Japanese Title: Final Battle! Enter Kairyu!!
Original Airdate: September 9th, 1999
US Airdate: September 23rd, 2000
The one where... Ash wins a league!?
At the end of part one of Ash's battle with Drake, Lapras' Ice Beam and Gengar's Nightshade had collided and exploded. When the smoke clears, Lapras and Gengar are both out cold, forcing an intermission as Drake now only has three Pokémon to Ash's five. After the battlefield is changed to a sandy desert field, Ash continues to wipe the floor with Drake's Pokemon. But then Drake sends in Dragonite, his final Pokémon and the reason for his solid winning streak. Will Ash succeed over the legendary Dragonite and become a champion of the Orange League?
Tropes
- Book Ends: Ash used Pikachu to start the match against Drake’s Ditto, then in the last battle he uses Pikachu last to defeat Dragonite.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: A non-verbal example; Jessie pushes down on Drake's split-screen, thus acknowledging the split-screen's existence through her actions.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Dragonite mowed down three of Ash's Pokemon. Even in the middle of battle, it still defeated Team Rocket when they tried to come for Pikachu.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: While Dragonite defeated Charizard, Squirtle and Tauros, they each managed to land good hits so to weaken it so that Pikachu can have a chance at defeating it at the end. Charizard in particular not only lasted longer than the others, but actually managed to visibly tire Dragonite out.
- Tauros may have taken out Venusaur via brute strength, but clearly wore itself out in the process. Charizard also only beats Electabuzz after hitting it with his best attacks, and suffers a few hits in the process.
- Deus Exit Machina: Lapras is taken out of the fight before the battle with Dragonite. As the only Mon with a type advantage over Dragonite, it was obviously important for plot purposes to take it out of the picture before Drake's best Pokemon was unleashed, although the lack of water on the second battlefield would have posed a problem for it anyway, not to mention Dragonite's Electric-type moves.
- Double Knockout: At the start of the episode, it is revealed that the round between Lapras and Gengar ended in a draw, for the first time in the series.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: A season of growth and battles comes to a close with Ash winning the Orange League.
- Foe-Tossing Charge: Tauros powers his way through Venusaur's attacks, digs into the sand, and hurls it into the air. Badass. It also manages to fling Dragonite.
- My Rules Are Not Your Rules: Although several Pokémon in the anime seem to be able to have a larger move pool at one time, Drake's Dragonite is the first to use more than 4 in a single battle. The writer of this episode said that this was to make it seem more unstoppable.
- Mythology Gag: Since Ash had yet to win an actual tournament (the Orange League is more Run the Gauntlet) this is where the traditional final sequence of a Pokémon game (namely, the Champion getting into a picture with his team after getting registered in the Hall of Fame) is emulated.
- Oh, Crap!: Charizard has this look when Dragonite counters his Seismic Toss.
- Scissors Cuts Rock: Bulbasaur is knocked out by a Thunder Punch by Electabuzz, an attack it resists as a Grass-type. Charizard likewise defeats Electabuzz despite its Flying-type making it extra susceptible to Electric-type attacks, even after being hit by a few of them.
- Shout-Out: The English title is a homage to Enter the Dragon.
- Spring Jump: Pikachu manages to avoid Dragonite's last-ditch Hyper Beam by using his tail to bounce him up before it can hit.
- Stealth Pun: The Winner's Trophy is shaped like a Master Ball.
- The Worf Effect: Bulbasaur is usually one of Ash's more reliable Pokemon. However, despite a type advantage, it quickly loses to Drake's more experienced Electabuzz. Bulbasaur ends up being the only member of Ash's team not to give a knockout blow to one of Drake's party members (though Lapras was only able to take out Gengar in a draw).
- Likewise Electabuzz serves as this towards Ash's somewhat recently obedient Charizard. Despite having a type advantage, and being one of Drake's stronger Pokemon, Charizard tanks several of its attacks and finishes it off with plenty of stamina to put up a decent fight against Dragonite.
- Also Dragonite itself, who managed to overpower Charizard in brute strength and speed. It also tanks Tauros's attacks far better than Venusaur did.
- Worf Had the Flu: Drake has used every other Pokemon in his team by the time Dragonite comes out, while Ash still has four left, so each of Ash's remaining Pokémon leaves it more worn out as they score at least one hit against the dragon. By the time Pikachu steps up, Dragonite is too exhausted to put up its best fight.
- Likewise, Charizard had gotten several super-effective hits from Drake's powerful Electabuzz. Tauros and Squirtle also took a few hard hits from Drake's Venusaur and Onix, and weren't at their full stamina when Ash called them against Dragonite.
