The woman apologizes and explains that Gyarados just wanted to protect Dratini and introduced herself as Claire. Brock introduces himself as her boyfriend and tries to hug her, but then Dratini starts to swim upstream and she and Gyarados follow it. An elderly man tries to chase her, saying that this is too important of a day to leave, but ends up tripping and falling. AshCo ask if he’s okay and he makes a really lame joke about being in one piece and holding up a peace sign then laughs like it’s the most hilarious thing in the world while AshCo give him incredulous looks. He then shows them the Dragon Fang and says that it is one of the treasures that have been in Claire’s family for generations. He also mentions that he works for Claire at the gym, meaning that Claire’s the gym leader.

They’ve all caught up with Claire. The elderly man tells the legend of the first gym leader who defeated a dragon who was terrorizing the area and kept one of its fangs. He explains that today is the day that the have to use it to perform some ritual and it’s one of the biggest jobs that a gym leader can have. Claire is listening to all this with a smile.

Meanwhile JessieCo are relaxing on the riverbank. James says that he looks really cool in his sunglasses and Jessie and Meowth give him strange looks similar to what AshCo gave the old man. They see Dratini swim by and Jessie mentions how cute it is and tells James to catch it for her. James uses Wheezing but before it can do anything, Gyarados attacks it and Claire threatens JessieCo not to hurt Dratini. Jessie says that she wants it and uses Arbok to attack Claire, but Gyarados blasts them off with another hydro pump. Dratini falls asleep again and the old man tells Claire that they need to do the ritual today to help dragon pokémon all over the world, but Claire says that her Dratini is vulnerable right before it sheds and she refuses to leave it.

They come to a part of the river that Gyarados can’t pass because of the rocks. The old man begs Claire to not forget the ritual but to no avail. He finally agrees to wait until Dratini sheds its skin.

JessieCo are spying on them and Jessie talks about how she really wants Dratini. James mentions that AshCo look like they’re trying to catch it, too, but Jessie is determined. James says that they should sell it and Meowth wants to give it to Giovanni, but Jessie yells at them and says that she wants to keep it for herself. Meowth also mentions that they need a plan.

AshCo, Claire, and the elderly man stop for lunch. AshCo all comment that her sandwiches (that’s what 4Kids is calling rice balls now apparently) are really good. Ash mentions battling her for a badge and shows her that he only needs one more to participate in the Joto league. The old man notices the Glacier Badge and asks if it’s true that there was a red gyarados going on a rampage and causing all kinds of trouble. AshCo then tell them the story of how Lance caught it and saved everybody. The old man mentions knowing Lance and Claire explains that Blackthorn is the headquarters for all up-and-coming dragon trainers. She used to train him in her gym, but it was more like he trained her. Suddenly and elderly couple comes by and the old woman tells the old man to take her picture next to Dratini. They’re making all kinds of noise and Claire asks them to be quiet so that Dratini can rest. They apologize and ask to get a closer look and Dratini. Claire lets them and then suddenly the woman shoots a web out of her cane to catch it. Prepare for trouble, we’re not grouchy and old! And make it double because we’re youthful and bold! Rest is normal. Meowth throws a smoke bomb and AshCo, Claire, and the elderly man. By the time it clears JessieCo are too far away for them to do anything. Who’s that pokémon?! It’s Goldeen!!

Claire climbs up in a tree to get a better look, then starts using ninja moves to go from tree to tree when she sees the balloon.

JessieCo are gloating over their most recent victory when Dratini starts to struggle really hard and causes the balloon to crash. It starts to get away and Jessie tells it that it shouldn’t go for a swim and offers to play with it in some other way. AshCo, Claire, and the elderly man arrive and Ash mentions that it already belongs to Claire. James starts to battle with Wheezing, but Claire sends out Dratini and easily knocks Wheezing out. Ash orders a thunderbolt and Wobbuffet uses counter to cause the electricity to hit Ash, Pikachu, and JessieCo. It’s about to hit Dratini, too but Claire jumps in front of it to protect it. Suddenly it evolves into Dragonaire. Ash looks it up in the pokédex. It uses its power over the weather to cause a storm and hit JessieCo with a lightning bolt. Jessie complains that it isn’t cute anymore and they decide to steal and sell it instead. Claire orders Gyarados to use hyper beam then uses Dragonaire’s twister to blast them off. The old man makes another bad joke and everyone has a giant sweat drop. Dragonaire then starts to swim off again and everyone follows it.

It’s just before midnight when they finally come to some beautiful moonlit waterfalls. Claire’s never been here before and the old man mentions that the river flows into Blackthorn Lake. Claire decides that it’s the perfect place to perform the ritual and the old man gets out the dragon fang and Claire’s battle outfit. Claire wishes for peace and happiness to all dragons and pours water on the Dragon Fang. It starts glowing and the light turns into a Light Dragon, which goes up into the sky. The old man says that when a dragon turns into a star, it watches over all dragons. Claire says that she accepts Ash’s challenge.

The next day, AshCo arrive at the entrance to Blackthorn, which looks more like a well decorated fortress and the episode ends with the narrator’s typical “Ash’s determination before a gym battle” speech.

This episode guide has been written by Kim rh.

Characters appearing in this episode

Ash

Misty

Brock

Jessie

James

Meowth

Ash's Pikachu

Pokémon appearing in this episode

• Pikachu belonging to Ash
• Meowth