EP035
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This article is about an episode of the Pokémon animated series that has not been dubbed into English. As such, its coverage may contain romanized Japanese names, rather than dub names. |
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EP035
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First broadcast
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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(Japanese: ミニリュウのでんせつ The Legend of Miniryu) is the 35th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on November 25, 1997, but was not aired anywhere else outside of Asia.
Blurb
After finally entering the safari zone, our heroes meet up with the elderly supervisor of the zone. As they are being explained the rules of the safari zone in his office, a picture, carefully hung there, catches Ash’s attention. It is a picture of the elderly supervisor as a boy, taken alongside a Dratini, the legendary Pokémon. Ash asks desperately about the existence of Dratini, but the elderly man denies everything. Hearing of the plenitude of Pokémon in the safari zone, Team Rocket also arrives on the scene.
Plot
Ash, Misty, and Brock are touring the area in the Safari Zone. Ash is singing, while the narrator explains that the group hasn't yet caught a single Pokémon, but with so many Pokémon in this area, it's understandable why anyone would want to sing.
As the group approaches a building, Ash sings that they're in the Safari Zone. Brock asks Ash to stop singing, but Ash ignores him and continues to sing. Brock asks Misty to help him stop Ash, and she replies by singing along with Ash. Pikachu sings along, and Brock gives in and decides to sing as well. Just then, a man approaches from the building and demands they "shut up!" Ash asks what the man's problem is, to which the man pulls out a firearm and asks whether he wants to get shot. The group hastily apologizes, and the man relents. He then introduces himself as Kaiser, the Safari Zone warden.
Inside the building, Kaiser shows the group a basket of Safari Balls and a fishing rod. Ash is delighted and reaches out eagerly for them, but Kaiser pulls his gun out and explains the rules of the Safari Zone: all that's permitted to be used are the Safari Balls and fishing rod. If they break the rules, his "Thunderbolt" will burn them. He then points the gun at Ash's head to demonstrate his point.
Misty notices a picture of Kaiser as a young man, in which he's holding a Dratini. As Ash and Misty view the picture, Brock tells them that he's heard rumors of a Dratini living in this Safari Zone, and the picture certainly proves that the rumor is true. Before this can be expanded on any further, Kaiser leaps forward and snatches the picture from Misty's hand, screaming that there is no Dratini. Ash argues otherwise, but seeing Kaiser reach for his gun is more than enough to make him take his statement back. Kaiser leaves the group, taking the picture with him. Misty wonders why he acts so serious, to which Brock replies that something must be up for him to act like this. Ash suggests that they ask Professor Oak, which the rest agree on.
The focus then shifts on Kaiser, who is standing outside the building staring at the picture. He apologizes to Dratini and says that he will never bother it again. Meanwhile, Professor Oak explains to the kids that he knows Kaiser well. Thirty years ago, a Dratini was found in the Safari Zone by Kaiser himself. Trainers from all over flocked to the Safari Zone to catch Dratini, but while they were there, they caught many other Pokémon in the process, literally destroying the Safari Zone. Since then, only the use of Safari Balls has been allowed in the Safari Zone. The Dratini was never found; all that remains is a picture. Team Rocket, overhearing the conversation, decides to catch Dratini and all of the other Pokémon in the Safari Zone.
With Safari Balls and fishing rods in hand, Ash, Misty, and Brock are about to enter the Safari Zone. Just then, Team Rocket appears on top of the entrance gate and recites their motto. Before they can finish, however, Kaiser takes out two firearms and starts shooting at their feet. Team Rocket falls to the ground and proposes a challenge: whichever group catches more Pokémon will win. If Ash and his friends win, Team Rocket won't bother the group ever again. If Team Rocket wins, they will take all of the group's Pokémon. Ash accepts the challenge, confident that he will win.
The first Pokémon that Ash and his friends see are a herd of Tauros. Ash and Brock catch two of them easily with Safari Balls. The group then hides behind bushes while observing a Rhyhorn. Ash throws a Safari Ball at the Rhyhorn, but just then, the herd of Tauros run past, causing Ash to end up catching another Tauros. Jessie observes the group from afar, commenting on how Team Rocket will end up getting all of the Pokémon anyways. It turns out that Team Rocket is inside the entrance building, with James holding a firearm to Kaiser's head. Jessie holds another firearm to Kaiser's head while asking him to tell them where Dratini is. Kaiser resists, causing Jessie to send out Arbok to wrap itself around him. After several unsuccessful attempts at getting Kaiser to tell them where Dratini is, Team Rocket sends out a mecha that tickles Kaiser, causing him to finally concede.
Meanwhile, Misty shows off her special lure to the group. She takes out one modeled after herself and throws it into the lake. Soon after, she gets a bite from a Gyarados, but the line breaks, causing the Gyarados to go back into the lake. Kaiser appears before them, still being tickled by the mecha, and asks them to help get it off of him. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, effectively stopping the machine. Kaiser reveals that Team Rocket is going after Dratini, who is in the Dragon Valley.
Team Rocket is at a lake inhabited by Dratini. James and Meowth don scuba gear and attempt to find Dratini, while Jessie is waiting for them above. Suddenly, a Dratini emerges from the water and reveals itself to Jessie. She kneels down on the pipe that is supplying air to James and Meowth, calling the Dratini to come closer while the other two struggle for a breath of air. Just as Jessie tries to grab it, James and Meowth splash out of the water, scaring it away. Jessie starts to yell at them, when Meowth reveals a backup plan to capture all the Pokémon in the lake. He explains how the electric bomb he is holding will zap all the Pokémon in the water and cause them to rise to the surface.
Just then, Ash, Misty, Brock, and Kaiser intervene. Jessie asks whether Ash has caught any Pokémon, to which he answers that he has used up all of the Safari Balls, meaning that he wins. Jessie says that the game isn't over yet and throws in the bomb. Kaiser jumps in the lake after it. Ash starts to jump after him, but Misty stops Ash, telling him not to go. Ash says that he will be okay and dives into the lake. Misty sends out her Staryu to help out Ash and Kaiser. Ash and Staryu catch up to Kaiser, and Ash has Staryu take Kaiser back to the surface. Ash reaches the bottom, retrieves the bomb, and starts to go back up, but then runs out of air.
Suddenly, a storm begins and a giant whirlpool forms in the lake. A Dragonair emerges from the center with Ash on its back, and the skies clear up. Ash throws the bomb back at Team Rocket just as the timer sets off, causing Team Rocket to blast off. Ash returns to the group and Dragonair approaches Kaiser. Kaiser realizes that Dragonair is the same Dratini that he took care of all those years ago. A Dratini appears next to Dragonair, and Kaiser realizes that this Dratini is Dragonair's child. Both Kaiser and Dragonair are moved to tears by their reunion after so many years.
Back at the building, Ash promises Professor Oak that the group will tell no one that they saw a Dratini or Dragonair in the Safari Zone. Professor Oak says that the group has grown up well and asks Ash if he has sent him any new Pokémon, to which he says yes. Just then, a herd of Tauros trample over the Professor in a stampede, revealing that in the end, Ash failed to catch anything but Tauros. The episode ends as Ash and his friends bid farewell to Kaiser, with Dratini and Dragonair watching over them.
Major events
- Ash and his friends enter the Safari Zone and receive thirty Safari Balls to be used within the Zone.
- Ash uses his Safari Balls to catch thirty Tauros, all of which he subsequently sends to Professor Oak's Laboratory.
- Ash also tries to catch a Rhyhorn, but the Safari Ball hits a bypassing Tauros, catching it instead.
- For a list of all major events in Pokémon the Series, please see the timeline page.
Debuts
Pokémon debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
Banning
This controversial episode was banned in almost all countries outside of Japan, largely due the pervasive use of firearms, which are pointed at Ash and Kaiser and fired at Jessie, James, and Meowth. Even though the scenes where Kaiser threatens Ash, Misty and Brock with his guns were intended for comic effect, 4Kids Entertainment still found this too dark for children. 4Kids used footage of this episode in the Pokérap, which means that they obtained the episode from Japan. According to Eric Stuart, there was never an English dub for this episode, as Network Television refused to have it aired when the scene with Kaiser pointing a gun at Ash was shown.[1] Unfortunately for fans, this episode's non-airing created a major plot hole for non-Japanese versions of the show, confusing many viewers on how, when, where, and why Ash caught thirty Tauros, although Professor Oak mentioned it once in Showdown at the Po-ké Corral. To a lesser extent, the episode also explained Team Rocket's plan for Ditto's Mysterious Mansion.
On a related note, this was technically the fourth banned episode to feature a fairly important event, as Challenge of the Samurai, Pokémon Scent-sation!, and The Ninja Poke-Showdown, which featured Ash's Metapod's evolution into Butterfree, Ash earning the Rainbow Badge, and Ash earning the Soul Badge, respectively, had been banned in South Korea due to overt references to Japanese culture because of tense relationships between the two countries (specifically, Samurais, Japanese traditional clothing for women, and Ninjas, respectively).
Trivia
- Although the episode was never dubbed in English, the video for the Pokérap uses footage of Dratini, Dragonair, and Rhyhorn from this episode, as well as a clip of Ash, Misty, and Brock catching a Gyarados. The footage of Dratini and Dragonair is also used in the music video of What Kind of Pokémon Are You? in Pikachu's Jukebox.
- Although the episode was never aired in English, a summary was posted on Pokémon.com, and the episode numbered as episode 35. However, an English title was never listed.
- This is the first appearance of Misty's special lure in the series. However, due to this episode being banned in numerous countries, the lure first appeared in the dub in Bye Bye Psyduck.
- The Safari Balls pictured in this episode are vastly different from their later-introduced in-game sprites, likely due to a design change between the time of Generation I and Generation III. This is similar to the alteration in design of the Sport Ball, which appears differently between its anime debut and its Generation IV reintroduction with an in-game sprite.
- The mecha that Team Rocket uses in this episode made a reappearance (and the first appearance outside Japan and Asia) in A Marathon Rivalry!.
- This is the only episode in which a main character catches more than one Pokémon of the same species.
- Kaiser's appearance, demeanor and handgun bear a resemblance to the Man with No Name, a character from the Spaghetti Western Dollars Trilogy.
Errors
- When Dragonair is emerging from the lake, the R on Jessie's shirt is missing.
In other languages
As most dubs are based on the English adaptation, this episode has not aired in most of the world outside of Japan.
| Language | Title | |
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| Mandarin Chinese | 迷你龍的傳說 / 迷你龙的传说 | |
 Korean
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전설의 포켓몬 미뇽 | |
References
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |