Narrator: "As we join our friends today, Ash is locked in a tense pokémon battle with an aspiring young trainer that they met on their way to Azalea Town." The episode begins with a pokémon battle. Ash's Chikorita is butting heads with a young boy's Raticate. Ash tells Chikorita to use Tackle, and the boy tells Raticate to use Hyper Fang. Raticate's Hyper Fang connects, sending Chikorita flying, but she gets right back up and runs in again. The boy tells Raticate to use Quick Attack, which also hits and knocks Chikorita down again. Again, she gets up, ready to fight. Ash says that she's had enough for today, and is about to return Chikorita, but she shows defiance. Brock wonders to himself why Chikorita would want to continue after all the damage it's taken. Chikorita uses Razor Leaf, which hits Raticate dead on. Ash compliments the Razor Leaf, but says he's switching her with Pikachu and tries to return her. Chikorita perks up at the word "Pikachu", and dodges Ash's return beam. The boy just stands there watching. It is now evening, and Ash is still trying to return Chikorita. The boy's mother calls him in for dinner, and he returns Raticate. Ash starts, saying how they are in the middle of a battle, but the boy simply says that he can't wait all night for Chikorita to listen. Ash then returns Chikorita, and asks her pokéballin a concerned voice, "What's wrong with you?"
At the Pokémon Center, Ash is calling Professor Oak. He tells the Professor about his Zephyr badge, and Oak reminds him casually about the GS ball. Oak is then ambushed by Muk, and he comments that Muk is just as affectionate as ever, especially at dinner time. A short time later, all Ash's pokémon are in the lobby of the center, eating. Except for Chikorita, who is sitting sadly at the window. Ash wonders what's wrong. Pikachu brings a piece of his food over to Chikorita, but she bats it away with her leaf. A glasses-wearing Nurse Joy then says that a pokémon's behavior is driven by psychology. She offers to see what's wrong with Ash's Chikorita. After asking Ash a few questions, she deduces that Chikorita is jealous of Pikachu. Since Ash tried to return her when she thought she was about to win a battle for Ash to send in Pikachu instead, she thinks that Ash trusts and cares more for Pikachu than for her. Ash is disheartened, but Joy promises to help them through it.
They take Chikorita to a greenhouse. Joy says the plants will help her relax, but she should stay there for the night. Ash returns her to her pokéball and gives the ball to Joy. During the night, Pikachu wakes up and runs off to the greenhouse. He sees Chikorita's pokéball on a pillow. Just then, she comes out of her pokéball. She looks around, and sees that a sliding door leading outside is partially open. She runs out through the door, and Pikachu is close behind. A video camera records the whole thing.
After a little while, Pikachu catches up with Chikorita, but she holds him back with Razor Leaf, then runs off into a field of tall grass. Pikachu follows, but Chikorita hides and Pikachu passes her by. Chikorita then sees an abandoned warehouse, and heads for it. Inside, she runs to a box and falls asleep. Later, she is awakened by a gang of fighting-type pokémon: Machoke, Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, and Primeape. Primeape attacks, but Chikorita defeats Primeape with Vine Whip. The other pokémon kneel down to Chikorita's level and smile kindly at her, indicating that they are now her friends.
Back at the Pokémon Center, in the morning, Ash and the rest watch the video recording of Chikorita and Pikachu running away. Joy says that this is a textbook case; Chikorita craves Ash's attention, and running away is a great way of getting it. Ash guesses that Pikachu followed Chikorita to try to get her to come back, since he blames himself for the whole thing. Joy tells them about the tough pokémon gangs in the area, and they run out into the town to look for Chikorita and Pikachu. After a little while of looking, Brock has the idea that Bulbasaur can probably track Chikorita by scent, and if they can find Chikorita, Pikachu will probably be close by. Bulbasaur finds her scent, and they run off towards it. Jessie and James happen to be watching them run off from an alley. They radio to Meowth in the balloon that Pikachu is on the loose. After a little looking, Meowth spots Pikachu.
Pikachu, meanwhile, find the warehouse and goes inside. He calls for Chikorita, who comes out, but before anything can be said, Team Rocket makes their entrance. They throw at net at the two pokémon, but Primeape appears out of nowhere and knocks the net away. He is joined by the rest of his gang. Jessie and James end up on the ground, grovelling for their lives. Meowth decides to use his secret weapon: a 40-foot-tall robot made of tires. It breaks through the roof of the warehouse. Ash and company see Team Rocket's balloon and hear the loud noise, and run off towards the warehouse. Jessie and James grab ropes that Meowth sends down for them, and get brought about half way up into the balloon. Chikorita, meanwhile, tells her new friends to attack the robot. The robot knocks each of them out in one hit. Chikorita runs at the robot for a Tackle, but is almost stepped on. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, but Meowth tells him to save his energy. His electricity won't work on the rubber robot, and the balloon is too far away to shock. Jessie and James, however, and much closer, and were shocked by Pikachu's Thunderbolt. Ash and the rest run up to the warehouse just in time to see Pikachu in the robot's massive hand. Chikorita uses Razor Leaf, but it is useless and she, too, is swept up by the robot. Brock notices a small antenna on the robots head, and thinks that that must be how Meowth is controlling the robot. He says that breaking it would shut down the bot. Naturally, Ash jumps at the chance to help his pokémon and sends out Heracross to use Horn Toss to fling him onto the robot's head. Misty tells him that it's too risky, but he says that he has no choice. Pikachu and Chikorita are his friends, and he has to take the risk. Heracross then throws Ash up the the top of the robot. Of course, Meowth moves the robot and Ash misses, falling into a pile of tires. He gets up and sees the robot walking away with his pokémon, but sees a water tower nearby. He climbs up the tower, and tries to jump onto the robot's head from there, but Meowth moves the robot again and Ash misses. Chikorita vatches him in his fall with Vine Whip, and sets him down on the robot's head. He then breaks the dish off. The robot goes nuts, and drops Pikachu and Chikorita. All three of them run back to Brock and Misty. The robot, meanwhile, has decided to grab onto the ropes that Jessie and James are on. Meowth cuts the ropes loose with his claws, but Jessie and James fall on the robots head, breaking it. The robot explodes, sending Team Rocket blasting off again.
The gang of pokémon, Ash, and his friends watch as they go flying. He then leans down and massages the cheeks of both Pikachu and Chikorita, and all three of them laugh. Back at the Pokémon Center, Ash thanks Nurse Joy for her help. Joy wishes that she could've studied Chikorita's psyche. Brock runs over and says that she can study his psyche any time. Misty then drags him away, saying that his psyche is psycho.
Ash says that they'd better get going, and Pikachu jumps onto his shoulder. Chikorita looks sad, but Ash tells her that the other shoulder is just for her. The episode ends with our heroes walking down the road against the sunset, towards their next adventure.