"Pokémon the Series: XY" might have its first banned episode of the season, and it could be a result of the South Korean ferry disaster.

Although the episode is months away from potentially airing in the United States, Japan has postponed episode 24 of the "Pokémon X and Y" anime series titled "Undersea Castle! Kuzumo and Dramidoro!!" The episode was set to showcase the dual Poison-and-Water type Pokémon Skrelp and its Poison-and-Dragon type evolution Dragalge.

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The Japanese broadcaster TV Tokyo has not issued the reason for the episode's postponement but speculation has led to the events off the South Korean coast that involved the sinking of the MV Sewol, which carried 476 people. The ferry, which mostly held secondary students from Danwon High School, began to capsize on April 16, 16 miles away from the nearest South Korean coast. Rescue operations are still underway with conflicting reports on the number of people rescued. News1 Korea reported 178 people were rescued as of April 17, but 49 deaths noted by the Yonhap News Agency.

A preview of the Pokémon episode features Ash Ketchum, Serena, and a character of the day underwater in a submarine where they encounter trouble. The cause of the submarine's trouble was not revealed.

Although the episode could still air at a later date, the postponement of the episode is the first for the sixth-generation-based series.

The last episode to be postponed was a two-part saga that was meant to introduce the Unova region's criminal organization Team Plasma in the "Black and White" series. The two-part episode has been postponed indefinitely due to the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March 2011. Team Plasma eventually made their anime debuts 112 episodes into the Unova-based series with different plotlines than the two-part saga.

A new Pokémon episode will still air in Japan this Thursday featuring Ash's second gym battle against Cyllage City Gym Leader Grant.

The postponed episode could still air in the U.S. since Cartoon Network airs the episodes approximately three months after the original Japanese airdate.

In regards to Cartoon Network, the U.S. broadcaster will start airing new episodes of "Pokémon the Series: XY" at 8 a.m. EST instead of its current 8:30 a.m. timeslot beginning May 3.

Preview to the Postponed Episode (in Japanese):

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