While walking along the path, dying of thirst and all their canteens dry as a bone, our friends learn that the next closest town goes by the name of Bloomingdale. Ash and Misty then spot some water sprouting out of a nearby leaky pipe. A girl appears and begins to tighten the pipe, but Ash quickly asks if they can take a drink. Having agreed to Ash’s request, Brock begins to thank her in a very flirtatious manner. Misty then interrupts by dragging him away by his ear.
Having filled up her canteen, Misty thanks the girl and introduces herself. The kind girl then tells our heroes that her name is Sunreeser. Having finished gathering all the water they need, Sunreeser then screws the pipes back together and is about to tighten them with a large wrench. But Brock offers to perform this laborious task. On their way back into town, Sunreeser tells our friends that the sun shines nearly every single day and that the weather is perfect for raising her favorite Pokémon. Upon arriving at her house, which happens to have a greenhouse right next to it, she turns on an underground valve to activate some pure water sprinklers. Sunreeser then calls for her Pokémon to come out for their daily sprinkle. Three rather odd-looking flower Pokémon then come running out, one of them looking really depressed. Brock recognizes them as Sunflora and learns that Bloomingdale is famous for them. Ash then refers to his Pokédex to learn more. “Sunflora, the sun Pokémon. This smiling Pokémon loves the sun but it also needs plenty of water to ensure healthy development.” Brock, commenting on how the pure water must make the Sunflora happy, learns that they have to be happy or else they don’t stand a chance of winning at the Sunflora Festival. Ash, a little curious, asks what this is. Sunreeser tells Ash that it is a big celebration they have in Bloomingdale every year to see who has the best Sunflora. Although Sunreeser has not won yet, she might have a chance this year. A stranger, named Cirrus (who has won festival three times), then walks up to the fence and after a brief conversation with Sunreeser, tells her that Lester has hired a comedian to keep his Sunflora happy!
Brock, having noticed the depressed Sunflora, tries to make it smile by making faces at it. Pikachu also gives it a go but nothing seems to work. Sunreeser introduces this Pokémon as her prized Sunflora, Sunny. She was planning of entering Sunny into the competition, but lately she has been so sad. Our heroes offer to help her smile again, but the sun begins to set and all three Sunflora go back inside the greenhouse to rest. Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu also head off to the Pokémon Center for a much-needed sleep.
During the night, Team Rocket appears from behind a tree and break into a greenhouse. Jessie and James want to grab as many of the Sunflora as they can but Meowth has a better idea. His plan involves entering one of these Sunflora in a Sunflora contest and to win a year supply of instant noodles. Jessie and James love the idea and Meowth uses a sunlight simulator to wake all of the sleeping Pokémon. Although all of the Sunflora look exactly alike, James is an expert on Sunflora as the gardener from his grand ma ma’s estate taught him. James tries to find a winner, but finds faults with each one (very funny). Meowth then trips over and accidentally pushes a button. Having activated some kind of alarm, Meowth is caught in a net. Jessie and James quickly make their escape and leave Meowth behind. Cirrus then appears and tells the thieves to come back. Our friends, not that far away, are awoken by the alarm and quickly run to help. Having caught up with Cirrus, he tells them that he has caught a cat burglar, literally! Misty recognizes the thief as Meowth and whispers an idea into Ash’s ear. Ash tells Misty to go for it. Misty then pleads Meowth’s innocence and asks Cirrus to let him go under their custody. Although Meowth is surprised that the “twerps” sprung him, he quickly learns that he must help them in return. Meanwhile, outside a greenhouse, a pink Snubbull appears sniffing for Meowth (recall the Snubbull from Snubbull Snobbery).
Having taken Meowth to Sunreeser, Misty tells her of her idea. After Meowth has a rather amusing conversation with Sunny, Sunreeser learns that she is sad because her Sunflora friend from down the road isn’t around anymore. Having learned that it was Cirrus’s Sunflora, Jessie and James then quickly snatch Meowth and make their get away. Our friends, upon arriving at Cirrus’s house, ask him about the Sunflora Sunny was talking about. Apparently he had traded that Pokémon with one from Nurse Joy. After eventually arriving at the Pokémon Center they go to Nurse Joy and find Gwendela, Sunny’s friend. After a joyous reunion, Sunny is now back to her usual happy self.
The Sunflora Festival begins and Meowth is seen dressed up in a Sunflora outfit. Having to hear Meowth’s numerous complaints, James tells him to do it for the year supply of noodles. The judges, having narrowed the field down to three, introduce the final contestants. One of them is Cirrus’s humungous Sunflora. Brock reckons this one is on steroids (very funny). The second finalist is Sunny and the final one is Meowth. After talking among themselves, they believe that Meowth must be a new species and it sound as though they about to declare him the winner. But suddenly, Snubbull walks up on stage, finds Meowth’s tail and bites it. Meowth jumps out of his costume and up into the air screaming in pain. Team Rocket, now that there cover is blown, use a smoke bomb to announce their arrival. Jessie then grabs Snubbull and ditches him. James activates these huge mirrors around the stadium to direct the sunlight onto all of the Sunflora. The Sunflora’s heads begin to grow really big and they fall over. Ash, Misty and Brock think they want to steal all of the Sunflora but Jessie and James tell them that they are wrong again and use their balloon to capture the noodles. Our heroes try to stop them but Jessie chooses Arbok. In retaliation, Ash selects Chikorita and tells her to use her vine whip but it misses. Misty then selects Poliwag and it begins to slap Arbok with its tail. Arbok then uses poison sting and Poliwag is now in trouble. The balloon then gradually takes off with the stolen goods, but Chikorita uses razor leaf to bring it back down. James then selects Weezing but Ash tells Pikachu to use thunder shock. But as Pikachu is about to attack, Chikorita, out of jealousy, bumps him out of the way. The thunder shock then blows up all of the mirrors. Sunny, having now recovered, uses its huge solar beam attack to blow Team Rocket away.
The judges, now deciding the winner, select Sunny due to its great smile and its powerful solar beam attack. Everyone gives Sunreeser and her Pokémon a standing ovation. Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu then say goodbye to their new friends.