Ash, Misty, and Brock are walking down the path to the Safari Zone. Due to his excitement, Ash decides to sing which irritates Brock. He tries to persuade Misty to stop him, but instead she joins him as well as Pikachu. Brock, not wanting to be left out, eventually joins in on the singing. They are approached by a man who tells them to stop singing. Ash confronts the man on his hostility towards him and his friends. He pulls out a gun causing the gang to give a quick apology for their intrusion. He then introduces himself as Kaiser, the warden of the Safari Zone. He shows them a basket filled with Safari Balls and fishing rods. Ash decides to reach for them but is stopped by Kaiser who pulls out a gun, only this time he explains the rules of the Safari Zone. Misty sees a picture of Kaiser as a younger man sitting besides a Dratini. As her and Ash are viewing the picture, Brock states that he has heard rumors of Dratini living within the Safari Zone, which is proved to be credible by Kaiser's picture. Kaiser snatches the photo from Misty and says that Dratini is non-existent. Ash tries to reason with him, but he just gets more enraged, up to the point where(for the third and final time)pulls out a gun causing Ash to freeze in fear. He then leaves the building taking the picture with him. Misty is confused as to why he was so hostile towards them in which Brock that something must be wrong for him to behave the way he does. Ash then suggests that they go to Professor Oak for information. Professor Oak tells them that Dratini was discovered in the Safari Zone by Kaiser 30 years ago and that trainers went there to capture it as well. They also captured other Pokemon which led to the Safari Zone being destroyed. As a result, Safari Balls were the only permitted use for capturing Pokemon. Team Rocket, who overhear the conversation, have plans to capture Dratini as well as other Pokemon within the Safari Zone. With Safari Balls and a fishing rod as equipment, Ash and his friends head for the Safari Zone, only to be stopped by Team Rocket. Before they finish their motto however, They are interrupted by Kaiser, who pulls out two guns and begins shooting at them. They declare a challenge that whichever group captures the most Pokemon will win. The Pokemon that Ash and his friends first encounter is a herd of Tauros. Ash and Brock capture two of them with no trouble. They also hide behind bushes to observe a Rhyhorn. Ash decides to capture it, but he ends up capturing one of the Tauros from the herd that ran past them. Jessie observes Ash's team and comments that her team will end up getting the Pokemon regardless of whether they win or lose. They kidnap Kaiser and hold him hostage inside the building. Jessie demands that he tell them about Dratini's location. When he refuses, she sends out Arbok to wrap itself around him. He eventually cooperates when they sent out a mecca to tickle him. Misty reveals her special lure to Ash, Brock, and Pikachu. After throwing it into the lake, she gets a bite from a Gyrados, but it breaks the line and goes back into the lake. Kaiser approaches them, asking to get the mecca that is tickling him off his body. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, which shuts it down completely. Kaiser then informs them that Team Rocket has gone after Dratini, who is located in the Dragon Valley. Team Rocket is at the lake where Dratini lives. James and Meowth use scuba gear and submerge underwater to find it while Jessie is waiting for them in the boat. A Dratini emerges from the water and Jessie discovers it. She attempts to capture it, but she ends up causing James and Meowth to run out of air for their scuba gear. Dratini is frightened away when James and Meowth come up for air. Meowth then reveals another plan on how to capture all of the Pokemon living in the ocean. Ash, his friends, and Kaiser stop them just in time. Jessie asks Ash whether he has captured any Pokemon, in which he replies that he used up all of his Safari Balls, declaring him the winner. Jessie then replies that game isn't over and throws the bomb into the ocean. Kaiser dives in to retrieve it. Ash decides to follow him. Misty tries to stop him, but he informs her that he will be fine. Not wanting to take chances, Misty sends Staryu to help them. Ash tells Staryu to take Kaiser back to the surface. When he reaches the bottom, he retrieves the bomb. He goes back up to the surface, but he runs out of air. A storms begins and a giant whirlpool forms into the lake. A Dragonair emerges from the center of the whirlpool with Ash riding on its back. Just before the timer of the bomb goes off, Ash throws it back at Team Rocket causing them to blast off into the sky. Kaiser realizes the Dragonair was the Dratini that he taken care of all those years ago. A Dratini appears and as it turns out, Dragonair has become a mother. Back at the building, Ash tells Professor Oak that he and his friends will not reveal the location of Dratini and Dragonair to anyone. Professor Oak then asks if he sent any new Pokemon to his laboratory. Just then, he hears a herd of Tauros and they trample him during a stampede. In the end, Ash and his friends say their goodbyes to Kaiser and exit the Safari Zone with Dratini and Dragonair watching over them. {{spoilers}}This episode would have been a wonderful improvement over The Kangaskhan Kid. Unfortunately, due to the excessive use of firearms it was banned from US airings.
2 Reviews
I enjoyed it!
geeked-out-4-movies13 June 2022
This is another one of the banned episodes and was pulled from the USA due to having guns in it as I can see why it was pulled but in this episode Satoshi / Ash catches a lot of Kentauros/Tauros instead of the Pokemon that he actually wants. Lol. Bu this episode was never dubbed so you're stuck watching it in Japanese.
9/10 stars.
9/10 stars.
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