Part VIII: Club Battle Tournament
by WeakScallion June 14th, 2026
This is the eighth 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 the first tournament arc of the series, the Club Battle.
BW041 A Club Battle Reunion! (rewrite for BW039 Reunion Battles In Nimbasa!)
I will play under the assumption we all know what these tournaments are — a very smart way to establish checkpoints for the different characters and rivalries while having them interact in ways we otherwise could never see them do.
Let's start by addressing Bianca's character. Even in canon, isn't it wildly out of character for her to be into these tournaments? I don't know. Anyway, for our version of Bianca, she's just passing by and the group lets her know they're signing up for a tournament, which immediately shifts her never-static attention.
The first round pairings are shown: Georgia v. Sylvester, Trip v. Emmanuel, Dino v. Omega, Ash v. Burgundy, Stephan v. Bianca, Cilan v. Antonio, Luke v. Scooter, Iris v. Jimmy Ray. The main change here is that there is no Round 1 Trip v. Cilan (remember we already saw such pairing in the first mini-tournament we had in BW009).
Georgia's Beartic crushes Sylvester's Joltik like in canon (it was a very funny scene), then Trip’s Gurdurr destroys Emmanuel’s Scolipede and Dino's Palpitoad defeats Omega.
Next it's time for Ash’s fight against Burgundy. Burgundy shocks everybody using Simisear — a perfect counter to Cilan’s Pansage. Ash uses Archen for her first fight. While she at first struggles to compete (including a failed attempt at taking flight) and her Defeatist ability is activated, her insistence and close-range abilities end up giving her the win.
The canon episode ends up on a cliffhanger that we no longer have, so let’s just say Bianca follows after Zorua (fooled by Zorua herself), and they all wonder why is she running off if her fight is up next. We don't want these Zorua scenes to take much time from the tournament itself but I'd say it's fair game to keep two or three bits from it.
BW042 Battling up the Club Battle Bracket! (rewrite for BW040 Reunion Battles In Nimbasa!)
The next fight in Round 1 is Stephan v. Bianca, and Bianca still hasn’t returned. She finally shows up, and Stephan effusively shows his Rufflet... but Bianca shows no Pokemon. Then Luke and Bianca come rushing in, apologize, and the fake Bianca (which was Zorua in disguise) laughs and leaves. Again, a way of introducing Zorua charades (which I understand some people are a fan of) while not making it too bothersome.
Anyway!, Stephan v Bianca. In my humble opinion the canon fight diminishes Bianca as a whole, especially since Stephan using Zebstrika for Bianca to then get crushed by another Zebstrika in Elesa’s fight is kinda crazy. Thus why I’m giving Stephan a Rufflet, which is a Pokemon that is not featured at all in Season 14; fight against Bianca’s Minccino. Rufflet is extremely aggressive (to a comedic degree), Bianca is non-responsive for the most part as she’s not all that interested in the fight; but then the energy Stephan transmits combined with Minccino’s own efforts get her hyped up. The fight is surprisingly close and Ash and the rest talk about how Bianca looked hyped, but Stephan gets the win eventually. Bianca is disappointed, but soon distracts herself with Zorua again. We are making her light-headed and always distracted on purpose.
To close off the round, Cilan’s Pansage gets the win over Antonio’s Tranquill; Luke's Golett defeats Scooter, and Iris defeats the creepy Jimmy Ray.
Now that he won, Trip tells Ash he hopes they get paired up to crush him soon. You may think this resembles Georgia and Iris’ beef, but while that is set in this comedic way, Trip is very, very serious about this challenge. He has paid a ton of attention to Ash’s battle, noting how he didn’t know Archen, and taking note of all its limitations.
The rest of the characters exchange a few scenes like in canon, whatevs. Second round pairings are up: Georgia v. Ash, Trip v. Luke, Dino v. Stephan, and Iris v. Cilan
The first fight of the bunch is Georgia v. Ash, which is a Pawniard v. Swadloon. The fight is over in this very episode, after Swadloon outsmarts Pawniard by exhibiting great field control. Everyone congratulates Ash, and Luke tells him he was so inspired by the creative use of Swadloon, he’ll be using his Leavanny for his fight. The cliffhanger is the upcoming Trip v. Luke.
BW043 Hearts Set on the Club Battle Final! (rewrite for BW041 The Club Battle Hearts of Fury: Emolga Versus Sawk!)
The episode starts with Trip v. Luke. The latter, true to his word, shows his Leavanny. Trip laughs and brings out his Vanillish. No matter what Luke tries, even getting creative, Trip outsmarts him. Trip says Luke is way too easy to figure out, and Ash (noticing how Trip's words remember him of Paul's) is irritated by it. Luke tries again to get creative, and the ideas are not bad, but Trip overpowers him.
There’s a small break, a few characters chatting like in canon, Luke disappointed he couldn’t pull it off, your typical in between stuff.
The third fight is Dino v. Stephan, and Stephan shows his Sawk for the first time, destroying Dino’s Boldore.
Then the final fight is Iris v. Cilan. Iris picks Emolga and Cilan picks Stunfisk, knowing Emolga’s Electric type attacks won’t have any effect. There’s a bit of comedy in Stunfisk being able to fly and it’s a close fight, but Emolga takes it home in due time.
And so the semifinals come along, and it’s Stephan v. Ash and Trip v. Iris.
We actually see the beginning of Stephan v. Ash. Stephan picks Sawk and Oshawott takes the scene, raring for another win. Stephan is motivated to claim his revenge for their last fight. Sawk takes the advantage very early on, his attacks very precise and overwhelming Oshawott, who barely connects a few long-range attacks. We are left there as a cliffhanger.
BW044 The Club Battle Crown! (rewrite for BW042 Club Battle Finale: A Hero's Outcome!)
We get back to Stephan v. Ash. Oshawott escapes a narrow call, recovers his scalchop to try and block a few attacks, and finally has an opening to deal some damage. Finally there’s a small clash, he uses Razor Shell… which cuts through Sawk’s belt. Everyone is shocked at the sight (which isn’t shown, I don’t understand what’s beneath there and neither do the designers). Sawk, ashamed and way too disciplined for this, abandons (much to Stephan’s despair). Everyone is shocked as Ash makes the final.
Trip vs Iris is next. Trip is very motivated, knowing that a victory here will make him battle Ash next. Trip calls on Servine and Iris uses Axew. The beatdown is real. Servine connects hit after hit, and Axew cannot launch a single Dragon Rage after Servine's Vine Whip shuts his mouth shut. Trip starts saying the Village of Dragons wasn’t all that big of a deal after all, apparently; and that Iris should have definitely listened to his advice when she could. Iris is crushed. The sight of her sadness motivates Axew, who has a moment of revelation, learns Outrage, and starts turning the tables around. Cilan points out it's unbelievable Trip keeps losing momentum when facing any move he cannot account for. Axew gets the win over Servine before Trip can properly react, and he is absolutely crushed — he truly wanted to humiliate Ash in the final and does not understand where he keeps going wrong. He flees the scene right there and then.
Then it’s the finals and, much like in the actual show, Iris’ Excadrill gets the win over Ash’s Pikachu. Trip watches the battle from a TV, pissed off as fuck. The group and their rivals say goodbye and the gang cotninues their way towards Nimbasa City, which is very nearby.
Updated summary
Ash's team: Pikachu, Herdier, Oshawott, Swadloon, Darumaka, Archen Iris' team: Axew, Excadrill, Emolga Cilan's team: Pansage, Dwebble, Stunfisk
Badges obtained: 3 Season progress: 44/48
Deleted episodes: 3 No new deletions