History Anime / PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhite

* TruerToTheText: The dub of ''Black & White'' is the most faithful to the original Japanese version, with far fewer {{Dub Personality Change}}s and the vast majority of the original soundtrack retained, something that even the later series wouldn't have. Even the very episode titles are more faithful to the original, as most of them are fairly literal translations of the main plot instead of the {{Punny Name}}s and pop culture references that dominated the dub beforehand.

* UnsettlingGenderReveal: The titular Purrloin in the episode "Purrloin: Sweet or Sneaky!" caught the attention of Oshawott and Meowth (confirmed to be male in earlier episodes) and both of them competed to see who would be Purrloin's boyfriend. Only for that Purrloin's owner to point out that it was male and the whole act was just a ruse to steal stuff.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pbw650488.png]]

** Additionally, this is the first time where all of Ash's traveling companions are new. Full future traveling companion changes will become a trend per generation.

** After the League ends, Ash and his friends spend an extensive arc traveling through an anime-exclusive island group.

* ShooOutTheClowns: Team Rocket's Pokémon from Johto to Sinnoh are PutOnABus to Team Rocket HQ for this series, partially to avoid attracting attention from Unova residents for being ''foreign'' Pokémon but most likely to get rid of the comedic association from the past series in order to sell Team Rocket as super competent baddies. When [[TheBusCameBack Wobbufett returns]] to the team in the last episode, it signifies [[GoldfishPoopGang the bumbling Team Rocket fans know and love]] are here to stay.

* TookALevelInDumbass: Ash is rebooted into a rookie at the start of this series: he loses to a new Trainer who just received his starter, forgets how to catch Pokémon, and forgets or ignores most type matchups, in comparison to the borderline elite Trainer he'd grown into by Sinnoh. While he does eventually regain some of his lost competence, he never quite makes a return to form, as evidenced by the fact that his League placement actually ''regressed'' from the Sinnoh League (from top 4 to top 8, and losing in a [[InvincibleIncompetent less than dignified way]] to boot).

** The first episode, "In the Shadow of Zekrom!", has Ash's Pikachu temporarily lose
his electric powers to Zekrom upon arrival to Unova and later gets defeated by [[TheRival Trip's newly obtained Snivy]]. This, along with the narrator directly confirming Ash to be [[NotAllowedToGrowUp 10 years old]] again at the beginning of the episode, is why ''Black & White'' is considered to be a ResetButton for Ash's journey to better accommodate the new generation of kids watching the show.

* AmateurFilmMakingPlot: Two of them in the Black & White era, thanks of recurring character Luke: the first one (which also marks Luke's debut) is "Movie Time! Zorua in 'The Legend of the Pokemon Knight'!", where Ash and pals join in the cast of Luke's amateur movie after he failed to do it using only his Zorua as every character in the film (since Zorua is a female and she wants to do only the female characters), and later "An Epic Defense Force!", where Ash and pals join Luke in a amateur movie contest at Pokéstar Studios, making a film that is hogged with references to the Showa Era ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' films.

* TookALevelInDumbass: Ash is rebooted into a rookie at the start of this series: he loses to a new Trainer who just received his starter, forgets how to catch Pokemon, and forgets or ignores most type matchups, in comparison to the borderline elite Trainer he'd grown into by Sinnoh. While he does eventually regain some of his lost competence, he never quite makes a return to form, as evidenced by the fact that his League placement actually ''regressed'' from the Sinnoh League (from top 4 to top 8, and losing in a [[InvincibleIncompetent less than dignified way]] to boot).

* FowlWaterfowl: In the episode "Dancing With The Ducklett Trio", Ash and friends, along with the sunglasses-wearing Sandile, battle against a [[TerribleTrio trio]] of {{Jerkass}} Ducklett who steal their stuff and the latter's sunglasses.

** Every main cast has a rival.

** The most infamous moment happens in the first episode "In the Shadow of Zekrom!", where Ash's Pikachu temporarily loses his electric powers to Zekrom upon arrival to Unova and later gets defeated by [[TheRival Trip's newly obtained Snivy]]. This, along with the narrator directly confirming Ash to be [[NotAllowedToGrowUp 10 years old]] again at the beginning of the episode, is why ''Black & White'' is considered to be a ResetButton for Ash's journey to better accommodate the new generation of kids watching the show.

* TookALevelInDumbass: Ash was infamously rebooted into a complete rookie at the start of this series: he loses to a new Trainer who had just received his starter, forgets how to catch Pokemon, and forgets (or in some cases, just ignores) most type matchups, in comparison to the borderline elite Trainer he'd grown into by Sinnoh. While he does eventually regain some of his lost competence, he never quite makes a return to form, as evidenced by the fact that his League placement actually ''regressed'' from the Sinnoh League (from top 4 to top 8, and losing in a [[InvincibleIncompetent less than dignified way]] to boot).

** Since Kanto, Ash either had Misty or Brock traveling alongside him, with Johto being the only other region he had both. Unova was the first region where neither of them were amongst his companions. Full future traveling companion changes will become a trend per generation.

''Pokémon the Series: Black & White'' (ポケットモンスターベストウイッシュ ''Pocket Monsters Best Wishes!'') is the fourth ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime series that ran from 2010 to 2013 in Japan and from 2011 to 2013 in America. This region has Ash going through [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Unova]] to take part in the Unova League. Iris, a young Dragon type user and Cilan, the Grass type Striaton City Gym Leader, are his companions.

* LighterAndSofter: Played with. The series' tone overall is lighter than the [[''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl previous one]], lacking the serialized drama and heated conflict with characters like [[KnightOfCerebus Paul]]. However, it takes on a darker tone specifically in regards to [[GoldfishPoopGang Team Rocket]], whose [[TookALevelInBadass newfound competence and loss of their comedic qualities]] make their schemes much more serious than before.

** Both Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny finally have a redesign.

** Since Kanto, Ash either had Misty or Brock traveling alongside him, with Johto being the only other region he had both. Unova was the first region where neither of them were amongst his companions.

** The original Team Plasma ([[AnimalWrongsGroup aka the self-proclaimed liberators of Pokémon led by N]]) never made its proper debut thanks to the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011, which postponed the Team Rocket vs Team Plasma Arc Finale indefinitely. The new Team Plasma led by Ghetsis did appear in the anime, but with no hints of an older incarnation thanks to the anime reworking the story to accommodate the new story elements from ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2''. Consequently, nearly [[WhiteAndGreyMorality all of grey morality surrounding Team Plasma's goal]] has been watered or relegated to N, who has received a good dose of AdaptationalHeroism thanks to the rewrite.

* AmateurFilmMakingPlot: Two of them in the Black & White era, thanks of recurring character Luke: the first one (which also marks Luke's debut) is "Movie Time! Zorua in 'The Legend of the Pokemon Knight'!", where Ash and pals join in the cast of Luke's amateur movie after he failed to do it using only his Zorua as every character in the film (since Zorua is a female and she wants to do only the female characters), and later "An Epic Defense Force!", where Ash and pals join Luke in a amateur movie contest at Pokestar Studios, making a film that is hogged with references to the Showa Era ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' films.

** For the first time since the original series, Giovanni and the Team Rocket organization take center spotlight as villains for ''Black & White'' rather than letting Jessie, James and Meowth do their own thing. Originally, they were intended to cause enough ruckus to draw out Team Plasma and [[EvilVersusEvil fight them for dominance]] that never came to pass thanks to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The arc was later reworked for in a later arc featuring Meloetta and the Forces of Nature.
*** Immediately after the aborted-Team Rocket vs Team Plasma finale, [[PutOnABus Giovanni takes a leave of absence]] and the Team Rocket trio are placed under the supervision of [[MadScientist Dr. Zager]], who assigns them to various missions such as capturing the Forces of Nature and resurrecting a Tirtouga fossil.
*** Once it becomes clear that Meloetta is the key Pokémon needed to control the Reveal Glass for Operation Tempst, [[TheBusCameBack Giovanni returns to the field]] and even battles Ash for the first time. When his attempt to control the Forces of Nature through the Reveal Glass is thwarted by Ash and friends, Giovanni orders Team Rocket to retreat back to Kanto, ending his involvement with Unova for the rest of the series.

* ArtEvolution: For the first time since the original series, the characters all received a physical redesign to better match Ken Sugimori's latest art style, specifically rounder eyes with larger irises and visible pupils. Many attacks such as Flamethrower and Hyper Beam also had their visual appearances changed, now rendered with CGI instead hand-drawn animation. These changes are later brought over to the ''XY'' series with the exception of physical Steel-Type moves; in that case, the steel-colored body parts had reverted back to the plain white.

** Ever since their introduction in the 2nd episode of Kanto, it was a given to have the Team Rocket trio make an appearance in every episode, even if it's just a small 30-second cameo. This trend is finally broken in the 16th Unova episode where they don't make any appearances whatsoever.
** Since Kanto, Ash either had Misty or Brock traveling alongside him, with Johto being the only other region he had both. Unova was the first region where neither of them were his amongst his companions.
** Unova was the first region where Ash doesn't encounter the regional villain team until completing the league, where they got a short arc dedicated to them.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Team Rocket escaping through a SmokeOut rather than their classical TwinkleInTheSky blast off in "Enter Iris and Axew!" cement [[TookALevelInBadass their new status as serious villains]], leaving their IneffectualSympatheticVillain days behind until the "Episode N" arc, which gradually brings them back to [[GoldfishPoopGang their old roots]] again.
* EstablishingSeriesMoment: Acting as somewhat of a SoftReboot to the anime, the first few episodes establishes the new status quo for better or worse:
** The most infamous moment happens in the first episode "In the Shadow of Zekrom!" where Ash's Pikachu temporarily loses his electric powers to Zekrom upon arrival to Unova, and later gets defeated by [[TheRival Trip's newly obtained Snivy]]. This, along with the narrator directly confirming Ash to be [[NotAllowedToGrowUp 10 years old]] again at the beginning of the episode, is why ''Black & White'' is considered to be a ResetButton for Ash's journey to better accommodate the new generation of kids watching the show.
** How do you reestablish Team Rocket as a serious threat after years of being incompetent buffoons? Give them [[DarkerAndEdgier black uniforms]], leave [[ShooOutTheClowns Wobbuffet and their Sinnoh team]] behind at HQ, and have them receive ''real'' orders from Giovanni in person. All within their first scene. And if that's not enough to convince skeptical viewers, their SmokeOut getaway instead of [[TwinkleInTheSky being blasted off]] after their first battle with Ash and Iris will.

* ShooOutTheClowns: Team Rocket's Pokémon from Johto to Sinnoh are PutOnABus to Team Rocket HQ for this series, partially to avoid attracting attention from Unova residents for being ''foreign'' Pokémon but most likely to get rid of the comedic association from the past series in order to sell Team Rocket as super competent baddies. When [[TheBusCameBack Wobbufett returns]] to the team in the last episode, it signifies [[GoldfishPoopGang the bumbling Team Rocket fans know and love]] is here to stay.

** For the first time since the original series, Ash has gotten all three Unova starters instead of just one, though when it comes to the first Gym, Oshawott vs Pansage is the only match up that actually happen in the games.

** Subverted with ''Episode N'' in regards to the cover legendaries. Ash is closely associated with Zekrom while N is associated with Reshiram, with Team Plasma trying to find and control the latter. However, it is unknown if the story would be have different had the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami not postponed (and eventually retconned) the original debut episodes of Team Plasma.

* AdaptedOut: There's enough here for the overall anime to have [[AdaptedOut/{{Pokemon}} its own page]], but here are some specific examples for this series: