The Pokémon anime has stuck to us like glue ever since childhood. Ash’s adventures with Pikachu, Misty, and Brock always entertain us whenever Ash is about to get a gym badge or Team Rocket tries to steal Pikachu. Story-wise, the anime is not entirely fantastic, but the characters are what made us remember them so fondly. Since we were used to the localization from 4Kids Entertainment, we never knew that Pokémon originated in Japan until we got older as we experience other anime.
As we get older, we begin to realize that there were some episodes that were cut from the English dub. Amazingly, America was not the only country to get this treatment, as other countries have some references or even entire episodes removed due to something related in the episodes. There are some episodes of the anime that were off the air for a bit, only to come back when the tension calms down from certain events related to what the episode has.
Some episodes never even get the light of day, whether they were postponed for a later date or get canceled. Most of them have good intentions, but it is unfortunate that we would never get to watch those lost episodes even if we search thoroughly on the internet. Some of these episodes hold some unique trivia that earned its reputation in the Pokémon community and we’re here to give you some.
Here are some plot lines from the Pokémon anime that fans might have missed.
20 The Country That Couldn't
Pokémon became a worldwide phenomenon in the late 90s and it’s still going strong today. However, there are some countries that don’t even get to have the franchise localized until the turn of the century. Take South Korea, for example, a country that had a shaky relationship with Japan.
The anime first arrived for South Korea in 1999.
Even though the anime was localized there, a number of episodes were banned due to some Japanese references displayed on the show. If someone is wearing a kimono, that episode gets banned. If there is a ninja or samurai, then those episodes would be cut too.
19 Like Mother, Like Daughter
Jessie is one of the most compelling villains in the Pokémon series, and it is thanks to her tragic backstory. We do know that she trained to become a nurse and then later met James and formed a bike gang, only to join Team Rocket with him later.
What we don’t know is the fact that Jessie’s mother was also a part of Team Rocket.
In Japan, a radio drama expanded upon Jessie’s past with her mother trying to find Mew, only to disappear after an avalanche caught her. While it is not entirely related to the anime, Japan managed to get some extra information about Jessie.
18 Battle Of The Genders
What, there is an episode that got banned only in parts of Europe? That is a rare occurrence since either America or South Korea would get the treatment. The episode is titled “The Bicker the Better” from the Pokémon Advanced series. The reason for the banning of this episode is plausible.
The episode does somewhat encourage prejudice against genders.
Ash and May were at their worst, always arguing since May was dragging the gang greatly for some reason. They faced a couple and lost because of not being cooperative. Then Jessie and James end up getting into arguments like crazy.
17 Behind-The-Scenes Craziness
Pokémon shorts are the equivalent to Pixar shorts in their respective movies. They provide great entertainment with the adorable creatures and since they don’t speak our language, we interpret with their expressions and cries. The short that appears before the third Pokémon movie, Pikachu & Pichu, was a cute short where Pikachu and two Pichu end up traveling all over the city Ash and the gang are at.
In 2009, the Japanese narrator Sakai Noriko was arrested for possession of some unwanted items. Due to this, the short has been banned and has not been on any home video or video on demand.
16 Here's More Plot Holes
Even though South Korea did not get 4Kids to do the localization, they were unfortunate to a lot of episodes from the first season to have episodes banned. The reasons why? It would have to be due to Japanese references displayed. Because of the references, it caused a lot of plot holes for South Korean fans.
For example, the episodes that featured Erika and Koga were banned due to their Japanese aesthetics, and they are gym leaders. So fans would get extremely confused when they see that Ash got a badge from Erika and Koga without witnessing the battles. Like mentioned earlier, if there are any references to Japanese culture, the episode would immediately get banned.
15 Not-So Happy New Year
Because of what happened on December 16th, 1997, and we’ll cover that later on from this list, Pokémon had to be on hiatus for a few months. It was a huge deal since due to what happened, an episode had to be canceled entirely. It would have been a New Year’s special too, taking place between “Holiday Hi-Jynx” and “Snow Way Out!”.
It would just be a recap episode to where the show started out until the part where Ash and the gang are. From a first impression, it might not sound special, but since Pokémon had been on the air for nearly a year, it would have been very special for the anime.
14 Too Sleepy For Them?
Out of all the plot lines, fans have to miss, the reason for this episode being banned is still yet to be revealed. “The Song of Jigglypuff” is where the recurring Jigglypuff would follow Ash and the gang and whenever she tries to sing, it would make them and their Pokémon fall asleep.
For some unknown reason, this episode is banned in Turkey.
This episode seems like the most harmless one to be banned, so there could be crazy reasons why this episode is banned. Only time will tell once the reason is announced for not only the fans from Turkey but the whole world as well.
13 Thanks To Natural Disasters
Sometimes there are just some things we can’t control. In Japan’s case, since they live around the Pacific Ocean, they, unfortunately, deal with earthquakes and sometimes tsunamis. In the Advanced series, there was an unaired episode due to a disastrous earthquake that occurred before the episode was scheduled to release.
Japan was smart to leave it off the air since it would be incredibly insensitive to have the episode air right after they just dealt with a natural disaster. This episode would have a major debut for Barboach and Whiscash, who would play important roles in the episode. Since Japan never aired the episode, the entire world never got to dub it in their respective languages.
12 That's A Close One
At first, episodes that were temporarily banned might seem concerning, but whenever a certain event is cleared away, the episode can air with no trouble. “An Undersea Place to Call Home!” was banned for a bit due to the sinking of the MV Sewol ferry in South Korea almost a week before the episode aired in Japan.
It would have been a disaster if the episode aired after that tragedy. Japan and America skipped this episode, which caused a temporary continuation error, but the episode would come back about seven months later in Japan and in early 2015 in America.
11 The Ending That Will Never Happen
Pokémon: The First Movie is an epic movie that made us cheer, laugh, and cry. Mewtwo is one of the best villains and his presence makes us shiver. The ending was a bit disappointing with the characters forgetting all that has happened, but Ash, Misty, and Brock talking were endearing.
Speaking of Misty, there is actually a video that surfaced on the internet involving her.
It is a trailer for the first movie, which features unused footage that would not appear in the final cut. The pink-haired is the cream of the crop since fans have speculated that it is Ash and Misty’s daughter. If the movie took this route the trailer did, it would have been very interesting.
10 Weakest Of Ash's Companions
Now this entry can be interpreted to how you will since the Black & White anime was hastily rewritten to the point where Ash’s companions were easily one of the weakest, especially Iris. An honorable mention goes to Cilan since he also suffers from being underdeveloped. Both of them have goals, but they are rarely explored, and when they are, they don’t leave a big impact on us and their character.
Calling Ash, “such a kid” doesn’t help her at all.
Now, it’s not to say Iris is an awful character, because she is a fantastic battler. She does want to become a dragon master, but we never know what it truly is. Compared to Ash’s female companions, Iris is, unfortunately, the weakest so far.
9 Some Aired, Some Did Not
Whenever there are some episodes that don’t focus on Ash, we would get to see his former companions and some new characters. Pokémon Chronicles became a series where we get to witness adventures outside of Ash’s and they are genuinely fun. There are some episodes that we get to see released in the United States, while others get ignored completely.
For example, after the Diamond & Pearl series was wrapping up, there were two episodes that featured Dawn and Brock as they start off their own journeys. How come we never got these episodes to air here in America? That’s a question that will probably never be answered.
8 Intentionally Bad?
Jynx has certainly made a name for herself in the Pokémon community, and it might be for the obscure reasons. She is a humanoid Pokémon that initially had black skin instead of purple. That fact alone was what made her so controversial.
In the earlier episodes, Jynx has made a few appearances in her original color. Due to the controversy she gained in the United States, episodes such as “Holiday Hi-Jynx” and “The Ice Cave!” to be banned. Some assumed that Jynx was originally based on the Japanese myth Yama-uba or the Japanese fashion ganguro. Here in the states, she looks to portray an offensive theatrical act called blackface.
7 Gone For A While
The episode “Tentacool & Tentacruel” was not particularly an episode that was offensive, but the events that happened had to be put off the air for a while. If you recall the opening theme song, you see Tentacruel destroying a building in one of the clips, and we never saw that episode at first due to the 9/11 attacks.
The episode was released in America on October 1st, 1998, so it was not too bad at first. Conveniently, this episode would be banned temporarily again when Hurricane Katrina occurred. Those that still have not seen this episode, it can be found on Netflix and official DVD releases.
6 Got A Weapon? Cut!
Pokémon seems like it has a friendly world with catchable creatures who can become battle partners and awesome pets. Traveling is a breeze compared to the real world and it seems nice and peaceful. “The Legend of Dratini” then dropped the shell when the episode only character, Kaiser, put up a gun to Ash’s head.
That was not the only insane event to happen.
Team Rocket was causing trouble like always, but when Meowth and James were doing an interrogation, the former dressed up like a certain dictator from the 1940s. Those reasons for the episode being banned are fair, but it also created a plot hole as to how Ash got those thirty Tauros.
5 Who Has It Now?
Remember the GS Ball? If not, then we’ll recap for you. This item was first possessed by Professor Ivy, who couldn’t get it to open. So, she asks Ash to try to open it while he is on his journey. It was all over the place. The ball was in nearly everyone’s grasp, even a Quagsire who almost swallowed it completely.
The mystery behind this ball and why it won’t open was never revealed. In fact, the GS Ball was going to have something to do with Celebi in the fourth movie but was eventually scrapped. Who has the ball now? No other than the master of balls himself Kurt.
4 Rocket Vs. Plasma
Known as Best Wishes in Japan, this Pokémon series, unfortunately, had a lot of ill-fated rewrites due to what happened in 2011. Fans have been waiting for Team Rocket and Team Plasma to face off against each other and it would have easily been the best part of the Black & White series by far.
However, the date was March 11th, 2011, and the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami created one of the most devastating natural disasters in the world. The two episodes were originally postponed, but later remain unaired. A lot of hype was built around those episodes and it is unfortunate that we will never see them at all.
3 Here We Go Again
The Sun & Moon anime managed to do something that could be seen as offensive to the United States after twenty years of avoiding it, and it is once again blackface. In this episode, Ash disguises as a Passimian, which does sound harmless enough, but the paint he uses can be seen as offensive.
Then again, Japanese culture is extremely different from America.
Ash imitated the Pokémon for half of the episode and it helps him form a bond with the wild Pokémon. It sounds endearing, but we certainly would not want to deal with something that could lead to more problems.
2 Going Way Too Far
The episode “Beauty and the Beach” was a very strange one at that. It has fanservice and is rather comedic, but there were a lot of weird scenarios Ash and the gang gets into. The plot seems harmless enough, but when Misty had to compete in a swimwear contest, Team Rocket intervened.
While the episode has been dubbed, what James did have to be cut entirely.
Cross-dressing is common with Team Rocket, but James took it way too far that it was something kids would get confused over. This episode can be found online and while it is not contributing to Ash getting a badge, it is an episode you can laugh at with no harm done.
1 Poor Porygon
This episode has been known around the Pokémon community ever since the beginning. Before Pokémon was released in the United States, an episode of the anime called “Electric Soldier Porygon” sent over six hundred Japanese children to the hospital. Due to this unfortunate circumstance, the anime was taken off the air for a few months.
Porygon would appear less in the anime since it was the main focus of the electric shock.
Because of the episode creating epileptic seizures, this episode was to never be aired again. However, it is still on the internet with a simple Google search. If you do plan to watch it, be careful.