BW047

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Pokémon the Series: Black & White

BW048 : Battle For The Underground! →

Crisis From the Underground Up!

BW047   EP704 激走！バトルサブウェイ！！（前編） Flat-out Run! Battle Subway!! (Part 1)

First broadcast Japan September 15, 2011 United States December 31, 2011

English themes Opening Black and White Ending

Japanese themes Opening ベストウイッシュ！ Ending ポケモン言えるかな？ＢＷ

Credits Animation Team Kato Screenplay 米村正二 Shōji Yonemura Storyboard 古賀一臣 Kazuomi Koga Assistant director 古賀一臣 Kazuomi Koga Animation director 夏目久仁彦 Kunihiko Natsume Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

Crisis from the Underground Up! (Japanese: 激走！バトルサブウェイ！！（前編） Flat-out Run! Battle Subway!! (Part 1)) is the 47th episode of Pokémon the Series: Black & White, and the 704th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on September 15, 2011 as part of a one-hour special alongside BW048, in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2011 and in the United States on December 31, 2011.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

As Meowth and our heroes arrive in Nimbasa City, Jessie and James prepare to unleash a sinister plot under the guidance of Dr. Zager. At the remarkable Nimbasa City Pokémon Center, Meowth tells Ash, Iris, and Cilan about the local specialty, a soothing Pokémon massage, and convinces them to send all of their Pokémon into the secure Pokémon Center Vault for the treatment. Meowth then makes an excuse to stay behind while our heroes head off to explore—giving him a chance to contact Dr. Zager. It turns out Meowth is still working with Team Rocket, and his apparent change of heart when he joined our heroes was nothing but a ruse!

Meanwhile, the Nimbasa Subway Bosses, Ingo and Emmet, have been investigating the mysterious “Ghost Train,” which has been spotted roaming the subway system. Now, a series of events, instigated by Dr. Zager and Team Rocket, puts Nimbasa City into chaos! But Cilan manages to put the pieces together: the Ghost Train sightings, the Poké Balls missing from the Pokémon Center, the drawbridge that leads out of town getting stuck in the open position...they’re all part of Team Rocket’s plot to pull off a huge Pokémon heist!

Cilan, Ash, and Iris take off in pursuit of the Ghost Train, thanks to Cilan’s extensive knowledge of the subway system. But numerous decoys have our heroes—and the Subway Bosses—completely flummoxed! Will they be able to rescue their Pokémon and bring Nimbasa City back from the brink of disaster?!

Plot

Ash, Iris, and Cilan arrive at the outskirts of Nimbasa City. While Ash wants to have his Gym battle, an exhausted Meowth insists they go to the Pokémon Center first so he can get some rest, and then tour around town. Iris then suggests this to Ash. Ash, with his Gym battle being his top priority, argues that it should be first. However, Ash soon admits he is hungry when his stomach rumbles. Cilan tells the group to follow him to the Pokémon Center. Cilan suggests to they take the underground subway system as it is the fastest way to get around in Nimbasa. Cilan refers to himself as a Metro Connoisseur, and is particularly excited to see an old double train carriage on display, much to his friends’ annoyances.

Inside of the subway car, Cilan looks through the door to the subway control area with an excited look on his face. Iris asks Cilan what he is doing and that he's embarrassing them. Cilan explains the train is run on automatic controls. All of a sudden the subway car comes to an abrupt stop leaving everyone wondering what caused it. Although not recognized at the time, the ghost train run by Team Rocket runs by the halted subway car. Cilan admits he doesn’t even recognize the model. Ingo and Emmet arrive to help get the subway car started again, Cilan recognizing them right away and explains that they run the subway system as Subway Bosses. Emmet, Ingo, and Cilan recognize each other from a previous Subway convention and become reacquainted, finding out what each has been doing since they last spoke. The Subway Bosses admit the ghost train has been plaguing the Nimbasa system for some time.

Later, they arrive at the Nimbasa City Pokémon Center. Ash and Iris remark on how big it is. Nurse Joy says that's due to it being very busy, plus it offers many exclusive Pokémon services, including massages and special baths. Cilan also notes that this Pokémon Center is home to a Poké Ball vault, known to contain powerful Pokémon. Meowth suggests to the group that they have their Pokémon get these treatments, including Pikachu and Axew. They both agree, and Nurse Joy's Audino carry them there on a cart.

While they are wheeled to the massage room, Meowth remembers something he needed to do, and delays the trip while he makes a phone call. He walks into a Telephone Booth, closes the door, and calls Dr. Zager to confirm his location. Dr. Zager sends the order through to Jessie and James, who immediately action it. Dr. Zager hacks into the control for the Driftveil Drawbridge, making it open and the controls break to act as a distraction for the authorities. Ash goes and makes a phone call to Professor Oak not too long after the call is made it becomes disrupted and connection is lost. The Center’s security is also hacked into, allowing Meowth to enter the Pokémon vault undetected and clear it out using the ventilation system. Meowth also managed to trap Pikachu and Axew, who were too relaxed from their massages to notice. Underground, Jessie and James watch as the Poké Balls pile into the ghost train.

The sound of police sirens alerts Ash, Cilan, and Iris that something is amiss. They approach Nurse Joy and learn that the Driftveil Drawbridge has malfunctioned. Cilan is quick to draw a connection to the other strange occurrences including the ghost train, and realizes that those responsible must be after the Pokémon. Nurse Joy takes the three to the vault where they discover all the Pokémon are gone. Cilan sees the air vent is open and suspects someone used it as an escape. Ash and his friends jump down and follow the system until they reach the end. When they reach the subway tracks, they see Meowth standing in front of the ghost train and ask what's going on. Meowth explains that he tricked them the whole time into thinking he was on their side. Jessie and James also appear, and recite their motto. Jessie brings out Woobat and has it attack the twerps with an Air Slash, allowing Team Rocket to start the ghost train again. They head for Anville Town, where Dr. Zager will be waiting to take the Pokémon back to Giovanni. Cilan explains to Ash and Iris that the next course of action should be to go back to the control room to speak to Ingo and Emmet.

The Subway Bosses learn of Team Rocket’s meddling, and add that their automatic train system has also been hacked. While all train have been ground to a halt, Team Rocket’s ghost train is still able to use the connecting lines used to keep trains moving. Emmet and Ingo quickly come up with a counter strategy, they’ll set up an ambush at a central location known as D3. Everyone goes to find the mail carrier car, to be able to use that to get to the location quicker. Cilan puts on his Subway Conductor hat and begins to operate the car to get them to the location. They stumble upon what looks like Team Rocket's ghost train. Ash decides to try to jump on top of the car, but it explodes gas indicating that it was a fake. The mail carts also derailed as a result. The Subway Bosses call Cilan and asks if he had seen the ghost train yet. Cilan says no, but there was a car headed their way. Team Rocket's ghost train passes them by. Suddenly Ingo and Emmet see numerous other decoy cars entering the Subway System, leaving everyone unsure which one they should follow.

Major events

• Ash and his friends arrive in Nimbasa City.
• Ash and Iris meet Ingo and Emmet for the first time, while it is revealed that Cilan has met them previously.
• Meowth is revealed to have been lying about being fired from Team Rocket and that his joining the group was just part of a plan to steal their Pokémon.
• Meowth rejoins Jessie and James.
• Team Rocket successfully steal all the Pokémon from the Nimbasa City Pokémon Center (including those belonging to Ash, Iris, and Cilan) and make a getaway using the Nimbasa Subway Network.

For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Iris
• Cilan
• Jessie
• James
• Professor Oak
• Nurse Joy
• Officer Jenny
• Ingo
• Emmet
• Dr. Zager
• Driftveil Drawbridge operator
• Subway workers
• Train passengers

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Woobat

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Axew (Iris's)
• Woobat (Jessie's)
• Audino (Nurse Joy's; ×3; one in a fantasy)
• Patrat
• Pidove
• Sandile
• Deerling
• Haxorus (silhouette)
• Beartic (silhouette)

Trivia

• Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster: Solosis
  • There is no Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster following this episode, due to it being aired back-to-back with BW048.
• Music from Zoroark: Master of Illusions is used in this episode.
• Ingo and Emmet narrate the preview for the next episode.
  • Unlike all other previews in Pokémon the Series: Black & White, this preview does not start with Ash talking.
    • This also happens with the preview for BW051 shown in BW050.
• The first scene of the episode occurs after the opening credits, as opposed to the standard practice of it being shown before (the title card appears after this scene has played instead of immediately after the opening credits).
• This episode marks the first reference of Tracey since Following A Maiden's Voyage!, which debuted in Japan almost five years previously.
• This episode aired on December 27, 2011 in the United Kingdom, four days before it aired in the United States.
• This episode aired on December 23, 2011 in Italy (on K2), eight days before it aired in the United States, and 99 days after the Japanese airdate.

Errors

• In the Hindi dub, the narrator mispronounces "Pokémon" as "Pokémons" at the end of the episode.
• In the Hindi MarvelHQ dub, Professor Oak calls Tracey a female.

Dub edits

• Emmet refers to Cilan as his "favorite Metro Connoisseur" in the dub, whilst in the original version, he is not even completely sure who Cilan is.
• In the English dub, Cilan says that Nimbasa City is nicknamed "battle central". In the Japanese version, the nickname is "Pokémon battle holy land". This was likely changed due to the potential religious reference.
• In the Japanese version, Cilan says that he can't forgive anyone who threatens the safety of anyone who loves the subway. In the English dub, he's angry that anyone could endanger passengers' lives and taint the subway's reputation.
• In the English dub, when closing in on the d3 point, Cilan says that they're 500 yards away from it. In the Japanese version, he says 500 meters, which is closer to 547 yards.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		疾奔！對戰地下鐵！！（前篇）
Croatian		Kriza u podzemnoj željeznici!
Danish		Krisetilstand i undergrunden!
Dutch		Crisis vanuit de ondergrondse!
Finnish		Maanalainen kriisi!
European French		Le désastre venu d'en bas !
German		Geisterzug auf Abwegen!
Greek		Κρίση στο Μετρό!* Κρίση Απο τον Υπόγειο!*
Hindi		ज़मीन के अंदर का संकट! Zameen ke Andar ka Sankat!
Italian		Caos dal sottosuolo!
Korean		폭주! 배틀서브웨이!(전편)
Malaysian		Krisis dari Bawah Tanah!
Norwegian		Krise fra undergrunnen og opp!
Polish		Kryzys w podziemiach!
Portuguese	Brazil	Crise no Metrô de Nimbasa!
	Portugal	Crise no Subsolo!
Russian		Неприятности в подземке!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Crisis en el subterráneo! *
	Spain	¡Crisis en el metro!
Swedish		Kris från underjorden och upp!
Thai		วิ่งด้วยความเร็วสูงสุด! ศึกรถไฟใต้ดิน!! (ตอนต้น)

← BW046 : The Beartic Mountain Feud!

Pokémon the Series: Black & White

BW048 : Battle For The Underground! →

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.