There are many episodes of the Pokémon anime that have never aired in the US, but there are only a handful of episodes that have never aired anywhere--even Japan. Now, the script for two such lost episodes has been made public, giving fans their first glimpse at the showdown that could've been between two of Pokémon's evil Teams.
At the beginning of the Black and White era of the anime, the series began building up to a confrontation between Team Rocket, making their first moves into the Unova region, and Team Plasma, the established force in the region. Team Rocket was "rebooted" a bit, giving Jessie and James dark uniforms and a more competent, professional air. The two teams were poised to clash at last in the 23 and 24th episodes of the series... but then the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake struck, causing massive damage across Japan and delaying the airing of the Pokémon episodes. Since the episodes in question were said to feature a lot of destruction to Castelia City, the episodes were instead pulled altogether and never aired anywhere. A different Team Plasma arc would eventually come, but whatever was originally planned has remained a mystery... until now.
Team Rocket Vs. Team Plasma
The script was first said to be going up for auction, and fan organizations put together efforts to buy the script, promising to translate and release it for all to read. However, the script appeared online on May 1, 2023, both in its untranslated, scanned form and in a translated text document distributed over Google Docs.
In the script, Ash and friends, accompanied by Officer Jenny and Professor Juniper, come across an unexpected excavation project in the desert, which turns out to be run by Team Rocket. Team Rocket is excavating an area known as the Relic Castle in search of an object known as Meteonite, which was said to function like a miniature sun that kept the Relic Castle going during a period of heavy volcanic activity that blotted out the skies. The large group of Team Rocket grunts manage to locate the Meteonite in the castle and confirm it is indeed overflowing with energy.
As Giovanni and the Rockets celebrate their success, a small team of Team Plasma infiltrate the celebration--as do Professor Juniper and Looker, who ran into them in the desert. The Meteonite's energy is fluctuating, though, and somehow it has synchronized with Pikachu, causing its power to overflow as well. Team Plasma makes their move, attacking from above with their own helicopter and attempting to steal the Meteonite. However, the device is rendered unstable and begins overflowing with energy, causing destruction throughout the nearby area--including Castelia City. As Pikachu suffers from the energy build-up, Ash and Pikachu realize the only solution is to destroy the Meteonite, which Pikachu's suped-up state allows them to do.
The episode is interesting in that it features what would be the first appearance of Ghetsis, Pokémon's evil Team Plasma leader, and sets up the presence of N, who is referred to in this episode as "the hero" by Team Plasma. Team Plasma's eventual appearance was more inspired by Black 2/White 2, whereas Team Plasma in this episode are inspired by the original games' take, so they're quite different in goals. It's obvious this would've set up a very different version of the Black and White era of the Pokémon anime, but alas, now it is merely what could've been.
