Meet Ash Ketchum, a 10-year-old boy full of imagination, confidence, and dreams that are almost too big for his village of Pallet Town—plus the desire to become a Pokémon Master!

Ash rushes into Viridian City with his gravely wounded Pikachu. The city's on high alert for Pokémon thieves-thieves like Jessie, James, and Meowth of Team Rocket, a group of bad guys dedicated to stealing valuable Pokémon.

Ash discovers and catches a Caterpie—his first Pokémon capture! Though Ash is excited, Misty is grossed out by Bug-type Pokémon, so she is repulsed by its attempts to be friends with her. At night, as Ash and Misty sleep, Caterpie shares with Pikachu its dream of evolving into a Butterfree.

Misty and Ash continue to wander the Viridian Forest when they spot a Weedle. As Ash battles it, he's distracted by a boy dressed as a samurai and calling himself (naturally) Samurai. Samurai challenges Ash to a battle, and Ash gets the advantage when his Metapod defends itself against Samurai's Pinsir. Samurai sends out his own Metapod—and a standoff begins.

Jessie, James, and Meowth dig a trap for our heroes, but they end up falling into it themselves! Ash and Misty arrive at Pewter City and meet a curious fellow named Flint, who notices that Pikachu is tired and shows them the way to the Pokémon Center. At the Pokémon Center, Ash reads a poster promoting the Pokémon League Regional Championships—to compete, you have to beat gym leaders from various towns and win their badges. Ash challenges the Pewter City Gym Leader, Brock, but even a healed Pikachu has no chance against Brock's Rock-type Pokémon. Later, Flint shows Ash a surprising side of Brock—when he's not battling and raising Pokémon, he has to take care of his ten brothers and sisters. Will this news affect Ash's desire to battle Brock again for the Rock Badge? Who is this Flint guy, and why does he insist on helping Ash train Pikachu for the rematch? And will Team Rocket ever climb out of that hole?

Will Team Rocket steal the Moon Stone? Are there other Clefairy lurking about, and do they carry Moon Stones, too? And is the legend of the Moon Stone true?

In his search to collect Trainer Badges, Ash heads for Cerulean City, intending to confront the Cerulean Gym Leader. For some reason, Misty expresses a desire to avoid Cerulean City and disappears somewhere along the way. Without concern for Misty, Ash and Pikachu continue toward the Cerulean City Gym. When they arrive, the exterior of the Gym gives the strange appearance of an aquarium. Upon entering the building, Ash and Pikachu are entranced by a synchronized swimming show being performed by three beautiful sisters. Could this truly be the Cerulean Gym? And what could be the role of the three beautiful swimming sisters? More importantly, will Ash be able to defeat the strangely absent Gym Leader to earn his next badge?

On the way to Vermillion City, Ash meets AJ, a Gym Leader at an unsanctioned Gym who has 98 wins and zero losses. They battle, and Ash is surprised that AJ's Ground-type Sandshrew can easily beat his Flying-type Pokémon.

Our three heroes have lost their way in the depths of a dense wood, shrouded in thick, white mist. Momentarily giving up, they decide to break for a brief rest. As Ash wanders deeper into the wood, searching for firewood, he happens across a young boy being bullied by five classmates gathered around him. Eavesdropping on their conversation, Ash learns that the boys are attending the Pokémon Seminar (or 'Pokémon Zem' for short) - a preparatory school for Pokémon trainers. Graduates from the Pokémon Seminar are automatically qualified to participate in the Pokémon League without undergoing any actual test of skill. Although many children dream of entering the illustrious Seminar (or rather their parents dream of them entering), only the most wealthy children can enter the school. But there must be a reason for the gloom overshadowing the faces of the students of this aristocratic school.

Still lost, the party continues to wander. Falling from a rope bridge, stumbling into pitfalls, being caught in various traps, they struggle on until reaching a village, not shown on their map, inhabited by Pokemon that have been injured in battle or abandoned by their masters. In this village, a kind-hearted young woman named Melanie cares for these Pokemon. Even as our heroes, touched by Melanie’s kind example, attempt to assist her in caring for the Pokemon, Team Rocket is slowly making its way toward the village. A combined effort of Melanie and Ash’s Pokemon is needed to battle and defeat Team Rocket, and as a result, Ash’s courage earns him a battle between Pikachu and Melanie’s bravest Pokemon, Bulbasaur. Will Pikachu defeat Bulbasaur, thus increasing Ash’s collection of Pokemon?

As our heroes press on toward Vermilion City, they encounter a lone, weak Charmander at a mountain pass. Standing atop a stone, it appears to be waiting for someone. Ash immediately attempts to capture it, but fails. Giving up, Ash and friends head for a nearby Pokemon Center. There they run into Damien—the very boy who had abandoned the Charmander. A storm erupts. Our heroes go out in the middle of the night to rescue the deserted Pokemon. Their timing couldn’t be better for they saved the fiery Pokemon from an attack of vicious Spearow. Upon their return to the Pokemon Center, the Charmander is taken care of immediately, but the next morning he is gone, without a trace. Ash and friends go out to find him only to be side-tracked by the devious Team Rocket. Just when they thought they had captured Pikachu and rendered our heroes temporarily helpless, Charmander comes to the rescue. Will he ultimately become the next Pokemon to join Ash?

A company of Squirtles stand in the path of our heroes' enthusiastic march. To make matters worse, joining forces with Team Rocket, the Squirtles capture Ash and friends. When the Squirtles lock Pikachu, who has been critically injured, in a cage, Ash runs to retrieve a healing Potion. Upon Ash's return, a battle ensues between Team Rocket and our heroes. When it becomes apparent that Team Rocket has deserted the Squirtles, and even endangered them, Ash and his love of Pokémon prevails, and saves a Squirtle from certain doom. Will Ash's kind and brave act go unnoticed by the Squirtle?

The party emerges from the forest onto a beach, where in the distance they see a lighthouse, shining at the tops of a cliff. The lighthouse belongs to Bill, a Pokémon researcher who is awaiting the coming of a one-of-a-kind Pokémon, never before seen by humans. Before long, a tremendously large shadow begins to take form in the sea mists, but this possible discovery could be hindered due to the infamous Team Rocket lurking in the background cooking up another one of their schemes. Could such a legendary Pokémon truly exist?

Our heroes finally reach Vermilion City. They make their way to the Pokémon Center to refill their empty stomachs, but once there, they witness dozens of injured Pokémon being treated. Pikachu and Ash are alarmed to learn that all of these Pokémon were injured in battles with the Vermilion Gym Leader, Lt. Surge. Nonetheless, eager to earn a badge, Ash challenges Lt. Surge. Pikachu reluctantly enters the battle only to discover its opponent to be a Raichu, a fierce Pokémon with tremendous electric power. In order for Pikachu to successfully compete, it must demonstrate a stronger will than ever before displayed in battle. Could Pikachu possibly have a chance against Raichu's overwhelming strength?

Ash and his party arrive at a port where the SS Anne, an international cruise liner, is docked. Receiving free tickets, from a mysterious duo, for a Pokémon Trainer party aboard the Santa Anne, they board the ship filled with anticipation of good food and lots of Pokémon excitement. Aboard the ship, bustling with Pokémon Trainers, Ash meets a distinguished gentleman who suggests they make a Pokémon trade. Ash exchanges his Butterfree for the gentleman's Raticate. Just then, the SS Anne is taken over by Team Rocket who had arranged the party as a ploy to steal Pokémon.

With the St. Anne deep underwater, the group recovers and discover their predicament. Jessie and James wake up as well. When they meet up they initially start a battle, but the weight of their Pokémon rocks the boat. They agree to work together to get out. They find their way to a weak point in the boat where Charmander welds through it. Water gushes in and the three escape on water Pokémon. Team Rocket try to escape, but their Magikarp is too weak. They eventually float to the surface and are discovered by Pidgeotto who was searching for dry land. Just when the group are about to push overboard the apparently dead Team Rocket, they wake up. After sitting around starved for days with no land in sight, they start to consider eating Magikarp. They discover that Magikarp is all scale and bones. After James kicks Magikarp overboard, it evolves into Gyarados. The angry Gyarados does a Dragon Rage attack on them and they all spin away in a tornado created by Gyarados.

As our heroes and Team Rocket beat the odds by surviving the sinking ship, they are dragged into another potentially deadly situation when they are attacked by the ferocious Pokemon, Gyarados. One Gyarados becomes many and Ash, friends and foe are swept up in a tornado landing them in various locations on an island. Ash loses Pikachu and the Poke Balls containing Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur. Jessie and James from Team Rocket, who land in another remote part of the island, also lose their Pokemon. Thus both Pokemon and their masters are left searching for each other on this strange island, inhabited by gigantic Pokemon. Where could this island be?

Ash, Misty and Brock begin their vacation in Porta Vista. Team Rocket are waiting for them trying to find ways to catch Pikachu. Ash and co. later ride a boat, and they crash into Team Rocket's submarine which then crashes into a dock owned by an old man. Ash needs to find some way to pay back the old man for his dock. Meanwhile, Team Rocket land on a beach and meet an old lady named Nastina working on her beach house. They volunteer to help her. Ash firsts tries to work at a restruant and customers flock. Team Rocket then sabotage it and the customers go away. Disappointed, Ash goes to Professor Oak and his mom. They tell him of a swimsuit competition for girls and for pokemon. Ash enters Misty who for pokemon, dresses Squirtle like an alien and Starmie as the UFO. She is greeted in the competition by Jesse and James. James pretends to be a girl with a fake inflatable body suit. They have Ekans and Koffing wrapped together as the great "Leviathan". Jesse and James are angry they lost, so they attack with their submarine and send a heat seeking missle. Ash gets Charmander to turn it around and it hits Team Rocket who blast off again. Nastina goes with them. In the end, Ash's mom wins the contest and they get enough money to pay back the old man.

Our heroes arrive at Hutber Port, where a ferryboat line runs to the mainland. There they meet a cousin of the old man’s competitor from Acapulco who, having recently acquired a great deal of money, is trying to construct a huge luxury hotel, turning a coral reef area into a tremendous resort. This section of coral reef, however, is very important to the Tentacool and Horsea that live there. When a huge school of Tentacool interferes with the construction of the hotel, the cousin and a group of young people organize a campaign to drive them away, offering a reward of $10,000 to anyone who can repel the Tentacool. Naturally this draws the attention of Team Rocket who attempt to get rid of the Tentacool by spreading a mixture of super secret stun sauce over the ocean. Their plan backfires, however, transforming the Tentacool into a gigantic Tentacruel which begins a fierce counterattack against the humans. In order to defeat this reign of terror, Ash, Misty, Brock and their Pokemon are drawn into a battle that will require more than just strong combative skill.

After leaving Acapulco in search of Saffron City, our heroes finally arrive at a small port town in the middle of celebrating a summer festival. In order to recover from their hard journey, Ash and his party decide to participate in the festival. Team Rocket’s interest in the festivities, on the other hand, is purely monetary. Brock and James are both bewitched by a picture scroll shown in a shrine open only on the day of the summer festival. The picture depicts a beautiful young maiden in a scene from the legend of Maiden Rock—a point on a cape near the town. According to the priest’s explanation, the girl in the picture lived 2,000 years ago, and awaited the return of a lover captured in battle, until she finally turned into stone. Every year at this season, the ghost of this girl steals the spirit of a young man and this year it is James’ and Brock’s turn. What could the ghost possibly be after? And what is its true identity?

As they journey toward Saffron City, our heroes come to a path that continues along the side of a sheer cliff. When the party sees a flock of Butterfree flying above the ocean, Brock, as a Pokemon breeder, explains that it is the Butterfree’s egg-laying season. In order to continue their posterity, Butterfree find mates during this season and cross the sea together. Ash releases his Butterfree, sending it off toward the flock. His Butterfree performs a dance to attract a pink Butterfree, but is brutally rejected. Ash, Misty and Brock try to encourage Butterfree, but Butterfree can’t recover from the shock of rejection. Just then Team Rocket arrives to poach the Butterfree. Ash’s Butterfree tries to prevent the capture of his fellow Pokemon with very little success. Determined to free them and win the heart of the pink Butterfree, he battles Team Rocket with the strength and courage of a Pokemon in love. Can Ash’s Butterfree rescue his fellow Butterfree Pokemon and win the heart of his pink Butterfree? If so, will he leave Ash, his beloved Pokemon trainer, to follow his love and fulfill the Butterfree destiny?

The party finally arrives in Saffron City where a young girl manages a gym of Pokemon using her psychic powers. If Ash defeats this particular Gym Leader, Ash can earn a gold badge. Gathering all their strength, Ash and Pikachu challenge her. She happily accepts, but adds the strange condition that if Ash loses, they must become her friend. The official gym battle begins, but Pikachu is helpless against the young girl’s Pokemon, Abra. To make matters worse, Abra evolves in the middle of the match, turning into the more powerful, Kadabra. Employing even stronger psychic powers against Pikachu, Saffron City’s Gym Leader defeats Ash. As this strange story unravels, Ash encounters a mysterious man who seems to be the key to solving the puzzle to this young girl’s disturbing power.

Ash realizes that he must battle and collect a ghost Pokemon in order to defeat the young girl’s psychic Pokemon. In search of a ghost Pokemon, he heads immediately for a tower in Lavender Town where they are said to live. Jessie, James and Meowth from Team Rocket are already at the tower, but as they lay in wait for our heroes, they are attacked by Gastly, Haunter and Gangar. In the process of trying to defeat the ghost Pokemon, Ash learns a lesson or two about the mystical spirit world. Can Ash capture a ghost Pokemon and if so, will it be enough to defeat the psychic Gym Leader of Saffron City?

Unbenownst to Ash, one of the ghost Pokémon decides to join Ash and friends on their journey and more importantly help Ash battle the powerful Saffron City Gym Leader.

On their way to Celadon City, our heroes encounter Mankey, a wild Pokemon that if rubbed the wrong way can go into uncontrollable fits. Not realizing its unpredictability, the party accidentally upsets Mankey. To make matters worse, Team Rocket arrives and an all out war is waged by Mankey, who evolves into a ferocious Primeape, against anyone in its path. Will Ash be able to add Mankey/Primeape to his ever growing collection of Pokemon without having to withstand Primeape’s unrelenting wrath?

The party arrives in Celadon City, a perfectly pleasant town full of large department stores, condominiums, and fancy arcades. Brock and Misty are mesmerized, listening to a pretty young girl in a miniskirt, selling perfume. Appalled by the price of the perfume, Ash is kicked out of the department store, and heads for the Pokemon gym alone, but he is denied entrance to the Celadon Gym. The perfume that Ash criticized in the department store is produced in this gym. Brock and Misty enter the gym and befriend those who inhabit it, but Ash must go to some outrageous lengths in order to even set foot in the gym let alone prove himself worthy of battle against its Master.

Our heroes come to a town in which a great deal of children have recently turned up missing. Working together with Jenny to search for these children, they begin an investigation at the Pokemon Center, inquiring into the disappearances, but Joy has other concerns. For some reason, the Pokemon in the Center aren’t getting well at all. Jenny reveals that a mysterious sleep wave has been passing in and out of the town for several days. Our heroes suspect a connection between the missing children and the Pokemon’s poor condition. Team Rocket begins a sinister search of their own for the source of these strange occurrences. What could be the cause of this sleep wave?

At Brock’s persistent request, our heroes stop by Scissor Street, a town of breeders famous for its Pokemon beauty salons. Brock makes a special request to visit a salon called Coron. The owner of the Beauty Salon, Coron, is a breeder who has received the most superior ranking in the Pokemon Breeder Contest for three years straight. Recently, a store called Salon Roquet has been introducing outrageous fashions, making wild profits and disrupting long-term shop-owners.

In the outskirts of Fuchsia City, our heroes come across Hitmonchan, a fighting Pokemon. With little thought, Ash attempts to capture it, but he and Pikachu are badly defeated. Hitmonchan’s master has abandoned his family, training day and night, aiming for victory at the P1 Grand Prix (the number one Pokemon Grand Prix). His daughter tells Ash and his friends of her desire to make her father remember his family. In the meantime, Ash’s party enters the P1 Grand Prix, but with Team Rockets unwanted, not to mention, unofficial presence at the competition, the battle goes out of control.

As our heroes make their way through the industrial town of Gringy City, Pikachu, perhaps weary from travel, is in a strange state; the electric sacks on his cheeks are continually twitching as though overcharged. At the town’s Pokemon Center, Joy diagnoses Pikachu as being in the first stages of a Pokemon cold. She begins treatment immediately, but the town suddenly goes into a blackout. Assuming the problem to be in the power-generating station near the beach, Ash and friends go to investigate. There they discover the Pokemon, Magnemite and a pack of Grimer—Pokemon created from sludge. What exactly is going on?

Ash, Brock, Misty and Pikachu are lost deep in the mountains. As they press forward on a rough road not even shown on their map, they suddenly hear a large explosion. Running toward the sound in surprise, the party emerges on a construction site where tractors are building a tremendous dam. Ash learns that the foreman is trying to recruit skilled Pokemon trainers because ground Pokemon, Diglett, are interfering with construction and delaying the completion of his work. The foreman has been recruiting Pokemon trainers to get rid of the Diglett. He will award free passes for travel to a luxurious natural hot springs to anyone who can accomplish this. As Ash scopes out the recruits, he notices a familiar enemy in the mix, Gary.

Fuchsia Gym, the authorized gym where Ash seeks his next badge, turns out to be a hidden ninja’s lair. After finally discovering and entering the gym, he is held up by a complex system of traps. At last, the gym’s eccentric trainer challenges Ash to a match. Just as he defeats the trainer, the official battle with the Master begins. The battle goes out of control as Team Rocket also enters the gym and its vast array of traps. Can Ash actually earn the gym badge?

Our heroes come to a prairie where the Laramies, a family of Pokemon Ranchers live. They learn from a daughter of the Laramie family that a race is held at the ranch once a year to measure the growth of everyone’s Pokemon. Team Rocket, however, attacks her, the race's top contender. Injured, the daughter of the Laramie family decides to give up on the race, but entrusts her hopes of victory to Ash. Who will be the winner in a race between Ash, Brock, Misty, and Team Rocket?

On their way to a safari zone teeming with Pokemon, our heroes walk right into the middle of a jungle. Without knowing they are in a region in which Pokemon are protected, Ash tries to capture a Chansey and is arrested by Jenny, the safari ranger. After talking with the ranger, Ash is released, but not before he learns that there are Pokemon poachers in the area. Our heroes accompany the ranger into the forest, pursuing the poachers. Within the jungle, a young man leads a pack of Kangaskhan. His name is Tommy and no one knows the secret of his childhood.

Our heroes decide to take a trip through the Safari Zone, where they figure they'll be able to easily snag as many Pokemon as they want. What they don't count on is the heavily armed and trigger-happy game warden, who draws his six-shooters at the slightest provocation. After staring down the business end of the warden's magnum several times, Ash sets his sights on the mythical, legendary Dratini, a Pokemon that according to Professor Oak, is one of the most difficult to find creatures in existence. Team Rocket's in the Zone too, though. Just as Ash and crew leave the warden's station, Jesse challenges them to a winner-takes-all duel. Whichever side manages to grab the most booty in the Jungle Zone will get all of the loser's Pokemon and Poke Balls. The game is on, and Pikachu hangs in the balance.

Just leaving the Safari Zone, the group comes across a bridge which could be used as a shortcut to Sunny Town. They discover that the bridge is too long to walk and they would need bicycles to cross. They go to the Pokémon Center where Nurse Joy asks them to take some medicine to a sick Pokémon across the bridge. They borrow bicycles from the center and are off. Halfway, they come across a bike gang. They battle the gang and before long Jessie and James show up. They are welcomed as this is where they used to live and were well known by the gang members. They are all quickly chased off by the police and Ash and the group continue to deliver the medicine. They come to a raised part of the bridge as a boat is going by and they desperately make the jump. They use Team Rocket who on the other side were trying to show off as good riders and bounce off of them to make it across. They are blocked by the gang, but tell them they are getting medicine to a sick Pokémon. They gang helps them to the center and the Pokémon gets the medicine just in time.

The group is seeking shelter from the storm and they find it in an old theater house. They meet a girl named Duplica who has a talent for pretending to be other people. They meet her Ditto who has a problem; it cannot transform it's face. She tells them about her problems and they try to help her. Eventually, Team Rocket steals Ditto and try to make it transform into various things. They are very harsh on Ditto to make it transform perfectly, and it succeeds under the pressure they put it under. They give Meowth to Duplica pretending it is Ditto, but she is not fooled and eventually gets back the real Ditto. Now that Ditto can transform perfectly, Duplica can put on her shows.

Ash and friends find out that there is something wrong the Pokéball transmitting device at the local Pokémon Center. To find out what's wrong, everyone must go inside the machine.

The group come into a forest where it is quiet and peaceful. They notice a large group of Pikachu that Ash's Pikachu tries to make friends with. Ash scares them off, but Pikachu is later accepted when it dives to save a young Pikachu that was washing away down the waterfall. Ash starts to miss Pikachu as they hear a noise. Team Rocket successfully get all of the Pikachu in a net. Ash's Pikachu is the hero again as it chews a hole in the net and Ash and the group use the net they were caught in as something for the Pikachu to jump onto. Ash decides to leave Pikachu behind, but Pikachu doesn't want to. Ash refuses to keep Pikachu many times, but Pikachu persists until Ash realizes how much Pikachu likes him. He then let's Pikachu stay with him.

While traveling through the woods, the group encounters an Eevee that was apparently abandoned by a tree. They take it to its address in Stone Town and find it belongs to a little boy. He left it there because his older brothers wanted him to evolve it. Misty tells him to let his brothers know how he feels, but Team Rocket show up to get the food, stones, and the Pokémon. They find Team Rocket thanks to Horsea leaving a trail of ink and they recover everything. During the fight, the small boy proves his Eevee can fight well just as it is and tells his brothers he wants to keep his Eevee just how it is. They agree and let him keep his Eevee.

Having not eaten in days, the group search for a town and find one. Unfortunately, the town has no food because the water supply was being blocked by a Snorlax. They try many tricks to wake up the Snorlax, but it does not work. Team Rocket comes by and they help to wake up the Snorlax because they want to steal it. They eventually wake it up by getting the old man who owned it to play his Pokéflute. When it wakes up, it eats all the thorns blocking the water flow and then goes back to bed somewhere else. The water is flowing again and the village can grow crops. The group leave and continue on their way.

The group now arrives in Dark City. In this city, everyone hates Pokémon trainers because there are two main unofficial gyms in the city trying to beat each other out so they can be the official gym of Dark City. They soon discover that both of the main Pokémon at each gym get enraged at the color red. They dump ketchup on the two gym leaders and their Pokémon start chasing them. They get madder at the group who played the trick, but they have lightning rods set up and Pikachu attacks them with the lightning rods to gain additional electricity. Nurse Joy then shows up because she is the inspector for the Pokémon League and won't let either of them be official gyms unless they start acting better. They agree and rebuild the city from the destruction they caused.

The group ends up in the middle of a carnival. Ash and Brock decide to enjoy themselves while Misty and Pikachu find this man who is trying to be a magician. Misty agrees to help him, but his show is still a failure. He soon gets desperate and uses his Exeggcute to hypnotize Ash into using his Pokémon to catch Exeggutor. The others catch up to him only to find the Exeggutor hypnotizing each other and marching blindly into the city demolishing things. The carnival manager plants a time bomb to blow them up, but Ash sends Charmander to stop the Exeggutor. The magician helps with his fire spell and they fend them off together. At the end, Charmander evolves into Charmeleon.

The group arrives in a small little village where there is not even a Pokémon Center. They must stock up on supplies, so they go. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is still following them, but Meowth is very sick. A lady comes up to them and gives Meowth some medicine and he gets better. Meowth also takes a liking to the girl who cared for him. The group meet the same girl and she wants to battle them. She needs the mushroom on a Parasect to make a new super potion, but her Paras will not evolve because it isn't getting any battle experience and is very weak. Pikachu fires a tiny static bolt at it and it faints. He sends Charmeleon, who is disobedient and flames Paras real good. Later on, Meowth tries to help Paras by making it think it is winning battles. It gets more confidence and it works. Paras eventually evolves into Parasect and the girl can get what she needs.

The group is wandering through a desert and they find Neon Town. It is a flashy town where the people never get any sleep and are on edge. They leave the noisy town to find a Jigglypuff in the forest. Misty attacks it to catch it, but it starts crying and she doesn't catch it. The Jigglypuff can't sing, so they try to help it to sing. They find a fruit in the forest that soothes a sore throat. Jigglypuff eats some and starts to sing. The song Jigglypuff sings puts everyone to sleep, which upsets it, so it scribbles on their faces with a marker it finds from Ash's backpack. They decide to have it sing in Neon Town where no one ever sleeps. It works, and the whole town is put to sleep. They all wake up the next morning and are a lot nicer because they were relaxed from a nice sleep.

The group continue on their way and notice people digging in Grandpa Canyon. Gary shows up for this too. Meanwhile, Team Rocket plants bombs in the canyon. Ash notices this just as Meowth lights the fuse. Ash and Squirtle chase it trying to put out the fuse. It gets to the end and Pikachu shoots an electric beam at it in panic. The blast goes off and they find themselves underground. They meet some ancient Pokémon who they thought to be extinct including an Aerodactyl who swoops up into the air with Ash. Charmeleon evolves into Charizard and chases after the Aerodactyl. Jigglypuff pops out and starts singing. Aerodactyl falls asleep and drops Ash. Ash is caught by Charizard who lands and falls asleep. Officer Jenny tells everyone that it was just a dream caused by Jigglypuff's song and sends the people on their way. Ash gets an egg from the site, which Brock steals from him to take care of.

Pikachu is going through trees looking for apples. Pikachu then finds one which he swallows whole. Pikachu is not feeling well and the nearest Pokémon Center is far away. They take Pikachu to a human hospital instead and the doctor there gets the apple out. He is then called by Nurse Joy who says there has been an accident and needs him to take care of some Pokémon because there was an accident. Some Chansey arrive and they help the Pokémon arriving to recover. Team Rocket is there, too. Meowth has lost his charm and their other Pokémon are hurt. Their Pokémon are helped by Chansey. The doctor is put to sleep by some anesthetic and while he sleeps, Team Rocket attack. They catch Ash and friends in stretchers. A Chansey stands in front of them to protect them, and Team Rocket's Pokémon will not hurt Chansey because it helped them earlier. Team Rocket get away with just a Voltorb which explodes in their faces and Meowth gets his charm back.

The group walk by a missing sign that has a picture of James as a young boy. A limousine drives by and takes them to the estate where James used to live. They learn that his parents had supposedly died and James was entitled to an inheritance. Jessie and James arrive to collect this money, but soon discover that it was a trick to get James back and force him to marry Jessiebell. She is a girl who looks just like Jessie and tries to make James a gentleman. She attacks and chases him with a Vileplume and he eventually escapes. He catches up with Jessie and Meowth realizing that life is better free even though he isn't well off.

The group stop in the forest where there is a Farfetch'd lurking around. Brock and Ash go to get some water and Misty notices a Farfetch'd. She chases it into the forest where the trainer of the Farfetch'd secretly switches bags. He is a thief who uses Farfetch'd to distract his victims. Psyduck escapes from him and gets back to Misty. Psyduck then guides them to the guy who stole her Pokémon. They have a battle with the Farfetch'd who surprises its trainer by showing it can battle by defeating Ash's Bulbasaur. Misty battles next with Psyduck. Farfetch'd strikes Psyduck on the head repeatedly until it's headache is bad enough and it uses a disable attack. The boy realizes his wrong and hands the stolen Pokémon over to Officer Jenny. He promises to lead a better life training his Farfetch'd and catching Pokémon rather then stealing them.

The group stop at a Pokémon Center for a rest and get a message from Professor Oak who wants to talk to them. When they talk, he discusses Muk and offers Ash a Pokédex upgrade. Ash takes the upgrade and they are on their way. Ash and the group wonder about what could be inside the egg Brock has been taking care of since Ash found it in Grandpa Canyon; just as Team Rocket trick them and get the egg. They find them and fight for it. During the battle, the egg goes flying and Pikachu catches it. Misty takes it just in time to see it hatch. It is Togepi, and they all fight over who should keep it. They have a tournament and Ash wins it, but Togepi wants to go with Misty because a Togepi thinks the first thing it sees is its parent. Togepi first saw Misty and so, Misty gets Togepi.

Continuing on their way, Ash battles a man with a Rhyhorn. The battle is tough, but Bulbasaur wins. Bulbasaur's bulb then starts flashing. They rush it to a Pokémon Center and discover it is going to evolve. Bulbasaur leaves his bed and is taken by other Bulbasaur to the mysterious garden where the Bulbasaur evolve into Ivysaur. The group manage to get into the garden behind vines and are watching the ceremony. Bulbasaur doesn't want to evolve. The Venusaur leading the ceremony gets mad at Bulbasaur and attacks it. Ash jumps out in front of Bulbasaur to save it and tries to reason with the Venusaur. Team Rocket float in and use a vacuum device to suck up all the Ivysaur and the Venusaur. Bulbasaur saves them and Venusaur agrees to let Bulbasaur evolve when it wants to.

It is Princess Day, the day when there are incredible discounts in the malls, and all sorts of events and activities. But, only for girls. Just after having gone shopping and buying a present to get on the boss' good side, Jessie encounters a Lickitung. The Lickitung eats everything Jessie had bought, and so she captures it. When Jessie and Misty hear about a competition where girls can enter to win a set of Pokémon dolls they both get very excited. They have to participate in a Pokémon tournament and Misty and Jessie both win one battle after another, until the final match which Jessie versus Misty. Pikachu beats all of Jessie's Pokémon, except for Lickitung. Lickitung beats Pikachu, then all of Misty's other Pokémon. Just as Misty is about to call Staryu, Psyduck comes out. Lickitung's attacks don't effect Psyduck, but do give it a big headache. Through some psychic attacks, Lickitung loses. Misty becomes the winner of the dolls. Jessie is terribly disappointed, but then James and Meowth bought larger versions of the clothes the dolls wore, and so Jessie was happy again pretending to be the dolls on the stand with James and Meowth.

Continuing on their way, they find out about a school where a Pokémon trainer was to visit them but cannot come. Ash agrees to come in place of this person and shows them his Pikachu. The kids examine Pikachu and much to their joy, Pikachu doesn't enjoy the pulling and grabbing. Ash pulls Pikachu away just in time to save the kids from a Thundershock. Team Rocket invade the school pretending to be magicians. They play a trick where they take Pikachu, and put it into their box and it disappears and Meowth appears. A little boy named Timmy is excited to see Meowth, as he was saved by a wild Meowth in the past. Team Rocket get away, but when they make it away from the school and open their box expecting to see Pikachu. They find Timmy in the box instead. When Meowth realizes that Timmy thinks this Meowth is the one who saved him before, Meowth does his best to play the role. Back at the school, everyone is admiring Meowth, just as Meowth accidentally says something. When Misty realizes that, Meowth runs off. So, Ash and the kids follow Meowth to a dead end where Team Rocket is waiting. They start a Pokémon battle which causes a rock slide. The wild Meowth comes by again and saves Timmy and Ash from being crushed by a rock, and Team Rocket rolls away on another rock.

While traveling through the forest, the group see who they think is a thief. As it turns out, he isn't a thief but a police officer training the K-9 police squad. Ash wants to have them train Pikachu. Team Rocket intrude as usual. They pose as Jenny to command the Growlithe, but Pikachu fights them. The Growlithe continue to attack until they realize Jessie isn't the the real Officer Jenny. They beat off Team Rocket and the group continue on their way.

As Ash and the group continue on their way, they notice a boy trying to take a picture of Pikachu. The boy, whose name is Snap, invites them to his place for pancakes and he tries to get a picture of Pikachu. They don't know that Team Rocket had hired him to capture Pikachu. They misunderstood his ad stating he could "capture" any Pokémon. Team Rocket dressed up as an old couple, asked him to "capture" Pikachu and that is what he is doing. Team Rocket show up again and try to get Pikachu, but Snap saves them and Team Rocket is defeated as usual. He agrees to follow the group on their journeys so he can get some shots of rare Pokémon.

Ash and friends arrive at a school that promises that if you can pass their tests, you can enter the Pokémon League without getting all the badges. Ash enters the school, and so does Jessie and James. The tests begin and Jessie is kicked out for complaining the tests are way too hard. Ash and James make it to the third part of the test where you fight with your examiner's Pokémon. Ash fights with Weezing and wins. James is delighted to see Pikachu by his side, but when he looses to a Graveler he sends out two Pokémon at once which is against the rules and is kicked out. For revenge, Team Rocket attacks the school with the Pokémon they got, but the Pokémon turned on them because they were owned by the instructor. Ash decides then that it would be easier to get all of the badges rather than go through these tests and he leaves the school.

While out with their photographer friend Snap, they are taking a few pictures of their Pokémon. They see an ad for a breeding center where they treat the Pokémon well. Misty brings her Psyduck there and hopes they will improve it. They find a restaurant where you eat free if you bring in a Psyduck. Misty and the group rush back to the breeding center to discover it is fake. It is a center run by Team Rocket, but not Jessie and James. The boss is angry because they always mess up and trusts this new plan to other members Butch and Cassidy. Jessie and James break into the center at the same time not knowing about it, and try to steal Pokémon. They are all thrown in jail except for Misty and Pikachu, who make it out. Misty gets Pikachu to get Snap's camera which proves their innocence and takes it to Jenny. Butch and Cassidy are arrested as well as Jessie and James, although Jessie and James dig their way out.

Ash and the group are sailing towards Cinnibar Island, and they happen to meet Gary on the boat. Gary tells them there is no gym on Cinnibar Island anymore, and that they were wasting their time going. When they arrive, they meet a strange looking guy who gives information in riddles. He shows them the gym. It is a broken down piece of debris, and hasn't been used in a long time. The gym leader Blaine was sick of battling tourists who came on vacation, rather than for a Pokémon match. The group try to find a place to stay the night. Unfortunately, all the places are packed with tourists. Ash is beginning to get very hungry, just as he smells something good cooking. They find Gary staying in one of the hotels and they even have an Electabuzz for entertainment playing some music. Gary decides to offer Ash some leftovers from their banquet if he will spin around three times and say "Pikachu". Ash refuses, but Pikachu does it hoping to help out Ash. Ash stops Pikachu, just as the star of their show arrives. It is Jigglypuff going to sing them a song. The group run away to safety, just as Jigglypuff begins to sing accompanied by the Electabuzz's music. The whole crowd falls asleep and get some lovely Jigglypuff squiggles on their faces. Ash and the group find the riddle man's hotel, and he offers a free stay as a reward for solving a riddle. Meanwhile, Team Rocket attempt to steal the Pokémon inside the lab on the island. Ash stops them as usual, with help from his Pokémon. They get to a hot spring, when Togepi jumps on a lever that opens a secret passage. They follow it down to see a hidden Pokémon gym. The riddle man is there to greet them, as he reveals his true identity. He is Blaine, and is ready to battle Ash. The battle is tough with Squirtle first losing, and Charizard refusing to battle. Pikachu makes a comeback, by defeating Rhydon through a direct shock to its horn. Blaine then calls Magmar, who Pikachu is unable to beat. Magmar uses a Fire Blast attack, w

Pikachu is swallowed up by Magmar's fire blast attack. Luckily, Pikachu had dodged it and was hanging on to the edge. Pikachu crawled back up and was safe from the lava below. Ash forfeits the match. Blaine congratulates Ash for making a wise choice, and directs them to the hot springs. Meanwhile, Team Rocket prepares freeze guns to freeze Magmar. They enter the arena to find Magmar, and they tell it that it's won a prize. They then fire at it, and freeze Magmar solid. As Jessie and James celebrate, Magmar melts through the ice. In a panic, they freeze over the entire gym. This causes the Volcano walls to crack, and lava begins to pour into the arena. Ash calls Charizard to throw rocks to block the flow of lava, but Charizard refuses to listen. Magmar begins to throw rocks, but it is no good. When Charizard sees the problem, it begins to throw rocks. Brock and Misty's Pokémon help, too. The flow is stopped, and Blaine offers another chance for Ash to win the Volcano badge. They battle atop the Volcano, Charizard versus Magmar. It is a tough battle, but Charizard prevails. Unfortunately, Charizard stops listening to Ash after the battle. Blaine gives a Volcano badge to Ash and they continue on their way.

As Ash and the gang are rushing to catch the last ferry off of Cinnabar Island, they stumble over a rare Pokémon in trouble.

On the way to Viridian City, Misty notices that Horsea isn't feeling well. She decides to take Horsea back to the Cerulean City gym to get a chance to swim around in their bigger pool. Her sisters get an idea to generate publicity for the gym by having an underwater ballet. To everyone's surprise, they picked Misty to be the star of the show. They begin the show. Misty swims around a little with the Pokémon as they tell the story. She swims into a hidden area for a desperately needed breath of air, and goes back to the audience. Then, it's time for everyone in mermaid land to go to sleep. The large shell closes on Misty, and gives her the chance to take out a breathing device while no one is looking. Team Rocket tie up the two sisters who were to play the villains, and replace them on stage. Jessie dressed as a male dancer, and James in a ballerina costume. They try to steal all the Pokémon, and are defeated by Ash and Pikachu as usual. The crowd believes that the entire attack was staged and applaud the show. The show was successful in generating publicity for the gym, and everyone is lining up to buy tickets to their next shows. Misty leaves Horsea and Starmie with her sisters, and the group continue onward to Viridian City.

Jigglypuff is taking a walk through the woods, singing its favorite song. A Caterpie and Pidgey fall out of the trees, and Jigglypuff draws on their faces only to be knocked out with a tea pot. When Jigglypuff gets back up, it discovers a space ship crashed in the woods. Some Clefairy come out, the leader with a flower on its head. Meanwhile, the gang are enjoying some ice cream, just as they spot a Clefairy. They chase after it while their stuff is stolen. They report this to Officer Jenny, and they find out lots of people have had their stuff stolen. They meet a guy named Oswald, who thinks aliens have stolen their stuff. Just then, two mysterious beings land and take Pikachu. It's Jessie and James, being lifted with a crane by Meowth. Ash stops them, only to have Pikachu taken by a Clefairy. They follow it into a manhole, which leads to an underground cave. They find a new spaceship the Clefairy are building, which is about to launch. They board the ship to find Pikachu behind glass. They plan to use Pikachu to power their space ship. The Clefairy jump in to guard. Then, Jigglypuff walks in on the whole scene, walks up to one of the Clefairy, and Jigglypuff whacks the Clefairy. The battle begins. Jigglypuff slaps around all the Clefairy knocking them all out. Jigglypuff then finds the master control room, and so does Oswald. Jigglypuff slaps around the master Clefairy, and the Clefairy puts up a good fight, slapping back. Oswald fiddles with the control, and breaks it off. Jigglypuff grabs it, and starts singing. As everyone is asleep, the rocket blasts off. Pikachu is hit in the nose with a mallet, which startles him, and then Pikachu's electric shock begins to power the space ship. In mid-air Team Rocket try to abandon the ship, but they are on the wrong side and break off to crash into the land. Ash and the group manage to use Bulbasaur to wrap its vines around the point of a skyscraper, and they swing to safety. The ship soon crashes in the woods, and Oswald

The gang arrive in Viridian City. They find the gym where Ash is about to battle, just as Gary shows up bragging about having ten Badges. He enters the gym just for practice. Gary's battle with Giovanni is quite easy, winning against Giovanni's Kingler and Rhydon with his Nidoking and Arcanine. Then, Giovanni decides to bring out a new Pokémon. Gary is defenseless against it, as it brings chaos to the whole gym. Meanwhile, Ash in carelessness flings Togepi into the air, as it lands with Team Rocket. While Jessie and James struggle to capture it, they eventually present it to Giovanni only to find Giovanni only wants rare and powerful Pokémon. Ash finds the gym in a wreck, as he wakes up Gary. Gary is terrified, as he describes this new Pokémon as truly evil. Ash goes in to compete to be totally surprised to find the gym masters are Jessie and James, as Giovanni had to leave for an emergency. The battle is intense, as the trainer is electrically shocked as their Pokémon get hurt. The shocks bring Ash to his knees just as he sends out Pidgeotto, who beats Jessie's Pokémon, shocking her. Meowth has a control panel to blow up the opponents' side of the playing field, but Gary bursts in to stop him. The match finishes and Ash wins. Jessie is completely fried. Then, Togepi decides to play with the explosion controller, and accidentally sends Jessie and James flying. Gary's cheerleaders do a cheer for Ash. Then, the group continue along. Realizing that Ash doesn't know where the Pokémon League is, they decide to head back to Pallet Town to ask Professor Oak and visit home.

The group is getting closer and closer to Pallet. Just as Ash is running towards home, he crashes into a wall. The wall is totally invisible, created by a Mr. Mime. Just then, a girl from the circus shows up to try to catch Mr. Mime. Ash protests that he was going to catch it, but Brock holds him back. The Mr. Mime gets away. They arrive back at the circus, where their Mr. Mime is incredibly lazy sitting around and eating snacks. They dress Ash up as a Mr. Mime to be in the show, hoping to make Mr. Mime jealous of Ash and try to do better. Team Rocket swoop in, and steal Ash, thinking it's Mr. Mime. Meanwhile, Ash's mom brings Brock and Misty to her house. Just as they are leaving, Mr. Mime comes knocking on the window. Ash's mom thinks it's Ash, and brings him in for a snack. Ash then arrives in the Meowth balloon he stole from Team Rocket, and comes home. His mom then realizes that it was a real Mr. Mime, and then Ash asks Mr. Mime to help him. Ash's mom asks Mr. Mime to help Ash and it agrees. Later, Team Rocket burst out with a tank trying to steal the Pokémon from the circus. Mr. Mime builds a wall to stop them. They turn around, and the circus' Mr. Mime builds a wall to stop them. Eventually surrounding them, they try to escape but end up blasting themselves off again...

Ash, Misty, Brock, and their Pokémon must return a lost Jynx to Santa before Christmas, with the help of a Lapras. Meanwhile, Jessie attempts to take revenge on Santa for stealing her favorite doll when she was young.

Ash and his friends are trapped in a snowstorm. Brock suggests that the group uses his Onix to create a bivouac. They are about to start when a strong gust of wind blows Pikachu away, and Ash tries to save him. After saving Pikachu who is about to fall off a cliff, Ash finds himself separated from the rest of the group. He and his other Pokémon must brave out the rest of the storm together in a cave.

Back in Pallet Town, Ash finds Gary, already there, waiting to partake in the Pokémon League. Always having a bitter rivalry with Gary, Professor Oak tells them both the meaning of Pokémon. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is trying to get inside the lab to steal the Pokémon after their headquarters is destroyed by Mewtwo.

Ash goes to Seafoam Island to help Professor Oak to discover the mystery of how Slowpoke evolves into Slowbro. There, Professor Westwood V is also trying to solve the mystery. Jessie captures Shellder, and tries to rush a Slowpoke's evolution, forcing Psyduck to stall the evolution.

Ash and his friends take some time off to go surfing. While surfing, however, Ash passes out, but is thankfully rescued by a surfer named Victorand his blue-eyed Pikachu, Puka. Victor then reveals his plans to surf a tsunami called Humungadunga and become a surfing legend.

Ash goes to a large greenhouse called the Xanadu Nursery to get some fertilizer for his mother, but Bulbasaur sniffs the flowers and becomes paralyzed.

The group continue on their way to find a girl who wants a Pokémon battle. She chooses her Raichu to battle against Pikachu. The battle does not even begin until Team Rocket slams their net down to capture Pikachu. They accidentally get the girls' Raichu, which shocks them. Then a movie director named Spielbug enters to stop the action and tell about how famous a director he is. He tells about a Pokémon movie he is making, but cannot find anyone to co-star with Wigglytuff because she is too tough. Everyone gets slapped who offends her in the slightest way. All the Pokémon audition and then sing, but on Jigglypuff's turn everyone falls asleep. After that, Wigglytuff decides with a few slaps that she won't work with any of Team Rocket's Pokémon. All the other Pokémon just quit, leaving Psyduck on stage who gets the part. Arbok and Weezing don't take the rejection easily, and it takes a talk from Jessie and James to give them more confidence to be famous again. They come back to attack the movie, and steal all the Pokémon. Psyduck is the only one left. Wigglytuff's crying and Misty's yelling gives Psyduck a bad headache, and he saves the Pokémon from Team Rocket. Then, Wigglytuff and Psyduck are back together. Spielbug then gets an even better idea for a movie about Pokémon trainers.

Ash and friends and his mom get invited to Hollywood for the premiere of the movie that was made in the previous episode. Although he worries they won't let him go because he should be training, they were going to let him come anyway. Team Rocket decide that they are going to crash the party. Meowth remembers his life many years ago. He was starved for food, and overall unliked by everyone. The night he was tied up in a tree, he saw a movie where a Meowth got an ice cream and some fried chicken. He decided he would go to Hollywood to get those things he needed so badly. Team Rocket hid on the bus to Hollywood that Ash and friends were taking. It leads to an abandoned street where they find the old movie theater. The director is there to greet Ash and the group. Jessie and James agree to wait outside the theater while Meowth goes to meet up with some of his old friends. On his way, he remembers some more things he went through a long time ago in this street. He'd break into the snack stand to steal a piece of chicken just to survive. But the guy caught him, and he had a frying pan thrown at him. Knocking him down without the chicken, he struggled into the alley to find many more Meowth who were lead by a Persian. They threw him a little food. They were his friends. Later, he met a female Meowth named Meowsy and immediately fell in love. But, she had no interest in a dirty old street Meowth and her owner came by to take her in her diamond covered Pokéball. Meowth decided he should learn to talk and act human. So, he started by standing up straight. He was too slow, and the next time he was stealing some chicken the guy caught him and roughed him up. He started looking at a small group of people, and tried to say what they said. He got out a book and tried to learn to read and speak. Eventually, he could do it. Most impressed with himself, he proceeded back to Meowsy but was rejected again. This time because she thought he was a freak. Standing upright, and talking on

With only three weeks left before the Pokémon League competition, Ash, Brock and Misty head up to Mt. Hideaway to find one of the Elite Four Trainers.

Ash is training against Brock. Pikachu is battling Vulpix until Jigglypuff gets in the line of fire. Pikachu holds back its attack and Vulpix deflects it's fire attack to uncover some ancient artifacts. A girl named Eve swoops in to take the artifact they found. She explains about the ancient city of Pokémonpolis and tells of a warning written on an old tablet but she cannot understand it. In the night, Team Rocket sneak in to steal any valuable artifacts they can get out of the unsearched underground. Arbok, who was sent in to find them, comes out with a small black bar-like object which traps him inside along with the rest of Team Rocket. The group come out the following morning to discover the object on the ground. It captures the leader and some workers but the rest make it safely back to their camp to see the black thing turn into a giant Gengar. They then notice everything floating around inside. Ash, Misty and Brock go to stop the Gengar from destroying Pallet Town, but get its attention along with some of their Pokémon forcing them to retreat back to camp. They discover Eve under the spell making everything float. The glass around the artifact breaks, and the key to it connects. Then it turns into a giant Alakazam. The two giant Pokémon battle it out, until Jigglypuff sings a son, that doesn't work on them. Jigglypuff is flung off into the air, but it's song makes another artifact turn into a giant Jigglypuff. it starts to sing. Then, that puts the giant Pokémon to sleep and it whips out a paint brush to paint designs on their faces.

Ash goes to Professor Oak to ask for advice about what to do about the Pokémon League as he has not done much training being sidetracked the past while. He tells Ash it is too late but to try his best anyway. They hit the road to Indigo Plateau to find a guy named Otoshi who challenges Ash. If Otoshi wins, he may take all of Ash's badges. Ash defeats him, to discover he didn't have any badges. They were stolen, by Team Rocket. Meanwhile, James and Meowth discover the badges they just stole to be gone. Jessie had taken them, to go onto the Pokémon League alone. Otoshi's Marowak gets frustrated, and walks away. Otoshi despairs, until they spot Team Rocket's balloon. James and Meowth take off, but are stopped by Ash and searched. They find nothing, and James and Meowth are off to get Jessie. They find her, forgive her, and get back together. Otoshi battles them for the badges back, but almost loses until Marowak shows up to stop them. Marowak came back after remembering some of the better times with Otoshi. They get the badges back, and Otoshi and Ash go their separate ways towards the Pokémon League.

Ash has made it to the Pokémon League. A man is carrying the torch up towards the League, where it will burn throughout the entire event. Ash steps in and asks if he can carry the torch. Although Officer Jenny would not let him, the president of the Pokémon League decides to let him try. Of course, he does not get far until Team Rocket try to steal the torch, and they manage to get away with it. Further away, they struggle to keep it lit. They do not succeed and just end up getting burned. Fortunately, the president had a spare flame and gave Ash another try. Ash continues with the torch until someone else takes it, as it continues towards the center of the stadium where it will burn. The following day, as it is just about to reach the top, Team Rocket are there to intercept it and manage to get the flame into another robotic device which they have. They get inside, and Ash tries to stop them from getting away with it. Ash steps out in front, and so Team Rocket decide they are going to fry Ash with the flame. They hold the flame towards Ash, but much to their surprise it does not burn him. A Moltres emerges from the flame, burns out Team Rocket and they blast off again. The Moltres then landed in the large torch, and the flame is lit for the Pokémon League tournament to begin.

Ash goes in to sign up for the Pokémon League. In the Pokémon League competition, each participant must battle in all four arenas. After sign up is complete, he ends up battling in the water arena. Ash meets Gary before the battle, who is very confident as usual. Gary enters his battle and wins it. Ash meets his challenger in the water arena. His name is Mandy, and he is quite confident he will win as well. Before the battle, Ash gets Krabby from Oak through an exchange system. Then, he heads towards the arena for battle. Ash enters the arena. Just as the battle is about to begin, Team Rocket is in the announcer's stand cheering him on. They are soon carted away by a group of five Officer Jennies. Ash fights the battle hard. Using his Krabby, he manages to win the first battle which then evolves into a Kingler. Continually fighting the battles with Mandy's Pokémon, Ash wins them all much to the surprise of Mandy who was sure he would win. With the first Pokémon battle won, Ash faces the next arena.

Ash wins his second battle in the rock arena, as Squirtle defeats Nidorino. After the battle, Ash decides to go off to find something to eat as he and Pikachu are both starved. He leaves his other Pokémon behind to eat as well, although Misty and Brock feel he should have taken them to a Pokémon Center. They catch up with Ash, Pokéballs in hand, to tell Ash to take them to the center. They cannot because the center is filled up. After deciding to go looking for another center, Ash spots a restaurant. He arrives inside to find there is plenty of food there, except he has no money. Fortunately, they are offering free meals to participants in the Pokémon League and Ash gets the food for free. After a nice meal, and another close call for Togepi (where Pikachu saves the day as usual), they head out to notice Brock is missing. They find him out on the street watching all the Nurse Joys and Officer Jennies passing by. They then find a finger from the alley summoning them. They discover a hidden Pokémon Center, or so they think. Ash gives in his Pokémon, before noticing that Brock is not reacting the way he should when a Nurse Joy is around. They discover it is Team Rocket and they are getting away with Ash's Pokémon. The center turns into their balloon and they start to float away, until Onix stops them and brings back Ash's Pokémon. Then after piercing their balloon, Team Rocket is let off to blow away. Back in the competition in the ice arena, Ash is winning until the competitor calls out an Arcanine. The battle is hard as Arcanine melts the ice all around leaving Pikachu no place to run. Pikachu dives, shocks, and wins the battle.

Gary is battling his fourth match of the Pokémon League. His Nidoking is battling against a Golem. After a little fighting, Nidoking is defeated and Gary is out of the Pokémon League. This defeat makes Ash nervous that he too may lose his fourth battle. Brock tells him not to give up, and so he does not. Meanwhile, Team Rocket are trying selling things to get money. They seem to be good at it as they sell out of official Pokémon League badges. Meowth is up to his usual tricks and they are not official. He is in fact making them out of bottle caps. They decide to try a distraction with some fake Pikachu being taken away by their balloon. A couple of Officer Jennies spot the balloon and Growlithe takes it down. Jessie and James were going to use the distraction to allow them to steal all the spectators Pokémon with a vacuum. The Jennies notice their vacuum and ticket it. Team Rocket run for cover and disguise themselves as snack salesmen and start selling hot-dogs and ice-cream. Ash enters his last arena before he can battle in the Indigo arena. His opponent Jeanette starts with a Beedrill. Ash fights the Beedrill with his Bulbasaur. After a few close calls, Bulbasaur leech seeds it to victory. Next, Bulbasaur battles Scyther. Again it is close, but Bulbasaur wins again. Then, Jeanette brings out a Bellsprout. Ash believes it is going to be an easy win, but surprisingly to everyone Bellsprout defeats Bulbasaur. Ash sends Pikachu to take care of Bellsprout, but poor Pikachu is knocked out cold by Bellsprout's thin twig arm. Luckily before battle, Ash had gotten his Muk and this was his last hope for this match. Muk proves to be invulnerable to Bellsprout's attacks. Muk moves towards the helpless Bellsprout and smothers it. Ash has won his fourth match, and it is on to the central Indigo arena. After the match, Jessie and James found they had a successful day, and sold many hot-dogs and ice-cream. They are quite pleased with their ability to sell.

Ash's Mom and Professor Oak make a surprise visit to watch Ash battle in the Pokémon League Tournament.

Ash is to battle Richie in the next round of the Pokémon League competition. Misty is looking up some information on the computer about him. She finds that Richie won all of his first four rounds with just one Pokémon. Ash goes to the Pokémon Center and finds Richie there who was just picking up his Pokémon. Ash promises Richie a great battle the following day. Ash picks up his Pokémon and returns to the small house where he is staying to sleep for the night. The next day, they receive a phone call. It is Richie's voice, and rudely insults Misty over the phone. She hands it to Ash, and the voice tells Ash to meet him outside at a specific location and to bring Pikachu. When Ash arrives, he finds Richie (it is a dummy, except Ash thinks it is really Richie) and suddenly is trapped by Team Rocket. They throw him in their van and drive away, keeping Ash from the competition. Ash escapes using Squirtle to flood the van, and Team Rocket are up to their eyeballs in water. The back bursts open, and Ash starts to run back to be in time for the competition. Team Rocket get in his way again, bent on keeping him away from the league competition. He uses Bulbasaur and Pikachu to whip and shock them. He continues towards the league, but Team Rocket catch up on bicycles. They use Weezing to smog him out, but he hops on a bicycle and continues along. They catch up to him in their balloon and hook the bicycle. They start to float away, and so Pikachu is carried up by Pidgeotto to give them another big shock. Pidgeotto then starts to carry Ash toward the stadium. Meanwhile, back at the stadium after already being given ten additional minutes after the battle was supposed to start, they are about to declare that Ash has forfeit the match. Just as they almost declare Richie the winner, Ash shows up floating toward the stadium in the Team Rocket balloon. They begin the battle, and Ash sends Squirtle against Richie's Butterfree named Happy. Squirtle loses, and so Pikachu leaps out

Ash is sad about his loss at the Pokémon League. He is not speaking to anyone, and when Misty comes in to try to cheer him up it quickly turns into an argument between the two. Pikachu brings a quick finish to the argument with a thundershock on everyone. Ash and the gang decide to head out to cheer on Richie for his sixth round. Richie fights the match hard, and unfortunately loses. After coming out of the match, Richie is determined to try harder for next year which inspires Ash to do just the same. As they talk, both of their Pikachu play behind them until they fall into a hole dug by Team Rocket. They rush to save their Pikachu, but fall into another hole. Ash struggles to get out, but upon sliding back down, the hole collapses into deeper inside the ground. Jessie and James fish out the two Pikachu from the other hole and trap them in a cage. They get out of the hole with the help of their Pokémon Pidgeotto and Happy, and defeat Team Rocket. Back at the Pokémon League, they receive their badges for participating and are treated to a great display of fireworks. Team Rocket try to dig below the arena to get in, but end up being blown away along with the fireworks. Ash says goodbye to Richie and proceeds back home to Pallet Town.

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