As the episode opens with various Pokémon relaxing in the Safari Zone, we see our heroes touring the area. 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, which Ash ignores and continues to sing. Brock asks Misty to do something, and she replies by singing along with Ash. Brock decides to sing as well. Before he can do so, however, a man approaches from the building and demands they "shut up!"
Ash demands what the man's problem is, to which the man pulls a Firearm out and replies, "Do you want to get shot?" The group hastily apologizes, and the man relents. He then introduces himself as Kaiser, who's none other than the care-taker of the Safari Zone.
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 are Safari Balls and fishing rods. 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 about a rumor of a Dratini living in the 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's standing outside the building staring at the picture. He apologizes to Dratini and says he'll never bother it again. While this happens, 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 just to see the mythical creature, but while they were there, they captured many other Pokémon in the process, literally destroying the Safari Zone. Since then, only Safari Balls have been allowed there. The Dratini was never found; all that remains is a picture.
After an attack by Team Rocket, the Warden directs the group to a lake inhabited by Dratini. Team Rocket dons scuba gear and throws bombs to try and recover them, but Ash intervenes. He dives into the lake to retrieve the bomb, but runs out of air. Suddenly, a storm begins: it is caused by a Dragonair. The Dragonair saves Ash, just as it did when it was a Dratini, saving Kaiser. The Warden is overjoyed, as he has successfully protected the Pokémon. Team Rocket is sent blasting off again, and Ash sends all his Tauros to Oak, who trample over the Professor in a stampede.
