Legend of Dratini

Gee, wonder why they never showed this one...

Another TR costume in this episode - samurais!

"Legend of Dratini" is the second of the "Lost Episodes", and has never been releaesd in the US, or translated into English.

Why wasn't this one shown? First off, there is excessive use of handguns. The warden (Kaiza-san) of the Safari Zone has a habit of pointing his guns at anyone who irritates him. He aims at the twerps several times (for singing badly, for asking about Dratini, and just as a warning), and fires at TR while they recite their motto. Also, there is a scene where Team Rocket is in possession of guns. James even has a gun to the guy's head, trying to make him tell where Dratini is! Obviously, this is not something that young viewers should be seeing. (Never mind that lots of old Bugs Bunny cartoons feature guns).

• At the end of Pokerap (#5), there is a scene of Ash, Misty, and Brock fishing and catching a Gyarados. This was from the "Safari Zone" in this episode.
  
  
• In the Pikachu's Jukebox video of "What Kind of Pokemon Are You?", there are 2 clips from this show: a shot of Dratini jumping into the water, and a shot of Ash riding on a twinkling Dragonair.
  
  
• In the Pokerap, the shots of Dratini, Dragonair, and Tauros are taken from this episode.
  
  
• In "Ditto's Mysterious Mansion", TR plans to capture Ditto and transform it into the legendary Pokemon Dratini. James even says, "Transform into Dratini, the Pokemon we've never been able to capture". WHEN did they try to capture Dratini? Why, in this episode, of course!
  
  
• In "Showdown at the Poke-Corral", we learn that Ash has a whole herd of Tauros, which he caught in the Safari Zone. WHEN did he catch them? Take a wild guess!
  
  
• In "Pokemon Live", we see a number of scenes from this episode (and, consequently, from other Lost Episodes as well). During Team Rocket's song, "The Best at Being the Worst", they show a clip of the scene where TR is standing on top of the Safari Zone entrance sign, and the warden is shooting at them. To get off, James takes Jessie in his arms (while Meowth grabs onto Jessie's hair), and takes a flying leap off the sign, and a parachute opens from his back. However, the sign isn't that high up, and Team Rocket crashes, face-first, onto the ground. Then the parachute opens. (This is an adorable scene.)
  
  
• Perhaps there are more...?

  Pics (courtesy of Pojo.com)

General synopsis of the show:

Satoshi and the gang finally arrive in the Safari Zone where you can catch wild Pokemon (at last!) Jari-boy is so happy he starts singing, so the other twerps sing too... and their singing is so bad that they are ordered to stop at gunpoint by an old guy, Kaiza-san, the warden of the Safari Zone. Obviously, this guy is more than a little high-strung.

Entering the warden's house, the twerps spot a picture of Kaiza-san, much younger, with a Dratini. When they ask the old guy about Dratini, he becomes furious and threatens them again with the gun, saying there are NO Dratini in the Safari Zone. Upon calling Prof. Okaido, they learn that in the past, many tourists came to the Zone looking for Dratini, and ravaged the place, taking many other Pokemon with them. The warden soon returns with a fishing rod and a box of Safari Balls for Satoshi.

Outside, Team Rocket (Rocket-Dan), is listening to everything, including the info about Dratini. Musashi comes up with an idea that they challenge the twerp to a Pokemon-catching competition, and if he loses, they'll take all his Pokeballs. Satoshi agrees, and off they go.

Satoshi and Takeshi catch some wild Tauros, and then, whenever Satoshi tries for another different Pokemon, a herd of Tauros rushes past and he catches another one. Kasumi goes fishing, and hooks an angry Gyarados that soon escapes.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket has entered Kaiza-san's house and are holding the old guy at gunpoint, trying to make him tell them where Dratini is. He refuses to tell them, so they take other measures: Musashi offers to go out with him if he'll talk, but he turns her down; Kojiro gets angry, but the warden still won't talk. Then Team Rocket makes him listen to a recording of Nyasu's singing, but he STILL won't give in. Finally, they bring out their ultimate weapon: a tickling machine! And he tells them that Dratini is in the Valley of the Dragons.

At the Valley of the Dragons, Kojiro and Nyasu dive into a pond to look for Dratini, and Musashi almost catches it when it surfaces, but it is scared away when Kojiro and Nyasu, their air supplies accidentally cut off by Musashi, rush to the surface.

Not to fear, Nyasu has a plan... tossing a stack of dynamite into the pool will knock out all the pond's Pokemon, and they'll catch them all at once! But who should appear but the twerps, who have rescued the old guy. Kaiza-san dives in after the dynamite, and Satoshi follows. Kasumi sends Starmie down to bring them up, and Kaiza-san returns with Starmie, as Satoshi continues to the bottom. He gets the dynamite, but runs out of air and sinks to the bottom.

Meanwhile, a terrible storm is brewing at the surface. Suddenly, Satoshi is brought up out of the water on the back of a huge Dragonair. He tosses the dynamite back to Team Rocket, who "blast off" as it explodes, and the storm ends (due to the Dragonair's powers).

Kaiza-san recognizes that the Dragonair that rescued Satoshi was the same one he encountered all those years ago, and now its family is living in the lake as well. They share a happy reunion.

Back at Kaiza-san's house, Satoshi calls Prof. Okaido again, who is expectantly awaiting new Pokemon. Much to his surprise, a stampeding herd of Tauros are transported! Satoshi and his friends leave the Safari Zone, and promise that they won't reveal the existence of Dratini in the Safari Zone, and continue on their way.