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| Season | Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies (Season 15) · Nimbasa City & the Champion arc (BW049–BW052) |
| Episode | Season 15, episode 1 · English episode 702 · Japanese episode 707 · Bulbapedia code BW049 |
| English title | Enter Elesa, Electrifying Gym Leader! |
| Japanese title | ジムリーダーはカリスマモデル！カミツレ登場！！ Jimu Rīdā wa Karisuma Moderu! Kamitsure Tōjō!! — “The Gym Leader is a Charisma Model! Kamitsure Appears!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 22 September 2011 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 18 February 2012 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Yukiyoshi Ōhashi |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Besuto Uisshu! (Best Wishes!) – Rica Matsumoto · Pokémon Ieru kana? BW (Can You Name All the Pokémon? BW) – Takeshi Tsuruno |
| English opening | Rival Destinies – Alex Nackman & Kathryn Raio |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Shelmet (US) |
| Next episode | Dazzling the Nimbasa Gym! (BW050) |
Plot episodeSeason premiereElesa debuts
Enter Elesa, Electrifying Gym Leader! is the 1st episode of Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies, the fifteenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 702nd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 707, Bulbapedia code BW049). It first aired in Japan on 22 September 2011 and in the United States on 18 February 2012. It falls within the season’s Nimbasa City & the Champion stretch (EP49–EP52).
Premiered on Cartoon Network at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday 18 February 2012, a week after the channel showed White—Victini and Zekrom, with the debut of the English opening “Rival Destinies”.
Synopsis
Ash meets Nimbasa City’s Gym Leader, the supermodel Elesa, and ends up battling Bianca’s father so that Bianca can keep travelling. On the way to the Gym the group runs into Bianca, who knocks Ash into a fountain; the Gym is closed for Elesa’s fashion show, where Elesa spots Pikachu in the crowd and agrees to battle both Ash and Bianca.
At the Gym Bianca’s father is waiting with an ultimatum: if she loses her three-on-three battle, she must go home to Nuvema Town. Elesa’s Zebstrika uses Flame Charge and Double Kick to beat Bianca’s newly caught Shelmet and her Minccino, then knocks out Pignite with Wild Charge after a fierce exchange of Flamethrower and Heat Crash.
Citing the recent Pokémon Center thefts, her father still means to take her home, so Ash challenges him, staking his own return to Pallet Town. The former “Red Meteor” sends out his Darmanitan, whose Fire Punches and Flare Blitz overwhelm Oshawott. Ash loses, but his loyalty to his friend changes the man’s mind, and Bianca dashes off to train at the Desert Resort while Elesa sets Ash’s Gym battle for the next day.
Major Events
- Elesa debuts. The dub’s season premiere and the debut of the English opening Rival Destinies
- Elesa’s fashion show
- Elesa’s Zebstrika beats Bianca’s Shelmet, Minccino and Pignite
- Ash’s Oshawott loses to the Darmanitan of Bianca’s father, who lets her keep travelling
- Debuts of Elesa, Bianca’s father and Shelmet
Pokémon making their anime debut
Shelmet#0616 · BW049
Captures and evolutions
- Shelmet#0616 · Bianca · newly caught, it battles Elesa’s Zebstrika
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Unova storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Ash calls Razor Shell by its Japanese name, “Shell Blade”
- Debut of the English opening Rival Destinies (Alex Nackman and Kathryn Raio)
Part of our Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.