BW048

Battle for the Underground! (Japanese: 激走！バトルサブウェイ！！（後編） Flat-out Run! Battle Subway!! (Part 2)) is the 48th episode of Pokémon the Series: Black & White, and the 705th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on September 15, 2011 as part of a one-hour special alongside BW047, in the United Kingdom on December 28, 2011 and in the United States on January 7, 2012.
==Blurb==
Team Rocket’s sinister plot to steal all the Poké Balls from the Nimbasa City Pokémon Center continues at a frenetic pace, and our heroes, along with Subway Bosses Ingo and Emmet, are in hot pursuit! They chase down one decoy after another, until Cilan figures out that the real Ghost Train must be heading for the rail yard in Anville Town.
Meanwhile, our heroes’ trapped Pokémon have been trying to escape! Working together, they finally manage to break through their cages, and then figure out how to release the coupler that links their car to the Ghost Train. Back in the subway tunnels, Emmet’s Eelektross provides the needed boost for our heroes’ railcar to catch up with the Ghost Train in Anville Town, and Ingo’s Chandelure joins the fight to help them defeat Team Rocket.
Although Pikachu is still seething about Meowth’s betrayal, Ash tells Meowth that he really enjoyed their time together traveling to Nimbasa City. Team Rocket and Dr. Zager escape in their helicopter, vowing to come back to fight another day. Meanwhile, Ash is looking forward to his long-delayed battle with Elesa, Nimbasa City’s Gym Leader!
==Plot==
 continues to inhibit and from picking up their trail by deploying many ghost train decoys, overloading the subway sensors with phantom contacts. and are still trapped in their cages along with the stolen Poké Balls. Meanwhile, Ash and his friends are still on the tracks. They spot a train approaching and Ash takes it in at a glance, concluding that it was a ghost car. With no way to tell the ghost trains apart, knows that it was part of Team Rocket's plan to escape.
Elsewhere, as he is flying a transport helicopter towards Nimbasa City, Dr. Zager checks in with and the others. Meanwhile, Pikachu tries to break the door with , but it fails to damage it. The recoil sends Pikachu flying back, knocking a down. Pikachu looks at the Poké Ball, upset.
Ash and his friends try to pursue another train, but fail to catch it and mark it as a decoy. Cilan believes that Team Rocket might have slipped through the radar already, above ground. The note surprises Ash and , thinking subway trains stay underground. The coincidental quote gives Cilan the answer that the train's entry point is possibly the exit point. Ingo and Emmet support the theory by pointing out that the subway trains all originate from the Anville Town railyard. With this knowledge, Ingo and Emmet plan to join up with Ash and his friends, racing down to a spare train car.
Back in Team Rocket's train, Axew cries hysterically at being imprisoned, but Pikachu comforts him before spotting the Poké Ball holding Ash's Snivy. Pikachu uses an to activate the Poké Ball and release Snivy. Snivy then uses to fish out Iris's Excadrill, who then uses to free Axew and Pikachu from their cages. Pikachu tries to Iron Tail the door again, but only leaves a small dent. Axew fires against it, but the attack also fails. Snivy releases Cilan's Pansage from captivity. and Excadrill tackling the door, also fail to break it. Pikachu thinks about the other that could help. After rejecting 's , 's , and 's , Pikachu decides to have and use its corrosive spray to destroy the door.
Ash and his friends continue to run along the tracks with Ingo and Emmet catching up to them on their crew car, powered by Emmet's . After Ash checks it with his Pokédex, they hop on and race after the ghost train. Meanwhile, Dwebble manages to carve a hole out of the door. A part of the door drops, alerting Team Rocket. Meowth goes to check and opens the door, coming face-to-face with Ash's Pikachu. Though shocked at first, Pikachu soon becomes fit with rage at the betrayal, charging up electricity. The train heads out to the surface, and Meowth knows that the Pokémon cannot escape since the train is traveling too fast for them to jump. Pikachu attempts to fire a at Meowth, but he shuts the door and blocks the attack. Meowth notifies Jessie and James about the situation and Dr. Zager proceeds to catch up with them.
Back in the second car, Ash's Roggenrola and join the group as Pikachu directs them to destroy the coupling holding the two cars together. A combination attack of , , Dragon Rage and Bullet Seed works cooperatively to destroy the coupling. Meowth reopens the door and realizes what is happening when Pikachu's Thunderbolt attack creates an explosion, knocking Meowth back and separating the cars. Jessie and James learn what's happened and start to slow the train down in order to allow the second car to catch up. Pikachu looks ahead and notices that the track splits off. Ash's Snivy jumps on top of the car and uses Vine Whip to change the track's orientation, allowing the second car to head away from Team Rocket. They are forced to backtrack to the switch line, but now they're chasing the car and quickly start to catch up, with Dr. Zager's chopper flying alongside as well.
Ash and his friends continue to race towards the terminus, reaching the surface. Eelektross uses more power to speed up the train to insane velocities. Meanwhile, Dr. Zager tries to position the chopper above the loose car to hitch it to the helicopter. Pikachu and Pansage attempt to attack the chopper's hooks, but the attacks fail to damage it. Meowth notices Ash and his friends approaching on a parallel track. Ash and his friends want to head over to the train car with their Pokémon, but it is almost impossible to get to them at the rate of speed they are traveling at. So Ingo brings out his partner, a , and has it use to lift Ash and his friends to the car. The Pokémon are happily reunited with their Trainers as they prepare to fight off Team Rocket. Tepig and Roggenrola use Ember and Flash Cannon to propel the car faster, moving ahead of Zager's helicopter. Axew attempts to use Dragon Rage to help, but Zager’s chopper simply flies up and picks up speed, making the Pokémon's efforts moot.
Seeing another track switch, Cilan has Pansage use Bullet Seed to change the car's track orientation, slipping from Zager's grasp once again. Roggenrola and Tepig use their attacks again to accelerate away. When Zager attempts to catch up with them, Snivy uses to attack the chopper's main blades. Pikachu’s Electro Ball attack destroys the four cargo hooks on the helicopter, forcing Zager to back off. The trio attempts to catch up, but Roggenrola and Tepig do their best to push ahead. Tepig taps into more power, learning how to use in the process. Chandelure joins the fray and uses on the locomotive, destroying it. Team Rocket jumps up with their jet packs, dodging the damage. Though upset by the betrayal, Ash does admit to having fun while traveling with Meowth, but the Scratch Cat Pokémon is unimpressed and swears revenge on them. James pushes a button to destroy the locomotive unit as they get into Zager's helicopter and fly off, much to Pikachu's anger. Cilan notes that Team Rocket did think of a good plan, while Iris is only relieved that she didn't manage to capture Meowth after all.
On the helicopter, Team Rocket is furious that their plan failed despite all the work and having come so close, but decide to look ahead and prepare another plot. Meanwhile, Ash's group checks out the Anville Town railyard, much to Cilan's enjoyment. Ingo and Emmet report that the subway has completely recovered and the stolen Poké Balls have been returned to the Pokémon Center. Ash knows he can now go and challenge the Nimbasa Gym and Ingo and Emmet wish him luck while warning that the Gym Leader, Elesa, is very tough. Ash isn't worried by this, however.
==Major events==
* Ash's Tepig learns .
* and , with the help of Ingo and Emmet, retrieve all of the Pokémon stolen by , including their own, and force them to withdraw from Nimbasa City.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* 
* 
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* Ingo
* Emmet
* Dr. Zager
* Subway workers
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: 
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; fantasy)
* ()
* ()
* (; fantasy)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Ingo's; debut)
* (Emmet's; debut)
==Trivia== 
* Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster: 
*The helicopter Dr. Zager pilots is a .
** There is no Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster following this episode. Some airings showed only a preview for BW049, while others showed a special preview for the next few episodes.
*** using his , , and against Elesa's , , and . (Dazzling the Nimbasa Gym!)
*** Ash and using their and , respectively, to battle Ingo's and Emmet's . (Lost at the Stamp Rally!) 
*** Alder appearing in person and battling Ash and Pikachu using his . Alder subsequently tries to stop an attacking . (Ash Versus the Champion!)
*** befriending a . (The Lonely Deino!)
*** A hero and villain-themed episode featuring an -themed, motorcycle-riding hero and his Accelgor against an ice-themed set of villains. The two henchmen, who dress like their Pokémon, each use , while the -masked leader uses . (The Mighty Accelguard to the Rescue!)
*** and going on a rampage. To call forth to stop them, Iris and a pray in front of a shrine. (Stopping the Rage of Legends! Part 1)
*** Ash's Pikachu and performing in a Pokémon Musical show. (Lost at the Stamp Rally!)
* This is the season finale of Pokémon: Black & White.
* Ash and Cilan narrate the preview for the next episode.
* Music from Arceus and the Jewel of Life and Zoroark: Master of Illusions is used in this episode.
* This episode aired on December 24, 2011 in (on K2), exactly two weeks before it aired in .
* This episode aired on December 28, 2011 in , more than one week before it aired in the United States.
===Errors===
* In the scene where everyone is on top of the train, temporarily disappears, then reappears a few seconds later.
* In several scenes, the Team Rocket logo on the Ghost Train's control panel disappears.
* In the dub, the audio of the "Who's That Pokémon?" answer is played again ten seconds later.
===Dub edits===
* During the ending scenes, an instrumental version of replaces ' instrumental version.
* In the English dub, Ash says to figure out which train is the real one, they'll have to catch up to each one. In the Japanese version, he says that they'll have to verify each one.
* In the English dub, says that will catch up to the Pokémon whether they separate or not. In the Japanese version, he says that Team Rocket can just slow down their train and wait for the Pokémon's train car to catch up to them.
* In the Japanese version, the narrator says the "Pokémon battle holy land" nickname for Nimbasa City when talking about Ash being ready for his Gym Battle. In the English dub, the Narrator doesn't bring up the city nickname.
==In other languages==
048
Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
Category:Episodes storyboarded and directed by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes directed by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes animated by Masaaki Iwane
Category:Episodes focusing on Pikachu
Category:Episodes focusing on Team Rocket
Category:Episodes in which a main character's Pokémon learns a new move
Category:Episodes which aired in the United Kingdom before the United States
de:Der Kampf um die Metro!
es:EP710
fr:NB048
it:NB048
ja:BW編第48話
zh:宝可梦 超级愿望 第48集