The world of Pokémon is always presented as an upbeat and friendly place, whether its in the games, the anime or another form of media. Rarely do its inhabitants seriously clash outside of Pokémon battles, although the occasional disaster has been known to happen, particularly with evil organizations or angry wild Pokémon. However, most people are still usually safe in these situations as they have Pokémon to protect them -- even from other fire-breathing, mind-altering or poisonous Pokémon. However, there is one place in the Pokémon world where people are at the mercy of these terrifying creatures: the Safari Zone.
The Safari Zone has been around since the games' inception, though it hasn't appeared in every game. It's a place where trainers aren't permitted to use their Pokémon and have to go in to catch others with nothing but Safari Balls, bait and rocks. Typically, several powerful and rare Pokémon can be found inside the Safari Zone, and it's quite a large area to explore. It's also usually found later in the game, meaning that the Pokémon inside are fairly strong. It can be a scary place considering what Pokémon are capable of.
With all the typings, moves and even just the descriptions and legends detailing what some Pokémon can do, going into an area with little protection seems incredibly dangerous. Tall grass can hide Pokémon, and grass Pokémon can use grass to their advantage to attack unwitting passersby, in addition to using sharp leaves, vines and even spores.
Worse, there are far more dangerous types -- psychic and electric, for example -- and large Pokémon such as Rhyhorn and Gyarados can cause harm with their size and temperaments alone. Pokémon are actually terrifying creatures with dangerous powers, so not allowing people -- especially kids -- to use their own for protection inside the Safari Zone seems like a huge liability.
The Wardens appear to take this rule seriously too, as the only episode containing a Safari Zone has revealed. The banned Pokémon episode, "The Legend of Dratini," takes place in the Kanto Safari Zone. It shows the Warden jokingly threatening Ash with a gun when explaining the rules of only using Safari Balls to catch Pokémon and telling him not to use his own Pokémon to battle. The only real defense a person has in the Safari Zone, besides throwing Safari Balls and hoping for the best, is to hope the Pokémon get distracted with bait or to throw rocks at them until they run -- or get angry.
While there are plenty of other dangerous areas in the Pokémon world, usually ones containing legendaries or rundown buildings and areas, most places allow the use of Pokémon for battle. The Safari Zone is the only place where this is essentially banned, and this takes away any protection people have. These strict rules are what makes the Safari Zone one of the most dangerous places in the Pokémon world.