The episode starts off with Macey (the trainer who just lost to Ash) and Jackson, of New Bark Town having a battle (Only if you lose two battles, you’re out). Ash is watching this battle, excited, since he knows he’s going to have to battle Jackson afterwards. As they battle, Macey’s Magcargo and Starmie faint, as well as Jackson’s Golduck and Quagsire. Now they’re each down to one Pokemon, making the final round Poliwhirl VS Quilava.

Macey starts out with having Quilava use a Flamethrower, as Jackson quickly has Poliwhirl counter with a Water Gun. However… Macey’s Starmie, who still has a bit of energy left, manages to paralyze Poliwhirl with a Thunderbolt, making the Flamethrower hurt Poliwhirl, fainting! Macey just won, giving her 3 victory points, making her equal to Ash! However, Ash argues that it’s better when you get straight victories.

Afterwards, Ash makes a quick stop at the center, and lets out Bulbasaur and Squirtle. Man, are they glad to see each other after so long. However, Ash has an important meeting at the league hall, so he leaves Bulbasaur and Squirtle, telling them to play nicely. However, Ash suddenly notices Jackson, talking with Elm on a nearby phone! Suddenly, Jackson notices Ash too, recognizing him as the person he’s supposed to battle next. They shake hands, and Elm recognizes him too! Then, Ash asks Jackson how he knows Prof Elm, and he explains that Elm gave him a Chikorita, his very first Pokemon, on the day he left New Bark Town for training. Now, it happily evolved into a Meganium. However, Ash wonders why Jackson didn’t use it when he was battling Macey, and he said that now that it’s really strong, he only uses it as a secret weapon for when he really needs it. Then, Elm asks how Dani and Yoshi are doing. Jackson says that Dani is doing OK, although he hasn’t spoken to Yoshi in a while. Then Elm mentions that they were in the previous tournament. Jackson just laughs and says “slow and steady wins the race” J.

Meanwhile, Squirtle and Bulbasaur are taking a stroll outside, and eventually they come across an apple tree. Squirtle asks Bulbasaur to go get an apple with his Vine Whip. He gets up there… but suddenly, Meganium comes along, and scrambles for the apple as well! Eventually, Squirtle catches it, and divides it into 2 equal parts. Suddenly, Meganium swipes one of the pieces and gives it to a nearby Azumarill! Squirtle gets angry, but Meganium and Azumarill burst out laughing. Squirtle decides he’s gonna make them learn the hard way, as he puts on THE sunglasses! Bulbasaur then goes to attack Azumarill, and they get into a little fight. Squirtle gets ready to attack, but Meganium quickly grabs Squirtle’s leg, tripping him. They start laughing like mad, when suddenly Bulbasaur and Squirtle start pouncing on them, as they get into a fierce catfight.

Meanwhile, Ash gives Elm the good news, that he got Larvitar safely home to its mother Tyranitar. Suddenly, Ash and Jackson notice outside the window, that Bulbasaur and Meganium are fiercely fighting, as well as Squirtle and Azumarill! They run outside to deal with it… yelling at them to stop and quiet down, yet it does no good. Suddenly, who is to come by but Harrison, as he sends out a Miltank, which he has use Heal Bell. Suddenly, everyone stops fighting, and they all calm down. Ash, surprised to see him, thanks him, just as Jenny approaches as well… Apparently someone saw the fight and reported it. Then, Harrison tells her that they were only practicing, likely warming up for the battle, and Jenny apologizes. However, Gary approaches as well, and denies it all being a “practice”. Jenny then gets suspicious, and eventually says that she doesn’t know who to believe, but she warns Ash and Jackson to be more careful. Ash gives Gary a sarcastic thanks, and then Gary acts like his old self again, and argues with Ash about who’s gonna make it further. Misty then gets mad and tries to stop the fight… But its no use. They keep arguing about stuff like who’s gonna make it to the final. Then, Harrison gets a bit annoyed, and asks if they are rivals, and Gary says they are.

Later that evening, Team Rocket hide in the yard of the league hall, and plot another “fake badges” scheme. It gets darker… They can’t think of much to do, so they explore the hall. Suddenly, James manages to find imprints of badges! They decide they are gonna use them to make fake badges…

Meanwhile, Ash, Misty, and Brock are looking up Jackson’s data on a PC. They notice Jackson’s strongest Pokemon is Meganium, so Misty immediately suggests he bring Cyndaquil. It also says that he uses his Azumarill a lot, so Ash, predicting he will use it, decides he’s definitely gonna use Pikachu. However, their not sure what else he’s gonna use… So Ash decides he’s gonna play it lucky…

The next day, Ash and Jackson are at the field, ready to battle! The lights decide that Jackson go first, so he starts with Azumarill! Ash decides to use Pikachu, as he starts out with a Slam, but Azumarill counters with a Water Gun, which sends Pikachu flying… but just as he lands, he heads at Azumarill with a Quick Attack! However, Azumarill dodges it, as Pikachu tries for a Thunderbolt. But Azumarill manages to fade out the Thunderbolt, using a Bubblebeam! Then, Azumarill uses an Icy Wind attack. This not only hits Pikachu, but also makes it hard for him to move! Although Pikachu is still standing, Azumarill goes for an Iron Tail. However, Pikachu then stands on HIS tail, and dodges the Iron Tail, and uses a Thunderbolt, which hurts Azumarill, making it faint!

As Jackson returns Azumarill, he sends out… Magneton! However, this one is a shiny pokémon, giving Jackson something to boast about. Ash seems confident in battling a fellow Electric type. Pikachu starts out with a Thunderbolt… and Magneton Thunderbolt’s him back. They keep doing this, and neither seems to have an effect on the other. Pikachu decides he’s gonna fight physically, and goes for a Quick Attack, but Magneton dodges it, as he hits Pikachu with a Thunder Wave! While Pikachu is a bit paralyzed, Magneton goes for a Tri Attack, knocking Pikachu out. Misty and Brock are surprised, and Brock figures that that Magneton’s higher stats are because of it’s special color.

Ash takes out Cyndaquil, as Brock says it’s a good choice, since Fire attacks are good against Magneton’s Steel type. Magneton starts out with a Thunderbolt, but Cyndaquil quickly jumps and dodges it, as it uses a Flamethrower! However, Magneton easily dodges it, and goes for a Thunder Wave. Then, Cyndaquil hides himself in Smoke Screen, avoiding the Thunder Wave. Now, Magneton is having trouble finding Cyndaquil, so it uses Swift, which hits, like always. The smoke clears away, so Cyndaquil uses another Flamethrower… But Magneton avoids it with Double Team! Before Ash or Cyndaquil can do anything to find the real Magneton, they all use a Thunder Wave, paralyzing Cyndaquil! Cyndaquil starts trying to shake it off, but Magneton quickly uses a Tri Attack, hitting Cyndaquil and fainting it!

Now Ash only has one Pokemon left to use. Brock warns him to make a wise descision… so he sends out Bulbasaur! Ash prays that Bulbasaur does his best, since that’s all he has left. Anyways, if Magneton won, he’d lose, but if Bulbasaur won, he’s had to face Meganium next… Back to the battle, Magneton starts out with a Thunderbolt like before, which Bulbasaur easily dodges, as he uses a Razor Leaf, which hits Magneton! Then, Megneton uses a Double Team… however, Bulbasaur swings his vines around, and eliminates all the fake images, and smacks the real one with a Vine Whip! Then, Magneton uses a Thunder Wave, which is avoided by Bulbasaur’s Razor Leaf. Then, Magneton goes for a Tri Attack… but Bulbasaur avoids it with another Vine Whip. Then, Bulbasaur tries a Leech Seed, which hits Magneton and starts sucking his energy out! Then, Bulbasaur grabs Magneton with his vines, and slams it to the ground, fainting it!

Now they’re both down to one, and as Jackson returns Magneton, just as everyone expects, he takes out Meganium. Bulbasaur and Meganium glare at each other, remembering yesterday’s fight. Bulbasaur starts with a Razor Leaf, but Meganium counters with a Razor Leaf of his own! Meganium’s Leaves happen to be stronger, and they destroy all of Bulbasaur’s leaves, and hit him! Then, Bulbasaur uses a Vine Whip and grabs Meganium, but Meganium does the same thing and starts to grab Bulbasaur… Apparently, Meganium is heavier, so he manages to lift up Bulbasaur, and slam him to the ground! Then, they get into a physical fight… Meganium keeps trying to Body Slam Bulbasaur, but Bulbasaur is just too quick, and keeps avoiding it. Then, Bulbasaur uses a Razor Leaf, and manages to finally hit Meganium! Then, Meganium goes for a Vine Whip, but Bulbasaur jumps and avoids it, and uses HIS Vine Whip to grab Meganium’s neck. Then, Meganium uses a Razor Leaf again, hitting Bulbasaur… He may have been injured, but he won’t let go! However, Meganium shakes as hard as it can, and manages to shake off Bulbasaur. Then, he hits Bulbasaur AGAIN with a Razor leaf! However, Bulbasaur uses its vines to grab Meganium’s neck again, weakening him, as he uses a Razor Leaf, which hits Meganium, making it nearly down. But, Meganium manages to release himself again! Then, Bulbasaur and Meganium smack each other’s faces with Vine Whip repeatedly. As they keep hitting themselves, Brock realizes their both about to faint… Then, Ash and Jackson, at the same time, command a Solar Beam! They both shoot a beam… suddenly the beams collide, making a big blast… After a while, it clears up… and it looks like Bulbasaur and Meganium both fainted from the blast! This match is a draw!

Ash and Jackson thank their Pokemon for putting up a good fight, and now that the league preliminaries are over, it looks like Ash can go to the finals, now that he’s got 4 points! Ash and Jackson shake hands, as Bulbasaur and Meganium shake vines. Then, Macey yells from the audience, wishing Ash the best of luck. Ash seems confident he’s gonna win! Meanwhile, Team Rocket are looking at what they earned from their scheme… and planning to do something with it the next day…

Ash returns to the hall, to see who he battles first for the finals. First, he notices that Harrison made it up, and he seems glad… Then, he notices his own face next to Gary’s! Ash seems a bit nervous, but confident that its beatable. He and Gary glare at eachother, looking forward to tomorrow’s battle!

Thanks to Spinazak for writing This for us