BW106

Strong Strategy Steals the Show! (Japanese: ダゲキ登場！サトシ対ケニヤン！！ Appears! VS !!) is the 106th episode of Pokémon the Series: Black & White, and the 763rd episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on December 13, 2012 and in the United States on March 30, 2013.
==Blurb==
Ash and Stephan’s third-round match at the Unova League is just getting under way, and it’s Ash’s Krookodile versus Stephan’s Liepard! There’s no doubt both sides are in it to win it, and they appear evenly matched as they offer move after powerful move. But Krookodile ekes out the win, so Stephan brings out his amazingly fast Zebstrika. Krookodile has taken quite a bit of damage, so Ash switches it out for Palpitoad—a Water- and Ground-type Pokémon to combat Zebstrika’s best moves, Flame Charge and Thunderbolt. With some clever strategies in place on both sides, this bout ends in a draw!
Next up is Stephan’s talented Sawk, up against an unexpected Pokémon pick: Ash’s Leavanny! Where Sawk is muscular and determined, Leavanny is graceful and quick, dodging many of Sawk’s moves with style! However, Leavanny’s energy level can’t keep up with Sawk’s tenacity, and Sawk wins.
Finally, Ash brings Krookodile out again as his last Pokémon. It’s obviously tired from its first battle, and Iris and Cilan are concerned about the type disadvantage. But Ash has a surprise up his sleeve: he’s taught Krookodile to use Aerial Ace! This unexpected Flying-type move turns the tables on Stephan and Sawk, and Ash wins the match!
The quarterfinals begin the next morning, and Ash is up against Cameron in a full six-on-six battle. On top of that, Ash finally comes face to face with Cameron’s “secret weapon”—an intimidating Hydreigon! How will Ash respond? Find out next time!
==Plot==
 is up against Stephan in the third round of the Vertress Conference. Stephan sends out his , while Ash chooses . Liepard first uses , and Ash commands Krookodile to use . The two claw-based moves collide and make a powerful explosion, as Liepard moves straight into and Krookodile repels it with . Stephan commands Liepard to use , as Krookodile dodges with . Right before Krookodile can attack, Liepard uses . After resurfacing, Krookodile looks around for the real Liepard but cannot point it out. Without any room to dodge, Krookodile is hit with multiple Shadow Claws and Shadow Balls, resulting in massive damage. After pulling himself together, he is commanded by Ash to use Stone Edge, which lands and causes Liepard to fall down. Stephan has Liepard use Double Team again, and Krookodile attempts to avoid any possible attacks with Dig. However, Stephan expected this, and he has Liepard and its copies use Hyper Beam into the hole, forcing Krookodile out of the ground. Ash commands Dragon Claw, as Stephan commands Liepard to counter with Shadow Claw. asks if it is a draw, and points out that Krookodile delivered more damage given the momentum he accumulated while falling. Both Pokémon land roughly on the ground, as they are both commanded by their s to make another collision with Shadow Claw and Dragon Claw, respectively. After a powerful collision, Krookodile falters, making Liepard look like the winner for a split second, but Liepard falls soon thereafter, giving Krookodile the win.
Stephan recalls Liepard and sends out as his second Pokémon. After looking Zebstrika up on his Pokédex, Ash recalls Krookodile and sends out . Cilan points out that Stephan is in quite a tough spot, given Zebstrika's most effective moves, and , will not work on a and type like Palpitoad, and that Ash is in for smooth sailing. After the quick talk, Iris, , , and all cheer Ash on.
Stephan commands Zebstrika to use , as Ash commands Palpitoad to keep Zebstrika away with . Zebstrika dodges Palpitoad's attack with great speed and lands its attack on Palpitoad. Zebstrika follows up with and Ash commands Palpitoad to dodge, but Palpitoad can't pull it off with Zebstrika's speed and takes damage from the attack. Cilan points out that he may have been wrong before now that he has seen that Stephan has taught Zebstrika a variety of attacks to be able to put up with Ground-types. Ash commands Palpitoad to use , which lands and s Zebstrika. However, this is just what Stephan wanted, which is proven by him commanding Zebstrika to use , a move that increases in power if the user has a status condition. The attack causes Palpitoad to take a lot of damage as Zebstrika takes continuous damage from poison. After pulling himself together, Palpitoad is about to get hit by another Facade attack as Ash commands him to stop Zebstrika in its tracks with . Supersonic does its work and stops Zebstrika's attack, along with it, making it start hurting itself. Knowing this is his chance, Ash commands Palpitoad to use , which lands and deals a great amount of damage to Zebstrika. However, this ends up snapping Zebstrika out of its confusion. The proceeds to charge in with a , and Ash commands Palpitoad to dodge, but he is unable to do so in time and gets hurled in the air. However, Palpitoad quickly fires back with Mud Shot, hurling Zebstrika into the air also. Both Pokémon smash against the wall and faint at the same time, leaving Stephan with just one Pokémon and Ash with two.
Ash and Stephan recall their Pokémon and Stephan chooses as his third and final Pokémon. Ash looks Sawk up on his Pokédex, and Cilan points out that Stephan is down to his last Pokémon while Ash still has two of his to work with, save for the fact that Krookodile took a lot of damage from battling Liepard. Ash chooses , and both sides get ready to battle.
Sawk starts off with , boosting his power and s, and Leavanny starts out with . Stephan commands Sawk to break free, and he does. Sawk follows this up with , and Ash commands Leavanny to dodge. Stephan takes on a surprised look, and Ash points out that he and Leavanny have been doing special speed . Ash commands Leavanny's new move, , which lands and causes Sawk to take some damage. Stephan commands Sawk to go in for multiple s. However, Leavanny dodges them all with grace. Stephan gets the idea that Leavanny won't be able to dodge if Sawk uses an attack that lowers , so he commands the Karate Pokémon to use . However, Leavanny dodges again and uses , which Sawk blocks. Leavanny launches a powerful , which lands and sends Sawk flying back. Sawk gets up just as Ash commands Leavanny to use another X-Scissor. Stephan commands Sawk to catch the X-Scissor and use Low Sweep. After being weakened, and having his speed lowered from the attack, Leavanny is unable to dodge an incoming bout of Close Combat from Sawk. However, after taking the attack, Leavanny's Ability, , kicks in. Ash knows this is his chance and commands a powered-up X-Scissor. However, Sawk dodges and uses Bulk Up again. Ash commands String Shot and Stephan commands Sawk to break free. Despite having used Bulk Up twice, Sawk has trouble getting the threads off because of Leavanny's attacks being powered up by Swarm. Ash commands back-to-back X-Scissors, and Sawk barely dodges each one in an attempt to cut the threads off. Sawk finally breaks free and begins to look worn out, but goes straight in for a Karate Chop. Ash commands Leavanny to counter with Razor Leaf, but Sawk blocks it and lands his attack on Leavanny, knocking him out and evening the score.
Ash recalls Leavanny and sends out Krookodile, who shows his exhaustion from the damage he took earlier in the battle. Cilan points out that Krookodile, a type, is at a disadvantage against Sawk, a type. After giving each other a quick speech of intimidation, Ash and Stephan get ready to finish it.
Sawk is commanded by Stephan to use Close Combat while Krookodile is commanded by Ash to counter with Dragon Claw. After attacking, Krookodile begins to look like he can't take another attack, right as Sawk prepares for a Karate Chop. However, Ash fires right back by commanding Krookodile to use his new move: , catching Stephan by surprise. Krookodile charges in and dodges the Karate Chop, turning around and landing his attack on Sawk, knocking him out and giving Ash the win and entry into the quarterfinals.
After recalling Sawk, Ash and Stephan both congratulate each other for a great battle, as the entire audience gives them both a round of applause. Right after this, Virgil and were both shown to have won their battles as well. Right after this, the big screen shows that Ash will face Cameron in a Full Battle. As night falls, Cilan is shown to have made everyone a big feast. Ash and Stephan begin to have a contest to see who can eat the most. Stephan also tells Ash that he had better not lose to anyone else he is up against now that he has beaten him, and also that he will cheer him on. Later on, Cilan and Iris are getting ready for bed as Iris asks where Ash is. Cilan tells her that he is too stoked for his upcoming battle the next day to sleep and then Ash is shown in the stadium looking around and thinking that he will be there tomorrow battling Cameron, just as he sees a tent out on the battlefield. Cameron and come out of it, and Ash tells him that he cannot wait for their battle the next day.
As the sun rises, Ash is out on the battlefield with Cameron. Cameron calls out his secret weapon, , surprising Ash.
==Major events==
* Ash's Palpitoad is revealed to have learned .
* Ash's Leavanny is revealed to have learned and uses his Ability for the first time.
* Ash's Krookodile is revealed to have learned .
* wins his match against Stephan, advancing to the quarterfinals.
* and Virgil defeat Kenton and Flora, respectively, advancing them to the quarterfinals.
* Ash and Cameron begin their Full Battle in the quarterfinals.
* Cameron is revealed to own a .
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* 
* Stephan
* 
* Virgil
* Freddy O'Martian
* Antonio
* Dino
* Flora
* Katharine
* Kenton
* Manning
* Ramone
* Russet
* Referee
* Trainers
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international) (Japan)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Stephan's)
* ()
* (Stephan's)
* ()
* ('s)
* (Virgil's)
* (Virgil's)
* (Flora's)
* (Manning's; female)
* (Kenton's)
* (Russet's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's; ×2)
* 
* 
==Trivia== 
* Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster: Extreme Speed Genesect/.
* Despite having existed since Generation III, this marks the animated series debut of .
** As of this episode, all variations of have been seen in the .
* Freddy O'Martian paraphrases boxer 's famous catchphrase when describing : "Floats like a , stings like a ." This catchphrase has also been referenced in a prior episode.
* The animation of Stephan's using was lifted from the original BW024 with the background changed.
* This episode marks the last time has used Leavanny, , or in an official battle.
** This is also the last time Palpitoad has been seen in Ash's active party.
File:Liepard Hyper Beam BW024.png|Original
File:Liepard Hyper Beam BW106.png|Strong Strategy Steals the Show!
===Errors===
* When Ash commands Krookodile to use the second time, the brown irises in his eyes are missing, making them appear completely black.
* When prepares to use , it doesn't appear to be ed.
* In the title card of the dub, there is an additional "a" in the end of the word "taktiikka".
* In the ian dub, Leavanny is referred to as a female by .
===Dub edits===
==In other languages==
106
Category:Pokémon League episodes
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes focusing on Stephan
Category:Episodes written by Shōji Yonemura
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Fumihiro Yoshimura
Category:Episodes directed by Takaomi Kanasaki
Category:Episodes animated by Miyuki Katayama
de:Gute Strategie ist Gold wert!
es:EP768
fr:NB106
it:NB106
ja:BW編第106話
zh:宝可梦 超级愿望 第106集