Part X: Nimbasa II

by WeakScallion June 16th, 2026

This is the tenth part of my rewrite series on the Black and White series of the Pokémon anime. If you missed out on the last entry, go to this post!

This 3-episode arc marks the beginning of Season 15, and has Ash compete for his fourth Gym badge while a few rivalries pan out.


BW049 A Spark of Independence! (rewrite for BW049 Enter Elesa, Electrifying Gym Leader!)

The group (including Bianca) has stayed in a hotel in Nimbasa for a couple days now. One day, while eating, Bianca says she heard Elesa would be back in the Gym that very afternoon. Ash then says he’d be the first to challenge her, and Bianca says that there’s no way — she’s in Nimbasa only to get that badge.

They are shocked to learn Bianca is doing the gym challenge as well, and Bianca tells them it was a last minute decision after the Club Battle — she wants to prove to herself that she is growing closer to her Pokemon. When asked how many Pokemon she owned already, she introduces them to a cute Shelmet who is very shy, and laughs it off saying that catching strong Pokemon is not her specialty yet.

In any case, Ash and Bianca start arguing over who will challenge Elesa first. Cilan wonders if it wouldn’t be a good idea to have a fight to see who deserves to win, but Bianca says if they waste time battling each other, then someone else will rush in right before them, and she is on a schedule: her father has agreed to meet her that very afternoon, and she expects to have earned her badge by then.

Bianca then explains her dad didn’t want her to travel on her own and that, officially, she’s still running errands for Professor Juniper. But now her father wants her back home and she wants to prove to him that she’s having fun and that she deserves to be given a chance. She may not be a battler but her father will understand if she sees proof like that. Ash concedes defeat to such a story and lets Bianca go first.

Issues in the power source in the Pokemon Center (related to Team Plasma’s wrongdoings in BW047 and 048) delay the recovery of Ash’s Pokemon, so Bianca has to rush into the gym on her own — Ash and the rest will join soon as the Pokemon are healed up.

Once Ash’s Pokemon are healed, he is approached by a middle-aged guy who asks if he’s really planning on fighting Elesa. Ash says he is, and the guy says it’s likely he isn’t ready yet and that he wants to test his strength in a 1v1 fight. Iris and Cilan beg him to decline since they want to go support Bianca, but Ash wants to fight!, so they leave him to it.

It’s a 1v1 between the dude’s Darmanitan, who has the Sheer Force ability, and Ash’s Oshawott, who steps up to fight on his own, as per usual. Darumaka excitedly comes out of his Pokeball too, visibly enamored by the fierce battling style of his evolution. He ends up however hiding anywhere he can from Oshawott’s water attacks, which somehow always end up getting poor Darumaka wet.

Ash loses and the guy wonders just how convinced of his capabilities Ash truly is — if he cannot even defeat him, can he really hope to win any more badges? Ash shakes off the feeling telling him that growth, as he understands it, includes making mistakes, losing time and time again, learning who you are and what you want as you go. He then rushes to the gym, and the guy tags along, saying he wants to say hi to Elesa, an old acquaintance of his.

When they arrive, they are shocked to learn Elesa’s Zebstrika defeated 2 of Bianca’s Pokemon (Shelmet and Minccino) and only Pignite is left. Pignite gives a fight, but is ultimately defeated as well. Bianca, crushed, is quickly consoled by Ash, Iris and Cilan.

Then the dude from earlier says Bianca doesn’t battle for real, and that she still has much to learn from people like Ash, who may be more erratic but truly believe in their commands. Bianca is shocked: it’s her father. She runs away, embarrassed, as Elesa goes to greet the guy, and points out he was a formidable trainer who came close to winning the Pokemon League in his youth, but never competed in the Finals.

Bianca’s father explains he was preparing for the Finals and then realised that was not his passion. He loved battling, yes, but not for a title. He then went back home to his family, and there he met the woman who’d be her wife.

He insists he knows the world’s dangers better than nobody and that allowing Bianca to be Juniper’s assistant was the way of letting her discover the world from a safe space, and that this sudden emotional burst of wanting to travel is just not safe for her.

Bianca then comes back, irritated, and challenges her father to a fight. Her father laughs, and Bianca says she’ll prove to him just how much the communion with her Pokemon actually means. Her father, clearly knowing he’d crush her, lets her fight, accompanied by Ash, so a double battle against him — while at that, he asks Ash to use that sparky Darumaka from earlier.

So a battle unfolds, it’s his Stoutland and Seismitoad against Ash’s Darumaka and Bianca’s Pignite. Darumaka is terrified seeing Seismitoad, as Bianca’s father points out he cannot live forever terrified of water. Ash agrees and tells him he'll see Darumaka is growing too.

Bianca’s dad takes an easy early lead — Darumaka keeps getting cornered by Seismitoad’s water attacks, Stoutland is too heavy of a hitter for Pignite… but, when they seem close to being done, Bianca’s sheer motivation to take the win motivates Pignite enough to evolve into Emboar. That, and Darumaka’s explosive attacks out of absolute cowardice, turn the battle around for the couple, who get the win... even if it's clear, as Cilan points out, that Bianca's father is taking it relatively easy.

Bianca’s father concedes defeat and lets Bianca know he’ll be very attentive of her progress no matter if she’s a trainer, a traveler or just herself, and then leaves.


BW050 Sparks Fly at the Nimbasa Gym! (rewrite for BW050 Dazzling the Nimbasa Gym!)

God, the original might be the most XD title ever. Anyway, huge rewrite incoming ‘cos this is often regarded (and for good reason) as the worst episode in the whole show.

The beginning of the episode is Ash studying how to defeat Elesa’s Zebstrika, while Iris points out Bianca told her she also owns an Emolga, much like Iris’s. When Iris offers to let him spar with Emolga, Emolga is seen using Attract on whomever for a bit of comedy, hijacking the plan.

Ash is ready for the fight. Elesa starts with Zebstrika again as Ash surprises everybody by picking Archen. Archen is ready to fight and tries to use Ancient Power, but Zebstrika’s speed is too much and it connects with Flame Charge. Anyway, Archen is clearly against the wall here and Elesa wants to finish her using Wild Charge, but then Archen manages to fly for a few seconds and Zebstrika misses her, crashing against a wall.

Elesa calls back Zebstrika and brings out her Emolga. Emolga’s Attract fails ‘cos Archen is a female, but Archen’s flight is still very unstable and so her hits are not accurate enough. To make matters worse, Defeatist activates, making her hits all the weaker; and so Emolga’s swift tactics end up giving her the win anyway.

Ash’s second Pokemon is Swadloon. Emolga deals good damage, but Swadloon’s resilience and patience give her a good opening that deals heavy damage to Emolga. When Swadloon is about to finish Emolga, Emolga uses Volt Switch into Zebstrika.

Zebstrika is indeed very, very strong, but Swadloon manages to withstand it all, her String Shot progressively sturdier after careful training, and both Pokemon faint together in a final clash.

Ash’s last Pokemon is Pikachu, and Elesa brings Emolga back again. Emolga is visibly tired, but is still very fast. Pikachu manages to pull through, avoids a Volt Switch, and lands the kill.

Elesa’s ace is Tynamo, same joke as in-canon. Pikachu’s electricity problem surfaces again when he tries to use Electro Ball, but such overload lets him overpower Tynamo in due time and Pikachu takes the win regardless.


BW051 A Connoisseur’s Stamp of Approval! (rewrite for BW051 Lost at the Stamp Rally!)

While having a last meal in Nimbasa before leaving for Driftveil, the group overhears some people talking about a Connoisseur Exhibition that will soon happen in Anville Town, and how some fancy benefactors are said to be attending.

Cilan convinces Ash and Iris to go check it out, as Anville is barely a train ride away.

When they arrive, the whole town is crowded for a real festival — historic trains are on display, a special stamp rally is being held in the station grounds… the atmosphere is perfect for Cilan.

As Cilan explains the grandiosity of some of the trains, the group encounters Ricard Nouveau, who has befriended many of the sponsors of the event already. He mocks Cilan and suggests his only hope today is to entertain amateurs with his speeches.

The event is a stamp rally: participants travel through Anville Station, observe trainers and their Pokemon in ordinary situations, and will earn stamps by giving useful evaluations or advice. This is, of course, an event separate from the Exhibitions we saw earlier on and is just for the fun of it, but many take it far too seriously.

While at first Cilan tries to show off to impress the judges; a scene where Iris manages to calm a lost Deino (building on her Dragon connection) inspires him to actually start listening and giving advice based on his best opinion.

Meanwhile, Ricard gives impressively technical speeches (which make him look like an absolute expert), but then Ash overhears him give the exact same advice in a whole separate situation; which sure charms that one judge, but ends up not helping anyone, as Cilan must step in to fix the mess Ricard caused.

During the rally, the group reunites with Ingo and Emmet, who are overseeing a Battle Subway exhibition for the festival. The final stamp requires Connoisseurs to observe a tag battle and give advice to participants — whomever gives the best advice, wins and will get a chance to fight either Ingo or Emmet.

By the end, Cilan and Ricard are deemed to be tied in points. Ingo and Emmet say that, to decide who wins; they’ll do a double battle: Cilan and Ricard against Ingo and Emmet.

The fight starts, with Cilan using Dwebble and Ricard using Lilligant; and Ingo & Emmet using Chandelure and Eelektross. Ricard’s Lilligant is wonderful on her own, deals solid damage and moves flawlessly, like a princess; but demands Cilan’s Dwebble to help out in ways it simply can’t instead of being aggressive, as he likes to be. Cilan asks Ricard to let him know when he’ll make a certain move; but Ricard deems it impractical. In the end, Ingo & Emmet’s combinations overwhelm the couple (who are acting on their own behalf), and win the fight.

Ricard blames Cilan for the loss and leaves angrily. Ingo and Emmet commend Cilan for his efforts and offer him and Ash a separate exhibition rematch so that the audience can enjoy an actual tag battle between couples that trust each other.

It’s a fight between Cilan’s Stunfisk and Ash’s Herdier against Ingo & Emmet’s couple. It’s a great fight where Cilan proves to be really good at doing tag-battle tactics as support; but Ingo and Emmet are impressive and defeat the pair.

The judges try to give the rally prize to Cilan (since Ricard left), but Cilan declines it saying he wouldn’t have achieved all the stamps had it not been for Ash and Iris too. Ingo and Emmet jump in and name the trio joint winners.

Ingo and Emmet wish Cilan luck finding a sponsor, and the group leaves back for Nimbasa to head for Driftveil next.


Updated summary

Ash's team: Pikachu, Herdier, Oshawott, Swadloon, Darumaka, Archen, Scraggy Iris' team: Axew, Excadrill, Emolga Cilan's team: Pansage, Dwebble, Stunfisk

Badges obtained: 4 Season progress: 3/48

Deleted episodes: 6 No new deletions


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Pub: 15 Jun 2026 10:01 UTC

Edit: 15 Jun 2026 10:01 UTC

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