After a long stay at Lilycove City, Ash and his friends are finally heading out for Mossdeep City. There is only one problem…they are late for the ferry! The group rushes along the coastline as May complains about Ash sleeping in. Ash begins to blame this on her and Brock tries to calm them down but can’t talk because he has a Frisbee in his mouth. Max tells them to stop and just keep running. Soon Pikachu points into the distance alerting the others that they are nearing the ferry.

They just make it aboard and the ferry sets off. Ash and co are on the second floor of the ship relieved that they made it. Max suddenly cuts in saying that this ferry isn’t correct. Ash is confused and Brock pulls out a map. He realizes that they must have boarded the wrong ferry! This one seems to be heading to a large island called Banba Island situated in between Mossdeep City and Lilycove.

The ferry docks in the harbor of the island and the group gets off. Max and Brock wonder how they could find another way to Mossdeep City and May mentions that they could head into the city and look for answers. Ash agrees and they decide to go sight seeing. Suddenly, an Ivysaur comes walking by carrying a box with its vines. May mistakes it for a Bulbasaur. Max corrects her as a Charmeleon waddles by carrying another box.

May again confuses this Pokemon with its pre-evolution and Max is forced to correct her once more. Finally, a Wartortle walks by carrying a long pole and May refers to it as a Squirtle. Max tries to correct her but can’t think of the Pokemon’s name. Brock cuts in explaining that it is called a Wartortle. Ash laughs a bit exclaiming that even Max forgets his Pokemon sometimes.

Suddenly, a teenage boy comes running down the street carrying three more boxes. He tells the three Pokemon to wait up but trips and lands face first into the pavement as the boxes come crashing down on him. Ash and co rush to see if he is ok and he says he’s fine. His three Pokemon also seem concerned. May compliments him on his Pokemon team and he thanks her. He then introduces himself as Jimmy and the group introduces themselves. When they are done with their introductions, Jimmy asks if they would accompany him to the nearby Referee Training School for a battle. Everyone is a little confused but decide to follow.

The campus lies in the forest where a large school building is. The building also has a park area surrounding it where the referees are trained. As Jimmy leads them into the grounds, he explains that he is an up and coming Pokemon Referee. Nearby, a woman is training some young kids on the basics of using the ref flags. With each whistle blow, the children switch hands and raise another flag. Jimmy explains that training to be a Pokemon Battle Referee is just like becoming a trainer in that it takes a lot of hard work and effort.

The Pokemon set the boxes down and Jimmy then calls out to the woman teacher, Sarina. She turns around and happily greets him. Brock is instantly head over heels for her. Sarina approaches them and asks Jimmy who they are. Jimmy introduces his friends and adds in that they are Pokemon trainers. Sarina is impressed and asks Ash and Brock if they would like to have a double battle with Jimmy reffing. Ash is confused and she explains that it would be good practice for the boy. Brock leaps towards her agreeing to do as she wishes. He flirts some more before max drags him away by the ear.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is intently watching the scene from the scope of the Magikarp sub. Meowth notices Pikachu but then also catches a glimpse of Jimmy’s three Pokemon. He instantly wants to steal them instead causing Jessie and James to ponder why. Meowth goes into one of his boss fantasies. In it, Giovanni is stamping a large stack of papers. Meowth explains that with the three Pokemon, he will be motivated to stamp faster and in turn have more free time. This would make him impressed enough to give them all promotions. With this in mind, the three all cheer and decide to go ahead with it.

Back at the Ref School, Ash and Brock are positioned on opposite sides of a battlefield. May and Max are on the sidelines with the rest of the students. Sarina begins the usual referee rules and then tells Jimmy to take over. He seems a bit nervous, but continues on with the rules. He tells the combatants to begin and Ash calls out Swellow and Corphish. Brock responds by sending out Mudkip and Lombre. Ash seems confident he can win and each trainer gives their Pokemon a little pep talk.

Jimmy lifts his flags signaling the start of the battle. Ash orders Swellow to use aerial ace and then tells Corphish to use bubblebeam. Corphish launches its attack as Swellow flips into the air. Brock has Lombre block the bubblebeam, but it seems to be slipping. Mudkip rushes up behind it and supports the Pokemon as it deflects the attack. Swellow then speeds in and knocks both Pokemon away with a fast aerial ace.

May and Max are very impressed with its strength. Jimmy seems to be too, but he also isn’t paying attention to his ref duties. Sarina tells him that Brock’s Pokemon look weak so he should declare Ash the winner. He nervously agrees but then notices Brock’s Pokemon getting up. He smiles and tells the combatants to continue. Corphish uses bubble knocking Lombre back. It weakly gets up, but Brock tells it to act fainted. It agrees and lays flat on its face. Sarina watches as Jimmy just stand there in awe. She seems to be a little annoyed.

Ash orders Swellow to come in for another aerial ace. It does so still thinking Lombre is down. Suddenly, the Pokemon gets up and launches a shocking razor leaf. Swellow is hit hard and lands panting next to Corphish. May and Max are enticed by Brock’s strategy. Brock has both his Pokemon launch water guns to take out Swellow, but Corphish leaps in front and takes the attack. It hits the ground hard and seems like it’s in a lot of pain. Jimmy watches this for some time and then cuts in, saying Ash’s Pokemon are unable to battle and Brock is the winner.

Ash is shocked by this and begins to yell. He says that his Pokemon still have fight left in them. Jimmy interjects saying Corphish has nothing left. Suddenly, Corphish leaps up ready for more. Jimmy is shocked and Sarina cuts in. She explains to Jimmy that Corphish is a water type and it was hit by water attacks. She goes on saying that a ref has to learn that a Pokemon hit by ineffective attacks may still have will left to fight. Jimmy seems a little hurt and says he’ll remember it next time.

Sarina then stops him again and informs him that she is very disappointed that he didn’t call Lombre out of the battle when it played fainted. He seems confused and she explains that it is against the rules to purposely tell a Pokemon to faint and still keep it in battle. Jimmy knows he did wrong and seems very mad at himself for it.

That evening, Ash and co discuss the match from their stay room in the school. Brock says getting the hang of all of the Pokemon Battle rules isn’t an easy task. Max then explains that he remembers how hard it was for his father to learn the rules. Brock agrees, saying that as a Gym Leader one must not only be able to battle, but battle by the rules as well. May nods in agreement. Suddenly, Pikachu notices Jimmy and his three Pokemon sitting outside.

The group heads out to find out what’s wrong. May asks if he’s ok and Jimmy says he is. He then puts his head down thinking of all the mistakes he made that morning. Ash apologizes for yelling at him, but Jimmy says he had a reason to. After some more discussion, Jimmy reveals to them that before he decided to become a Pokemon Referee, he was actually an inspiring trainer like Ash. Everyone is shocked and Jimmy explains that he loved catching and raising Pokemon.

Meanwhile, a large mecha crashes out of the sea and onto the beach. It bares tank treads and a weird circular body with prongs sticking out. Back at the campus, Jimmy begins to explain to the group about his years as a Pokemon trainer. He informs them that he started out with a Squirtle which eventually evolved into his Wartortle. He then goes into a flashback, telling the group about how he caught his other two Pokemon.

Wartorle and he were taking a break in the forest. They had little food left and Jimmy tried to hand over the last rice ball to his Pokemon. It wanted him to have it and so a game of shove began. As they pushed the food back and forth, Wartortle accidentally knocked it away and sent it rolling down the hill. It rolled right into Ivysaur’s mouth as it was yawning and the Pokemon ate it. He then explains that Ivysaur felt bad and decided to aid them in searching for food. Later, it decided to join Jimmy on his journey.

The flashback ends as May and Max seem impressed with Ivysaur’s helpfulness. Ash then asks how Jimmy got Charmeleon and he goes into another flashback. He explains that one day he fell into a lake and his Pokemon had to fish him out. After he came to, he realized he caught something under his shirt. It turned out to be a golden Magikarp! A passing fisherman was so in love with the golden color that he offered to trade Jimmy a Charmeleon for it. Jimmy accepted and that’s how he got his Charmeleon.

Ash and co are even more impressed and Max wonders how he fared with his three Pokemon. Jimmy explains that he only got one badge…the Cascade Badge! Everyone is now very enticed and ask how he managed to get one. He goes into another flashback in which he made it to the Cerulean City Gym and met Daisy. After helping her clean the gym, he was rewarded with the badge. Max is shocked that he didn’t have to battle her for it, but Jimmy explains that Misty, the real Gym Leader, wasn’t there when he went.

They then ask how he ended up on Banba Island. Jimmy goes into yet another flashback in which he explains that he and his Pokemon were sleeping on a small fishing boat when its support string came undone. He laughs, saying they just sort of floated there and ended up staying. May seems to love his story and then asks how he decided to train to be a ref. Jimmy explains that he loves his Pokemon and even though battling was fun, he felt like just being their friends and still viewing battles would be worth it.

Just then, Sarina interrupts the conversation. Brock goes heart-eyed as she informs Jimmy that his devotion to his Pokemon has really impressed her. Before Jimmy can speak, three large mechanical hands launch out and snatch his three Pokemon away. They all look up in shock as the mecha from the ocean appears. It is now in clear view showing that its circular body is actually a large Pokeball and the prongs all have mini Pokeballs attached. Team Rocket appears from the hatch and says the motto.

After, the Jessie presses a button and the three captured Pokemon are placed into the Pokeball prongs. The top side is clear so they are still visible. James gloats on how great their new mecha is, and then the team retreats inside and takes off. Jimmy rushes through the dust and manages to grab onto the mecha, exclaiming that he can’t loose his Pokemon.

When the dust clears, May notices Jimmy is gone and Brock says he must have gotten on Team Rocket’s mecha. Inside the mecha, Team Rocket gloats some more when they suddenly hear a banging noise. Jimmy is on top of the mecha banging a rock against Wartortle’s Pokeball cage. Team Rocket view this on a screen and Jessie tells Meowth to get rid of him. Meowth stops the mecha and makes it shake, causing Jimmy and his Pokemon to cry out.

Soon, Ash and co make it to the mecha and worry about Jimmy. Meowth gets annoyed and sends the mecha into spin drive. Jimmy’s Pokemon watch in horror as their trainer is thrown from the mecha and lands hard on the ground by Ash and co. They help him up and Jimmy seems depressed that he failed. Sarina then cuts in saying that he can’t give in. She explains that the way he feels for his Pokemon is the way they feel for him, and they are his friends. Ash and May build on this and Jimmy begins to realize it’s true. Sarina then adds in that part of being good at anything to do with Pokemon is learning that Pokemon battle for their trainers, and their trainers should battle for them.

Jimmy is convinced and Brock suddenly notices something. The others look up to see all of Jimmy’s Pokemon are trying hard to break free. Jimmy encourages them but Team Rocket just laughs explaining that the cages are indestructible. Jimmy rushes to help them but is batted away by a mechanical hand. Suddenly, all three Pokemon roar and Wartortle begins to glow!

Everyone is shocked and Team Rocket is freaked. With the increase in size, Wartortle smashes through the cage and appears as a Blastoise! Jimmy is shocked that it evolved and it leaps down in front of him. Sarina tells Jimmy that it evolved because of his devotion. He nods and then had it use hydro pump to easily break the other Pokemon’s cages. With each one free, Team Rocket is now scared shi…I mean stiff. With a combined razor leaf, flamethrower, and hydro pump straight on, the mecha explodes and Team Rocket is sent blasting off.

With them gone, Sarina congratulates Jimmy saying that he showed great skills in battle with his Pokemon. She believes he could become a great ref and an awesome battler if he desired. Max thinks the hydro pump was awesome and May scans Blastoise with her Pokedex. Sarina then tells Jimmy to focus more on battling and the ref skills will come naturally. He begins to agree and everyone congratulates him. That morning, Ash and co say their goodbyes, and with a little flirting from Brock, the group then boards a small boat and heads out towards Mossdeep City.

Thanks To GoldenNoctowl For Writing this for us