Chapter Text
[Scientific Test]
Ash: I think we’re almost to the Safari Zone proper!
Leon: That’s great!
Steven: What are you gonna catch?
Ash: I’m not sure. I’ll have to see what there is
Kate: We know there’s Kangaskhan.
Ash: I had a lot of fun during the race at Laramie Ranch. Maybe I’ll see about getting a Pokémon I can ride on?
Diantha: Maybe there’s a Rhyhorn there. Riding and racing on those is very popular here in Kalos
Lance: I know there’s a herd of Tauros that lives in the Safari Zone.
Ash: Maybe I’ll get a Tauros, then!
Cynthia: Good luck!
Ash: Thanks! I’ll let you know how it g
Kate: Ash?
Leon: Everything okay, buddy?
Cynthia: Team Rocket?
Alder: probably
[Scientific Test]
Ash: I don’t know how to feel about this guy
Leon: What guy?
Diantha: Is everyone okay?
Ash: Yeah, we’re fine
Ash: I’m talking about the warden, Kaiser
Lance: Ah. Yeah, he can get pretty intense, from what I heard.
Ash: That’s one word for it
Steven: What did he do?
Ash: Well, when we first walked up, he must have thought we were poachers or something, because he threatened to shoot us
Lance: What?!
Diantha: Excuse me
Cynthia: He threatened to what now?!
Alder: Oh dear Arceus.
Leon: Get out of there!
Kate: Stay away from him!
Steven: That’s just
Ash: Yeah. He pointed his gun at us. Thankfully we were able to convince him we’re not poachers
Alder: First thing’s first. Are you still near him?
Ash: No. He gave us our Safari Balls and we just walked out
Alder: Good. Whatever you do, don’t go back to that place. Lance?
Lance: Officer Jenny is on her way.
Alder: Whatever you do, don’t get near that man again. Stay in the Safari Zone until Lance gives the all clear.
Cynthia: And if you see him, have Pikachu zap him and run!
Kate: Yes, do that.
Lance: They’re right. Don’t worry about getting in trouble for anything, stay in the Safari Zone.
Ash: Okay, we will
Diantha: How are you all holding up?
Ash: Honestly, I’m just happy to be away from Kaiser. Misty and Brock are shaken, but they seem happy too
Steven: I can imagine
Leon: I’m not even there and I’m shaken up
Ash: Hang on, Team Rocket’s here
Cynthia: Now is NOT a good time!
Ash: And Kaiser spotted them and came running out!
Leon: oh, come on!
Alder: Get out of there!
Ash: It looked like Kaiser was going to shoot at Team Rocket
Alder: So you got out of there, right?
Ash: So I had Pikachu use thunder on Kaiser, we grabbed Team Rocket, and ran into the Safari Zone
Alder: Good.
Diantha: I’m proud of you for helping them
Ash: Of course I did! I mean, they’re criminals, but they’re not evil
Kate: Not everyone would have helped them.
Ash: I would
Ash: We warned them about Kaiser and told them they should stay in the Safari Zone for a while
Ash: They got really quiet then offered us a ride out in their balloon
Alder: Did you take it?
Ash: Not yet. Since Lance called Officer Jenny, we should be fine, right?
Lance: I don’t like that logic.
Cynthia: The alternative is trusting Team Rocket
Leon: I think they could be trusted in this case
Diantha: There wasn’t really a good choice to make here
Ash: Team Rocket tried to convince us to take the ride, promised they wouldn’t try anything, but when I told them my friend called Officer Jenny they stopped
Ash: Though they said they were gonna stay close in case we changed our minds
Kate: How close?
Ash: About thirty feet or so?
Cynthia: Team Rocket are being responsible adults in this situation. I can’t believe it
Diantha: Honestly, I’m just grateful
Alder: We all are.
Ash: Today’s been… a lot. I think I’m gonna go catch some Pokémon to take my mind off things
Lance: That’s a good idea.
Alder: Stay away from the entrance.
Ash: We will
Ash: Oh! There’s the herd of Tauros!
[Scientific Test]
Ash: We just heard Officer Jenny arresting Kaiser
Leon: Good
Lance: Good.
Alder: Good.
Diantha: Good
Steven: Good
Kate: Good.
Cynthia: Good
Cynthia: I have to ask
Alder: No you don’t
Cynthia: How did you overhear that?
Alder: Can’t we just be happy that man was arrested?
Diantha: Believe me, we are
Kate: So happy.
Ash: I think Kaiser tried to run or something. He was going in the direction of the lake here and screaming about how he couldn’t let it happen again
Leon: Idiot
Steven: “It?”
Lance: Hang on, Kaiser… are you saying he became so… so… TRIGGER HAPPY because of something that happened thirty years ago?!
Kate: What happened?
Ash: Are you talking about the Dratini thing?
Lance: Yes, that.
Cynthia: Dratini thing?
Diantha: There are Dratini in your Safari Zone?
Lance: No. That rumor was debunked thirty years ago.
Ash: Apparently there was a rumor like thirty years ago about a Dratini somewhere in the Safari Zone. So many people came looking for it that they trashed the Safari Zone
Leon: They didn’t!
Lance: They did. From the records I found, that event is the reason why the Safari Zone requires people to use Safari Balls, bans battling, enforces a time limit, only lets a limited number of trainers in at a time, everything.
Alder: And because of this that man tries to shoot anyone who visits the Safari Zone?
Lance: It looks like it.
Diantha: But…
Cynthia: That’s…
Leon: That’s so stupid!
Kate: It’s been thirty years!
Steven: This man was still obsessed with something that happened thirty years ago?
Lance: Something that Kanto already took great care to keep from happening again, I might add.
Steven: Something that other Safari Zones copied
Alder: Why was this guy allowed to work there? How was he not fired?!
Lance: I don’t know. I can assure you it is no longer the case, though.
Alder: That’s something.
Ash: Hang on, Team Rocket just slipped off to the lake
Cynthia: And now that Kaiser’s arrested they’re up to their old tricks
Ash: Uh, Lance?
Lance: What is it?
Ash: You remember telling us that the rumor about Dratini in the Safari Zone was false? And that there wasn’t a Dratini here?
Lance: Yes…
Leon: You didn’t
Kate: I think he did.
Ash: Team Rocket managed to get the Dratini to the surface. They’re trying to catch it
Ash: Misty’s fighting them now
Cynthia: Just Misty?
Ash: Well, Magikarp and Tentacool are fighting in the water, and I don’t have Squirtle or Kingler with me
Kate: What about Jessie and Meowth?
Ash: They’re off to the side and watching
Ash: Scratch that, Meowth has something
Steven: Any idea what it is?
Ash: I’ll check now
Alder: Be careful.
Ash: So… it was some kind of zap bomb
Leon: A zap bomb?
Cynthia: Is that what it sounds like?
Kate: A zap bomb right next to a lake…
Ash: Yeah, they were planning to shock the lake to hurt all the Pokémon
Diantha: That means you stopped them, right?
Lance: Please tell me you stopped them.
Ash: Yeah, we did
Ash: Brock’s Zubat fought Oddish and let Pikachu get to Meowth. He was able to take the zap bomb away from Meowth before it could go off
Ash: Zubat beat Oddish and Tentacool just defeated Magikarp. Dratini retreated back into the lake
Steven: Good
Cynthia: Time to send them blasting off!
Kate: Maybe you should just let them walk away this time. They did offer to help you escape Kaiser.
Ash: Yeah, I’ll suggest that
Ash: Hang on, Magikarp’s glowing
Leon: Oh!
Cynthia: Huh
Diantha: Uh oh
Kate: Wow.
Alder: That’s not something I’d want Team Rocket to have.
Lance: Have Pikachu charge up a thunderbolt now!
Steven: Good for James, I guess. Not anyone can train a Magikarp to a Gyarados
[Scientific Test]
Ash: So, Gyarados was a bit too strong for us
Cynthia: What?!
Leon: Holy…
Diantha: Is everyone okay?!
Kate: What about your Pokémon? Did Team Rocket get any of them?!
Lance: What about Dratini?!
Alder: That’s what I was afraid of.
Steven: What happened? I mean, if things were bad you wouldn’t have opened with what you did, right?
Ash: Yeah. Team Rocket was, well, they were winning. We weren’t ready for a Gyarados. I had never seen one in person before
Lance: Not a lot of rookie trainers have.
Ash: Anyway, we were battling Gyarados, when out of the lake a Dragonair popped out. It battled Gyarados for a bit, held her off. While they were doing that we remembered the zap bomb. We threw it at Gyarados, Dragonair backed away, and Pikachu hit the bomb with a thunderbolt
Steven: Good strategy
Cynthia: The bomb sent them blasting off?
Ash: The bomb sent them blasting off
Ash: James was crying and hugging Gyarados while they did
Lance: I can’t blame him for that.
Leon: No one can, I think
Diantha: It’s always a proud moment when your Pokémon evolve
Alder: Especially an evolution like this.
Lance: So. There are Dratini and Dragonair living in the Safari Zone.
Ash: At least one of each, yeah
Kate: That’s what the warden was trying to protect?
Steven: Presumably
Lance: I hate to admit it, but he was right about one thing. If word got out about those Pokémon, the Safari Zone would be overrun by trainers again.
Alder: That doesn’t mean what he did was right.
Lance: No, no it doesn’t.
[Scientific Test]
Kate: Oh! I forgot to tell you guys something!
Diantha: What was it?
Kate: After the cargo ship fiasco my Arc Phone and styler unlocked a new function.
Ash: Cool!
Leon: New function!
Steven: You mean like Voice Chat?
Kate: Yeah. It’s called Partner Swap.
Cynthia: Is that what it sounds like?
Kate: I believe so. If I use it, I can swap Partner Pokémon. If I have Croagunk with me but want to swap to Cranidos, I just press the button and they swap places. It takes a while, and if the Pokémon at Partner Farm isn’t in a position to be swapped they won’t be available, but it’s still pretty cool.
Diantha: That sounds really useful
Steven: And really… I don’t even know what to call it. I don’t know how that works
Kate: Same way Voice Chat does?
Steven: I don’t know how that works either!
Steven: Does the Pokémon have to be in a Poké Ball for it to work?
Kate: No, none of my Partner Pokémon even have Poké Balls. They just glow and swap places.
Ash: Oh yeah! My phone did something like that once!
Leon: I don’t remember that
Steven: It did?!
Cynthia: When was this?
Kate: What happened with yours?
Ash: It was when Butterfree left. I had all my Pokémon but Pidgeotto with me that day. I remember thinking that it was unfair Pidgeotto couldn’t say goodbye, then her Poké Ball appeared in my pocket
Ash: It was great!
Steven: And you didn’t say anything at the time?!
Diantha: It’s good that Pidgeotto got to say goodbye
Steven: How are you guys not freaking out about this?! Their phones teleported Pokémon!
Leon: But we teleport Pokémon all the time though?
Steven: Not like this! Ash’s phone connected to the transfer system! Kate’s doesn’t need a Pokémon in a Poké Ball at all! The technology for that doesn’t exist!
Kate: Well, obviously, it does.
Ash: Yeah, I’m holding it
Ash: I haven’t figured out how to get it to happen again, though
Ash: Which is a shame, it would be really useful right about now. I want to meet all my new Pokémon but we have to get to a Pokémon Center first
Diantha: Oh yeah, what all did you catch in the Safari Zone?
Leon: What new Pokémon did you get?
Cynthia: Tell us!
Ash: Well, remember that herd of Tauros I found?
Kate: Yeah, I remember.
Alder: so you caught a tauros
Alder: what else
Ash: Well, I tried to catch a Rhyhorn, but the herd ran in front of me as I threw the Safari Ball and I ended up with another Tauros
Cynthia: Fair enough
Diantha: And both Safari Balls worked?
Leon: I thought those were unlikely to catch Pokémon because you can’t battle them?
Ash: Well, they all worked for me, so…
Cynthia: Wait. All of them?
Ash: Yeah. After the herd ran past I tried again to catch Rhyhorn. The Tauros turned around and ran past me again and I caught a third Tauros. It kept happening and I wound up catching the entire herd!
Diantha: The… ENTIRE herd
Ash: Yep!
Ash: As luck would have it, there were exactly thirty Tauros!
Kate: At least they won’t be separated.
Ash: Yep!
Leon: And you caught all of them
Ash: Yep!
Cynthia: In thirty Safari Balls
Ash: Yep!
Alder: and none of them failed
Ash: Yep!
Steven: That… is the most statistically amazing thing I have ever seen