Banned episodes

Banned episodes are episodes of the which have been deemed unsuitable for airing or reairing in a specific country.

Banned episodes internationally
There have been five confirmed episodes of Pokémon that have either aired once or never in Japan, nor the rest of the world.

List of banned episodes

 * EP038
 * Known as the "seizure episode", this episode has been banned worldwide after airing only once in Japan. One particular scene of this episode had a series of flashing lights, which caused a total of approximately 685 Japanese children, 375 girls and 310 boys to be sent to the hospital with symptoms of epilepsy. The show went on hiatus for four months, delayed the episodes Holiday Hi-Jynx and Snow Way Out!, and cancelled the airing of the New Year's Eve special. The episode also forced the producers to go back through the previous episodes and dim the lighting on them so as not to cause an accident of this magnitude again. As a result of this episode, and its evolutions,  and, have not made any appearances in the anime since EP038 except in brief cameos.

List of unaired episodes

 * It's New Year's Eve! Pocket Monsters Encore
 * This episode was scheduled to be broadcast December 31, 1997, between Holiday Hi-Jynx and Snow Way Out!. However, following the EP038 incident, the schedule was re-organized and this episode was never actually aired. No trailer for this episode has ever been seen, nor is any further information known apart from its Japanese title.


 * AG101 (unaired)
 * This episode was scheduled to be broadcast on November 4, 2004. However, not long before, a devastating struck Japan. Believing it would have been insensitive to air an episode about earthquakes mere weeks after the disaster, it was pulled from the air. The episode and the moves, , and  were subsequently banned. Because the episode never aired,  instead debuted in The Great Eight Fate!, but only in a minor role, and  never learned the location of the final Hoenn League Gym onscreen.


 * BW023 (unaired) and BW024 (unaired)
 * This two-part saga of Team Rocket facing off with Team Plasma was postponed due to the that devastated Japan almost a week before the first half was supposed to air. They were expected to air at a later date because of their significance to the series and TV Tokyo's word on the matter. As the episodes have yet to air in Japan, dubs of the episode have yet to be shown around the world. While the episodes were simply skipped in Japan, the Pokémon Company International edited the dubbed version of A Venipede Stampede! to remove the cliffhanger ending that set up the story, and all regions aired Battling for the Love of Bug-Types! followed by Emolga the Irresistible! instead. As of Team Plasma's Pokémon Power Plot!, it appears these episodes have been retconned out of continuity, making it unlikely that they will ever air or be shown in a normal manner.

Banned episodes in the English dub
Seven episodes have been banned in the. EP035, EP250, and SM064 are also banned in every other country outside of Asia as they have never been dubbed, due to most dubs being based on the English dub. EP018 was initially not dubbed, so it was never given to other countries to dub.

List of banned episodes
Note: the reasons given below may not have been corroborated officially.
 * Beauty and the Beach
 * This episode was initially banned when the episodes were first dubbed for airing in the United States. During 2000, the episode was finally dubbed and aired twice before disappearing once again. It was banned because James wore an inflatable body suit to give him large breasts in order to win a beauty contest (this scene was removed in the English version). An elderly man also stares at Misty's breasts, and in the original Japanese says that he will be looking forward to having fun with her in a few years. It also appears to be retconned out of continuity with the English dub, although Brutella is seen in the following episode.


 * EP035
 * This episode was banned due to the prevalent usage of handguns throughout the episode. The warden points a gun at Ash's head, and even shoots the gun at . The banning of this episode left a major plot hole and a continuity error in the English dub, as this was the episode where Ash captured all 30 of his . As this is the Safari Zone episode, it also makes the Safari Zone unseen in the English anime, though it is mentioned in the two episodes that took place before it.


 * Holiday Hi-Jynx
 * After this episode aired, a woman named wrote an article stating that, which was featured prominently in the episode, is a negative stereotype of African-Americans related to characters in . Soon afterward, the episode was pulled from rotation and is not believed to have aired since 2000. Despite this, the episode was available on VHS, and was also available on the original Indigo DVD box set (however, it is not on the current box set). It is no longer mentioned on Pokémon.com, but was (albeit lacking pictures of Jynx) before April 2013. Also, it was added to the rotation on  in 2011, and still was included in Cartoon Network's online streaming services. Additionally, no restrictions were placed on this episode in other countries airing the English dub or a dub based on the English dub, but the episode isn't mentioned on any local versions of Pokémon.com. This episode has also been banned in . This episode is still banned even after the Japanese re-airing of the Christmas Eve episode of Pokémon Smash!, in which Jynx was recolored to match what she currently looks like in the Pokémon games. The Japanese versions of Amazon and Netflix have the edited version while Hulu has the original version. This episode is also banned in India after it first aired for unknown reasons. It was never re-aired on Hungama TV and Indian Disney XD reruns and was replaced by Misty Meets Her Match.


 * Stage Fight! and The Mandarin Island Miss Match
 * These Orange Islands episodes have been banned since April 2013 simply because of a small cameo by Jynx. They are not available on Netflix and are no longer even mentioned on Pokémon.com. They also are not available on the re-release of the Orange Islands DVD box set. They are also banned in India and were replaced by Bound For Trouble and Charizard Chills respectively.


 * EP250
 * This episode was also banned due to the large focus on Jynx. Unlike the previous episodes, this one has never aired in English. Due to the episode not having the redesigned Jynx with purple skin, it was banned and has never been seen outside of Japan,,.


 * SM064
 * This episode was banned due to Ash wearing dark face paint resembling  during the second half of the episode in order to imitate the appearance of a.

Banned episodes in Japan

 * Pikachu & Pichu
 * The Japanese narrator of the short, Sakai Noriko, was arrested in 2009 and later convicted of possession and abuse of drugs. Because of this, the short was "banned" in Japan, and it hasn't been rerun or released on home video or VOD in Japan since then. As such, it was the only theatrical Pikachu short to be excluded from the Pikachu The Movie Premium Box: 1998-2010.

Banned episodes in South Korea
These episodes were banned from airing in, causing South Korean continuity errors in the anime's run. Generally the banned episodes contained overt ; however, the last banned episodes occurred during the. Furthermore, episodes EP260 to EP274 simply were never aired.

List of banned episodes

 * Challenge of the Samurai
 * This episode has been banned due to the episode . This creates a continuity error, as this episode features the evolution of Ash's Metapod.


 * The Ghost of Maiden's Peak
 * This episode has been banned due to the episode featuring.


 * Pokémon Scent-sation!
 * This episode has been banned likely due to Erika's worn in the perfume shop. This creates a continuity error, as Ash obtains the  in this episode.


 * The Ninja Poké-Showdown
 * This episode has been banned due to the episode featuring, including s and . This creates a continuity error, as Ash wins the in this episode.


 * Riddle Me This
 * Likely banned due to the depiction of traditional Japanese clothing and architecture. This creates a continuity error, as the very next episode continues from where this one left off.


 * Bad to the Bone
 * Likely banned due to Otoshi's samurai-like clothing.


 * The Fourth Round Rumble
 * Likely banned due to Jeanette Fisher's traditional Japanese clothing. This creates a continuity error, as Ash wins his fourth Pokémon League match in this episode.


 * A Bout With Sprout
 * Likely banned due to the Sprout Tower's resemblance to traditional Japanese architecture.


 * Fighting Flyer with Fire
 * Likely banned due to traditional Japanese style of Falkner's clothing. This creates a continuity error, as Ash wins the in this episode.


 * Wired for Battle!
 * Ariados, Amigos
 * A Ghost of a Chance
 * From Ghost to Ghost
 * This creates a continuity error, as Ash wins the in this episode.


 * Trouble's Brewing
 * Likely banned due to the prominence of the, whose outfits are based on those of Japanese culture.


 * Ring Masters
 * Likely banned due to having Pokémon sumo wrestle, a Japanese style of fighting. This creates a continuity error in which Ash wins the King's Rock, which 's would later pick up to evolve into a  in Outrageous Mosfortunes.


 * Doin' What Comes Natu-rally
 * Espeon, Not Included
 * Likely banned due to the prominence of the, whose outfits are based on those of Japanese culture.


 * For Ho-Oh the Bells Toll!
 * These episodes generally covered elements of Japanese culture, such as sumo wrestling and geishas.


 * Poetry Commotion!
 * Going, Going, Yawn
 * These two episodes never aired in Korea, although this may have been an oversight, as they were released on DVD. On the other hand, they don't appear on the official episode page.

Banned episodes in other countries
Occasionally there are episodes that are not banned in Japanese or English, but are banned in another country.
 * The Song of Jigglypuff
 * This episode was skipped in Turkey. While the reason for this has never been officially revealed, it may be because the episode features gambling, which is illegal in Turkey.


 * The Bicker the Better
 * This episode has been banned in several countries, including, , and Aruba. It has been alleged that the "battle of the sexes" format of the episode has caused those countries to ban the episode. However, in France's Pokémon.com, the episode is available.

Postponed episodes and temporary bans
Some episodes were pulled off the air for a period of time for various reasons but were aired on a later date.


 * An Undersea Place to Call Home!
 * This episode, which was set to debut and, was postponed due to the  almost a week before the episode was scheduled to air in Japan. Because of this, the episode was also skipped in the American dub. This caused a temporary continuity error, as this is the episode where Ash invented the "Rock Tomb Climb" technique, which he used to win his battle against Grant.   along with A PokéVision of Things to Come!, Going for the Gold!, and Coming Back into the Cold!. Later, however,  and was replaced with Climbing the Walls!. The episode finally aired in Japan on November 20, 2014, and in the United States on February 7, 2015.

Temporarily banned episodes in the United States

 * Tentacool & Tentacruel
 * After the events of, this episode was taken out of rotation. In the months following the attack, refused to air it due to the destruction of several buildings (particularly Tentacruel smashing a skyscraper) and the use of machine guns. When  started to air Pokémon, the episode was put back into rotation. It is also available on home video releases, and streaming services.


 * The Tower of Terror
 * This episode was temporarily banned after . The official reason has never been confirmed, but many believe that the episode's title may have had something to do with it. The episode is no longer banned and continues to air. It is also available on home video releases, and streaming services.

Postponed episodes in Japan

 * A Fishing Connoisseur in a Fishy Competition!
 * This episode, originally meant to be the 26th episode of Best Wishes, was originally scheduled to air in Japan on April 7, 2011, but it was postponed because of the . It later aired on June 23, 2011 with a slightly altered storyline to make it seem like it took place between Archeops In The Modern World! and Movie Time! Zorua in "The Legend of the Pokémon Knight"! rather than Battle for the Love of Bug-Types! and Emolga the Irresistible!, and the ending of the episode was re-animated to have Bianca leave the group instead of traveling with them in the original episode's plot.