BW103

Curtain Up, Unova League! (Japanese: 開幕イッシュリーグ・ヒガキ大会！サトシ対シューティー！！ The League Conference Gets Underway! VS !!) is the 103rd episode of Pokémon the Series: Black & White, and the 760th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on November 22, 2012 and in the United States on March 9, 2013.
==Blurb==
Our heroes have finally arrived in Vertress City, home of the Unova League, and Ash’s excitement is at a fever pitch! While they’re in the midst of marveling at the massive Unova League stadium, the familiar faces of several Trainers begin rolling into town with their own plans to compete—and to Ash’s dismay, Bianca’s entrance is as dramatic as ever.
Ash, Trip, Stephan, Bianca, and new friend Virgil (from the Pokémon Rescue Squad) are all raring to go—as is Cameron, who’s been camping out for three days in a tent with his Riolu to make sure he wouldn’t be late! However, no one told him he needed to register for the tournament, so Ash rushes his absent-minded friend over to Nurse Joy—mere moments after registration has closed. Fortunately for Cameron, Nurse Joy takes pity on him and lets him register anyway.
The next morning, it’s time to get started! Freddy the Scoop drops in by parachute to call the action, and starts out by announcing the rules: before the main event begins, Trainers have to get through the qualifying rounds, where they can only use one Pokémon each. Stephan wins his first match easily. Virgil and Bianca are struggling against their opponents—and Ash is paired up against his very first Unova rival: Trip!
Trip calls out his super-speedy Serperior, who handed Ash his defeat in the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup finals. This time, rather than relying on Pignite’s type advantage, Ash has chosen Pikachu to kick off his Unova League experience! But even Pikachu’s Quick Attack isn’t fast enough to hit Serperior, who dodges every move with serpentine skill. Finally, Trip has Serperior strike back with Dragon Tail—and it’s a direct hit! Will Ash and Pikachu be knocked out of the Unova League before they even get to the main event?
==Plot==
 and finally arrive in Vertress City for the upcoming Vertress Conference, and soon spot the network of battle stadiums. In her rush to register, knocks Ash into a fountain. She apologizes for again bowling Ash over, and soon another familiar face, Stephan greets the group. Stephan is pleasantly surprised that Ash finally said his name correctly, though his enthusiasm leaves everyone perplexed. While catching up with Stephan and Bianca, Ash sees a helicopter flying overhead with Virgil, Davy, and Virgil's . Ash, , and run over to Virgil excitedly and they explain to the others that Virgil is one of the agents in the Pokémon Rescue Squad and that he works with the evolved forms of Eevee. As Ash and his friends prepare to register for the League they come across Trip, who's a lot nicer than before which both Cilan and Iris notice. Trip hopes to battle his rival and advises Ash not to lose too early.
After registering, Ash and his friends start going to their hotel but stop when they see a tent which belongs to old friend and his . Cameron reveals that he'd been camping out for three entire days but he hasn't registered. Panic sets in as announcement informs everyone that the registration period has closed. Ash grabs Cameron and drags him to registration area where they both beg Nurse Joy to let Cameron enter. Nurse Joy agrees to accept Cameron, and he registers himself for the League. Outside Cameron reveals he brought a secret weapon with him that he's going to use when he competes, which really excites Ash. With everyone now registered, Ash and his friends head back to their hotel to relax. While everyone enjoys some food, Ash and Stephan both have lots of food on their plates. Next, Stephan and Cameron relax in the sauna, or at least Stephan does, while Cameron becomes extremely uncomfortable by the humidity. Ash later receives from Professor Juniper, who wishes him luck in the Conference. 
Later on that night, Iris and Cilan are both fast asleep, but Ash is too excited he can't sleep, and also wakes up due to Ash not being able to sleep. Ash and Pikachu get out of bed and look out the window which has a perfect view of the stadium. Ash flashes backs to all of his previous Gym battles and says he's going to win the Unova League for all the Gym Leaders that helped him get there. Iris wakes up and tells Ash to go to sleep because he needs his rest so he climbs back into bed and goes to sleep.
The next morning all the participating s and a giant crowd gather in the main stadium for the Vertress Conference opening ceremony. Freddy O'Martian makes a big entrance when he skydives from a helicopter, Officer Jenny lights the torch, and a flock of fly overhead as the Unova League gets underway. Stephan and Bianca find their match-ups for the qualifying rounds and are determined to win. Ash looks to see who he's matched with, and he and Pikachu are both shocked when they find out Ash is facing off against Trip right off the bat. 
The first match on the green field is Stephan and his battling Radley and his . Zebstrika dodges a series of attack, but is eventually struck by an . Radley prepares to zero in on his opponent, but Zebstrika retaliates with a . Stephan and Zebstrika win the match with an extremely powerful . The next battle is Bianca and against Mikael and his . Emboar dodges a , and replies with an effective . Watchog stand to its feet again, and charges for a attack. However, Biance has Emboar keep it at bay with an .
Later, Virgil and take on Ultimo and his . Vaporeon lands a , and then narrowly evades an oncoming attack. Vaporeon's and Crustle's collide with one another creating a beautiful rainbow. Next, Virgil instructs Vaporeon to use which shocks Ultimo and his Crustle and also knocks Crustle down. For his first match, Cameron calls on his to battle Kendrick and . Ferrothorn gets hit twice with , but Ferrothorn and Cameron still managed to push on and continue battling. Ferrothorn evades a Thunderbolt, though Eelektross steps aside to make Cameron's attacks miss. Kendrick calls for another Crush Claw, knocking Ferrothorn to the field. Kendrick smirks, confident that his victory is guaranteed.
In the third battle on the green field, Ash versus Trip. Trip chooses his powerful and speedy . Ash selects Pikachu because he'd already planned to start off by using him first, though this tactic worries Iris and Cilan who are aware that types aren't that effective against types. Ash tells Trip that Pikachu's just as fast as Serperior and attempts to demonstrate by having Pikachu use on Serperior. Just before the Quick Attack hits Serperior, he dodges it and then Ash has Pikachu use which Serperior dodges yet again with his incredible speed. This time, Ash commands Pikachu to use which Serperior evades as well. Trip finally makes a move, and calls for a , which lashes Pikachu and knocks him down. Trip confidently looks on while Ash is left stunned by the ferocity of the attack and Pikachu tries to recover from the attack.
==Major events==
* and arrive in Vertress City, where the Vertress Conference begins.
* Ash, Trip, , , Stephan, and Virgil enter the Vertress Conference, with all of them having earned the eight required Badges.
* Bianca and Stephan meet Cameron for the first time.
* Ash decides to use only his current party Pokémon in the tournament instead of using any of his Pokémon at Professor Oak's Laboratory.
* Stephan defeats Radley in his first round battle, qualifying him for the next round.
* Bianca, Virgil, and Cameron begin their first round battles against Mikael, Ultimo, and Kendrick, respectively.
* Ash begins his battle against Trip.
===Debuts===
====Humans====
* Russet
* Mikael
* Ultimo
* Kendrick
====Pokémon debuts====
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Professor Juniper
* Nurse Joy
* Officer Jenny
* Trip
* 
* Stephan
* 
* Virgil
* Chili (flashback)
* Cress (flashback)
* Lenora (flashback)
* Hawes (flashback)
* Burgh (flashback)
* Elesa (flashback)
* Clay (flashback)
* Skyla (flashback)
* Brycen (flashback)
* Roxie (flashback)
* Freddy O'Martian
* Davy
* Katharine
* Dino
* Antonio
* Emmanuel
* Flora
* Geraldo
* Ramone
* Manning
* Kenton
* Russet
* Radley
* Mikael
* Ultimo
* Kendrick
* s
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international) (Japan)
* ()
* ()
* (; female; flashback)
* (; flashback)
* (; flashback)
* (; flashback)
* (; flashback)
* (; flashback)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Stephan's)
* ()
* ('s)
* (Virgil's)
* (Virgil's)
* (Virgil's; flashback)
* (Virgil's; flashback)
* (Virgil's; flashback)
* (Virgil's; flashback)
* (Virgil's; flashback)
* (Virgil's; flashback)
* (Radley's) 
* (Mikael's) 
* (Ultimo's) 
* (Kendrick's)
* (Davy's)
* (; flashback)
* (; flashback)
* (Lenora's; flashback)
* (Burgh's; flashback)
* (Elesa's; flashback)
* (; flashback)
* (; flashback)
* (Brycen's; flashback)
* (Roxie's; flashback)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's; ×2)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's; multiple)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's; ×2)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's; multiple)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (multiple)
==Trivia== 
* Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster: 
* This episode begins the six-part Vertress Conference arc.
* An instrumental version of is used as background music.
* The characters start pronouncing Stephan's name correctly as of this episode, but they are oblivious to ever pronouncing it wrong.
* In the flashback of defeating Lenora, the apron that she wore during the original scene was removed.
* This is the first time since his capture that was not used in a battle against Trip.
* This is the first time in which Ash faced his main rival in a Pokémon League Conference that was not a Full Battle.
** This is also the first time when Ash does not call before the beginning of a League; he calls Professor Juniper instead.
* Freddy O'Martian's entrance by parachute at the opening ceremony may be a reference to the opening ceremony of the , in which stunt doubles for (in character as ) and made their entrance by parachute.
* This is the earliest that Ash has fought his main rival during a League Conference.
===Errors===
* In the dub, Bianca orders to use instead of , and orders to use Flamethrower instead of Thunderbolt.
===Dub edits===
==In other languages==
103
Category:Pokémon League episodes
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes focusing on Trip
Category:Episodes written by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi
Category:Episodes storyboarded and directed by Ken'ichi Nishida
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Ken'ichi Nishida
Category:Episodes directed by Ken'ichi Nishida
Category:Episodes animated by Izumi Shimura
de:Vorhang auf für die Einall-Liga!
es:EP765
fr:NB103
it:NB103
ja:BW編第103話
zh:宝可梦 超级愿望 第103集