The episode begins with Our Heroes sailing away from Evergrande City on a boat after the spectacular finish to the Hoenn League tournament where Tyson emerged victorious as Hoenn League Champion. Before doing so, we see the group seeing off Morrison and Tyson, who both leave on separate boats to go on further adventures and visiting home.

In the middle of a peaceful spot of Hoenn, we find the group settling down to some of Brock's delicious stew and rice-balls. Max looks at the rice-balls excited, and remembers how delicious his mother's food was, and how he can't wait taste it and see her again. Brock asks Ash if he will be going to see Professor Oak in Pallet Town, and Ash says that he will. Max mentions that he will be going to visit Professor Birch after going home, with May and Brock going to their respective home towns.

Suddenly, Munchlax pops out of its Pokeball and proceeds to grab and eat all of the group's riceballs. Luckily, Brock has made some more for the group to eat, and the group tuck in. The peaceful times cannot last forever, as after eating, the group come to a fork where they must seperate. May says that she hopes Pikachu will be okay, and the group say their goodbyes, with May and Max heading off in one direction, and Ash and Brock heading another.

While Ash and Brock are on their way back to Kanto, we find that Team Rocket has already made it there, finding themselves in front of Team Rocket's secret Kanto base situated situated in the mountains. The group look on at toward the base, tired and depressed knowing that sooner or later, they will have to face their boss, Giovanni. The three proceed to declare their names to the guards protecting the base's entrance. (Complete with grey poles as weapons to protect the base against anybody that should try to break in.) They request to be taken to see Giovanni, who is sitting in his office with Persian gazing out of the window. His secretary alerts him to Jessie, James and Meowth's request to see him, and he tells her to let them in. The three enter his office, and James formally declares their names. Giovanni asks about their activities and success in Hoenn, and just as Meowth is about to tell him what happened, James steps on him to shut him up. Giovanni becomes suspicious by this, and asks again what hapened. Jessie, nervously tells him that they succeeded in taking down Team Aqua and Team Magma, as ordered.

After making their excuses, the group leaves Giovanni's office, pretty happy with themselves. Meowth happily suggests that they should go steal some Pokemon to give to Giovanni as a present, and the group once again hope for promotion. The moment is ruined however, when two very familiar faces ride up on segway scooters: Butch and Cassidy, the top ranking and long term rivals of Jessie and James. The two groups argue, and James, as usual, gets Butch's name wrong. And as usual, Butch responds with his usual angry response. Both groups tell the other to get out of their way, and Jessie angrily kicks Cassidy's segway and they continue arguing over which of the two groups is better. Before things can get any more tense, however, a young Team Rocket member clad in the traditional grunt attire rushes towards his five seniors, shouting for Butch and Cassidy. (But getting Butch's name wrong in the progress, causing Butch to become more frustrated.) The young Team Rocket member tells Butch and Cassidy that ProfessorNanba has requested that they come to his laboratory at the double. The two agents smile, and race off down the hallway on their segways leaving Jessie, James and Meowth in the dust.

We then cut to Jessie, James and Meowth leaving the Team Rocket secret base via a pair of automatic doors guarded by yet another Team Rocket member with a grey pole. Meowth suggests that now that they are back in Kanto, they should do their best. James agrees and says that it can be a new start... a new Team Rocket! Just as things look bright, Butch and Cassidy come running through the entrance to the base with jet packs on their back. Racing straight past Jessie, James and Meowth, they ignite them and fly off while Butch mockingly tells the three to do their best. Angry that Butch and Cassidy get all the cool gadgets, Jessie grabs one of the grunts guarding the entrance and demands to know where they can get some. Another Team Rocket grunt, pulling along a cart covered in an orange sheet calls over to them, saying that he has just what they need. The three happily run over to the cart, excited that they too will get some jetpacks. The grunt pulls off the sheet, to reveal simple pogo sticks instead of the hgh tech equipment that they were hoping for. Taking whatever they can however, the three decide to use them as the scene cuts to them hopping away from the base on their brand new pogo sticks.

Back in Hoenn, May and Max have finally reached their home in Petalburg City. They clean their feet on the mat at the door, and they greet their mother before all three head off to Norman's mini indoor jungle where his Pokemon are kept to see how they are doing. May releases her entire Pokemon team, who all run off to play, rest, and check out their new surroundings. All apart from Munchlax, that is, who decides to chow down on the group's Pokemon food.

The scene then cuts once again back to Kanto where two old friends, Ash and Brock, part ways for what is the third time in their adventures. While Ash is heading back to Pallet Town, Brock is going to go see his family again in Pewter City and so, meeting another fork in the road, the two friends separate once again.

After a long walk towards his hometown, Ash settles down for a rest by a nearby river to have a bite to eat with Pikachu. Just as he is about to dig in, a Poliwag pops out of the water. Ash, excited, turns around and calls over to Max, but stops as he remembers that he was alone and that he and his friends had parted ways. Brock too, he says. Not wanting to sit around for too long, however, Ash decides to get back on his way to Pallet Town.

To get there however, Ash must travel through Viridian City. As he walks through the busy streets of Viridian City, Ash and Pikachu absorb the sights before he notices the brand new Viridian Gym- rebuilt after the old Gym was destroyed after Ash's battle against Jessie acting as Viridian City Gym Leader. As he admires the new building, a bright red car speeds up beside him and a large man wearing sun glasses, a colourful blue Hawaiian and cream coloured shorts leaps out. The man instantly greets Ash, asking him if he is a Pokemon Trainer. Ash says that he is, and the man introduces himself as Scott. Scott asks Ash is he is here to challenge the Gym Leader, but Ash tells him that he already has the badge from Viridian Gym. Scott seems impressed, and mentions the Battle Frontier challenge. Ash asks what the Battle Frontier Challenge is, but just as Scott is about to explain, a loud crash stops him mid-sentence. Just feet away is an old woman who has fallen off her bike, clutching her groceries. Ash helps the ld lady to the feet, and introduces himself as Scott picks up her bike. Scott innocently asks where the old woman is going, but she says that she is already there. Ash, shocked, asks is she means the Viridian Gym. The woman replies that she does and introduces herself as Agatha the Gym Leader of Viridian.

Inside the Gym, Ash and Pikachu are in awe of how big it is. Agatha turns around, and says that she knows exactly who Scott is, causing Scott to be embarrassed of his apparent fame. Ash wonders if he can have a battle, but Agatha tells him that she has already fought two trainers that day, both of which failed to put up any sort of challenge. Not giving up, Ash mentions that he just recently got into the Best Eight of the Hoenn League Tournament. Scott is extremely impressed, and Agatha agrees to a battle. Agatha asks Scott if he will be referee, and Scott agrees.

The two trainers face off, and Scott announces that this battle will be a one-on-one Pokemon battle, with no time limit. Ash sends out Pikachu, and Agatha sends out Gengar. Ash, always interesting in seeing a Gengar in battle, checks its details on his Pokedex. Scott declares the battle started, and Ash orders Pikachu to use Quick Attack. Pikachu speeds towards the ghost type Pokemon, who stands there, grinning silently. However, when Pikachu should have hit Gengar, it runs straight through it. Ash remembers that normal type attacks won't work on ghost types, and Gengar turns around to Pikachu and sniggers. Not wanting to let this faze him, Ash calls for Pikachu to use Thunderbolt. Just as the electric attack hits Gengar, it melts into the floor and becomes flat, sliding underneath Pikachu and emerging behind it. Agatha then orders Gengar to use Shadow Ball. Gengar does so, hurling a large ball of powerful dark energy at Pikachu, who skillfully jumps over the attack and lands to meet Gengar head on. Ash quikly orders Pikachu to use Iron Tail, which smashes into Gengar sending it smack into the Gym's roof. Scott is impressed, and Agatha marvels at Pikachu's amazing speed. Ash orders Pikachu to attack again, and Pikachu leaps up at Gengar. Agatha responds quickly however, and orders Gengar to use Shadow Ball. Gengar does so again, and the attack hits Pikachu pushing it back. However, Pikachu claws its way over the Shadow Ball again and leaps once again at Gengar as Ash orders Pikachu to use another Iron Tail. Agatha counters by calling for a Double Team, which creates several illusionary clones of Gengar which fly towards and pass through Pikachu, causing Pikachu to fall back down to the ground with the Double Team clones following. Agatha orders another Shadow Ball, and while they are charging, Ash tells Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on the entire arena destroying the clones and zapping the real Gengar. However, it was not fast enough to stop the attack, which fires off into Pikachu direction. Ash quickly orders is Pokemon to use Iron Tail again, and Pikachu does so, jumping over the ball while doing so. Pikachu's hardened tail smashes straight into Gengar, knocking the ghost Pokemon back.

However, despise taking so many attacks, Agatha's Gengar is strong and it once again gets to its feet as Agatha orders Gengar to use Hypnosis. The attacks hits Pikachu, stopping Pikachu to stop in its tracks as the power of the attack takes effect. This is not the extent of Agatha's plan, as she orders the second attack of her combo: Dream Eater. A shadow of Gengar shoots out towards Pikachu, passing through Ash's most trusted Pokemon and sending it out for the count. Scott announces that Pikachu is unable to battle, and that Agatha and Gengar are the winners. Ash picks up his defeated friend, who rests tired in his arms. Agatha thanks Ash for the good battle. Ash does the same, and Scott chuckles as he tells Ash who Agatha really is. Not only is she the Gym Leader of the Viridian Gym, but she is also a member of the Elite Four: A group of trainers which stand above all else as the strongest in the world. Agatha explains that while she is a member of the Elite Four, she has taken over Viridian Gym as the teporary Gym Leader as they try to find a replacement. Agatha compliments Ash and his Pikachu, saying that they are a good team. Ash happily relies that he'll do his best in the future.

As Ash and Scott leave the Gym, Team Rocket watch from afar. Jessie says that Pikachu is amazing, as the group plan on how to steal the electric Pokemon once again to give to Giovanni.

As Team Rocket fly their balloon behind the Gym, Scott once again brings up the subject of the Battle Frontier. Ash becomes excited as Scott explains that only the best trainers can enter the Frontier Challenge, and that anybody that can stand up in a battle against Agatha is a good enough trainer for the Frontier. Scott tells Ash to listen, and goes on to explain that the Battle Frontier tour takes place across Kanto with various facilities dotted across the country. Each facility is headed by a Frontier Brain, and if you manage to beat that Brain, you get a Frontier Symbol. Scott asks if Ash would like to take the Battle Frontier Challenge, and Ash agrees. However, their conversation is interrupted as a robotic arm shoots out and grabs Pikachu from Ash's shoulder: It's Team Rocket!

As James said before, they are a new Team Rocket and proceed to recite a brand new motto. The three mock Ash and Scott from their balloon, with Pikachu hanging beneath them. Ash runs towards the balloon as they begin to float off. Suddenly, several flashes of light speed towards the balloon and Pikachu is cut loose. Jessie whips around angrily, wondering what just happened. Standing outside the Viridian Gym is Agatha along with her Golbat. Jessie screams that she won't let Agatha stop them from getting Pikachu, and sends out Seviper. James joins in and sends out Cacnea to join Seviper in battle. Jessie orders Seviper to use Bite, but Ash quickly tells Pikachu to use Thunderbolt. Seviper dives towards Pikachu, but Pikachu skillfully dodges, grabs Seviper's tail and swings the snake over its head and back at Team Rocket. Pikachu then uses Thunderbolt, which zaps the flying Seviper before it smacks straight into Jessie's face. James orders Cacnea to use Pin Missile, but Agatha jumps in and orders her Golbat tosend the attack right back at them with Supersonic. Ash and Agatha then team up for a double attack, with Ash ordering Thundebolt and Agatha ordering Air Cutter. Both attacks hit the balloon, causing it to explode and sending Jessie, James, Meowth and their Pokemon blasting off again.

With the excitement over, Scott decides to head on his way. He starts up his car's engine and wishes Ash luck on his Battle Frontier challenge. Saying their goodbyes, Scott rides off into the city leaving Ash to head back on his way to Pallet Town.

After a long walk and many sights, Ash and Pikachu finally reach the very place where they began their adventure, Pallet Town. Excited at being back in his hometown, Ash quickly runs back into his house to be welcomed by his mother and another very unexpected voice. Walking out of the kitchen is Misty, who greets Ash and Pikachu. Pikachu, happy to see Misty after all this time, leaps into her arms as Ash looks on bemused. Misty isn't the only familiar face however, as Ash's mother and Professor Oak come out to greet Ash too. There is also a new face, as an Azurill walks up beside Misty's feet to say hello too. Misty explains that Tracey gave her Azurill, who is the baby of his Marill. Ash strokes Azurill's head, saying Misty's new baby Pokemon is cute.

Just as the group are about to dig into a delicous meal, a loud horn beeps from outside which causes the group to look out. Standing there are two very familiar faces, Max and Professor Birch who have come from Hoenn.

The episode ends happily with old friends reunited, and familiar faces together again.

Thanks to Alfonso for writing this for us