BW096

Meloetta and the Undersea Temple! (Japanese: メロエッタと海底の神殿！ Meloetta and the Undersea Temple!) is the 96th episode of the, and the 753rd episode of the Pokémon anime. It aired in Japan on September 27, 2012, in the UK on December 31, 2012 and in the United States on January 19, 2013.

Major events

 * Team Rocket's "Operation Tempest" enters its final stage.
 * is revealed to know.
 * meets for the first time since their encounter at Mount Quena.
 * Giovanni's Persian is seen battling for the first time, and is revealed to know and.
 * Ash battles Giovanni with his, but is defeated.
 * Team Rocket successfully captures Meloetta, and takes it, along with the imprisoned Ash and Pikachu, to the Abyssal Ruins.
 * Giovanni uses Meloetta's to unseal the.

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Dr. Zager
 * s
 * Cynthia
 * Ridley
 * Jervis
 * Workers
 * Cynthia
 * Ridley
 * Jervis
 * Workers

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?:
 * (Ridley's)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * (Ridley's)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * (Ridley's)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * (Ridley's)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)

Trivia

 * Team Rocket's Pokémon Live Caster: Kami trio
 * Viewers could call one of three phone numbers to hear facts about either, , or . One random caller won a Nintendo 3DS XL with a prepaid gift card, which allows the player gain access on Pokédex 3D Pro.
 * Despite having made its debut over 700 episodes ago, this is the first time when Giovanni's Persian is seen using any moves.
 * This is also the first episode to show Persian's Poké Ball.
 * This is also the first time when Persian is scanned with a Pokédex.
 * The spiraling staircase in the Abyssal Ruins resemble the same stairs seen in the ruins shown in the previews for the two unaired episodes. Also, the way the rises from the top of the stairs resembles the way the Meteonite revealed itself in the same preview.
 * This episode marks the first time that Ash has a battle directly against the leader of a villainous team.
 * Also, as of this episode, Ash has battled all the official Generation I Gym Leaders of Kanto.
 * This marks one of the very few times in the Pokémon anime when a character has threatened to kill another character, as Giovanni threatens to squash Ash and Pikachu inside of a shrinking force field cube if Meloetta doesn't give itself up.
 * Background music from Arceus and the Jewel of Life, Zoroark: Master of Illusions, White—Victini and Zekrom and Black—Victini and Reshiram was used in this episode.
 * This episode was aired in several countries before its airing in the US:
 * On December 31, 2012, it was aired in the UK, nineteen days before the US airdate.
 * On January 3, 2013, it was aired in Italy (on K2), sixteen days before the US airdate.
 * On January 9, 2013, it was aired in Poland (on DisneyXD), ten days before the US airdate.
 * On January 19, 2013, it was aired in Puerto Rico, at the same time than the US airdate.
 * It was supposed to air in English but it was erroneously broadcasted using the dubbed track, which was scheduled to debut on 2014.
 * This is the first time that the English title is a literal and punctuative copy of the Japanese title.