PS021

Long Live the Nidoking! (Japanese: VSニドキング VS. Nidoking) is the twenty-first in the Red, Green & Blue chapter of the Pokémon Special manga.

Synopsis

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Red excitedly enters the Fuschia Safari Zone, where he encounters his two guides, Pidgebots 1 and 2. Under Safari Zone rules, he leaves his Pokémon for safekeeping and hops on board a raft which will take him through the Zone via aselection of waterways.

Red's excitement is short-lived, however, as the raft soon comes across two Nidoking in the middle of a raging battle over a Nidoqueen. The Pidgebots assure him, however, that he is totally safe, and while they are looking the other way, Red produces a Poké Ball he managed to sneak in with him and attempts to catch one of the Nidoking, but misses, instead accidentally capturing the Nidoqueen they were arguing over. This enrages the Nidoking and they smash the raft to pieces.

Some time later, Red wakes to find a furious Pidgebot berating him for breaking the rules, and informing him that they'll have no choice but to walk to the exit, since the Nidoking will probably be looking for him. In an attempt to keep him safe, it gives him a Safari Ball, which is the only Ball capable of capturing a Safari Zone Pokémon (besides the Nidoqueen which Red just caught, which the Pidgebot puts down to pure luck). Seconds later, a Nidoking appears and attacks once again. Red attempts to capture it with the Safari Ball, but the enraged Nidoking simply bats it away, forcing Red and the Pidgebot to take flight deeper into the Zone.

In desperation, Red grabs a rock and hurls it into the Nidoking's face, but once again succeeds only in making it even angrier. As the Nidoking attacks once again, injuring Red's leg, the Pidgebot is badly damaged in an attempt to defend him. He manages to briefly incapacitate the Nidoking by embedding a sharp rock in its head, and picks up the damaged Pidgebot, fleeing into the Zone. He expresses concern for the Pidgebot, which reminds him that it's just a robot, programmed to make sure that he reaches the exit safely, and he should be thinking more abot his own safety than that of a robotic guide. It also suggests they form a strategy, but even as it tries to warn him of the dangers lying deeper in the Zone, Red is swallowed by a Victreebel.

Major Events

• Red catches a Nidoqueen at the Safari Zone.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

• Parasect
• Exeggcute
• Dragonair
• Nidoking
• Nidoqueen (Red's)
• Victreebel

Characters

Humans

• Red

Pokémon

• Parasect
• Exeggcute
• Dragonair
• Nidoking
• Nidoqueen (Red's)
• Pikachu (Pika, Red's)
• Ivysaur (Saur, Red's)
• Victreebel

Trivia

• The Safari Zone's logo is a subtle nod towards the movie Jurassic Park, down to the silhouette of the Nidoking in the background.