Pokémon’s Worst Season Originally Looked Very Different Before 1 Tragedy Ruined the Whole Thing

For many years, the Black and White season of the Pokémon anime has been considered one of the worst ever released. Among the several reasons that have been listed by fans, the lesser role played by the villains of the show, Team Plasma, is often among the top. Unlike previous antagonistic organizations, Kalos’ criminals barely played a role in the anime, being introduced quite late.

While it is true that their short performance did hurt the series, few fans know the tragedy that forced the team behind the scenes to remove them from the early stages of the story. After a powerful earthquake hit Japan in 2011, two vital episodes for the plot of the series were removed from circulation. These entries marked the original introduction of Team Plasma, forcing the anime to avoid the villains until much later in the series.

Team Plasma Was Supposed To Have a More Significant Role

Black and White’s Story Was Completely Different

In 2011, Japan was struck by one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded in history, followed by a series of devastating tsunamis that affected numerous cities. This tragedy caused a lot of destruction and death across the nation. A few weeks before the incident, the Pokémon anime was preparing to air what would be the introduction of Team Plasma, one of the best and most evil villain organizations in the franchise. However, due to the nature of this plot line, which included the destruction of several buildings, the team behind the series decided to never air these entries.

The removal of these episodes from the schedule caused many issues for the series, as the role of Team Plasma as the main antagonist was significantly reduced. The story had to be adapted around the new timeline, without the events of the two-part special ever being mentioned by any of the characters. Ash’s journey in Kalos was planned months in advance, making it impossible for the team behind the series to find a way to include the villains in the story without having to alter the structure once again.

Due to this, Team Plasma could not be included in the anime until several months later, making their role in Ash’s adventure through Kalos smaller than any other similar organization in the anime. Their success as antagonists was greatly hurt by this event, with many fans over the years referring to them as one of the reasons why this era of the show was so underwhelming. The lack of a significant antagonist was not the only reason why Black and White is considered a season fans should avoid, but it undoubtedly did not help the series succeed.

The Missing Episodes Were Quite Interesting

These Entries Had Everything They Needed To Be Amazing

Besides the harm that the lack of these episodes caused to the Black and White anime, many fans also lament their disappearance because of their interesting plot. The introduction of Team Plasma was supposed to occur throughout these two entries, beginning with the discovery of a powerful meteorite capable of emitting an unlimited source of energy. Team Rocket, looking for a way to develop weapons that would aid them in their world-domination quest, sent a group of grunts to retrieve the rock. Thanks to Jessie and James, two of the most iconic villains in the series, the mission succeeded.

Yet another mysterious party would join the fight for the stone, none other than Team Plasma. This would begin a war between the two organizations, with Ash and his companions being forced to interfere in hopes of saving the world. The episodes would make use of several weapons that would cause craters to open and the earth to shake, as well as the introduction of a bomb that could destroy an entire city. These scenes were deemed too insensitive to air, given the recent tragedy, so they were never included in any version of the anime.

More Than a Decade Later, the Episodes Are Lost

Only the Scripts for This Lost Adventure Have Been Retrieved

Soon after the missing episodes of the Black and White anime were removed from circulation, the team promised that they would be aired at some point in the future. For many years, fans expected these entries to be released to the public, only to be disappointed by the fact that they had yet to become available. No further comments have been made by the team behind the series, even though the episodes have been hidden from fans for more than a decade. They have become a part of the long history of censorship that the Pokémon anime has seen.

The most significant update that has occurred relating to these episodes was the discovery of the original scripts, which were sold in an auction to a Japanese fan in 2023. It is thanks to these texts that the community has been able to learn more about the story and the reasons behind the removal of the special episodes. Lamentably, there seems to be almost no possibility of the Team Rocket vs Team Plasma story ever being released, as Ash is long gone from the role of protagonist.

Pokémon

Release Date

1997 – 2023

Network

TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TVh, TVQ, TSC

Directors

Shigeru Omachi, Koji Ogawa, Fumihiro Ueno, Hideki Hiroshima, Maki Kodaira, Makoto Ooga, Ayumi Moriyama, Keitaro Motonaga, Shigeru Ueda, Fumihiro Yoshimura, Minoru Ohara, Yoshitaka Makino, Kiyoshi Egami, Makoto Sokuza, Bjarne Heuser, Naoki Murata, Kenichi Nishida, Tomoe Makino, Masahiko Watanabe, Hiroaki Takagi, Tazumi Mukaiyama, Ryohei Horiuchi, Yoshihiro Oda, Hiromichi Matano

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  Rica Matsumoto

  Satoshi (voice)

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  Ikue Otani

  Pikachu (voice)