Ash and his friends are having lunch at Kurt's house. Kurt's granddaughter Mazie thanks them for helping the town. Ash tells Kurt about his errand for Professor Oak and gives him the GS Ball, but unfortunately Kurt can't tell them much about it. He promises he'll be able to tell them more once he has looked at it more closely.
They call Professor Oak to tell him the news and Prof. Oak wants to be informed the moment they find out anything. Ash asks what's so special about Kurt, and Prof. Oak says that Kurt is an expert craftsman at making PokeBalls from Apricorn. This type of PokeBall has special qualities. Ash wants to get one for himself and runs off to see Kurt. He goes to where Kurt is working in a forge, but Mazie stops him and tells him not to interrupt. As Kurt works on a PokeBall, Mazie explains that they use water from the Slowpoke Well in the process and they would have a big problem had the well not been saved.
Kurt finishes his work and tells the kids he needs more time to look at the GS Ball. Ash asks him if he can have an Apricorn ball. Misty tells him he is being rude but Kurt gets three PokeBalls and gives one to each of them as a thank-you for helping him. Mazie says these are Fast Balls, made from white Apricorn, and are used to catch Pokemon that can run away quickly.
Apricorns come in seven colours: white, red, blue, black, pink, green and yellow. Each Apricorn Pokeball has its own colour, name and uses. Kurt will make more if they bring him some more Apricorns, which grow in the hills behind the house.
Team Rocket has been listening to all this and plans to swipe the Apricorn balls and sell them to get rich. Out in the hills, Mazie points out a pink Apricorn tree. Pink Apricorns are used to make Love Balls which catch Pokemon of the opposite gender. Brock gets his ear pinched when he asks if one of these would help him catch Joy or Jenny. However these Apricorns aren't ripe enough, so they walk some more.
Next they find yellow Apricorns, which yield Moon Balls that catch Pokemon that evolve with a Moon Stone. This tree is also the home of several Pineco, which will self-destruct if disturbed. Brock sees the challenge of trying to capture one, but as he approaches the tree he trips on a rock and falls into the tree trunk. The Pineco drop down and explode, leaving Brock breathless.
Later they cone across a grove of green Apricorn trees. These are ready, but when Ash goes to pick some he comes face to face with a swarm of Beedrill! The Beedrill chase them, and Mazie apologises, saying that the Beedrill hadn't been here before. They all fall down an embankment and the Beedrill pass overhead and fly away. That was a close call.
Ash, Misty, Brock and Mazie are walking through the woods again, Mazie explains that getting PokeBalls is a lot more complicated than people think. They approach a large Apricorn tree but fall into a covered hole. Team Rocket comes and Meowth lassos Pikachu with a rope, then Jessie puts him into an electric-proof jar. Their plan is simple, to use a vacuum cleaner to scoop up the Apricorns.
Mazie is afraid they'll hurt the tree and tries to climb out of the hole but she can't. Ash has Bulbasaur lift them all out with Vine Whip. They run after TR, who is using the vacuum, but then TR falls into another hole and drops Pikachu as they fall. Ash catches him and lets him out of the jar. They look down into the hole but TR is gone. It turns out that this hole was dug by a colony of Diglett, and Brock says that the Diglett protect the trees. The Pokemon in this area rely on each other to keep nature in balance.
Team Rocket gets lost in the Diglett tunnels. They finally get out to discover that they're in mid-air above a cliff, and plunge down into the trees below. Back with our heroes, Mazie is pointing out different trees. Blue Apricorns are used to make Lure balls for catching water Pokemon and brown ones are used to make Heavy balls for Pokemon that weigh a lot. Ash approaches a tree but gets surprised by a bunch of Pineco. Brock runs forward to see, when a sharp wind blows the Pineco out of the tree and Brock scrambles to catch them.
Team Rocket is back, using a giant pedal-powered fan to blow the Pineco away. Brock keeps saving the Pineco that fall out of the tree, until one of them hops up the hill toward TR, and he tries to stop it. TR pedals harder and the wind gets stronger, threatening to blow the Apricorns away. Ash tells Pikachu to Thunderbolt but the machine absorbs the electricity.
The Pineco that Brock is holding gets away from him, hops up the hill and knocks TR off the machine, and the wind stops. They send Arbok and Victreebell to attack it, but it dodges. Brock gets worried that the Pineco will self-destruct, and Mazie tells him to use his Fast Ball. He does and captures the Pineco just as Arbok attacks again. Arbok misses and knocks into TR instead.
Now TR sends their Pokemon to attack Pikachu but he dodges them and knocks them both out in one blow with Quick Attack. Then he shorts out the fan machine with Thunder attack, and it explodes, sending TR blasting off. Mazie is happy and wants to tell her grandfather about everything that happened. Brock lets out the Pineco, saying that he'd like to be friends, and it happily blows up in his face.
They return to Kurt's house with the Apricorns and he says he will make them new Pokeballs. He hasn't found anything out about the GS ball yet; he doesn't know who designed it and it's protected by a powerful lock. He asks to keep it for a while and Ash says it's okay. Now that the drought is over the Azalea Gym is open again, and Ash heads for it, determined to win a badge.