The Flame Pokémon-athon! (Japanese:ほのおのポケモンだいレース！The Great Fire Pokémon Race!) is the 33rd episode of thePokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on November 11, 1997, and in the United States on October 21, 1998.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Our heroes come to a prairie where the Laramies, a family of Pokémon Ranchers live. They learn from a daughter of the Laramie family that a race is held at the ranch once a year to measure the growth of everyone's Pokémon. Team Rocket, however, attacks her, the race's top contender. Injured, the daughter of the Laramie family decides to give up on the race, but entrusts her hopes of victory to Ash. Who will be the winner in a race between Ash, Brock, Misty, and Team Rocket?
Plot
Ash andhis friends arrive inSafari Land, near theSafari Zone, where they come across aTauros ranch. Wanting tocatch one, believing they are now in the Safari Zone, Ash tries to havePikachu face down the stampede, but Pikachu refuses because he is massively outnumbered. When Ash sends outCharmander, theLizard Pokémon is immediately pinned by aGrowlithe. After a brief trade ofFlamethrowers by the twoFire-typePokémon, Ash and his friends are introduced toLara Laramie of the Laramie Big P Ranch, whose ranch preserves and raiseswild Pokémon.Brock immediately recognizes the name, as it is said that Pokémon bred by the Laramie clan are of superior standard. After Ash realizes that they are not in the Safari Zone, Lara invites them to theBig P Pokémon Race that will be held the next day. Lara intends to race with herPonyta, a Pokémon whose mane will burn anyone it does not trust. When Ash tries to touch Ponyta, his hand is set ablaze, and he hasSquirtle put out the flames. Lara's main opposition isDario, aDodrioTrainer. Lara explains that the winning team of Pokémon and Trainer will be named as an honorary member of the Laramie clan.
At the festival in Laramie Village, while many are cheering Lara on, Dario arrives to tell Lara that her Tauros have suddenly begun attacking each other over a bout of confusion. After they arrive on the scene, Lara tells Growlithe to tame the Tauros, but during all this, Ponyta is spooked, causing Lara to be thrown off, injuring her arm. As Ash tries to rein in Ponyta, it is revealed thatTeam Rocket spooked the Tauros and Meowth spooked Ponyta that led to Lara's incapacitated state, at the request of Dario. Dario intends to win the competition by any means necessary, while Team Rocket seeks to make money from the Laramie fortune.
Back at the Laramie household, with her injured arm, Lara would not be able to ride Ponyta, but after seeing Ash try to rein in Ponyta, she tries to convince Ash to take her place. At first, Ponyta is reluctant and burns Ash again, but Lara insists that both stand to gain from winning, with Ash improving his Trainer skills and Ponyta from its upbringing. Ash and Ponyta use the entire night to prepare for the race.
At the race, many pairs have entered the race, among them Dario and Dodrio, Ash and Ponyta, Brock andOnix, Misty andStarmie, as well as the all-Pokémon team of Pikachu and Squirtle representing Ash's entry. When the race starts, Dario and Dodrio quickly take the lead, while Pikachu and Squirtle quickly fall to the back of the pack, though they do eventually catch up. At the same time, Team Rocket make two well-aimed slingshots that spook a Tauros, and he runs into aNidorina, and they take their frustrations out on each other. After a sprint comes a steep uphill portion, where Pikachu is forced to push Squirtle up the hill, putting them far behind once again. Then, the racers come upon a downhill section where another violent accident occurs: anElectrode and its Trainer roll down the hill uncontrollably, taking the lead in the process, and a pitfall trap dug up by Team Rocket manages to take it out. This allows Dario to regain the lead, while Electrode'sExplosion attack manages to incapacitate aSandslash,Raticate, but most importantly Ash and Ponyta. Ash and Ponyta, however, are able to continue, thanks to Pikachu'sThunder Shock and the fact that the other two Pokémon were still lagging far behind.
Squirtle and Starmie easily cross the water......while Onix finds it impossible
Farther up ahead is a stepping-stone portion, which Dario and Dodrio cross with ease. However, another two chasers are forced out of the competition, with Brock's Onix being fearful of water and a farmhand with hisRhyhorn attempting to cross a stone that sank. This leaves only four teams still racing. While Ash and Ponyta navigate the stones, Starmie and Squirtle swim across the water easily. At the next portion, teams must make a stop and allow their Pokémon to eat an entire plate of Pokémon food before sprinting to the finish. Dario and Dodrio are the first to arrive, but the other racers catch up whilst Dodrio's three heads fight over who gets to eat first.
Desperate to eliminate the other three teams, Dario is forced to use Team Rocket's assistance once more; from which Ash and Misty learn of Dario's alliance with Team Rocket. Ash tells Pikachu and Squirtle, who had both been scarfing down Pokémon food during Team Rocket's motto, to take care of Team Rocket, butArbok'sGlareparalyzes them, while Starmie is blinded byWeezing'sSludge. This allows Dario enough time to take off towards the finish. Misty decides to handle Team Rocket and implores Ash and Ponyta to keep going. Team Rocket causes Ponyta to literally get fired up, shocking Arbok. Weezing tries to attack Ponyta despite James telling it not to use gas, but Ponyta's flames ignite Weezing'sSmog, and it explodes, sending Team Rocket blasting off.
Now desperate to make up ground, Ash and Ponyta race towards the finish line. When Ash and Ponyta catch up, Dario then orders one of Dodrio's heads toPeck Ponyta, slowing it down. Dario then speeds off, taking the lead, Everyone is then startled when Ponytaevolves through sheer will to win into the much-fasterRapidash. Ash and Rapidash catch up to Dario and by a nostril manage to overtake him to claim the victory in a photo finish. Believing that he had been cheated, Dario orders Dodrio to attack Rapidash, but is sent flying by a kick from its powerful hooves. Ash and Lara proudly hold the winner's flag and Rapidash nuzzles Ash.
As the festivities wrap up, Ash and his friends bid farewell to the Laramie Ranch, and continue on their way to the Safari Zone. Meanwhile, Dario, who blames Team Rocket for his loss, has tied them to a tree to scold them. His Dodrio delivers its own revenge, pecking the trio mercilessly after Meowth insults it.
DespitePonyta's height being3'03" (probably measured like regular horses are, at the shoulder) in thegames, the one featured in this episodeappears much taller. This was likely done to make it appear large enough to be ridden by a person.
The Laramie family's name may be a reference toFort Laramie. The name is unchanged from the Japanese version.
It is revealed thatPonyta can control their flames and will only burn riders they do not trust.
Pokémon Ondo is used as background music during the festival scene, also in the Englishdub. As such, this is the only English dub episode where a Japanese song retains its Japanese lyrics.
The race's rules state that aPokémon must be used to compete. While not exactly the same, this ruling is similar to the bike race featured in thePokémon Adventures chapter,Wake Up—You're Snorlax!, in which Pokémon can also be used.
This episode is featured on theVolume 2: Fire copy ofPokémon Elements.
WhenMisty says that she and her friends do not have time to deal with Team Rocket,Jessie briefly becomes enraged with her trying to compare them toThe Three Stooges.
At the end of the episode,Meowth cries out, "James! Stop this crazy thing!" This is areference to the American cartoonThe Jetsons, whereGeorge Jetson screams "Jane! Stop this crazy thing!" during the ending credits. This reference is later repeated inGrass Hysteria!.
Errors
The blurb asks who will win theBig P Pokémon Race betweenAsh, Misty,Brock, and Team Rocket. While Team Rocket assisted Dario in trying to help him win the race, they never participated in the race themselves.
At the beginning and the end of the episode, thenarrator states thatthe group is in theSafari Zone. However, they are on the Laramie Ranch, part of the Pokémon Reserve. This is probably because the actual Safari Zone episode,EP035, was skipped in the English dub.
As Ash is eating the chocolate fish, the "z's" on his cheeks disappear when he speaks.
AfterLara calls Ash a great Pokémon Trainer, he has no shoes while the camera zooms out.
ATrainer is shown in the starting line riding aNidorino, but afterTauros is hit by Team Rocket with a slingshot, the same Trainer appears riding aNidorina before being hit by the Tauros.
When Ponyta stops for Pokémon food, the visorAsh's hat is briefly colored white instead of red.
When Misty tells Ash to continue on with the race, the lines onSquirtle's stomach are missing.
As Ponyta begins to evolve, Ash begins glowing as well and isn't visible until the Pokémon finishes evolving intoRapidash.
The finish line's banner reads "GOOL", likely amisspelling of "GOAL".
Dario calls Team Rocket by their names in the English dub, while he calls themsensei in the Japanese version.
The scene in which Lara breaks her arm is longer in the Japanese version. When she falls off of Ponyta and her arm hits the ground, the impact animation lasts for 1 second, or 30 frames. That impact animation in the English dub lasts for 1/10 of a second, or 3 frames.
On a related note, Lara's arm was only said to be hurt in the Japanese version, not necessarily broken.
This is actually not a dub edit, but caused by the fact that the version used for the dub came from pre-EP038 source material. However, the rest of the episode was from post-EP038 source material.
In the Japanese version, Lara never states that she is related to the Laramie family.
Squirtle's missing belly lines
The Evolution error
The misspelled sign
