Part V: Castelia City and Relic Castle

by WeakScallion June 11th, 2026

This is the fifth 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 4-episode arc covers two very important events: the first confrontation between Team Rocket and Team Plasma, and Ash's third Gym fight against Burgh.


BW023 A Venipede Stampede! (adapted from canon BW022)

This is a perfectly fine episode to introduce Castelia and set up the events. A few changes to make that are carried over from previous changes:

  • Pidove is in no way involved. In the canon BW022, this is the episode where she evolves into Tranquill.
  • Ash uses all of his Pokemon to help move the Venipedes.
  • In the midst of the problem, Trip will hurriedly say someone should call the Pokemon League for them to help out (hinting at the fact he very much admires Alder but without making anything explicit at all). He will preserve his confrontational attitude in the episode, and will be very irritated when Ash’s plan ends up working. When in the end of the episode he's asked where he’s leaving to, he says he’s got matters to take care of before obtaining any more gym badges (instead of the canon excuse of "gym not available").

For the end of the episode, we are preserving the original ending, with Juniper telling Ash and the rest to join them in traveling to the Desert. Meanwhile, Burgh stays behind in Castelia to help repair the city and care for the displaced Venipede.


BW024 Clash at the Desert Resort! (replacement for unaired BW023 Rocket-dan VS Plasma-dan! (Part 1))

Team Rocket is finishing the process of energy release as Giovanni steps out of his helicopter. The Pokemon in the area are all leaving the place in a rush, helped by N. He looks with great worry to both the excavation site and to the point from where Team Plasma is watching from.

Up there, the recruits ask an odd-looking individual, whom they call Sage Zinzolin, whether they should intervene already. Zinzolin tells them to wait in position, as he looks at the hordes of fleeing Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Ash, Iris, Cilan, Juniper and Bianca arrive near Desert Resort. As they hover above the desert, Juniper's readings go crazy and Pikachu's electricity begins to unstabilize. They look down, and manage to take a glance of what's going on: the Rocket commando, the displaced Pokémon... but before they can properly descend, a Hyper Beam from another helicopter shoots theirs down. The helicopter starts crashing down, and they all jump out of it for their lives, the group ending up dispersed. Ash and Pikachu, tightly hugged to each other, lands right into a sand pithole. Juniper, who landed relatively nearby, tries to help him out; but to no avail.

Ash falls into the pithole and finds himself inside some dark, old ruins. Pikachu, still very much under the weather, can barely concentrate his electric attacks to light up the way, so Ash tries to wander through the halls until he's attacked by a few Yamask, forcing him to run. As he escapes, Ash finally spots a light, apparently from a flame, approach him: it's the Sunglasses Sandile carrying a torch in his mouth. Ash takes the torch as Sandile protects him from the Yamask.

Meanwhile, Iris and Cilan, wander through the desert, wondering how Ash might be doing. They then come face to face with N. They ask what he is doing here, and N says he knew the Pokemon in the area would need help. Cilan assumes he knows more than he's letting on, and so asks him if these events have got something to do with the Venipede stampede in Castelia. N shows clear remorse, but then adjusts himself. Immediately after, a huge quake occurs: Team Rocket has finally activated their machinery to extract the power from the Meteonite. N then raises his hand, confusing Iris and Cilan. From the cliff, Zinzolin looks to his side, and commands all Plasma grunts to jump right in, in the name of the truth.

A huge fight occurs between Rocket and Plasma grunts. Jessie, James and Meowth at first try to fight back, but a grunt's Liepard knocks them all away. The sands start revolting, revealing even more quicksand. Rockets and Plasmas fight against each other and against the quicksand, while Jessie, James and Meowth are swallowed.

Pierce pays no mind to that and keeps working on the excavation alongside the scientists. Meanwhile, Giovanni looks everywhere to try and spot the Plasma leader whomever they are, arguing they must know something else about this energy that they are about to release.

Meanwhile, Ash, Pikachu and Sandile run from the falling ruins surrounding them. Ash asks Sewaddle to use String Shot to close the gaps, while Herdier tries to find some sort of scent that may guide them outside. Sandile decides to Dig a hole and leaves.

A huge fire breaks out in one of the side corridors, making a lot of Woobats rush out in a panic. Oshawott promptly tries to put out the fire, but as he does so Ash hears a loud cry. Ash then rushes in, leaving Pikachu to be guarded by the rest of his team, and finds a crying Darumaka that seems to have caused the fire himself, maybe to defend himself from the Woobat. Despite the fact Darumaka is still burning, Ash takes him in his arms, rushes out, takes Pikachu too, and the whole gang proceeds forward.

Juniper and Bianca finally manage to find each other, and Bianca lets Juniper know she managed to save one of their machines, which is showing extremely spiked readings. Officer Jenny arrives at the scene too, looking at the whole scene in absolute shock. Then the Rocket machinery starts to burn up, and an even bigger quake happens. The sands are torn apart. Professor Juniper cannot believe it: Relic Castle is rising.

Ash and the Pokemon are thrown off by the sudden movement, and even clash with Jessie, James and Meowth (who had been wandering too); who decide their priority is escaping and help Ash carry Darumaka.

Relic Castle finally starts to separate itself from the land. Zinzolin gasps in awe, and N begs Cilan and Iris for help to mobilize some lagging Pokemon away from the area before they are swallowed by the sands. They come face to face with some Rocket grunts who left the main battle to catch some wild Pokemon, forcing a confrontation.

N finally contemplates the castle rise and wonders: "is this all worth it?"


BW025 The Sun Rises from Relic Castle! (replacement for unaired BW024 Rocket-dan VS Plasma-dan! (Part 2))

Iris and Cilan battle the Team Rocket grunts using Axew and Pansage. Axew then gets trapped by the quicksand, but N and Iris manage to get him out. More Rockets approach.

In the midst of the fight, they manage to spot the Meteonite, which levitates and starts pulsing energy. Giovanni smirks and wonders what sort of divine creature is Team Rocket about to seize for themselves... and what is it that this secret organization is seeking. Meanwhile inside Relic Castle, Pikachu keeps getting weaker by the minute, his electricity thoroughly drained, as the whole group keeps running away from falling debris seeking an exit. They however reach a dead-end: a chamber filled with odd looking statues. Pikachu needs room to breathe and so Ash decides he'll stop to let him rest, himself exhausted as well. Jessie, James and Meowth try to argue they must keep searching for an exit, but they are thrown off by the sound of crumbling walls.

The Rockets and Plasmas keep fighting a very harsh and even fight. It's then that Zinzolin joins in, his Cryogonal ending most of the Rockets’ Pokemon. Pierce is about to call upon his Pokemon to fight back, but Giovanni tells him to keep working on stabilizing the energy for its later use, bringing out his Persian.

Iris and Cilan finish the grunts they were fighting and, when they look again, N is no longer with them. A Flash Cannon from Zinzolin’s Cryogonal gets deflected and almost hits the last few lagging Pokemon, forcing Cilan and Iris to stop thinking about N and keep helping the Pokemon get away.

Giovanni asks who they are, and what is this energy they are unleashing. We then see Juniper explain to Officer Jenny how the Meteonite is said to have been used as an artificial sun by the ancient people living around the Relic Castle following the eruption of a volcano, but eventually became unstable and destroyed the civilization — very much like what's going on right now.

Back with Zinzolin, he lets Giovanni know that Team Plasma seeks the 'Fire of Truth', and that their current knowledge has led them to the conclusion that if the Meteonite could unleash such fire, it's likely it is the object they need to wake up the Legendary Pokemon, all for their leader’s sake. Zinzolin also laughs at Giovanni for thinking someone as feeble as him has the capacity of making use of such power as that of Reshiram.

Persian attacks with Power Gem and Cryogonal with Ice Beam, but both attacks are interrupted by a Dark Pulse. Zoroark arises from the dust storm, and Zinzolin looks shocked. After some hesitation, Zinzolin commands the remaining recruits to rush into Relic Castle, hopping into different helicopters to approach.

Giovanni’s Persian tries to attack with Shadow Claw but Zoroark also attacks, winning the matchup; and then leaves in a rush. Giovanni is frustrated and orders the remaining Rockets to follow after the Plasmas and shoot them down.

Meanwhile in the chamber, Ash keeps taking care of both Pikachu and Darumaka. Oshawott tries to clean Darumaka up, but Darumaka seems terrified at every drop of water Oshawott throws his way. Meanwhile, Herdier and Sewaddle try to keep them warm. Team Rocket try to move one of the statues hoping there's a hidden door behind, but upon interacting with them they all turn 180º, revealing they are Zen Mode Darmanitan, and start levitating with their psychic powers. The chamber's ceiling rises as Ash and the Rockets watch in awe.

From his helicopter, Zinzolin points towards the rising ceiling and tells the pilot to rush there already. There's another quake as the Darmanitans' energy pulls Relic Castle down. Pierce and the Rocket machinery start to lose control of the Meteonite. N arises again in the middle of the desert (now turned into a battlefield) and starts shouting for everyone to halt their operations, saying the Darmanitan are begging for them to stop before the sun rises again and incinerates them all.

The pilot asks Zinzolin what to do, but Zinzolin gives him the direct order of attacking. The helicopter hovers right over the Darmanitan, and the grunts attack the Darmanitan as Zinzolin jumps out of the helicopter. His Cryogonal freezes the Darmanitan right in the spot. Jessie and James fight the Plasma grunts as Pikachu tries to confront Cryogonal. Zinzolin gets an early lead, until suddenly the skies turn black, huge stormclouds covering the sky.

Outside, N watches in awe, and finally smiles. So I was right, he says. The Sunglasses Sandile appears in front of Cilan and Iris and tries to tell them Ash is trapped in the castle and that something awful is happening. They soon get the gist and rush forward, and meet with Juniper, Bianca and Officer Jenny, who are also trying to find a way to enter.

A huge thunderbolt crashes into the ceilingless chamber, striking Pikachu directly. Pikachu then starts glowing in blue, KO'ing Cryogonal in just one hit. Another, even bigger quake happens, and the entirety of Relic Castle starts trembling. Zinzolin escapes alone in his helicopter, leaving his knocked out grunts behind, stating that even if this was not what they were looking for, their lord will be back for his Truth in due time. Outside, Pierce has lost all control of the meteonite as it pulses again. A huge heat wave starts spreading all through the Castle.

Pikachu faints as a result of a huge overload of energy (just like in BW001). Ash, who owns no flying Pokemon yet, cannot escape and so all of Ash’s Pokemon start trying to wreck through the walls, including the injured Darumaka who keeps using Headbutt time and time again; but the heat is too extreme for them to handle. Ash saves its Pokemon by storing them in their balls and then hugs both Pikachu and Darumaka tightly to protect them. So do Jessie and James. However, they are subsequently saved by the Darmanitans’ psychic powers.

Ash and the rest are thrown out of the castle and are saved from a big impact by Bianca's Pignite and Iris' Excadrill, that for once decides to step up to help out. As Ash tries to steady himself, Volcarona starts flying out of Relic Castle, emitting an insane amount of heat that melts the Rockets’ machinery and forces all of the Plasma helicopters to fly away in a rush.

The Meteonite (suspended in front of Volcarona) releases the last of its energy. Volcarona absorbs the energy into its wings. The heat begins to stabilize, and the desert winds calm.

Giovanni, frustrated, orders all units to retreat. Jessie, James and Meowth lag behind and miss the helicopters' escape, and so run away by foot.

Volcarona returns to Relic Castle as the whole place starts to sink into the sand once more. Juniper retrieves the Meteonite as it falls, rendered absolutely useless. Pikachu wakes up, energetic. Ash wants to thank Sandile but he’s already left. Before returning to Castelia, Darumaka hugs Ash tightly and joins his party.

Ash returns to Castelia as Juniper will stay with the authorities to look into the aftermath.

The episode ends with Zinzolin talking to an imposing figure who we barely see. "His weakness" costed them big time and attracted the Ideals of the other, he argues. The figure says they still shall follow their lead, for he is their King; but that their goal remains the very same regardless of what he says. Zinzolin ends with a servient "yes, my Lord", and leaves.


BW026 Battling For The Love of Bug-Types! (rewrite for the canon BW023)

p.s. this episode doesn't feature James catching Yamask. Oddly timed capture at best, if you ask me.

The group gets back to Castelia, where everything is getting better. Burgh thanks them for the help. They also meet with Professor Fennel, who says Juniper told her about Pikachu’s issues and is willing to take a look, but that it’ll take a while. In the meanwhile, Ash tells Burgh he’d like to have his Gym Battle now, letting Pikachu rest and Fennel investigate.

So it's fight time. Burgh chooses Dwebble first and Ash picks Herdier. Dwebble is hard to crack and Herdier decides against crashing head-on with it, as it's getting dizzy. Iris cannot believe such little desire to make an effort as Ash calls him back. He next brings out Sewaddle, a choice that shocks everyone. Burgh is happy to see her again. Sewaddle pulls through, her String Shot strategies proving efficient, and defeats Dwebble. Soon as she does, Sewaddle evolves into Swadloon!

Then Burgh chooses Whirlipede. Ash is motivated but Swadloon is clearly struggling to use her body properly because of her new physiognomy (much like Grotle did in DP). Not only is her String Shot is not strong enough to lift her up anymore, but she also cannot even move properly. Ash retrieves Swadloon and brings Herdier out again, who follows after Whirlipede's Steamroller as if it were a ball, outspeeding it and kicking him into a wall, then finishing it.

Last for Burgh is Leavanny, who makes short work of Herdier and also crushes Swadloon, who keeps struggling. Last for Ash is Darumaka, which Cilan points out is a smart decision because of the typing, but also extremely risky as they just met. Darumaka is visibly nervous and soon proves to be very cowardly. Leavanny soon overwhelms it with repeated attacks and even ties him up with String Shot. However, when he's definitely cornered and Iris and Cilan assume the battle is over, Darumaka tenses off and releases a strong heat wave, melts String Shot and prevents Leavanny from approaching ever again via Incinerate. Ash wonders if this is a Blaze phenomenon, but Cilan points out it's likely Darumaka's just scared and that's a survival instinct, as Blaze it's not one of Darumaka's abilities. A final Headbutt grants Darumaka the win and Ash the badge.

The episode ends with Fennel telling Ash that Pikachu’s overload was temporary and that, while she has no answers at the moment, it’s likely connected to their interaction with the Legendary Zekrom and thus an expert in the topic, like Cedric Juniper, could help... but he's in an unknown location at the moment, so they'll have to wait. She says she'll keep researching in case something of interest popped up and will stay in touch but that, for the time being, Pikachu is ready to go.


Updated summary

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

Badges obtained: 3 Season progress: 26/48

Deleted episodes: 2 No new deletions


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Pub: 11 Jun 2026 12:23 UTC

Edit: 11 Jun 2026 12:29 UTC

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