Pokemon S01E33 Review: The Fast and the Furious

Pokemon, Season 1, Episode 33: The Flame Pokemon-athon / The Great Fire Pokemon Race

So this is the start of another quasi-three-parter, focusing mostly on the Safari Zone. Or, well, Safari Land, since we don't actually reach Safari Zone until episode 35. And I guess it's a two-parter for the dub watchers, because episode 35 was banned. Anyway... I kind of like this episode, or the concept introduced thereof. It's frankly surprising that other than the brief Poke-athlon mini-game in the Johto remakes, we never actually got any sort of Pokemon racing featured anywhere in the video game series.

The episode has Ash and company arrive in Safari Lands, specifically the Laramie ranch, guarded by Fuko (Lara in the dub) and her Growlithe. After a misunderstanding where Ash attempts to capture one of the Tauros running about, we get a fun introduction to the Pokemon reserve, as well as the fact that this particular place holds Pokemon races. We're also quickly introduced to Fuko's arrogant rival, a dickbag riding a Dodrio called... Drio. Or Dario, in the dub, which is actually a neat localized name.

We get to see a bit of the local village festival, and Fuko gets sabotaged by Team Rocket, who's working alongside Drio to... to take control of the Laramie Ranch by ensuring his victory in the race? Somehow? This particular side of the plot never made that much sense to me, but okay. Distracting Fuko with a rampaging Tauros herd, Team Rocket shoots Ponyta with... a rock or something, causing Ponyta to go berserk and throw Fuko off into the ground, injuring the poor girl.

Fuko has the idea to let Ash compete with Ponyta, noting how quick-footed Ash was and how ready he was to try and wrangle Ponyta when he was freaking out. Still, Ash doesn't know the first thing about riding a horse and has to learn overnight. I do like the little development for Ponyta ending up liking Ash with the little detail about how Ponyta can selectively choose who his flames burn. Honestly, it's this sort of "a hero befriends another Pokemon" that would've made a Pokemon joining the party feel far more natural and earned -- something that the Vulpix and Primeape episodes could really learn from.

Also, the reasoning that Fuko uses -- that it would be great advertisement if they can display that it's not the rider, but the Pokemon raised by the ranch that has the quality, is kind of one that makes sense. You have to wonder who is buying all of these Sandslashes and Nidorinos and Rhyhorns, but considering the Magikarp salesman from before, presumably there's a lucrative Pokemon selling business like pet shops in real life.

I do like that it's not just Ash and Ponyta that's competing, though. Brock rides Onix, Misty rides Starmie, and we get a bunch of fun background dudes on a bunch of random Pokemon, which is definitely welcome. Unlike the first couple dozen of episodes, it's clear that the animators have the budget to actually animate more Pokemon than the repeated ones you keep seeing over and over again. Most importantly, somehow they had the time to register cute little Pikachu in, and he's riding on top of Squirtle! This is honestly so precious, and we get a lot of fun, cute moments and visual gags across the race.

Drio's buddies, Team Rocket, end up sabotaging the race, causing a Tauros to go berserk and ram onto other Pokemon. A pitfall dug on a sloping segment of the race traps an Electrode racer, causing it to blow up and take out a bunch of others... including Ash and Ponyta, who literally gets shocked back into participating by Pikachu. We then get to see other segments of the race, like one where they have to jump across a rock bridge in a lake, and I found the sequence where some poor dude on a Rhyhorn tries to jump and sinks into the river, while Brock and poor, poor Onix makes a hilarious face. Onix even cries for not being able to continue to race. Poor rock snake! Honestly, the Pokemon are so dang expressive in this episode. Also fun is the three Dodrio heads arguing and pecking each other over which food to choose, which is funny.

And I'm not sure how Drio thinks this will help him take over the ranch, but he summons Team Rocket to sabotage our heroes. Yes, sure, Weezing blocks the cameras in the race with smog, but wouldn't anyone with half a brain figure out that foul play is involved the moment only Drio bursts out of that segment of the race? I absolutely love that sequence, though, where Ash and Misty react in a typical 'oh no, bad guys!' pose while Team Rocket is gloating, while in the background you see Pikachu and Squirtle giving absolutely no fucks as they gorge themselves on food. Misty, Starmie, Pikachu and Squirtle end up staying behind to hold off Team Rocket, but Team Rocket ends up blasting off when Weezing accidentally shoots his flammable gas towards Ponyta.

(Why don't we have a Fire/Poison Pokemon yet?)

It's pretty silly that the race is still on, and no one calls foul on it, but it ends up with a straight-up one-on-one fight between Ash and Drio. Despite the cameras pointed at them, Dodrio straight-up cheats and pecks Ponyta in the head... but then Ponyta evolves into Rapidash, the MC talks about how it's the fastest Pokemon ever in straight-up sprinting, and Rapidash ends up catching up with Dodrio, winning the race, and when Drio tries to pick a fight, Rapidash punts him into the air. Our heroes say goodbye and the episode ends. It is a shame that this isn't one of those episodes where Ash catches a pokemon, because, again... Rapidash has better chemistry and a bonding experience with Ash than a lot of the other Pokemon that join the team without a capture. Oh well.

Overall, I was ready to dismiss this episode as "ah, it's just Pokemon racing, a neat spotlight for Ponyta, Rapidash and Dodrio" but the concept is done well, and most importantly, the episode actually ends up showing a lot of fun expressions on many of the Pokemon characters, making them genuinely feel lively and not just a product to be advertised for. It's these filler episodes that I honestly will remember a bit more fondly, where the concept of the filler episode isn't too boring, and the execution of the episode as a whole is honestly pretty neat. Shame that the next episode is kinda shite, though. 

Pokemon Index:

• Pokemon: Pikachu, Tauros, Charmander, Growlithe, Ponyta, Rhyhorn, Sandslash, Nidorina, Nidorino, Squirtle, Raticate, Dodrio, Meowth, Electrode, Starmie, Onix, Arbok, Weezing, Rapidash
• Humans: Ash, Misty, Brock, Fuko, Drio, James, Jessie

Assorted Notes: 

• So why did the title of this episode have "flame" in it? In both versions, too. It's not like the race is exclusive to fire-types or anything.
• Ash trying and failing to capture a Tauros from a herd that just stampedes across is actually some neat little foreshadowing for the Tauros herd he will capture in two episodes' time.
• You got to love that one dude running on top of an Electrode. That's so dang silly, and clearly how you race in style. 
• That segment where the Pokemon has to pick and finish some food from a trough before continuing the race can't be good for their digestion...
• Another example of the original Japanese having Brock say "I'm looking forward to you in five years." Damn it, Brock, you're way creepier when you say things like this as opposed to the exaggerated wooing in later seasons. 
• Rapidash's Japanese name is the English word Gallop, and that's... that's actually not a bad name, if a bit mundane compared to Rapidash. 
• Dub Edits:
• A pretty simple mistake, but our heroes are in Safari Land, a place adjacent to the Safari Zone. They're stuck in Safari Land for this episode and the next one, whereas the dub changes both episodes to take place in Safari Zone. Presumably, this is to make up for the actual Safari Zone episode being banned, and it's the area that kids playing the games will actually recognize. 
• The dub also changes Fuko's name to Lara Laramie, explicitly making her a member of the family running the Laramie Ranch. The original Japanese doesn't imply this at all, just having her be one of the many Pokemon trainers living in the area. 
• The scene where Fuko/Lara injures her arm is shortened in the dub version, cutting off right after the impact. However, the dub ends up making her injuries worse by explicitly noting that her arm is broken.