone else since he already met and battled Hawlucha. Just as they are talking about the canyon, two Trainers in wing suits hover across the canyon, having what is identified as a Sky Battle between a Talonflame and a Skarmory. One Trainer's Talonflame quickly gains the upper hand and defeats Skarmory. The group, Ash in particular, takes interest in the kind of battle in question. Just then, a man comes and asks if this is their first time in the canyon.

The instructor introduces them to Sky Battles, which are battles hosted in midair and involve flying Pokemon. He brings them to the facility in which wing suits can be obtained, and Ash, Serena, and Clemont all obtain wing suits of their own, but Bonnie is unfortunately too small to receive a wing suit, much to her dismay. Serena tries to decide on staying with Bonnie to comfort her, but Bonnie thinks she is fine with Dedenne to give her company. Just then, Chespin pops out of its Poké Ball to comfort Bonnie. Ash proceeds to send out his Fletchling and Hawlucha. Ash, Serena, and Clemont begin to test their wing suits in an air room, while Bonnie jealously watches. All goes well for Ash and Serena, as well as Hawlucha and Fletchling, but Clemont has difficulty flying properly. While they are testing flight, the woman from before shows up and challenges Ash to a Sky Battle.

The woman identifies herself as Moria, who is with her Talonflame. The instructor then elaborates on how Moria is one of the instructors at the canyon Sky Battle facility. Moria explains that her previous opponent was weak, and proceeds to challenge Ash. Fletchling is eager to face Talonflame, but Talonflame rejects Fletchling, seeing it as weak and unworthy, much to Fletchling's dismay. However, Talonflame decides to face Hawlucha, to which Moria concurs, on the condition that if Hawlucha wins, then they will battle Fletchling. Ash accepts the challenge.

Ash facing Moria

Meanwhile, Talonflame and Hawlucha battle, and Fletchling watches the battle carefully and observes Talonflame's movements while being comforted by Bonnie. However, since Hawlucha relied mostly on gliding rather than actual flight, it was at a disadvantage and ultimately lost the battle. Moria decides that she would not battle Fletchling. However, Bonnie asks that Fletchling battle, to which Ash concurs, but Moria is reluctant since Hawlucha had lost. Just then, Talonflame is captured in a net and cries for help. The thieves are ultimately revealed to be Team Rocket, and they proceed to attempt to escape with Talonflame as hostage. However, Ash, Serena, Moria, and the instructor give chase by flying with wing suits, to which Team Rocket thinks is unfair. As Ash, the instructor, and Moria proceed to try and break Talonflame free, Serena sends out Fennekin and instructs her to use Flamethrower which is a direct hit that sends the balloon crashing to the ground. As Ash and the others land, Team Rocket sends out Pumpkaboo and Inkay to battle. Ash sends Fletchling to help out. Inkay starts with Tackle, but Fletchling stops it with Razor Wind and breaks Talonflame free with Steel Wing, which earns Talonflame's respect. Fletchling also proceeds in dodging Pumpkaboo's Dark Pulse and scores a direct hit with Peck. Inkay uses Psybeam, but Talonflame dodges and use Fire Blast to finish off Team Rocket's Pokemon and sends them blasting off.

After this, Talonflame finally decides that it will battle Fletchling. Moria and Talonflame then battle Ash and Fletchling, and the two undergo a very tough battle. Meanwhile, Fletchling gets hit by a powerful Fire Blast and is consumed within the flame. Just when all seems lost, Fletchling evolves into Fletchinder and learns Flame Charge. Fletchinder then proceeds to use the move consecutively, and makes use of the speed boosts from the move to outpace Talonflame and score a final hit with Flame Charge, defeating Talonflame. Fletchinder then celebrates its victory with Ash and Bonnie.

Back at the Sky Battle center, the group proceeds to say its goodbyes to Moria and the instructor. The instructor suggests that Bonnie return to the Sky Battle center when she becomes taller, to which she agrees to. He also promises to prepare a wing suit for her. The group leaves, with Bonnie running excitedly.

Major events

Ash learns about Sky Battles and has his first battle of this type.
Ash's Fletchling evolves into Fletchinder and learns Flame Charge.

For a list of all major events in Pokémon the Series: XY, please see the timeline page.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon Quiz

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Talonflame (US and international)
Pokémon Quiz: Talonflame (Japan)

Trivia

The title card segment focuses on Ash for this episode

Professor Oak's Pokémon Holo Caster: Gardevoir
- For the TV Tokyo airing, instead of the Professor Oak's Pokémon Holo Caster segment, a quiz of M17 was shown with the exclusive 3DS viewers can win.
This episode marks the first time a Sky Battle is featured in the animated series.
- Ash uses his Fletchling and Hawlucha in a Sky Battle. However, Fletchling and Hawlucha are ineligible to compete in Sky Battles in the games.
This episode was the first to air in Japan after the theatrical release of M17.
This episode marks the first appearance of a Zubat in the animated series since A Rivalry to Gible On!, 224 episodes earlier.
- It also marks the first appearance of a Skarmory in the animated series since Casting a Paul on Barry!, 185 episodes earlier.
V (Volt) is used as an insert song when Ash's Fletchling evolves.
Serena being able to glide properly may be a reference to Y, her Pokémon Adventures counterpart who is a Sky Trainer.
In this episode, the whole evolutionary line of Fletchling appears.
Team Rocket's outfits are ripped off when they blast off, which is very unusual.
With Fletchling's evolution into Fletchinder, this marks the first time that Ash has obtained a Fire-type Pokémon that is not a first partner Pokémon since he caught his Torkoal in All Torkoal, No Play, 503 episodes earlier.

Errors

When Ash calls out all three of his Pokémon, the sound effect for Hawlucha's Poké Ball is heard twice.
As Ash falls inside the air column, Clemont's irises are brown instead of blue.
At the end of the episode in his wingsuit, Clemont's lightning-bolt ahoge that previously stuck out from under his helmet is not there.
In the Swedish dub, the "Who's That Pokémon?" segment erroneously says Hawlucha.

Clemont's iris' error
Clemont's ahoge is missing

Dub edits

In the dub, Ash's Pokédex states the evolved form for Talonflame, while in the original, it doesn't.

In other languages


Language		Title
Chinese	Cantonese	空中對戰！？戰鬥飛鳥對烈箭鷹！！ * 空中对战！？战斗飞鸟对烈箭鹰！！ *
Chinese	Mandarin	空中對戰！？戰鬥飛鳥對烈箭鶲！！
Danish		Kampe i luften!
Dutch		Gevechten in de lucht!
Finnish		Ottelut taivaalla!
European French		Combats aériens !
German		Kämpfe am Himmel!
Greek		Εναέριες Μάχες!
Hebrew		!קרבות בשמיים
Hindi		आसमानी मुकाबला! Asmaani Muqabla!
Italian		Lotte aeree!
Korean		스카이배틀! 루차불 VS 파이어로!
Norwegian		Kamper i det blå!
Polish		Podniebne Bitwy!
Brazilian Portuguese		Batalhas no Céu!
Russian		Битвы в небе!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Batallas en el cielo!
Spanish	Spain	¡Combates en el Aire!
Swedish		Strider i luften!
Thai		สกายแบทเทิล!? ลูจาบูล ปะทะ ไฟร์แอโรว์!!
Turkish		Gökyüzünde maç yapmak!
Vietnamese		Trân chiến trên không! Ruchaburu đấu với Faiaro!!