Ash has just won the Heat Badge in Lavaridge Gym, and is now gloating over his four badges as they have lunch. Then Max asks where they should head next, and Ash thinks for a second, but has no idea. Then, Brock takes out the map, looks at it for a second, and says the next Gym would technically be in Fortree City. However, Brock has a better suggestion: They take a shortcut over the mountain, back through Mauville City again, then head back to Petalburg Gym, and challenge their leader. After all, Ash should be strong enough, now that he has four badges. Max and May then pipe up in excitement about visiting their home again, and seeing their parents. May is especially excited to tell her father about her Beautifly and Skitty she got on her journey, as well as her Fallarbor Contest Ribbon. Ash, remembering being beaten up by Vigoroth, is of course excited to have a rematch with Norman and prove himself. So in the end they agree, and get up, and make their way through the mountains back to Mauville City!

As they walk through the field, suddenly they see a Spinda walk by and block their way. Ash then notices its eyes, and wonders if it's in good condition. Once he checks the Pokedex, however, he realizes that's how it's supposed to be, and also learns that they always have different spot patterns. Then, a bunch of other Spinda come and join it, and they all start moving in weird motion… and then another one approaches, but it seems a little shy. May then notices that one of it's spots is shaped like a heart, and comments how cute it is. Just then, a young girl comes by, just as all the Spinda move away, and the heart-marked one runs away as quick as it can. Brock is about to do his usual drama, when he facefaults and notices another man approaching.

To Brock's luck, her name is Clare, and this man is actually her father. They all introduce themselves, and Brock goes on his act again and starts talking poetically, until Max pushes him away. Then, her father asks if she found her Spinda yet, and she says she did, but it ran away again. Then he explains what's going on, and asks if anyone's seen her Spinda, and takes out pictures just to get a better idea. They recognize it as the one with the heart-mark they saw a few minutes ago, and say that they have seen it. So, they offer to help find it, and Brock grabs Clare's hands and says he'll put all he's got into it, and then shakes her father's hand as well. Of course, they don't notice the radar dish in the trees…

…Where J&J have been listening, of course. They heard the whole situation, and decide to come up with a plan to swipe that Spinda, and maybe use it as bait to steal Pikachu.

Ash and co start yelling in the woods for Spinda, but to no avail. Suddenly, they hear a rustle in a nearby bush, and to their luck, out comes a Spinda! They look at it a bit, but then notice that it's not it, since the spot on its forehead is round. Then, Brock notices another one nearby, which seems like it has a heart shaped spot, and he's almost sure that it's that one! Just before it runs away, he makes a slide, grabs it. Then he takes a closer look at it… and to his surprise, it doesn't exactly have a spot in the shape of a heart. It has a spot in the shape of a BROKEN heart! Disappointed, Brock drops this one and lets it go. Then, Clare and her father notice another one in the distance, which looks like it might be it. Sure enough, it is indeed the one. Ash and Max hide behind a nearby tree… and while it isn't looking, they leap out, grab it… and miss. They were too loud, and it ran away. Then, they notice it ran to the group of wild Spinda! Now it'll be even harder, have to look closely at all of them, till they find it. So they each take a different portion to look at, and search. They look and look… but before they have any luck, they notice a wind nearby, and as you probably expected, TR are using the vacuum trick to suck up all the Spinda in the balloon!

Pikachu almost gets sucked up there too, but Ash saves it in time. However, they then notice the last Spinda about to enter the vacuum, and it's the one with the heart mark! Too late, it's already been sucked in. James then opens the can where the Spinda's ended up, to have fun with their new loot. He takes out the Spinda with the heart mark… and it uses Dizzy Punch, confusing them both! As they get out of their state, they yell at it, but then its swirly eyes start to glow, and it uses Hypnosis, putting them to sleep. The balloon then dies, and starts descending slowly, 'till it hits the ground.

They run towards the balloon, to find groggy J&J, and the heart-marked Spinda! Quickly, they rush to grab it, but then the rest of them come out, and it runs away in the commotion! Sadly, they go back to searching the hard way again. J&J are also calling it and having no luck, but then Jessie has an idea as she sees a wild Teddiursa walk by.

After they get Teddiura to cooperate, they get their nets ready as they give it a disguise of a Spinda and tie it to a tree. Now they're gonna wait for more Spinda to come, so Jessie meanwhile tells the Teddiursa to practice moving in Spinda motions instead of trying to escape. Just then, a wild Ursaring that happens to be its father sneaks up behind Jessie, but only James and Meowth notice, but she ignores them. Then she notices Teddiursa looking past her and speaking, so she looks behind, and when she notices, Ursaring lets out a Hyper Beam, blasting them off. Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, another young man is walking around, who seems to be looking for someone…

Ash and co are still on that search with Clare and her father, so Ash decides to use the lookout technique with Taillow. Then, May and Brock see one they think is it, and Brock slides, grabs it… and once again, it's that same one with the broken-heart-mark. Clare seems very upset that it's almost a hopeless case, and then May asks why she needs that Spinda so much… but she says it's a long story, it all started when she met it, she was nearby in this field, reading her book, and then it came… and now she needs it for something, but she changes the subject before she says what exactly…

J&J have landed on a nearby mountain with a circling cliff, and are now trying to devise another plan. In the end the decide to give Meowth the disguise of a Spinda, and tie him to a rock as bait. They do, and he waits… he practices moving too, and then the heart-Spinda finally approaches… so they get their nets ready, and finally slam them down… but they both land on Meowth instead! Frustrated, the three of them chase Spinda across the cliff, and when they get to the end, to their surprise, Spinda starts to dance wildly, to the beat! Before they realize that this is Teeter Dance, J&J catch on, and they get into it as well, and they start dancing too, following Spinda's moves. Then they start dancing too wildly, that the part that they're standing on breaks, and they fall into the river.

Then, Spinda sees Brock, May, and Clare approaching, coming up the mountain, and quickly runs away again. They chase it and chase it… until they get to the beautiful flowery happy field of Spinda that Clare was talking about, where she first met that Spinda! Then, to Clare's surprise, the heart-Spinda actually seems to want to talk to her. She looks down, and realizes that it's holding a flower! Apparently all it wanted was to surprise her with that flower… how sweet. She happily takes it, and thanks it. Then, May notices Taillow, Max, Ash, and Clare's father, who have apparently found Spinda, with them! They're glad to have finally united. Brock then feels something tugging at his leg, and then he looks down and notices the heartbreak-Spinda once again, who seems to like him. Just then, they see a young man approaching (the same guy who was wandering earlier), calling Clare. She recognizes him as Caine, and seems to be happy to see him.

He was looking for her, too! Her father then explains that Caine is her fiancé (which of course gets Brock in a mad facefault), and Ash and co then realize that she wanted that heart-Spinda to give to him as a love present. She gives it to him, and then notices her holding the flower… and remembers the time when he first met her in this field, at the same time she met Spinda, and he gave her that flower. Then she realizes that the Spinda wanted to give her the flower to help her, so it won't seem like she lost it when she finds Caine, which would have been really embarrassing. Meanwhile, the heartbreak-Spinda is still clinging to a depressed Brock.

Suddenly, the ground starts to quake, and out rise J&J with a big Spinda robot! Again, they use the old trick of the arms to grab and collect the Spinda. Ash decides to use Pikachu, but first, Caine has Spinda try a Hypnosis. However, they push a button and take out a reflector dish, reflecting the Hypnosis back at them, putting Spinda to sleep! Pikachu is then about to use a Thunderbolt, but then they have the machine use a “Rocket Punch” to distract them, while they use the arms to grab Caine's Spinda. Clare then seems really upset, since she feels like she blundered with Caine. Brock, however, not knowing the reason she's upset, tries his best to make her feel better, so he sends out all of his Pokemon: Forretress, Lotad, and Mudkip. He has Mudkip use Water Gun, and Lotad use Razor Leaf, but know luck. Meowth pushes a button and Rocket Punches them both. He then throws Forretress at it, and commands a strong Tackle. As soon as the attack connects, the Spinda robot breaks, letting all the Spinda out… but it's still about to explode, and some Spinda, including the one with the heart, are still there! Before they could do anything, it does explode, sending that Spinda flying, and Brock catches it… or wait, Caine actually caught it. Brock realizes that once again he caught the one with the broken heart, and sighs. A Thunder attack from Ash's Pikachu sends them blasting off, once and for all.

Clare and Caine thanks each other for the help and rewards, and admit their love for each other. Brock hides behind a bush, disappointed, hugging the heartbreak-Spinda. Ash and co congratulate them, say their goodbyes, and continue heading to Mauville City.

Thanks To Spinazak For Writing this for us