Race to Danger

Up, up, and away!
The Pokémon hot air balloon race is on. And the prize is a rare Dratini. Windy could have won — but Team Rocket took the wind out of her sails!

Can Ash and his Pokémon help Windy blow off the competition? Between hail storms, Beedril^[sic] swarms, Koffing's Smoke Screen, and Arbok's balloon-tearing fangs, the odds are against them.

It's going to take a lot of Poké power to win this race — but Ash won't let Team Rocket burst anyone's bubble.

This plot summary is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this plot summary to add missing sections and complete it.

The novel begins with Ash, Misty and Brock traveling when they come across a hot air balloon festival. Deciding to stop and investigate, they discover that a Pokémon Balloon Race is taking place that day. As Misty and Pikachu are hungry, they decide to split up and purchase some snacks while Ash and Brock take a closer look at the balloons. Ash and Brock approach a balloon shaped like a Dragonite and meet the balloon's owner, a young woman named Windy. Brock, who is obviously attracted to Windy, asks if she is entering the competition, to which she responds that she originally planned to, but was unable to enter due to her brother, Storm, getting an injury, along with all her Pokémon that were supposed to help her compete. She explains that her motivation for entering the race is for the opportunity to win a Dratini, a rare Pokémon that Windy has searched for ever since she obtained her Pokémon Trainer's license.

At this time, they are approached by a rude Trainer named Jet. Jet proceeds to make fun of Windy for being unable to compete, and they get in an argument. Upset, Ash proceeds to challenge Jet to a Pokémon battle. Jet accepts, and sends out his Pokémon, a Fearow. Ash called for Pikachu to battle, but Pikachu was absent, still off getting snacks with Misty. As a result, Ash decides to use Bulbasaur instead. Due to Bulbasaur's disadvantage to Fearow, Ash is quickly defeated by Jet. As Jet is leaving, Misty and Pikachu finally return. Ash and Brock fill them in on the details of the battle and introduces them to Windy. When Misty remarks that she wishes someone would defeat Jet, Brock and Ash offer to help Windy enter the race with the help of their Pokémon so that she may compete against Jet. Windy agrees, and they begin training so that Ash, Brock and their Pokémon can learn how to operate a hot air balloon.

Debuts

Humans

• Windy
• Storm
• Jet

Pokémon debuts

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Windy
• Storm
• Jet

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Pidgeot (Ash's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Charizard (Ash's)
• Squirtle (Ash's)
• Starmie (Misty's)
• Vulpix (Brock's)
• Arbok (Jessie's)
• Weezing (James's)
• Fearow (Jet's)
• Charmeleon (Jet's)
• Scyther (Jet's)
• Venomoth (Jet's)
• Vulpix (Windy's)
• Butterfree (Windy's)
• Dragonite
• Dratini
• Charmander
• Pidgey
• Farfetch'd
• Clefairy
• Zubat
• Jigglypuff
• Spearow
• Golbat
• Growlithe
• Beedrill

• Following the publication of this book, an episode of the animated series featured a balloon race. The two plots had considerable differences, however.
• This novel states that Pidgeot rejoined Ash after his return from the Orange Islands. However, since this novel was created specifically for fans of the English dub and has no affiliation with the original Japanese version, this information is generally regarded as non-canon, backed by the fact that Pidgeot never returned until years later in The Rainbow and the Pokémon Master!, at the very end of Ash's journey.

Errors

• Beedrill is misspelled on the back of the book as "Beedril".