As Ash, May, and Brock are heading through the desert to Fallarbor Town so May can compete in the next Pokemon Contest, they suddenly come into a zone where the weather gets so hot and humid and muggy, that they all feel drowsy. Suddenly, Pikachu gets so drowsy and sleepy, that it falls over and faints. May, surprised, starts to wonder what’s going on as well… and then she falls over and faints too. Max and Brock then fall over and faint too, and Ash tries calling for help… but apparently he falls over and faints as well.

After a while of them lying on the ground unconscious, a Camerupt approaches them. And when they wake up, they find themselves in a nearby hut, which happens to be the house of the family of the owner of the Camerupt. They all thank them for sending Camerupt over to rescue them, and explain how it’s very dangerous in that climate of heat waves. Then they introduce themselves as the Winstrates, and the little girl, Vivi, seems to like Max a lot. Ash then learns from the Pokedex that Camerupt can take the heat anywhere, and nothing is too hot for them to handle. Then, the grandmother, noticing Ash has a Pokedex, asks if he’s participating in the Hoenn League. He says he is, and she then tells about how her oldest grandson, Vito, left on a journey to become the Hoenn League champion, and never returned since. But from what they hear, he’s a pretty good trainer. Ash then says that he’d love to meet him some day and challenge him.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket are walking in the desert, and suddenly they start to feel hot and drowsy, and they all fall over and faint. Before they know it, a guy comes and shakes them awake, and asks if they’re okay. Then he offers them a meal, and after they eat and feel a lot better, he introduces himself as Vito Winstrate, and he came because he heard they were in trouble, and he was on his way home. He then explains how he left his home a year ago in hopes of becoming a champion, and hasn’t returned yet since. He’s become an excellent trainer, but he hasn’t become the League Champion yet. And, he just happened to be passing by his house… but he was kind of embarrassed to come home, given that he hasn’t seen them in a while, and wouldn’t know what to say… and plus the fact that he’s not quite the League Champion made him a little more shy. So, Team Rocket offer to help him somehow…

Back at the Winstrates house, they give Ash and co a tour of the yard, and introduce themselves as Grandma Vicky, Mother Victoria, Father Victor, and Daughter Vivi. And they’re known throughout the area for being passionate battlers, especially their son, Vito, who’s probably an Elite by now. Then, being aware that Ash is training to be the league champion, challenge him and his friends to a battle, because who knows, they may meet Vito someday in the league. Ash happily accepts, as do May and Brock. Max, however, isn’t a trainer yet, but Ash offers to let him borrow one of his Pokemon. They take them to the battle field, and start the matches. First round is Brock VS Victor, Vicky refs. Victor uses Zigzagoon, Brock uses Mudkip. Brock starts by having Mudkip use Water Gun, which Zigzagoon easily dodges. Then, to his surprise, Victor has Zigzagoon use Thunderbolt, knocking Mudkip out! This round goes to Victor Winstrate. Ash wonders how Zigzagoon can use Thunderbolt, and he says it’s a special trick for all the Water and Flying types that come.

Next round is May VS Victoria. Victoria sends out Roselia, and May suddenly gets a sinking feeling, remembering Drew and his Roselia. She decides to go with the same strategy, and uses Beautifly. Beautifly starts with a powerful Gust, which makes it hard for Roselia to even move. Then, Beautifly uses Silver Wind, knocking out Roselia! This round goes to May.

Now it’s Max’s turn up against Vivi, and Ash offers him a Pokemon of his choice, and he picks Corphish. Max tells Vivi that this is his first time being a trainer, and not to laugh if he does badly. But she just winks and says he’d probably do good either way, making Max blush. Vivi sends out Marill, but Max seems to be in dreamland looking at Vivi. Ash then yells at him to pay attention, and he sends out Corphish. Max tells Corphish to go a little easy on this… but Corphish, not being familiar with Max, goes and beats up Marill with a Crabhammer, fainting it. This round goes to Max… but is he happy? Vivi starts crying and hugging her Marill, and Max looks all speechless, and apologizes. But she doesn’t seem to like him anymore as much as she used to, and starts crying. Max, realizing that she doesn’t like him anymore, starts crying too, and returns Corphish to Ash. Next round is Ash VS Vicky.

Meanwhile, Vito is standing outside the house with Team Rocket, wondering what to do next. Team Rocket cheer for him, but Vito tells them to be quiet. Then, they peek in the window, and find the house empty! Vito then somehow assumes from his past knowledge, without second thought, that they’re training in the battle field, so they start heading over there. When they get there, they spy from behind one of the rocks on the battle, as Team Rocket recognize the twerps, and Vito recognizes his family. Brock refs the match this time, as Ash uses Pikachu, and Vicky uses Camerupt. Pikachu starts with a Thunderbolt, which hits Camerupt, but doesn’t do anything whatsoever. Max then yells at Ash that Camerupt is a Ground type, and those are resistant to electricity! So Ash has Pikachu use a Quick Attack, which hurts Camerupt a lot, and knocks it over. Vicky then yells to get up and not give up. Vito, who is watching this, seems a little disappointed, as he expected better. However, Camerupt manages to get back on all fours after struggling, making Vito relieved. Now, Vicky has Camerupt use a powerful Sandstorm from its nostrils, which affects Pikachu as well as it affects Max, May, and Brock. Now Camerupt uses Take Down, but Pikachu, thinking fast, stops it with an Iron Tail. Vito’s pretty impressed at both of their battle skills. Suddenly, Camerupt’s face gets all red, and Vicky commands an Eruption! Camerupt’s back erupts, and ashes start to go all over the place, and everyone moves out of the way, and even Pikachu manages to withstand the attack while staying on the field. Team Rocket then get scared and run away, and before Vito can say anything, he’s on his own.

The smoke clears, and Camerupt is chasing Pikachu throughout the field, but can’t seem to keep up. They both get faster and faster, and eventually Camerupt gets out of control, but as it runs after Pikachu, they get to a step, which Pikachu hides under, and Camerupt is too busy to stop, and runs right over Pikachu, not hurting it at all. However, it still doesn’t realize that it missed Pikachu, and it’s still running out of control, headed right towards the Winstrate’s garden! They all just decide to run after it and try to stop it somehow…

Thinking fast, Vito releases an Alakazam, and has it use Rain Dance, by spinning and releasing from it’s spoons a blue light into the sky, which becomes rain. This slows down Camerupt, who seems to be running out of gas. It stops right at the garden, and happily sniffs. Vito thanks Alakazam, and they go back to their hiding place in the rocks.

Later, they clouds clear up, and they call the Pikachu VS Camerupt match a draw, and guess they were just lucky because of the storm, having not known the real reason. Vito seems a bit hurt, and thinks about coming out and surprising them. Suddenly, he gets distracted seeing Team Rocket in the Meowth balloon, with the boxing glove snatching tool they use to catch Pikachu, as usual. Once again, Pikachu tries to escape and fails, and TR then cackle and say that they have their son Vito on their side... which seems to shock them that he’s even around. Vito hears this, and is very angry that they backstabbed him… so he has Alakazam use Psychic, breaking the glove and releasing Pikachu right into Ash’s arms, yet they still have no idea where it came from. Then, Meowth pushes a button releasing another arm from under the balloon… but now Vito thinks fast, and sends out a Swellow, which uses a strong Wing Attack, ripping the balloon to shreds, and blasting them off.

Vicky seems to suspect that Vito is around by seeing Swellow, but assumes that he couldn’t be, he should be training. Ash now really wants to meet him, and Vicky encourages him to say hi from his grandmother if he does meet them, because she loves him, and has a lot of faith in him, and best wishes. Vito hears this, and is very flattered… but instead of coming out, he decides to continue his journey.

Ash and co say their goodbyes to the Winstrates, and Camerupt also does… but a little too much, he uses an Eruption to express it, and Ash and co run off and say their last goodbyes…

Thanks To Spinazak For Writing this for us