Our heroes, while trekking through some very mountainous terrain, comment on how all this walking is killing them. Misty, having heard that Ash wished he had as many badges as he had blisters, tells him that he can’t expect to win badges when all of his battles are against Team Rocket. In another part of the mountains, not that far away, Meowth, looking through a pair of binoculars, comments on how they are wearing them down. Misty then says that it wouldn’t mean much of they gave out badges for beating those pathetic losers. All of them agree, even Jessie and James (very funny). Having become a little disheartened, Jessie thinks that they should pick on someone else for a change, but Meowth has different ideas. James concludes that they have 12 Pokémon, one of them being Charizard and thus they don’t stand a chance. Misty and Brock then tell Ash that he uses Charizard all the time, and it is unfair. Team Rocket then echo their sentiments by crying out “unfair”. Team Rocket’s cry is echoed through the valley and a spunky girl with green hair, a red sexy outfit and a cane appears wondering where the noise came from. The spunky girl then demonstrates the echo in the valley by calling for Charla. Three flames emerge from behind a large mountain. Brock then refers to his Pokémon guide, “The Charisific Valley natural reserve is a well-known Charizard habitat that is officially off limits to tourists.
The spunky girl then introduces herself as Lisa, a Charizard trainer. She walks up to Ash and notices the subtle scent of a Charizard and concludes that he must have a one. Lisa has wanted to see Ash and his Charizard ever since she heard of his victory over the Violet City gym leader. Lisa then invites Ash to the Charisific Valley to see all of the wild Charizard. Brock, having noticed that Ash seems a little hesitant, quickly accepts the invitation. Lisa gain calls for Charla, and suddenly, a Charizard (with a pink bow on its head) appears with a carriage attached to its tail. But as the carriage only has room for two, Ash must ride on his Charizard’s back. Ash, a little concerned, selects Charizard and asks for a ride but Charizard refuses. Already up in the air, Lisa notices that Ash’s Charizard will not let him ride. Using some reverse psychology, Lisa asks Charizard that is Ash too heavy for him? Charizard lets Ash hop on, but in a rather clumsy attempt to take off Ash falls off without Charizard even knowing. Giving it a second go, they eventually take off but it doesn’t look very graceful.
Flying in the carriage, Misty learns that Charla is special as all the other Charizard in this valley are wild. She also learns that Lisa is here to protect all of the wild Charizard from poachers. Ash, now having caught up with Lisa, attempts to follow Charla but Charizard comes to a sudden stop and plummets towards the ground. Upon nearly crashing into a river, in between two deep canyons, Charizard straightens up and uses some stepping-stones to take off. After eventually getting off the ground, Charizard flies into a nearby forest and must dodge the many trees. Eventually, Ash and Charizard make it through the forest but end of falling into yet another deep chasm. Meanwhile, sliding down the edge of a mountain, Team Rocket decides to steal all of the Charizard in the Charisific Valley.
Misty and Brock, having reached the entry to the Charisific valley, begin to see many gigantic Charizard sculptures. Upon landing at the gates to the valley, Lisa tells Misty and Brock that this is a place where Charizard have lived in peace for thousands of years. It is an ancient place where the greatest Charizard in Pokémon history have come from. Here they compete against each other and their rivalry is intense. Struggling, Ash and Charizard eventually walk up to the gates. Having to defend his Charizard from the verbal onslaught from Lisa (she thinks Charizard is weak and needs more training), Ash challenges Lisa’s Charla to a battle. Lisa then says that he cant battle Charla as she is not wild. She then opens the gates to Charisific Valley and once inside, our heroes see a large number of humungous Charizard. Lisa then picks the smallest one (still twice the size of Ash’s Charizard) for him to battle. Charizard walks up to it and uses its flamethrower attack on its head while it wasn’t looking.
The Charizard in this valley however don’t like sneak attacks, and the larger Charizard uses its flamethrower in retaliation. Charizard, having been blasted to the ground, stands up and shakes it off. Lisa then decides to pick the gentlest Charizard, who just so happens to be lying down. Charizard walks up to it, and once awakening it, uses his flamethrower. The gentle Charizard then hops up turns around and sends Charizard flying with one whip of its tail. Charizard, having battled the two weakest Charizard in the valley, obviously cannot compete and Ash tries to reassure Charizard that he is still perfect for him. Furious, Charizard hops up and is still determined to fight. Storming off, he challenges the gentle Charizard again. But, not surprisingly, Charizard is hit with another whip of its tail. All of our friends tell Charizard to forfeit but he continues to battle. The stronger, gentler Charizard then stomps on Ash’s Charizard and then knees him though the gates and outside the valley. Charizard then crawls his way back up the stairs but Lisa, while closing the gates, tells Ash to come back when his Charizard has had more training. Meanwhile, having seen Charizard be humiliated, Team Rocket realise that they have no chance of stealing the wild Pokémon. Jessie then thinks they may have a chance if they use their new secret weapon, which just looks like a giant robot boy.
Charizard, by continually pounding on the gigantic gates, eventually gets Lisa’s attention. She opens the door and decides to let Charizard battle her Charla. But Charla just grabs Charizard by one arm and flings him into the water. Lisa then tells Charizard that truly great Pokémon know their limitations, and she tells him to stay there to cool off and think of a way to improve himself. Ash, having seen Charizard stay in the exact same position until nightfall, realises that he must decide whether to let Charizard stay. Team Rocket, understanding Charizard’s plight, decide to help him get into the Charisific Valley. While spying through a small gap in the gates, Lisa and Charla both agree that Charizard has a lot of heart to stay in the water for such a long time. As the night unfolds, our friends eventually doze off but Team Rocket, by throwing rocks at Charizard’s head, keep him awake. Eventually Ash awakens to see that Charizard has indeed lasted the whole night, and declares that if Charizard wants to get stronger that badly, it would be wrong to stand in his way.
Team Rocket then use their robot boy to try and crash down the gates. Charizard flies out of the water, jumps in front of the gigantic robot boy and uses flamethrower to eventually blow it up. Team Rocket however do not mind as they only wanted to help. Lisa opens the gates and decides to let Charizard train with them. Ash, mystified by Lisa’s change in heart, asks why. Lisa then tells Ash that Charizard has proven to her that he wants to be great. All the other Charizard fire their flamethrowers in approval. Ash, reluctantly, decides to let Charizard stay. Ash, seeing the shocked expression on Charizard’s face, turns his back and tells him to go. Storming off crying, Ash quietly says goodbye to his long time friend and hopes that they will meet again. Charizard, realises Ash’s intention, and is determined to become the greatest Charizard it can be.