Once again, doesn't look like Torkoal does much... *groan* According to several message boards, this is how the battle went (I haven't seen the episode yet, but it's pretty clear):
Ash left off having Corphish out, while Masamune lost Girafarig quickly. Masamune chose Growlithe for his second...
...And lost quickly to Corphish again. Next, he uses Swampert, and as Corphish and Swampert use Crabhammer and Focus Punch, they both knock each other out and faint. There is then an interval because Masamune lost 3 Pokemon.
Steelix VS Pikachu. Both have Iron Tail, but Steelix's is faster and the win goes to him. Torkoal's turn to face a Steelix for a second time... but it's Flamethrower and Overheat are no match for Steelix's Dig and Dragonbreath, so it's taken out pretty quickly again.
Grovyle, however, avoids Dragonbreath and defeats Steelix with Leaf Blade.
Gligar's turn, who then quickly defeats Grovyle with Guillotine.
Swellow VS Gligar. Again, a collision of attacks causes them to hit each other and both faint, thus they are down to their last Pokemon (Aerial Ace and Metal Claw).
Glalie VS Metang... I couldn't exactly understand what went on here, but yes, Meteor Mash was introed. But anyway the fact remains that Glalie won somehow.
The Sceptile shown in the preview, as I recall one person correctly speculating, is to show how Tetsuya is doing meanwhile. But, it's decided, that Ash will be battle Tetsuya next round, and yes he IS in the top 8 and the battle IS for the top 4, so if Ash loses he'll be top 8 again.
Anyway, seems like Ash sees Tetsuya training with Meowth at night and they have their little "talk" as usual... bleh... but anyway, Ash's battle with Tetsuya does actually start in this episode, and he makes a pretty surprising choice for a first Pokemon... Sceptile. Ash uses Glalie. They start fighting for a while, and the episode ends in the middle of a fierce battle...
I think that might be what the next title's referring to. But... given the placement of the round, it's hard to really say who will win. Given that it's for the top four, Ash does have a chance with the writers... But to be honest, it's good because now we won't really care who he loses to or if he loses, assuming he beats Tetsuya. Plus, unless he withdraws it, not sure if we'd have to worry about Sceptile being a threat...