Enter the Dragonite – Pokémon Season 2, Episode 32

Plot episodeAsh wins the Orange League

Enter the Dragonite is the 32nd episode of Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands, the second season of the Pokémon anime, and the 112th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 114, Bulbapedia code EP112). It first aired in Japan on 9 September 1999 and in the United States on 23 September 2000. It falls within the season’s The last badge & the Winner’s Cup stretch (EP106–EP112).

Synopsis · Major Events · Trivia · Dub Changes · All episodes

Synopsis

Last time our hero Ash finally arrived at Pummelo stadium to challenge the reigning Orange League champion and battle for the coveted winner’s trophy. Drake’s Gengar and Ash’s Lapras had both fired powerful attacks at the same time in the previous episode filling the stadium with smoke, the ensuing explosion knocked out both Gengar and Lapras.

The commentator notes that this is the first time a challenger has knocked out three of Drake’s Pokémon in a row, because Drake has lost three Pokémon it’s now time for a field change, and an intermission. Team Rocket are in the crowd and although they are surprised at how well Ash is doing they still don’t believe him to have a chance against Dragonite, they have their own plan still in place to try and steal the Dragonite once it’s weakened from battle.

The new field moves into place, and this time it’s a sandy desert like arena. Battle resumes with Drake sending out Venusaur, Ash sends Tauros back out who is now rested and good to go, he tries to open the battle with a fissure but it doesn’t work on sand. Drake’s Venusaur begins preparing for a solarbeam attack, Ash sends Tauros to charge it but the sand stops it from getting any real traction, Tauros manages to throw Venusaur into the air, but it still fires it’s solar beam – the explosion from which actually helps free Tauros who was stuck in the sand. Venusaur hammers away at Tauros with its vine whips when Ash orders a takedown, Tauros jumps straight past the whips and lands a direct hit, rendering Venusaur unable to battle and winning for Ash!

Ash has now defeated 4 of Drake’s 6 Pokémon. Next Drake sends out Electabuzz, Ash recalls Tauros and sends out Bulbasaur. Electabuzz thundershocks Bulbasaur who seems to easily withstand the attack, and then follows it up with a razor leaf and tackle, Electabuzz’s thunderpunch however causes paralysis and Bulbasaur is unable to continue. Ash sends out Charizard but Electabuzz immediately hits it with a thunder punch, followed by thunder. It looks bad for Charizard but it manages to counter with an ember even while getting electrocuted, Ash orders a seismic toss and Charizard is quick enough to grab Electabuzz before it can shock him again. Electabuzz is defeated and victory goes to Ash and Charizard.

This leaves Drake with only one Pokémon, and everyone knows exactly what it is, Drake sends in his Dragonite to make his final stand. Charizard opens with a flamethrower which is quickly put out by Dragonites water gun as it returns fire. Dragonite uses ice beam and Charizard flies and dodges it (having learned from past mistakes). Dragonite takes flight and easily catches up to Charizard, as Charizard tries to get it in a Seismic toss but Dragonite is too quick, grabs Charizard around the neck and uses slam. Everyone thinks the battle to be over but Charizard isn’t beaten yet, Ash orders Charizard to use Dragon Rage, Dragonite is ordered to use it’s own and both Pokémon are looking close to worn out, but Charizard is unable to continue battling and collapses.

James suggests it might be a good time to capture Dragonite but Jessie and Meowth are so on the edge of their seats they’d prefer to continue watching. Ash sends out Squirtle and hits Dragonite with a hydro pump, Dragonite responds with a thunderbolt but Squirtle perseveres, Drake orders a bodyslam and Squirtle manages to his an already exhausted Dragonite with it’s bubble attack. Ash has two Pokémon remaining and is about to choose his next when Team Rocket appear above in the balloon and capture Dragonite in a net, Dragonite breaks the net with sheer force and sends Team Rocket blasting off.

The battle resumes, Ash sending Tauros back out and charging straight at Dragonite, Dragonite takes to the air and Drake orders a body slam, Ash strangely tells Tauros to just stand there. The body slam connects and Tauros is unphased, Ash knew that the sandy arena would cushion it. Dragonite is thrown to the ground by Tauros but gets up and hits straight back with a thundershock, defeating Tauros. Now both trainers are down to their final Pokémon, it’s Drake’s pretty exhausted Dragonite vs. Ash’s Pikachu. Drake immediately calls for a hyper beam, Pikachu manages to avoid it, jumping straight into the air, landing on an exhausted Dragonite’s head. Ash calls for thunder, and with Pikachu still stuck on Dragonite’s head it unleashes its most powerful thunder. After some hesitation Dragonite falls to the ground, and Pikachu manages to stay standing.

Drake is finally defeated and the winner of the Orange League competition is Ash. Drake awards Ash with the coveted winners Trophy of the Orange League and the crowd go wild. And so with the help of his Pokémon and friends, Ash wins the match, his winners trophy and his rightful place in the Orange Islands hall of fame.

Major Events

• Ash beats Drake and wins the Orange League
• Winner’s Trophy and Hall of Fame
• Tauros beats Venusaur, Charizard beats Electabuzz and Pikachu beats Dragonite
• First Hyper Beam recharge shown

Trivia

• The English title plays on Bruce Lee’s "Enter the Dragon" (1973).
• The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
• This is a plot episode: it advances the Orange Islands storyline.
• The Who’s That Pokémon? segment features Venusaur in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Tentacruel in the US, where 4Kids picked the Pokémon at random.

Changes in the English Dub

• Ending about 5 s shorter — the iris-close animation dropped and Pikachu’s last line clipped
• Drake becomes “Champion” and Ash’s “Honorable Trainer” title is dropped
• Fire Spin becomes “Ember” and Bubble Beam “Bubble”; Meowth’s “Meowth-a-cure” joke added
• Most Japanese cues kept with trimmed starts

Part of our Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.