Since Jigglypuff’s song sent Team Rocket out the door of the blimp and Ash and Misty asleep, there is nobody to pilot it. It crash lands on another island, and they all wake up. They climb out of the blimp and realize that they have no idea where they are. They set off to find some form of civilization, but after several miles of walking, they haven't seen anything. Misty wonders aloud if it is deserted, and she adds with horror that they'll have to eat bugs and berries for the rest of their lives. Suddenly, a crowd of tourists come from nowhere and start to take pictures of themselves with Pikachu and Togepi.
Ash and Misty walk a bit further and find themselves at the gates of some sort of theme park that they were in. After being greeted by two girls, they walk along the wharf. Misty comments that they picked a good island to crash onto, and Ash agrees. Pikachu brings their attention to a Lapras that has been beached. Three punks are beating it, and it wails in pain. Ash and Misty run up to stop them, and the punks toss out a Spearow, Beedrill, and Hitmonchan. The battle is about to begin, when another boy shows up, stopping it. He rushes over, making several observations about the Pokémon. He tells the punks that their Pokémon could use a bit better training, but Pikachu is in perfect condition. He takes out a small meter and places two probes on Pikachu's cheeks. The punks, ticked off at being ignored, attack, and Pikachu retaliates with a tremendous Thundershock.
The punks run off, and Ash congratulates Pikachu. Meanwhile, the boy looks at the Lapras. He hands Ash a vial of medicine, telling him to get Lapras to drink it and runs off in search of Nurse Joy. Try as he might, however, Ash can't get Lapras to swallow it. Later, at the Pokémon Center, Misty asks Nurse Joy how Lapras is doing. She tells them that there were no real injuries, but now Lapras doesn't trust any humans at all. The boy expresses his worry, as the Lapras is an infant. He tells Ash that large schools of Lapras pass by the island every year and that this one must have gotten separated. Ash comments that he knows a lot, and the boy tells him that he is a Pokémon Watcher. Nurse Joy steps in and tells Ash and Misty that a Pokémon Watcher travels the world watching Pokémon and recording data about them. Ash introduces himself, and the boy tells him that his name is Tracey. Ash suggests that they all try to get the Lapras back to its family, and Tracey and Misty agree.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket peers in at them from outside. They are visibly excited at the aspect of stealing a Lapras. Suddenly, three children run in with some Pokémon for Nurse Joy, trampling James in the process. One boy tells Joy that he wants to get Starmie a checkup so that he can battle the "Orange Crew." Ash wonders aloud what the Orange Crew is, and Tracey tells him that it's the name given to the Gym Leaders of the Orange Archipelago. He shows them a poster on the wall, tells them that a trainer needs to defeat every member of the Orange Crew in order to fight in the Orange League. The very island that they are on (Tangello) is where the first of the Orange Crew is located, and the others are on other islands. Ash expresses his interest in battling in the Orange League, but Misty reminds him that they need to get the GS Ball to Professor Oak. She pulls Ash over to the phones so he can call Oak, and Tracey follows.
Professor Oak greets Ash and Misty warmly, and asks if they had run into any trouble on the blimp. Ash tells him that they're fine and on Tangello Island and that he wants to participate in the Orange League before they go back to the mainland. Professor Oak gives him the go ahead, telling him to work hard.
Once Ash hangs up, Tracey yells out in excitement. He tells Ash and Misty that Professor Oak is his hero and he can't believe that they know him. He raves about him for a moment, and tells Ash and Misty that he's going to stick with them for awhile so that he can't meet Oak. Joy comes over and tells them that Lapras is awake and doing well. They rush out to check on it, and find it swimming around. They try to get it to climb into a truck so that they can take it down to the ocean, but it won't budge. Ash decides to sing it a lullaby to calm it down. He climbs onto the truck but just as he is about to sing, Jigglypuff appears once again. He sings his slumber song, and in seconds, everyone is asleep. Of course, Jigglypuff gets peeved and doodles all over everyone's faces as well as Tracey's sketch of him.
The song hasn't done anything to calm Lapras, however, and it still won't get into the truck. Ash pleads with it, and even dives into the water after it to convince it that they are friends, but to no avail. Suddenly, a gas bomb explodes in the water, and smoke fills the area. It's Team Rocket (what a surprise). In the smoke, they succeeded in tying Lapras to a trailer. Tracey ignores this fact, however, at the aspect of seeing a talking Meowth. He runs over, and asks him to say a few words. Before he can say much, though, Jessie steps on him. She tells Tracey to step aside, but Ash refuses. James sends out Weezing, who uses a Smog attack. Team Rocket drives off with Lapras. Tracey sends out his Venonat, who uses a type of radar to track the truck.
As Team Rocket drive, Lapras wails for help. Jessie yells at it to be quiet, and notices Ash and his friends following them. James speeds up the vehicle, and they start to pull away. Ash pedals faster, and is able to jump onto the trailer with Lapras. He crawls into the cab in order to stop Team Rocket. The truck weaves all over the road, and Pikachu's shock causes James to release the trailer. Ash and Pikachu fall out through the door, but Lapras catches them with one of it's fins. The truck heads for a ramp on the road, and the heavy trailer pushes it over the edge. Team Rocket is gone for now. The trailer isn't done yet, and it starts to roll down the hill. Ash hangs onto the side to turn it, and succeeds in preventing it from falling over a cliff. He tries again, but isn't able to. The trailer, Lapras, Ash, and Pikachu fly into the water.
Moments later, Tracey and Misty search for signs of Ash and Lapras on the beach. Suddenly, they see Lapras swimming toward the shore with Ash and Pikachu on its back. Ash expresses his happiness at catching Lapras, and Tracey is astounded. Nurse Joy joins them the next day, and Ash tells her that he plans to ride Lapras around the Orange Islands and find its family. Tracey reminds him that he's coming too, and they set off over the ocean