Part IX: Nimbasa I
by WeakScallion June 15th, 2026
This is the ninth 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 closes off Season 14, introducing Ash's seventh team member and a new confrontation against Team Plasma.
BW045 A Scraggy Scramble in the Dark! (replacement for BW017 Scraggy—Hatched to Be Wild!)
Finally!
Just to let you know, I envision this episode to be much like EP017 from the Original Series, where it was a Pokemon-only episode and we could see their dialogue in subtitles.
It’s nighttime, they’re asleep while camping, and Axew wakes up hungry. He wants some fruits from a bag Iris left over there. It’s very dark so he cannot see properly; and so instead he arrives at Ash’s backpack. He knocks it over by accident and that releases Archen from her Poké Ball. After a few cute scenes talking to one another, Archen says she also wants fruits (‘cos obviously she does), and so she tries to head to where Iris has the fruits stored, but her clumsy self also trips with Ash's backpack, and the egg falls out.
Axew tries to pick it up to put it back, but right then it starts glowing, the two get startled and Axew drops it by accident, making it roll away.
Axew and Archen, terrified, start chasing after it. The egg rolls down a hill. Axew runs after it and Archen tries to take flight, but falls catastrophically, falling and knocking Axew out.
They wake up to the sound of Ash and the rest calling out for them. When Axew and Archen remember the egg situation, they look around and see the egg shell, shattered, against a rock. It’s even missing some pieces. Axew is about to scream, but Archen tells him to shush — they’ll find whatever came out of it themselves. Axew isn’t so sure, but Archen says to trust her; and they wander for a bit. There’s also a few footsteps going in a direction, so they follow them.
The footprints take them to a hut, and so they go take a peek. Inside, there’s 2 Scrafty, and they look very, very scary, frightening Axew and Archen. They are subsequently attacked by a wild Mandibuzz. Archen tries to fly to attack back but fails, and Axew uses Dragon Rage, but Mandibuzz avoids the hit. Before the pair are injured, the 2 Scrafty show up and fire with Focus Blast, forcing the Mandibuzz to retreat.
The Scrafty invite them inside to their hut, and they hesitantly accept after Scrafty shows them there's food inside. There they meet with another Pokemon, a little Scraggy who likes to headbutt stuff.
The Scrafty happen to be very overprotective. When Axew and Archen try to leave, they don’t let them out and instead insist on them joining the small training session they are holding with their “son” Scraggy. They are trying to teach him the move High Jump Kick, and the sheer height the Scrafty take excites Archen, who thinks the experience may help her fly.
Anyway, there’s a few fun scenes with Scraggy laughing at Archen’s failed attempts, and Scraggy and Axew beefing over the fact that Scraggy headbutted him.
In one of these training attempts, Scraggy drops some egg shell pieces it had stored in its trousers; and Axew and Archen finally connect the pieces of the puzzle. Before they can explain, a Mandibuzz with a few Vullaby around sees them, thinks the egg shell pieces can be pieces of skull for Vullaby; and decides to attack again.
Mandibuzz avoids the Scraftys’ Focus Blasts, grabs Scraggy and flies off toward a cliffside nest.
The Scrafty confirm that’s not their biological son, but a baby Scraggy they found wandering the previous night. Anyway, now the 4 Pokemon rush towards the cliff, and not even Scrafty's prodigious jumping is enough; but Archen’s climbing skills allow her to scale up. Up top, Mandibuzz attacks her, but Archen smartly moves around and leaves Mandibuzz in a position where Axew can attack with Dragon Rage.
The explosion is seen by Ash and the rest, who had used Herdier to track the Pokemon’s scent all the way to the hut.
But of course, Mandibuzz is not down yet. Scraggy decides to be the hero and tries to use High Jump Kick to knock it out, but overshoots it and starts to fall into the abyss. Archen then leaps into the abyss too and manages to glide just enough for Scraggy to be saved. Mandibuzz follows, but the Scraftys shoot it down and it retreats.
Everyone is relieved. Ash and the rest arrive, and Axew and Archen explain. Ash is excited that the egg hatched, but the Scrafty are still very protective. Then Pikachu steps up to argue that they will take good care of Scraggy now, and that he’ll never forget them.
The Scraftys finally understand and let Scraggy go, and Ash catches him.
BW046 A Headbutt on the Right Track! (NEW)
Ash is excited to train Scraggy so that he can properly join the team too. Scraggy is not too interested in that though, as he only knows how to Headbutt everything and everyone. Axew is the most pissed off by this.
They are almost in Nimbasa City, Cilan points out; making a comment about an old rail path that connects to outdated service tunnels. Anyway, as everyone else eats, Ash still tries to make Scraggy do something other than Headbutt everything. His High Jump Kick is way too risky, and he seems to know no other moves.
Suddenly, the Sunglasses Krokorok shows up, ready for his rematch with Pikachu. Ash tells Pikachu to finish up and get ready, but before that happens Scraggy gets in between the two and Headbutts Krokorok, cracking his glasses.
Krokorok, at the verge of crying and bothered as hell, starts chasing after Scraggy, who frightenly runs into the abandoned tunnels.
The group chases after and they find Krokorok having cornered Scraggy, who is about to faint from the fear and is trying to use his pants to guard himself. While trying to seek refuge, Scraggy Headbutts a support beam, causing a small cave-in.
Having been forced outside, Ash uses Herdier to try and track the scent of Scraggy to find another entry, as Iris’ Emolga flies over to find possible entry points.
The group is met by Ingo and Emmet, who were exploring the state of the abandoned railroads and came running when they encountered the issue. Cilan is slightly starstruck, knowing them from Train Exhibitions and the like. They explain the old service tunnels are not used by passenger trains anymore, but some maintenance tracks and manual switching systems still run through them.
They give the group a series of maps of the old roads, saying how some passages may no longer match the diagrams because of how old the tunnels are. The group splits.
Inside, Scraggy tries to escape headbutting through the obstacles, which makes even more gravel fall and thus is only making the situation worse. Krokorok is angry but realizes Scraggy will bury them both if he keeps this up, and so he starts telling him, by pointing at the crack in his glasses, that he should look for the weakened points of the rocks. It of course doesn’t work at first.
Meanwhile, in another part of the tunnel system, Team Rocket are talking to Giovanni and Pierce. Giovanni mentions how the intel they’re getting from Team Plasma is messy and thus they don’t know when they may act next; so they will for the time being try to exploit Unova’s own resources to target some form of power that can challenge whatever the Plasma have between hands. As they talk, the Rocket trio are forced to start running, being targeted by an abandoned maintenance trolley. Trying to save themselves, they divert the trolley from its main route.
Ingo and Emmet receive a call: a damaged junction is in danger as a trolley (the one Team Rocket diverted) is headed for a damaged junction. The whole team is notified as they run for the different manual switches using their Pokemon to clear the obstacles. This is where we meet Ingo and Emmet’s Chandelure and Eelektross.
Krokorok and Scraggy finally manage to exit, but then they see the trolley approaching. Krokorok pushes Scraggy to the side in time to save him and tries to dig himself out of there, but he can’t.
The team notices one last switch is missing: it’s where Krokorok and Scraggy were, very high up. They try to rush there.
Back to Krokorok and Scraggy, the trolley is almost there… but luckily Scraggy jumps and connects with a precise High Jump Kick and Headbutt combination, diverting the trolley just in time.
They all reunite, patch Krokorok’s sunglasses, and Krokorok (after patting Scraggy in the head, which is still hurting) points at Pikachu daringly and leaves.
As they all leave, Ingo and Emmet thank the group and say they should definitely visit the Battle Subway. Cilan is very excited, while Iris and Ash have had enough of it already.
BW047 All Aboard for Trouble! (replacement for BW047 Crisis from the Underground Up!)
Yes, we are here already. You guessed right: everything from BW043 to the subway plot, I don’t like whatsoever. How can Nimbasa Town be 5 episodes away from Nimbasa City, again?
Upon arriving in Nimbasa City, Ash rushes to the Gym to try and challenge the Gym Leader, but is shocked to learn the gym is closed for a few days while the Gym Leader, Elesa, is on a modeling tour.
Disappointed, Ash figures he may as well train some more and asks Cilan and Iris for some help with that, but both are already distracted by the variety of activities available in the city. Cilan has decided to take on Ingo and Emmet’s offer and goes check on the subway (not without gifting Ash and Iris a connoisseur-approved short-wave radio to communicate), and Iris wants to go watch sports and later, go to the Musical.
Ash agrees to accompany Iris, but is kicked out of a spectacle after Bianca shows up, clashes with Ash due to her hurry, and his ticket flies away. Archen tries to go catch it mid-air, but doesn't quite reach it. Ash agrees to wait for Iris outside, and finds himself wandering around Nimbasa alone.
He is suddenly called up by N, who "happens to be around". N asks Ash why he's alone and Ash explains, letting him know they have to wait a few days for the Gym Leader to come back. N then criticizes the Gym Leaders, saying their sole goal is to have their Pokémon get hurt and lose so that institutions like the League can be filled with trainers. Ash argues back, saying they are challenges where Trainers and Pokémon test their beliefs together. N disagrees, saying the world’s truth is, sadly, much less romantic than Ash makes it out to be, and that institutions actively reward Pokemon suffering.
The conversation is interrupted by a loud broadcast from Gear Station. Team Plasma, having taken control of the terminal, claim that Nimbasa is everything that is wrong with the bond between humans and Pokemon, and that the Battle Subway is the most egregious example of that. They also claim that they are opening a "Liberation Line", so any Pokemon who wishes to leave their trainers will be given safe passage out of Nimbasa. True love for your Pokemon means to allow them to choose a life free from human ownership, they say, and so they demand Pokemon liberation.
Ash runs toward Gear Station to confront the grunts, and there he meets with Rood, another Sage; who was the speaker. N runs and joins Ash by his side, and it’s clear Rood and N exchange glances, but Ash does not notice.
Meanwhile, inside Gear Station, Cilan tries to help the staff and passengers stay calm. He tries to argue with the Plasma recruits that guard the door but they don’t nudge, and Cilan doesn’t want to start a fight as he knows that could alarm people even more, and he doesn’t know how many Plasmas there are inside.
While thinking what to do he meets with Ingo and Emmet again. They let him know that Zinzolin is in the control room, so they cannot reactivate the station, but there is an old maintenance access point connected to a side service corridor outside the station.
Iris and Bianca reunite and also rush toward Gear Station, meeting with Ash and N. After walking away, Ash, Iris and Bianca try to find a way to enter, begging Rood to stop this nonsense. N stays in silence.
Amongst the crowd inside sit Jessie, James and Meowth, who were expecting a package for the next Team Rocket operation and are now exploring the possibility of stealing some Pokemon in the chaos.
Cilan arrives near the exit (without raising much suspicion) and manages to use the short-wave radio to let Ash know about where they can enter through.
Bianca stays outside just in case, and the rest of the group heads to that entrance and tries to blend in without raising many suspicions. N seems particularly interested in not being spotted.
BW048 Derailed at Gear Station! (replacement for BW048 Battle for the Underground!)
Trying to go undercover, Ash and the rest meet with Cilan, who tells them they must remove Zinzolin from the control room so they can stop the Liberation Line that is about to leave. N asks how many Pokemon joined, and Ingo and Emmet respond that they saw no Pokemon entering by themselves, only Poké Balls. While the rest discuss, N, shocked, glances over and sees a Plasma recruit snatch a Poké Ball from a trainer. Pissed off, he says they must reach Zinzolin soon.
Meanwhile outside, Gym Leader Elesa returns after having been warned of the situation. She meets Bianca, who tells her about the current situation, and Elesa confronts Rood in the name of the Pokémon League. Rood insists the ‘truth’ is more important than any institution or infrastructure and that their lord must prove he is worthy of Reshiram before attempting to free the world of human cruelty. Elesa calls out her Zebstrika, who starts fighting Rood’s Seismitoad.
Back inside, the group splits in two (Iris, Cilan and Ingo, Ash, N and Emmet) since the control room has 2 separate keys to open. One group achieves it, but Ash’s is about to be discovered when a Team Rocket outburst distracts the grunts, allowing him and the rest to disconnect that key as well. Now that they can enter, they confront Zinzolin. It’s right then that they notice N is no longer with them.
Zinzolin smirks and lets them know they can do whatever they please now, as it is far too late to stop Team Plasma’s plans. When asked about them, they see how Rood and his Seismitoad are sent flying into the station, and Elesa comes crashing in. Some grunts try to stop her, but between her Zebstrika and Bianca’s Pignite they take care of the recruits.
People who were trapped inside start fleeing, and Zinzolin activates the Liberation Line with all the Poké Balls inside. Ash and some more run to see how they can stop it while Ingo and Emmet try to stop it from the control room. Zinzolin takes advantage of the chaos to leave with a grin in his face, knowing himself victorious.
Ash and the rest start firing at the train so that the coupling is destroyed. Ingo and Emmet tell them to jump into an improvised train powered by their Eelektross (much like in canon) to make pursuit of the Liberation Line. In a short action scene, they manage to stop the train.
When they return, Ingo and Emmet thank the team for their help. N approaches and does the same. When questioned by the team where he had gone, he points out he had to take care of a certain pest, and points at Zinzolin... who's knocked out and detained by the police. He then says he doesn’t want scum like that in his Team Plasma. When asked what that means, N smiles and says they’ll meet again soon.
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: 3 Season progress: 48/48
Deleted episodes: 6 BW043 Meowth's Scrafty Tactics! BW045 Beheeyem, Duosion, and the Dream Thief! BW046 The Beartic Mountain Feud!