It's Princess Festival Day, and females everywhere are enjoying monstrous sales and discounts. Misty is estatic, and she tells Ash and Brock that they have to do everything she says. Jessie tells James the same thing, and he asks how this day would be different from any other day. Good point. Jessie and Misty both go shopping, grabbing almost everything they can get. During a lunch break, Misty can get all sorts of delicious food for free. Brock sees a waitress walk by, and asks her if he can be her prince for the day. She thinks he is cute, but much too young. Brock is upset, and starts to eat quickly. Misty points at a sign proclaiming yet another sale, and she tells Ash and Brock that they're going to check it out as soon as she's done.
Meanwhile, Jessie is busy trying on clothes, charging them onto the Team Rocket account. A few minutes later, outside, James complains about how bored he is. Jessie tells him to quit complaining, and tells them about how she's buying stuff for the Boss to get him to not be so mad at them. Meowth says that they should try to find a half-price Pikachu and Jessie is about to respond when they all hear a rustling in some bushes. They look over, and out walks a rather large Lickitung. He sticks out his huge tongue and gobbles up the food Jessie was holding. He then uses his tongue to open up her other packages and eats the food inside them. He eats some clothes, but quickly spits them out. Jessie is enraged and, just as Lickitung is walking away, she tosses out Arbok to teach him a lesson. Lickitung paralyzes the huge cobra with one lick and Jessie is even angrier. She throws an empty Pokéball at it and manages to catch it. James asks her what she is going to do with it, and she says she'll deal with him later, after making some more purchases.
In a department store, several women are fighting over some clothes, including Jessie and Misty. Ash and Brock are sitting nearby and Ash comments on how dangerous shopping can be. On the other side of the wall, James expresses the fact that he feels he isn't tough enough to be a woman. Misty picks up a blue fabric and says that its perfect, but Jessie wants it. They decide to settle the matter with a battle, but another, much larger woman walks by and picks up the piece that they were fighting over. They demand it back, but she glares at them angrily. They apologize, and hear an announcement over the PA. It explains that the Queen of the Princess contest about begin. It explains that the winner will get a collection of Princess dolls and get a picture taken with movie star Fiorella Cappuccino. Ash, Brock, and James are all run over by the many women who want to enter. Jessie and Misty agree to use this contest to settle their dispute.
A few minutes later, the contest begins with a beauty contest. This appears to have no purpose as the announcer explains that winner of the contest and the dolls will be the winner of a Pokémon Tournament. He explains that the contestants have been divided up into two divisions, and that each participant can use up to four Pokémon.
A few minutes later, Misty begs Ash and Brock to borrow a couple of their Pokémon to even out her team. Ash says that his Pokémon won't listen to just anyone's orders, but Misty goes on to say that if they tell the Pokémon to, they will. Ash asks her why she wants to win the contest so much, and she says that her sisters all had their own dolls, and she always got hand-me-downs. Having something of her very own means a lot to her. Brock thinks that it's just a girl thing, but Ash wonders a little too loudly if it's just a Misty thing. Needless to say, he gets smacked by an angry Misty. She ends up using Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Vulpix, and her own Staryu. She assures herself that she has a good team, and Ash and Brock tell their Pokémon to obey Misty's orders. Meanwhile, Jessie borrows James' Weezing and has Meowth help her out as well. Both Jessie and Misty do quite well and, soon enough, both end up at the finals, facing each other.
James and Meowth are surprised to find out that Jessie is actually planning to follow the rules. She goes on to explain how she always got depressed by the festival, for it reminded her of what she never had. She says how her family was too poor to afford the expensive dolls, and James tells her that he hopes she wins. The battle begins with Jessie's Arbok against Pikachu. Pikachu is able to Thundershock him, as well as both Weezing and Meowth very quickly. James is horrified to see that she lost as is she, that is, until Meowth reminds her of Lickitung. She sends him out, much to the surprise of Ash and his friends. Misty tells Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, but Lickitung licks him, making him too dizzy to battle. Astounded at the turn of events, Misty sends out Bulbasaur to tie up Lickitung's tongue with his Vine Whip. Unfortunately, it doesn't
work, and Bulbasaur is quickly defeated. Misty sends out Vulpix and commands her to use Flamethrower, but she too meets the same fate. Things are looking grim for Misty, as she only has one Pokémon left. She is about to use Staryu, but Psyduck jumps out instead. Lickitung licks Psyduck repeatedly, but it has no effect. Misty tells Psyduck to use Water Gun, but he just sits there. Lickitung also refuses to obey his master, and continues to try to give Psyduck a tongue lashing. Psyduck suddenly doesn't look too good, like it's getting a headache. Misty remembers that when Psyduck's headache gets bad enough, it can use psychic powers. She has him use Confusion, and Lickitung's tongue attack backfires, sending him rolling towards Team Rocket. He hits them, and they all fly into the air. Misty has won and the doll set is hers. She is very happy and says that she couldn't have done it without Psyduck. She packs up the dolls and sends them home, courtesy of Pidgeot Express, to make her sisters jealous.
Jessie is heart-broken since she lost her chance to win the dolls. Lickitung tries to cheer her up with a lick, but it doesn't work. James feels sorry for Jessie, and gives her a specially made set of dolls.