Pokémon "Battle Aboard the St. Anne" (found original American broadcast version of anime episode; 1998)

The "To Be Continued" cliffhanger at the end of the preview.

Status: Found

When the Pokémon anime first came to the English-speaking world, it was broadcast in syndication. However, before officially starting the series from the first episode, it was decided that a more exciting, action-packed episode that ended in a cliffhanger would be used to first expose American audiences to the new sensation. On September 7, 1998, a day before the series officially debuted in the United States, "Battle Aboard the St. Anne," the 15th episode, was broadcast.

However, the version broadcast on that date was not identical to the one that aired in its normal place 20 days later on September 27. At the beginning, the narrator announced that this was a special preview, and at the end, he teased a cliffhanger, wondering if the heroes would escape the shipwreck that occurs at the end of the episode, and says that the next day, audiences would see how Ash's journey began. This version of the episode never aired again, with all subsequent broadcasts, home videos, and Internet streams using normal narration. The broadcast has never resurfaced among the fan community, either. It is unlikely that anyone recorded the broadcast, as it was America's first official exposure to Pokémon and nobody in the country would have been a fan yet.

UPDATE: The preview version of the episode has been found, ripped and shared thanks to Squigglemclamesprite. It can be found here.