Team Plasma and the Awakening Ceremony! (Japanese: プラズマ団襲撃！復活の儀式！！Plasma-dan Attacks! Ceremony of Revival!!) is the 121st episode of Pokémon the Series: Black & White, and the 778th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on April 11, 2013, and in the United States on July 13, 2013.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Blurb
Team Plasma continues to implement its evil plan to steal the Light Stone and secure N. But Cilan and Iris are battling back hard, while Ash and N are trapped underground. N can sense the disturbance on the surface, as he hears the inner voices of his Pokémon friends screaming in distress. Ash decides they have to get out of there and help, and recalls one of Professor Cedric Juniper’s adventure rules: Never give up until the very end! And as N watches in astonishment, Ash brings out the rest of his Pokémon, and they all work together to dig a tunnel to the surface as N marvels at the bond between them.
Meanwhile, above ground, Colress has again activated his Pokémon control device, forcing Cilan and Iris to return Crustle and Dragonite to their Poké Balls so the machine can’t control them. This leaves our heroes vulnerable, and Team Plasma moves in to capture them! Aldith wants Colress to send the controlled Pokémon underground after their targets—and just at that moment, Krookodile bursts through the ground, followed quickly by Charizard, Ash, and N, holding the Light Stone!
Colress refocuses his device on Ash’s Pokémon, and Ash scrambles to return them all to safety...all except Pikachu, who has a well-known dislike of its own Poké Ball. Colress’s machine takes control, and a growling Pikachu turns to attack our heroes. Ash gently attempts to make his best buddy recognize him, but it’s not working, and Pikachu unleashes a full-power Thunderbolt on Ash at close range, knocking him unconscious.
Desperately, N offers to give himself up—along with the Light Stone—if Colress turns off the device and sets Pikachu free. Colress agrees, N is taken into Team Plasma’s custody, and Pikachu comes back to its senses and sadly cuddles up to the wounded Ash. Ghetsis soon arrives and reveals his ultimate goal: awakening the Legendary Pokémon Reshiram from the Light Stone and taking control of its mind! Can our heroes stop this villainous scheme before it’s too late?
Plot
While Ash and N are still underground at the White Ruins, Team Plasma continues attacking Iris, Cilan, and Cedric Juniper. Iris and Cilan fight back with Dragonite and Crustle, only to have Colress threaten to control them with his mind control machine. They call back their Pokémon just as Colress tries to control them and are relieved, but that relief is short-lived as Team Plasma captures and restrains them with thick metal bands.
Meanwhile, as the events above get steadily worse, Ash and Pikachu try digging their way out as N watches, unsure of what to do. Ash calls out Oshawott, Pignite, Snivy, Krookodile, and Charizard to help. The five of them come up with the plan by having Oshawott use Hydro Pump to soften up the ground, allowing for Krookodile to use Dig. Charizard then makes the hole much larger by using Dragon Tail and spinning its tail in a circle. As Oshawott, Pignite, and Snivy start digging, Pikachu gets in on it with his Iron Tail. After Ash joins in to help them all, N is amazed by the teamwork all they are showing. He bends down to help Ash and his Pokémon.
As Ghetsis approaches the White Ruins in a helicopter, Aldith is getting tired of waiting and instructs Barret to bring her N and secure the Light Stone. He complies and instructs the mind-controlled Golurk to widen the hole, to which they comply by launching Shadow Balls at it. As the Liepard and other mind-controlled Pokémon watch the hole carefully, Krookodile appears out of a hole behind them and sees the predicament before ducking back down the hole. Charizard then appears out of the hole as well as the rest of the Pokémon, followed by Ash and N, where they learn that Team Plasma was behind the attack on the White Ruins. Seeing N has the Light Stone, Barret orders the Liepard to use Shadow Ball at N and Ash, only for Charizard to take the hit. After getting hit by another Shadow Ball from the Golurk, Charizard gets knocked down, worrying Pignite. Worried about his friend, Pignite checks on Charizard before launching a Flamethrower at incoming Shadow Balls. Assuring Pignite that he is alright, Charizard and Pignite are ready to battle as N is amazed by the bonds the two Fire types share with each other. Ash orders Pignite and Charizard to both use Flamethrower, where both combine and hit the Liepard and Golurk. Impressed by their attack, Krookodile launches his own by turning around and uses Dig to launch a barrage of dirt and rocks at the mind-controlled Pokémon, blinding them. Amazed by their friends' attacks, Oshawott and Snivy opt to get in on the action as Ash orders them to use Hydro Pump and Leaf Storm, which make contact. N is amazed not just by how strong the bonds between Ash and each one of his Pokémon are, but the bonds between the Pokémon themselves and how it allows them to work together as a team whenever Ash is involved.
Although Ash and his Pokémon put up a strong resistance to Team Plasma's controlled Pokémon, Barret orders Colress to target all of them with the Pokémon Control Device. Seeing what Team Plasma is planning to do, Iris quickly calls out to Ash to warn him about Colress's device and urges him to put everyone back in their Poké Balls. Seeing the machine power up, Ash quickly returns Charizard and Krookodile to their Poké Balls. As Colress gets ready to fire, Looker appears and charges at the machine to distract Team Plasma before being restrained, giving Ash the opportunity to safely return Oshawott, Pignite, and Snivy to their Poké Balls as well. However, he realizes too late that Pikachu is still vulnerable as he hates being in his Poké Ball. Ash tries running towards Pikachu to protect him, but Colress's machine hits him with its laser, bringing him under the scientist's control. Filled with rage, Pikachu directs a Thunderbolt at Cilan, Iris, and Professor Juniper, who flee desperately. Ash runs out in front of Pikachu, yelling at him to stop. However, as his Trainer tries to approach him, Pikachu hits Ash with another violently powerful Thunderbolt, causing Iris and Cilan to cry out in alarm. Ash continues approaching Pikachu, begging his best friend to come back to his senses, but his efforts are in vain. As Ash touches Pikachu, Pikachu lets loose another attack and this time it knocks Ash unconscious.
N, overcome with sadness, begs Colress to stop. He offers to give Team Plasma the Light Stone and himself if Colress frees Pikachu from his control; if they refuse, he will destroy the Light Stone. The Plasma Grunts are conflicted, but Aldith decides to agree to N's terms, noting that their primary objectives are procuring the Light Stone and capturing N. Accordingly, Colress turns off the machine, shutting down Pikachu's mind control. Upon returning to his senses, Pikachu realizes what he had inadvertently done to Ash, and he collapses in exhaustion and shame.
Ghetsis arrives as Team Plasma finishes restraining N. Taking the Light Stone, Ghetsis begins a ceremony to resurrect Reshiram, revealing his plans to control Reshiram with Colress's mind control device. After Ash and Pikachu both wake up and share a happy reunion, they make their way over to where Ghetsis, N, and the rest of Team Plasma are about to resurrect Reshiram and accomplish their goal of controlling it.
As Cedric Juniper shouts that the Pokémon are heading their way, his eyebrows are colored the same as his hair.
After Iris warns Ash about Colress's machine, the Poké Ball symbol on Ash's hat changes size, being smaller than usual in the first shot.
As Ghetsis turns around after walking up to the altar for the Awakening Ceremony, his hand is briefly flesh-colored instead of covered by his black glove.
Juniper's miscolored eyebrows
Ash's hat error
Ghetsis's ungloved hand
