The world of Pokémon is full of unsolved mysteries, including its famous anime. The internet and fan forums are packed with fan theories that attempt to explain some of the franchise's overlooked details or plot holes. However, one of Pokémon's biggest unresolved cliffhangers was caused by real-world events.
Pokémon the Series: Black & White was the fourteenth season of the anime. Like all previous new arcs, this one acted as a soft reboot with Ash heading to a new region to meet new friends and fight new foes. During the fifth episode of Black & White, titled "Triple Leaders, Team Threats!" Team Rocket was given a special mission by Giovanni, who told them to collect energy from a place called Dreamyard. This personal attention led to Team Rocket taking on a more serious edge, with Jessie and James becoming competent threats for a short period.
A few episodes later, Giovanni explained more of this plan. Hundreds of years prior, a giant Meteonite broke up in outer space and fell to Earth. One of the most considerable fragments of this Meteonite landed somewhere in the Unova region, so Giovanni asked Jessie and James to find a chunk of it so Giovanni could use it as part of his ultimate plan. This led to Jessie and James embarking on several missions, including stealing data from the Antimony Research Lab and stealing a chunk of Meteonite from the Nacrene City Museum. They took it to Dr. Zager, who revealed that the fragment contained elements not found on Earth.
In Episode 22 of Black & White, "A Venipede Stampede!" Jessie and James use the small piece of Meteonite to find another chunk of the rock. As this happens, Giovanni is shown flying to the region to personally collect the Meteonite himself. At the very end of the episode, Professor Juniper arrives and tells Ash that a strange energy flow in the area caused some Venipedes to act strangely and that they needed to investigate it.
However, the next two episodes, dubbed "Rocket-dan VS Plasma-dan!" parts one and two, never aired. Based on released summaries and the preview from "A Venipede Stampede!" it seems this episode would have seen Giovanni take the Meteonite to Relic Castle, where he would place it in a machine that could alter the world's flow of energy, affect the weather, and send Pokémon into a panic. The Team Rocket leader planned to hold the entire Unova region hostage. However, Team Plasma turned up and tried to steal the Meteonite so they could use the machine as part of their own plan.
However, on March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Japan, triggering a tsunami and several large aftershocks. This was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan, and it caused immense damage and devastation. Based on the footage in the preview, "Rocket-dan VS Plasma-dan!" would have featured earthquake-like imagery. In fact, the preview even included a shot of a building being destroyed. Naturally this would have been highly inappropriate after a disaster, so TV Tokyo announced it would skip the episodes and show them another time.
The next episode broadcast was called "Battling for the Love of Bug-Types!" It showed Team Rocket being told to pick their own mission, returning them to their old characterization with no mention of the Meteonite. The planned rebroadcast of the skipped episodes never happened. Pokémon the Series: Black & White's 112th episode, called "Team Plasma's Pokémon Power Plot!" saw Team Plasma make their anime debut. Based on Ash's reaction to the group, it's clear that the never-broadcasted episodes have been rendered fully non-canon, leaving the Meteonite plot on a cliffhanger that will never be resolved.
It's understandable why "Rocket-dan VS Plasma-dan!" was not broadcast at the time, and TV Tokyo should be praised for its tact and good sense. However, it is a shame that such a fascinating plot, built up over 18 episodes and packed full of intrigue and mystery, was never shown to the public. Maybe one day this curiosity will be made available so Pokémon fans can see what could have been.
