BW004: The Battle Club and Tepig's Choice!

is the 4th episode of Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes! and Pokémon: Black & White.
==Synopsis==
As Ash and Iris continue toward Striaton City for Ash's first Unova Gym battle, Iris tells Ash about the Pokémon Battle Club, a place where Trainers can battle each other to develop their skills. But after Ash accepts a challenge from a Trainer there, the Battle Club is suddenly closed down. It appears that someone—or something—has broken into the storage room where the food is kept! Based on the blurry image on the security tape, Ash thinks the culprit might be an Umbreon (a Pokémon that isn't native to Unova). But when Ash puts some Pokémon food out to lure it, he and Iris are surprised to discover it's really a dirty, skinny Tepig, trying to scrounge for dinner.
Ash manages to calm the frightened Tepig and frees it from a rope that had been tied around its snout by an uncaring Trainer who abandoned it at the club. With the rope gone, Tepig can eat again, and under Ash's care it quickly recovers its strength.
It turns out that Tepig isn't the only trespasser—Team Rocket has been attempting to steal supplies from the club as well. But when Team Rocket kidnaps Pikachu, Tepig helps Ash with the rescue.
Iris then tries to catch Tepig for her own, but Tepig makes it very clear it wants Ash to be its new Trainer! Ash decides that he will send Tepig out in his battle at the Striaton City Gym. Our heroes resume their journey, while a certain group of villains gets secret orders from the Boss to travel to Striaton City for their next mission...
==Episode plot==
As Ash and Iris travel to Striaton City, they come across a large city which Ash mistakes for Striaton City. Iris explains to Ash that Striaton City is the next town. Ash feels down upon hearing this, But Iris then explains to Ash that the town has a "Pokémon Battle Club", which excites Ash, who goes and checks out the Battle club. When he arrives, he sees a Dewott and Servine battling each other. The Servine's trainer Servine to use Leaf Blade, which gets countered by Dewott's Water Gun. Servine is defeated, and the trainer runs off to a Pokémon center. The man welcomes Ash and Iris, then introduced himself as Don George. Ash told Don George why he wanted to fight. The Dewott trainer comes to Ash and is amazed by his Pikachu, so Ash gives him the challenge.
The battle between Ash and the Dewott trainer has begun. Iris thinks to herself that the trainer was using a Dewott just now, but if he uses another water type, the Electric type Pikachu will have the advantage. Ash tells Pikachu to do his best, but when Pikachu goes onto the battle field, Ash's Oshawott comes out of its Poké Ball. Pikachu tries to tell Oshawott to go back in its Poké Ball, but Oshawott just pushes Pikachu. The trainer sends Dewott, and due to Oshawott being its pre-evolved form, Oshawott gasps and hides behind Pikachu. Ash calls Oshawott back in its Poké Ball, so Pikachu goes to battle. Pikachu starts with Thunderbolt, but Dewott dodges. Pikachu's Iron Tail hits Dewott and follows with Volt Tackle. Dewott evaded the attack making Pikachu hit a wall. The trainer's Dewott uses Razor Shell, hitting Pikachu.
While the battle is raging on, Team Rocket sneaks into the battle club warehouse hoping to steal some Pokémon and intelligence from it. However, a mysterious Pokémon jumps out at them and causes them to step back, thereby setting off the security alarm and causing them to retreat. The alarm interrupts the battle between Pikachu and Dewott. Ash and the gang then check out what caused the alarm to go off and notices Team Rocket even though Don George has some confusion of who they were. What interests them more is the mysterious Pokémon that lashed out at Team Rocket, whom is thought to be an Umbreon. This shocks Don George because the region of Unova has never seen a Pokémon native to Johto.
They devise plans to capture this Pokémon. Ash decides to lure the Umbreon out with Pokémon food and gets Oshawott involved in the process. While Ash leaves Pikachu and Oshawott to do patrol, Oshawott nibbles at the food in which Pikachu tries to make it stop so the plan will not go to ruin. Oshawott then pushes Pikachu back and it causes Pikachu to be knocked into several boxes and Pikachu is knocked unconscious when boxes and a metal wash basin hit his head. Oshawott then greedily goes at the Pokémon food, eating it nonstop. Meanwhile, Team Rocket hears about the Umbreon rumor and schemes to make another attempt to rob the battle club. They decide to distract Don George and his crew with Meowth disguised as an Umbreon. Meowth then comes to Don George only to be chased by him and his crew until Meowth intentionally blows his cover by wiping the paint off the coin on his head. Don George and the Crew are shocked at this and break down but when Meowth starts talking, Don George realizes that even though they did not see Umbreon, a talking Meowth is much rarer.
Don George and his crew scheme to catch Meowth but Meowth gets away from them in a nick of time. Ash finishes setting up the Pokémon food and notices the Umbreon in the process. However, it turns out the Umbreon that was roaming around the battle club was actually a starved Tepig. Ash then notices that there is a rope tangled around Tepig's snout preventing it from eating. Ash then rushes out to help the Tepig and tells Iris the whole story. They manage to corner Tepig and get the rope off his snout. They then give the Tepig some Pokémon food and nurse it back to health instantly. Meanwhile, Team Rocket makes their second attempt at their battle club burglary when they notice the unconscious Pikachu on the ground. They ignore the burglary and decide to steal Pikachu, but they get caught by Oshawott.
Ash brings the sleeping Tepig to Don George, who tells Ash that it was left behind by an arrogant and selfish trainer after it lost to a Deerling in the Battle club. The trainer tied Tepig to a stake and left it there. Don George noticed the crying Tepig and tried to help it but it chewed itself loose and went after its old trainer, causing the rope to tangle around Tepig's snout. When the story was over, Ash is disgusted Tepig's old trainer did that and Iris promises to teach that trainer a lesson. Tepig then wakes up and notices Team Rocket walking behind Ash. Team Rocket tries to get away on their glass dome mecha but they are stopped by Tepig's Ember. Pikachu is freed and Ash catches it from falling down, while Team Rocket escapes on gliders. Ash thanks Tepig for stopping Team Rocket. Iris then decides she wants to capture Tepig, but because of Ash's care for Tepig, it prefers to be with Ash. Ash then asks Pikachu what was he doing in a box. Pikachu tries to explain, but this causes Ash to be confused, while Oshawott sighs. Meanwhile, Giovanni contacts Jessie, James and Meowth for a new task in Striaton City.
==Debuts==
===Character===
*Don George
===Pokémon===
*Servine
*Dewott
*Ash's Tepig
===Move===
*Razor Shell
==Trivia==
*Professor Oak's Live Caster: Battle Club
*Who's That Pokémon?: Tepig
*Ash adopts a -type starter Pokémon from an abusive trainer. This is the same instance Ash runs into in Unova, as with what happened with Charmander, and Chimchar in "Charmander - The Stray Pokémon" and "Glory Blaze!", respectively.
*The premiere of the English dub officially confirmed the English names of Dewott and Servine.
*The European English title card spells the title with two exclamation marks rather than one.
*Team Rocket briefly shows their comedic side when they force Meowth to dress up and he is not pleased.
==Gallery==
==References==
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a new Pokémon