IL035: The Legend of Dratini

- (ミニリュウのでんせつ) is the 35th episode of Pokémon: Indigo League.

Synopsis
Arriving at the Safari Zone, Ash, Misty and Brock meet a warden named Kaiser, who seems to know about a Dratini, but refuses to say anything. As the heroes go fishing for the Pokémon, Team Rocket pry out the information from Kaiser and make a plan that endangers the Safari Zone, all for getting the Dratini. Ash goes to save the Pokémon and gets a visit by Kaiser's old friend...

Episode Plot
Ash, Misty, and Brock have finally reached the Safari Zone, where they figure they’ll be able to easily snag as many Pokémon as they want. Ash is so happy to be in the Safari Zone that he's singing. Brock asks him to stop, but Ash sings even louder. The warden, Kaiser, appears and asks them to shut up. Ash asks him what's his problem and Kaiser draws out his gun and points it at Ash.

Inside the station, Kaiser shows them a basket of Safari Balls and a fishing rod. Ash reaches out for them, but Kaiser pulls out his gun and explains that only Safari Balls and fishing rods are allowed. If they breaks the rules, Kaiser says his "thunderbolt" will burn them.

Misty sees a picture of Kaiser as young man holding a Dratini sitting on a desk. As Ash and Misty look closer at it, Brock tells them that he's heard of a Dratini living in the Safari Zone and the picture proves the rumor is true. Kaiser quickly runs foreword, grabs the picture, and yells there's no Dratini. Kaiser leaves them, taking the picture with him. Misty wonders why Kaiser acted like that and Brock says something funny is going on around the Safari Zone. Ash suggests that they call Professor Oak and ask him about Kaiser. Brock and Misty agree.

The scene cuts to Kaiser, who is hold the picture and looking at it. He apologizes to Dratini and promises that he won't bother it again. While he is saying this, Professor Oak tells Ash and his friends that 30 years ago, a Dratini was found in the Safari Zone by Kaiser. Trainers from all over came to see the Dratini, capturing many of the other Pokémon in the Safari Zone as well. They literally destroyed the Safari Zone and since then, the Safari Zone only allows Safari Balls to be used there. The Dratini was never found, all that remains of it is the picture.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is listening on the roof. They hear about Dratini and think it would be a good Pokémon for the boss. Ash and his friends leave the warden station and Team Rocket drops down in front of them. Kaiser gets mad at them for singing their motto and he starts shooting at them.

Ash tells them that they should leave, that they wouldn't have enough money to enter the Safari Zone. To his surprise, Team Rocket agrees with Ash and say they will stay in the warden station. Ash and his friends go into the Safari Zone and a herd of Tauros stampedes at them. Ash and Brock each catch one of the Tauros. Ash sees a Rhyhorn and throws a Poké Ball at it, but the herd of Tauros passes again and Ash catches another Tauros by mistake. The Rhyhorn runs deeper into the zone with Ash and his friends following it.

Back at the station, Jessie and James pull out guns and ask Kaiser about the Dratini. Kaiser tries to flee but Arbok uses Wrap on him. Jessie continues questioning Kasier about Dratini. Kaiser refuses to tell her anything and Team Rocket try various forms of torture on him, but Kaiser still won't say anything. Kaiser breaks free of Arbok's Wrap and attacks Team Rocket. Jessie calls in their secret weapon, a robot. The robot starts tickling Kaiser and he finally says he will lead them to Dratini.

Meanwhile, Ash and his friends are fishing. Misty shows them her special lure, Misty Special, which looks just like her. Her lure hooks a Gyarados and Ash and his friends barely escape from the angry Gyarados. They see Kaiser, still being held by the tickling robot. He tells Ash and his friends what Team Rocket is doing and tells them that they are at a lake. Ash and his friends run to the lake. Team Rocket is at the lake and they are putting on scuba equipment. They dive in and try to find a Dratini. Jessie sees one and tries to get it to the shore. In her hurry, she steps on James and Meowth's breathing tubes, suffocating them. The Dratini swims to Jessie, but James and Meowth appear at the surface of the lake and they scare the Dratini away. Jessie is very mad and she suggests that they use a time bomb. They think the time bomb will knock out all the Pokémon at the bottom of the lake and they will float to the surface.

Ash and his friends reach the lake and tell Team Rocket that they don't have any Safari Balls, so they can't catch Dratini. Jessie throws the bomb into the lake anyway. Kaiser and Ash dive into the lake to get the bomb. Misty sends out Staryu to retrieve Ash and Kaiser, knowing that they will quickly run out of air. Ash tells Staryu to take Kaiser up and Ash grabs the time bomb. He swims to the surface but runs out of air.

A shadow appears below Ash and dark clouds appear in the sky. Everyone thinks a storm is coming, but its Dragonair coming from the bottom of the lake to save Ash. Ash and Dragonair reach the surface and Ash throws the bomb at Team Rocket. They get the full blast of it and they are sent blasting off. Kaiser starts crying because he realizes that this is the Dragonair that saved his life when he was drowning as a boy. He is happy that he helped protect Dragonair and its baby.

Ash sends all of the Pokémon he caught at the Safari Zone to Professor Oak. He laughs as he sees Professor Oak get run over by the herd of Tauros.

Debuts
Kaiser
 * Humans


 * Pokémon
 * Ash's Tauros
 * Rhydon
 * Poliwag
 * Dratini
 * Dragonair

Trivia

 * Jessie dresses as a Ganguro Girl again, like she did in IL015: Battle Aboard the St. Anne.
 * This is one of only five Banned Episodes (Due to many reasons, including but not limited to: Kaiser threatening to shoot Ash involving guns, James swearing, Meowth resembling Adolf Hitler, and a few mistakes involving Pokémon being called the wrong names; most commonly Staryu being called it's evolved form, Starmie.).
 * The "Who's that Pokémon?" in this episode is Tauros.
 * Ash catches 30 Tauros in this episode, and even though this episode was taken off the Pokémon storyline, Ash's Tauros is not.