TB035: The Legend of Dratini

is the 35th episode of of .
==Synopsis==
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.
==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. When Ash asks him what his problem is, 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. When Ash reaches out for them, Kaiser pulls out his gun and firmly explains that only these Safari Balls and fishing rods are allowed in that particular area and that if they break the rules, 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 Kaiser 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 an electric 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 electric 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 it's 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, which were all he caught.
==Debuts==
===Pokémon===
*Ash's Tauros
*Rhydon
*Poliwag
*Dratini
*Dragonair
===Item===
*Safari Ball
==Trivia==
*Dare da?: Tauros
*Jessie dresses as a Ganguro Girl again, like she did in "Battle Aboard the St. Anne."
*This episode's tentative title used in production was 「伝説のミニリュウって､ほんとうにいるの?」 (kana: 「でんせつのミニリュウって､ほんとうにいるの?」 The Legendary Dratini, Does It Really Exist?
*This episode was banned in the English dub, commonly believed to be because of the heavy use of guns and firearms as Kaiser was threatening to shoot Ash with a gun and actually shooting at Team Rocket.
**This was also unaired anywhere outside of Asia, as most dubs other than the English and Asian dubs are based on the English dub.
**According to Eric Stuart, the episode was never dubbed in English, as it did not comply with the standards of the Federal Communications Commission or the standards of the network television broadcaster in the United States when they saw the original Japanese footage.
***Although this episode was never dubbed, footage from this episode was used in the Pokérap, meaning that 4Kids did receive this episode.
***Although this episode was never dubbed, an old version of the official English website recognizes every episode, including this one which was banned in the dub, except for the globally banned "Cyber Soldier Porygon," and lists a description for it. However, no official English title is given to it.
****Similarly, the Japanese Netflix service which uses English descriptions for episodes, lists the following description, even though the episode wasn't dubbed: "Ash and his friends meet the warden of the Safari Zone. While being briefed on the safari rules at his office, they spot an intriguing photograph."
*Ash catches 30 Tauros in this episode. Even though this episode was taken off the Pokémon storyline specifically in the dub, Ash's Tauros were not.
**It would not be revealed that Ash captured 30 Tauros until Showdown at the Po-ké Corral.
===Mistakes===
*When Dragonair is emerging from the lake, the R on Jessie's shirt is missing.
==Gallery==
==References==
Category:Banned and skipped episodes
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a new Pokémon
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes focusing on Team Rocket