BW048
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Battle for the Underground!
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First broadcast
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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Battle for the Underground! (Japanese: 激走！バトルサブウェイ！！（後編） Flat-out Run! Battle Subway!! (Part 2)) is the 48th episode of the Best Wishes series, and the 705th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on September 15, 2011 as part of a one-hour special, in the UK on December 28, 2011 and in the United States on January 7, 2012.
Synopsis
Picking up where the previous episode left off, Team Rocket continues to inhibit Ash and his friends from picking up their trail by deploying many ghost train decoys, overloading the subway sensors with phantom contacts. Pikachu and Axew are still trapped in their cages along with the stolen Poké Balls.
Meanwhile, Ash and his friends are still on the tracks. They spot a train approaching and Ash takes it in at a glance, concluding that it was a ghost car. With no way to tell the ghost trains apart, Cilan knows that it was part of Team Rocket’s plan to escape.
Dr. Zager, flying a transport helicopter towards Nimbasa City, checks in with Meowth and the others. Meanwhile, Pikachu tries to break the door with Iron Tail, but it fails to damage it. The recoil sends Pikachu flying back, knocking a Poké Ball down. Pikachu looks at the Poké Ball upset.
Ash and his friends try to pursue another train, but fail to catch it and mark it as a decoy. Cilan believes that Team Rocket might have slipped through the radar already, above ground. The note surprises Ash and Iris, thinking subway trains stay underground. The coincidental quote gives Cilan the answer that the train’s entry point is possibly the exit point.
Ingo and Emmet support the theory by pointing out that the subway trains all originate from the Anville Town Yard. With this knowledge, Ingo and Emmet plan to join up with Ash and his friends, racing down to a spare train car.
Back in Team Rocket’s train, Axew cries hysterically at being imprisoned, but Pikachu comforts it before spotting the Poké Ball holding Ash's Snivy. Pikachu uses an Electro Ball to activate the Poké Ball and release Snivy. Snivy then uses Vine Whip to fish out Iris's Excadrill. Excadrill uses Metal Claw to free Axew and Pikachu from their cages. Pikachu tries to Iron Tail the door again, but only leaves a small dent. Axew tries to use Dragon Rage against it, but the attack also fails. Snivy releases Cilan's Pansage from captivity. Bullet Seed and Drill Run also fail to break the door.
Pikachu thinks about the other Pokémon that could help. After rejecting Oshawott's Razor Shell, Scraggy’s Headbutt, and Tepig's rage, Pikachu decides to have Dwebble and use its corrosive spray to destroy the door.
Ash and his friends continue to run along the tracks with Ingo and Emmet catch up to them on their tram, powered by Emmet’s Eelektross. After Ash checks it with his Pokédex, they hop on and race after the train.
Meanwhile, Dwebble manages to carve a hole out of the door. A part of the door drops, alerting Team Rocket. Meowth goes to check and opens the door, coming face-to-face with Ash’s Pikachu. Though shocked at first, Pikachu soon becomes fit with rage at the betrayal, charging up electricity. The train heads out to the surface, and Meowth knows that the Pokémon cannot escape since the train is traveling too fast for them to jump.
Pikachu attempts to fire a Thunderbolt at Meowth, but he shuts the door and blocks the attack. Meowth notifies Jessie and James about the situation and Dr. Zager proceeds to catch up with them. Back in the second car, Ash's Roggenrola and Tepig join the group as Pikachu directs them to destroy the coupling holding the two cars together. A combination attack of Flash Cannon, Ember, Dragon Rage and Bullet Seed works cooperatively to destroy the coupling. Meowth reopens the door and realizes what is happening when Pikachu’s Thunderbolt attack creates an explosion, knocking Meowth back and separating the cars. The second car drifts away from the locomotive unit.
Pikachu looks ahead and notices that the track splits off. Ash’s Snivy jumps on top of the car and uses Vine Whip to change the track’s orientation, allowing the second car to head away from Team Rocket. They are forced to backtrack to the switch line, but quickly catch up to the car, with Dr. Zager’s chopper along the side.
Ash and his friends continue to race towards the terminus, reaching the surface. Eelektross uses more power to speed up the train to insane velocities. Meanwhile, Dr. Zager tries to position the chopper above the loose car to hitch it to the helicopter. Pikachu and Pansage attempt to attack the chopper’s hooks, but the attacks fail to damage it. Meowth notices Ash and his friends approaching on a parallel track. Ash and his friends want to head over to the train car with their Pokémon, but it is almost impossible to get to them at the rate of speed they are traveling at.
Ingo brings out Chandelure and uses its psychic abilities to lift Ash and his friends to the car. Pikachu and Axew hug their trainers as they prepare to fight off Team Rocket. Tepig and Roggenrola use their attacks to propel the car faster, moving ahead of Zager’s helicopter. Axew attempts to use Dragon Rage to help, but Zager’s chopper simply flies up and picks up speed, making the Pokémon’s efforts moot.
Seeing another track switch, Cilan has Pansage use Bullet Seed to change the car’s track orientation, slipping from Zager’s grasp once again. Roggenrola and Tepig use their attacks again to accelerate away. When Zager attempts to catch up with them, Snivy uses Leaf Storm to attack the chopper’s main blades. Pikachu’s Electro Ball attack destroys the four cargo hooks on the helicopter, forcing Zager to back off. The trio attempts to catch up, but Roggenrola and Tepig do their best to push ahead. Tepig taps into more power, learning how to use Flamethrower in the process. Chandelure joins the fray and uses Will-O-Wisp on the locomotive, destroying it. Team Rocket jumps up with their jet packs, dodging the damage. Though upset by the betrayal, Ash does compliment Meowth on traveling with them. James pushes a button to destroy the locomotive unit as they get into Zager’s helicopter and fly off, much to Pikachu's anger. Pikachu, at rage, demands revenge. However, Ash tells Pikachu to just let it go for once.
As the sun sets, the group checks out the Anville Town railyard. Ash looks forward to his gym battle with Elesa, and from Ingo and Emmet’s comments, will be a challenging one.
Major events
- Ash's Tepig learns Flamethrower.
- The gang, with the help of Ingo and Emmet, retrieve all the Pokémon from Team Rocket and force them to withdraw from Nimbasa City.
- For a list of all major events in Pokémon the Series, please see the timeline page.
Debuts
Pokémon debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: Eelektross
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Axew (Iris's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Oshawott (Ash's; fantasy)
- Tepig (Ash's)
- Snivy (Ash's)
- Scraggy (Ash's; fantasy)
- Roggenrola (Ash's)
- Excadrill (Iris's)
- Pansage (Cilan's)
- Dwebble (Cilan's)
- Chandelure (Ingo's; debut)
- Eelektross (Emmet's; debut)
Trivia
- Ash and Cilan narrate the preview for the next episode.
- Music from Arceus and the Jewel of Life and Zoroark: Master of Illusions is used in this episode.
- This episode aired December 24, 2011 in Italy (on K2), exactly 2 weeks before the American airdate.
- There is no Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster following this episode. Instead, a special preview for the next few episodes is shown.
- Ash using his Palpitoad, Snivy and Pikachu against Elesa's Emolga, Tynamo and Zebstrika. (BW050)
- Ash and Cilan using their Tepig and Pansage, respectively, to battle Ingo's Chandelure and Emmet's Eelektross. (BW051)
- Alder appearing in person and battling Ash and Pikachu using his Bouffalant. Alder subsequently tries to stop an attacking Gigalith. (BW052)
- Iris befriending a Deino. (BW056)
- A hero and villain-themed episode featuring an Accelgor-themed, motorcycle-riding hero and his Accelgor against an ice-themed set of villains. The two henchmen, who dress like their Pokémon, each use Vanillite, while the Cryogonal-masked leader uses Vanillish. (BW057)
- Tornadus and Thundurus going on a rampage. To call forth Landorus to stop them, Iris and a Gothorita pray in front of a shrine. (BW059)
- Ash's Pikachu and Oshawott performing in a Pokémon Musical show. (BW051)
- This episode aired on December 28, 2011 in the UK, more than one week before the US airdate.
Errors
- In the scene where everyone is on top of the train, Excadrill temporarily disappears, then reappears a few seconds later.
Dub edits
- From the scene when Pikachu and Meowth confront each other through the hole in the subway car's door to the scene when Ingo sends out his Chandelure, the music is changed to a single longer dub-original track. Two tracks from the Arceus: To a Conquering Spacetime Music Collection were removed.
- During the ending scenes, an instrumental version of Black and White replaced Best Wishes' instrumental version.
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
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| Mandarin Chinese | 疾奔！對戰地下鐵！！（前篇） | |
 Finnish
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Taistelu Maanalaisesta! | |
 Italian
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Lotta metropolitana! | |
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
