Part III: Nacrene City
by WeakScallion June 9th, 2026
This is the third 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 5-episode arc covers Ash's time in Nacrene City, where he will have his second Gym fight and will meet a mysterious character with a very particular view of the world.
BW013 A Night in the Nacrene City Museum! (adapted from canon BW014)
As far as I’m concerned, it was a perfectly fun episode. Odd way to start a section ain't it, an episode with little to no changes?
The one thing to change are the details on Team Rocket. They arrive at Nacrene City accompanied by Pierce, and it’s him who tells them they’re to swap the Meteonite for a dummy he has in store. Pierce lets them know their intel points towards the secret organization wanting to retrieve the Meteonite too, and so they must act fast.
BW014 The Battle According to Lenora! (rewrite for canon BW015)
The start of the episode can stay as-is. I can tolerate Ash being hyped to battle and Lenora recommending Ash to read a book as a test. Ash is indeed forward and aggressive and whatnot.
But there is a limit to how overly forward Ash can be without him looking like the idiot Rebooted Ash was. So sure, he's raring to battle Lenora, but Lenora tells him that, before battling, she likes to spend a few minutes with her Pokémon, to see how they're doing. She brings out her Herdier and her Watchog, and Ash decides to bring out his four Pokémon too. The group has fun, and that is particularly prominent in the case of Ash's Lillipup, who seems to be very fond of Lenora's Herdier. They jog around for a bit, and Cilan points out their contrasting running styles (Herdier is a steady runner while Lillipup runs around like a little kid) make for quite the pairing.
Meanwhile, we have a short scene of Jessie, James and Meowth trying preposterous ways of infiltrating the museum, ultimately failing.
Seeing Lillipup so excited, he decides he'll start the battle with him. However, as he calls him out to fight, Lillipup looks wholly uninterested in fighting. Lenora calls on Herdier first, and Lillipup seems happy to play with his new friend for a while longer, but Herdier takes matters seriously. His Intimidate scares Lillipup away, and Herdier hits him hard with Giga Impact next. After a few more hits, Lillipup is barely standing up, looks at Herdier saddened, and ignores Ash's pleas to stand up — he literally drops to the floor, act defeated, and is thereby deemed defeated by virtue of non-responsiveness.
Ash is both mad and disappointed at Lillipup’s disdain, but still seems confident that he’ll be able to pull through as he calls on Sewaddle as his second and last Pokémon. Herdier is very strong and Sewaddle struggles to land hits at first, but her String Shot tramples his mobility and Herdier is eventually defeated. However, she is extremely tired by the time her Watchog hits the field, and Retaliate one-shots her.
Lenora commends Ash's trust in his Pokémon, but wonders if his Pokémon believe in him too, and so advises him to take some time to train and reflect. Ash is disappointed by both the defeat and Lillipup's performance, and ultimately decides (like in canon) to head for Don George's Battle Club for training.
BW015 Speaking Up for Lillipup! (NEW)
The way the canon Lenora loss is framed is a bit preposterous if you ask me, inconsequential at best. It takes Ash barely half an episode to improve a lot and defeat her, there’s no character progress happening there. I am inserting an episode that tries to take care of that.
Ash trains the team in Don George’s Battle Club. This time around, this is a more standardised set of activities where every one of Ash’s Pokemon can train, say an obstacle course, resistance tasks, whatever. Pikachu, Oshawott and Sewaddle are all doing the tasks alongside Ash, but Lillipup still refuses to train and sleeps tightly in a corner. Ash refuses to force him and decides he won’t be using him for the rematch. He may be a lost cause. During training, much like in canon, Oshawott learns Aqua Jet.
Anyway, when Ash finishes his training, he recalls all his Pokémon… but Lillipup is not where he was sleeping. They soon spot him, however, being fed some food by a mysterious guy. After questioning him, he introduces himself as N.
The group also introduces themselves. Upon hearing Cilan say he wants to be a S-tier connoisseur, N looks at him with disgust, saying he much dislikes such titles as they have an extremely wrong view of what makes Pokémon so special.
N tells Ash that Lillipup talked to him about how he keeps pressuring him to fight when what he really wants is to eat and chill. The group doesn’t understand what he means by that, and N explains he has the ability of talking to Pokemon. N’s point is that Ash is making his Pokemon do stuff they really don’t want to do — enslaving them, that is. Pikachu is quick to confront him, and N is shocked to hear something he said. When questioned about what Pikachu told him, N does not answer and instead challenges Ash to a fight, which he accepts.
N asks Don George for a loanee team, as he says he owns no Pokémon — he does not believe in Poké Balls. Iris says he’s a weirdo, but Ash is still raring to fight him to prove him wrong. He of course chooses Lillipup as N shows the first loaned Pokemon in Purrloin. Before starting the fight, N talks to Purrloin to learn what he knows about fighting, then commends her for being a nice Pokemon.
Lillipup doesn’t want to attack, so N takes the first move and tells Purrloin to use Scratch. Lillipup keeps avoiding hits, proving to be extremely agile. Meanwhile, a pair of Plasma grunts steal Ash's egg from his bag without anyone noticing.
After much avoiding hits, Purrloin is tired and Lillipup takes the chance to Tackle her away so that he can lay on the floor and take a nap. Seeing Purrloin hurt from the attack, N calls her back and forfeits.
They are all shocked by N’s forfeit. However, it's not long before they realise the egg disappeared, making them look for it all around. Eventually they find the grunts and Pikachu and Cilan’s Pansage try to fight them off, but the grunts’ Munna uses Hypnosis to stop them. Lillipup, seeing the Pokemon in danger, KOs Munna with an extremely strong Take Down, and the grunts run away leaving the egg be.
Ash thanks Lillipup as he just dozes off in a corner, and N lets him know that he can sense Lillipup is not a fighter but a protector. He won’t fight unless strictly necessary, and Ash should respect that same as he once respected Pikachu’s own flaws, which Pikachu told him about.
N bids them farewell as Ash wraps up his training.
After the group has left to prepare for Ash's rematch, we see N thanking the 2 grunts for their cooperation. They question him why he wanted to play such charades with that kid. N does not give any further explanations and leaves.
BW016 A Ruff Rematch at Nacrene Gym! (rewrite for BW016 Rematch at the Nacreme Gym!)
I am devoting the entire episode to the fight because, again, it’s stupid to have Ash lose and then win the next episode in a matter of 10 minutes. The canon fight is, all things considered, the most irrelevant fight ever.
Ash arrives at the Gym, the fight is soon to begin. Lenora is again shown to spend time with her Pokémon, making sure they feel okay and cherishing their company. Ash, however, is fully focused on winning. The battle starts. Lenora brings out Herdier first once again. Before Ash can decide on who should be his first Pokémon, Oshawott escapes his ball and takes the stage, brimming with confidence. Herdier's Intimidate again enters into effect, but Oshawott is ready to give a good fight. The two fight for a while, and Aqua Jet is clearly shown to fail for the first time. Despite the fight being relatively close, Herdier seems fresher than Oshawott. Despite that, Lenora switches to Watchog, who immediately traps Oshawott with Mean Look. Oshawott again fights with all he has, fails Aqua Jet again but lands a few Razor Shells, but is ultimately finished by a Thunderbolt and Low Sweep combo. Oshawott is sad he couldn’t pull off a win, but Ash congratulates him for having tried so hard.
Ash is visibly nervous, knowing he can’t lose again. Pikachu is ready to enter the field and Ash is about to choose him, but on second thought he stops him. He has made his mind up: it’s Lillipup who takes the stage.
Lillipup is sleeping again, and is woken up by Ash who insists he trusts in him. Lillipup doesn’t seem too interested, though, and immediately receives heavy damage from Watchog. Lenora says she is disappointed in Ash for not having worked on his relationship with Lillipup, but Ash is not thrown off just yet.
He tells Lillipup it’s playtime and tells him to run around. His speed is fantastic and Watchog struggles to connect his attacks. Ash then convinces Lillipup to “play a game” and manages to have him use Take Down in Watchog's direction. Once that happens, Lillipup seems to be having a ton of fun and keeps going at it. Ash congratulates him and Lillipup evolves into Herdier, shocking everyone.
Now evolved, Herdier seems more determined and finishes Watchog. He is tired and has received some damage, but Ash believes.
Then Lenora brings out her Herdier again. His Intimidate puts off Ash's Herdier, who still wants to play, but he seems more excited to keep hitting the target. The two Herdiers fight for a while (in two very visually distinct manners, as Lenora’s is more stoic and Ash’s is very jolly), and Ash ends up taking the win.
Ash congratulates Herdier, who also seems happy about the outcome. Both Herdiers bark at each other as Ash is handed his badge. However, in the midst of all this joy, Hawes is notified that someone stole the Meteonite from the museum.
BW017 The Case of the Missing Meteonite! (NEW)
One thing that will forever bug me is how they decided Team Rocket were the most competent fellas ever, and so the Meteonite switch raised no suspicions. I’m sorry, that’s not my Team Rocket.
When Ash and the rest get to the actual museum following the alert, all the lights are off and the security system has gone haywire. Indeed, the Meteonite has been stolen. Lenora lets everyone know the piece originally stemmed from the legendary Relic Castle, and was likely to be from an old civilization.
The rescue party is sent out as they investigate. After some inspecting, Hawes lets them know the lights went out after the alarm first blasted off, meaning they were 2 separate eventualities. They also spot a replica of the Meteonite smashed into pieces on the museum’s floor — they suspect the robbers intended to replace the original for a replica, but something scared them away before they could, dropping the replica on their way out.
We then see Jessie, James and Meowth hiding in a room in the museum, still wondering why they have to be the decoys while Pierce took the Meteonite away. Suddenly, two people emerge from a tunnel they made: Plasma Grunts who, without yet introducing themselves (but we can recognize their outfits from when some grunts stole Ash’s egg), ask them to hand over the Meteonite. Meowth recognizes them as the people who were stealing information a few episodes back. Of course, the Rockets say they don’t have it, and provoke them a bit so they give away what they want it so much for.
Meanwhile, Professor Juniper and Bianca arrive at Nacrene after Lenora called Juniper for help. Bianca (as well as her Pignite and Minccino) is carrying a load of bags with her, albeit clumsily, to add some further characterization.
Back to the Rockets: The Plasma grunts argue Team Rocket don’t know what the Meteonite is — the Plasmas theorize it holds ‘the Truth’, and that their leader is the only one capable of facing it. The Rockets laugh them off, but are subsequently blasted away by the Plasmas’ Liepard.
Juniper lets Ash and the rest know what she knows about the Meteonite, but also that it’s unlikely anyone who knew what it actually was didn’t try to steal the reports the museum has too, as they are sure to contain valuable information on it. Lenora agrees, and the party goes to check if everything is in place. When they arrive at the archive, they encounter the two Plasma grunts from earlier skimming through it all. They confront them, who still don’t give away their affiliation, and a fight unfolds: Bianca’s Pignite, Ash’s Pikachu, Lenora’s Watchog, Cilan’s Pansage and Iris’ Axew help out defeat the Plasmas’ Pokemon as Minccino cleans up in the background in a slightly claustrophobic scene (Marx Brothers’ Crowded Cabin style).
The Plasmas manage to disappear after the lights go off again. They barely escaped with one or two pages of documentation. Lenora, Juniper and Bianca stay to clean, fix such disaster and also see what their next steps should be; as Ash, Iris and Cilan leave.
The episode then ends with Team Rocket contacting Giovanni and Pierce, talking about how the Plasmas really wanted that Meteonite. Giovanni tells them it’s likely it’s connected to a Legendary Pokemon, and that they’ll be testing its power soon. We then see a Zoroark observing them from afar, after which it runs off.
Updated summary
Ash's team: Pikachu, Herdier, Oshawott, Sewaddle Iris' team: Axew, Excadrill Cilan's team: Pansage, Dwebble
Badges obtained: 2 Season progress: 17/48
Deleted episodes: 2 No new deletions