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| Season | Pokémon: Black & White (Season 14) · Pinwheel Forest to Castelia City arc (BW018–BW023) |
| Episode | Season 14, episode 23 · English episode 676 · Japanese episode 681 · Bulbapedia code BW023 |
| English title | Battling For The Love of Bug-Types! |
| Japanese title | ヒウンジム戦！純情ハートの虫ポケモンバトル！！ Hiun Jimu Sen! Junjō Hāto no Mushi Pokemon Batoru!! — “The Hiun Gym Match! Purehearted Bug Pokémon Battle!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 17 March 2011 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 9 July 2011 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Yukiyoshi Ōhashi |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Besuto Uisshu! (Best Wishes!) – Rica Matsumoto · Kokoro no Fanfāre (Fanfare of the Heart) – Aki Okui |
| English opening | Black and White – Erin Bowman & Joe Philips |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Leavanny (US) |
| Previous episode | Rocket-dan VS Plasma-dan! (Part 2) (BW024U) |
| Next episode | Emolga the Irresistible! (BW024) |
Plot episodeInsect BadgeSewaddle evolves into Swadloon
Battling For The Love of Bug-Types! is the 23rd episode of Pokémon: Black & White, the fourteenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 676th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 681, Bulbapedia code BW023). It first aired in Japan on 17 March 2011 and in the United States on 9 July 2011. It falls within the season’s Pinwheel Forest to Castelia City stretch (EP18–EP23).
Premiered in order on 9 July 2011; in Japan it had been moved up two weeks to fill the first slot of the cancelled two-parter.
Synopsis
Ash wins the Insect Badge at the Castelia Gym, and his Sewaddle evolves into Swadloon in the middle of the battle. Burgh’s greenhouse Gym is full of trees from Pinwheel Forest, and his Dwebble, carrying a lightweight shell that makes it fast, defeats Tepig with Rock Wrecker.
Sewaddle evades with String Shot and Razor Leaf, knocks off Dwebble’s shell with Tackle and wins. Whirlipede’s Steamroller and Solar Beam batter Sewaddle until it evolves into Swadloon and finishes Whirlipede with Energy Ball, though Leavanny then beats Swadloon with Leaf Storm and Hyper Beam. Meanwhile, Team Rocket, back in their white uniforms and chasing Pikachu again, find a wandering Yamask, and James feeds it and catches it.
In the final round Leavanny binds Pikachu’s tail with String Shot, throwing off its balance, but Pikachu spins through Leaf Storm to loosen the threads, cancels the next Leaf Storm with Thunderbolt and finishes Leavanny with Iron Tail and Electro Ball. Burgh presents Ash with his third Unova Badge.
Major Events
- Ash wins the Insect Badge. Sewaddle evolves into Swadloon mid-battle, the first time one of Ash’s Pokémon evolves in a Gym battle
- Pikachu beats Leavanny
- Matori dismisses Team Rocket, who return to white uniforms
- James catches Yamask, his first catch in 259 episodes
- A new Hyper Beam animation
- Matori named in Japanese only
- Moved up two weeks in Japan after the earthquake
- TV debuts of Whirlipede and Swadloon
Pokémon making their anime debut
Swadloon#0541 · BW023
Whirlipede#0544 · BW023
Captures and evolutions
Yamask#0562 · James · his first catch in 259 episodes- Sewaddle → Swadloon#0541 · Ash · mid-battle against Burgh’s Whirlipede
Trivia
- The English title plays on the exclamation “for the love of…”, for Burgh’s devotion to Bug types.
- The screenplay is by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Unova storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Matori’s name, spoken in Japanese when she dismisses Team Rocket, is cut — she stays unnamed in English until SM088
- An instrumental of Best Wishes!
Part of our Pokémon: Black & White guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.