Ash, Misty, and Tracey are riding Lapras toward the next island. Tracey comments on how fast the Pokémon is, and Pikachu almost falls overboard. Ash catches it, and tells Lapras to slow down. Tracey suggests they stop at Maikan Island for some food and adds that there is a gym there. Ash immediately perks up and tells Lapras to go full speed ahead. Not far behind, Team Rocket follow in a Magikarp sub (where'd the Gyarados sub go?). Jessie orders James and Meowth to speed up, but they're tired. They stop pedaling and the sub starts to sink. Jessie hits them with her fan and they all start pedaling again. Suddenly, the pedals stop. Apparently, weeds have gotten tangled up in the propeller. The sub sinks down once again. Moments later, Ash returns Lapras from the shore of Maikan Island. They set off for the Pokémon Center and call Professor Oak. He asks them all how they're doing, and Tracey introduces himself. He raves about the work Oak has done, but Ash's Muk interrupts. Ash tells Oak that he caught a Lapras, and signs off.
They all set off for the Gym, and Tracey again expresses his excitement at knowing two people who know Professor Oak. Tracey goes on and on, and Ash interrupts, asking about the local gym leader. He tells him that this leader is considered to be the most difficult of all. Ash eagerly runs ahead and it's not long before they see the gym building. Ash starts to jog down the path when he passes a coconut sitting on the ground. He stops and picks it up, only to be drenched by a large amount of water.
A young boy runs up and laughs at him, telling him that he must not be a very good trainer. Ash defends himself, but the boy is not convinced. He suggests that they do a battle and they are about to start when a young woman appears. She scolds the boy, saying that he should be cleaning his room. Ash tells her that he wants to challenge the gym leader. She introduces herself as Sissy, the gym leader, and accepts the challenge. Misty notices that Tracey is sketching a drawing of Sissy, and they all go inside.
Sissy tells Ash that they'll use Water Pokémon, and Ash asks how many. Sissy tells him that they don't just battle in the Orange Crew and the young boy hits a button on a remote. A portion of wall rises, and a long row of cans are revealed. He hits another button, and the floor disappears, revealing a pool. Sissy sends out a Seadra and explains that she has Pokémon battle each other like athletes do. She tells them that the first battle will be a Water Gun challenge, where the trainers see who has the best Water Gun attacks. The boy blows a bunch of bubbles, and Seadra pops every one of them.
Ash decides to send out Squirtle, and the challenge begins. Sissy admits that Squirtle is looking very good, but doesn't feel that it's good enough to beat her Seadra. He starts in and knocks over can by can. Squirtle jumps in and knocks them over with the same precision. After all the cans have been knocked over, it ends up as a tie.
Sissy tells Ash that they now have to hit moving targets and they the entire wall separates, revealing a view of the beach. The boy hits a different button, and clay disks start flying out of a machine. Seadra shatters disk after disk with its Water Gun, while Tracey furiously sketches poses in his notebook. After hitting three in rapid succession, Seadra splashes down into the water. Squirtle jumps up and hits all the disks as well. Sissy tells Ash that they'll do one more, and whichever Pokémon hits it first wins. The disk is launched, both fire, and both squirts hit at the same time. It's a draw. Ash picks up Squirtle and congratulates it. Sissy then tells him that the only way to break the tie is with a "Pokémon Wave Ride".
They go down to the beach, where Sissy explains the rules of this challenge. The Pokémon they use will swim out a ways, around a buoy, and back to shore. Whichever gets back first wins. She sends out Blastoise, and Ash sends out Lapras. They are about to begin when Team Rocket's Magikarp sub surfaces. They come out, and start their motto. Misty comments on how boring the motto is, and Sissy asks Ash if he has any idea what they're talking about, to which he replies that he's gotten used to it. Team Rocket finishes their motto, and happily breath in fresh air.
Ash asks them to leave, but James tells them how they got out of the mess they were in. Being the loser of "Odd fingers", James swam out to clear the reeds away. When he did, the sub started to float towards the surface, and he frantically swam after it. Meowth tells him to stop whining and points out that both Lapras and Blastoise are out. James sends out Weezing, who fills the area with smoke. Jessie fires the net, but they find out that it's not big enough for both Lapras and Blastoise. They jump back into their sub, and dive down, dragging Blastoise down with them.
The propellers are tangled up again, however, and won't move. Team Rocket put all their strength into the pedals, and they snap. The Magikarp lands at the bottom of the sea, and Team Rocket sit inside, dejected. Meowth suggests that they go out and give the sub a push, which they do. Unfortunately for them, Blastoise takes this moment to swim back up to the surface, and they are dragged along behind, clinging to the sub. Once there, Pikachu shocks Team Rocket and Blastoise Hydro Pumps them out of this episode.
That taken care of, Ash and Sissy prepare to start their race. They climb onto their Pokémon, and the boy fires the gun, setting them off. Both Pokémon are equally speedy, and Lapras tries to get to the inside of the curve. Blastoise keeps hitting it back however, and Ash almost falls off. Lapras catches him in its mouth and places him back on its back. However, this has given Blastoise the lead. They both go around the buoy and Lapras catches up once again.
Suddenly, a huge wave appears behind them. Lapras freezes the wave on their side with an Ice Beam, but the other half hits Sissy and Blastoise, knocking them into the air. Blastoise lands safely in the water and catches Sissy on its back. They pull ahead of Ash and Lapras, and Ash gets an idea. He has Lapras freeze the water directly in front of them all the way to shore, and it climbs on. The two Pokémon are neck and neck, but Lapras wins by a nose. It stops at shore, and Ash flies off and into a tree. Sissy walks over and congratulates Ash. She gives him some words of encouragement, and hands him his prize: the Coral Eye Badge of the Maikan Gym. She tells him that all the badges in the Orange Crew are shells and he cheers out loud.
Later, Ash and his friends ride Lapras to the next island. Ash and Misty start to bicker, but Tracey calms them down, telling them that they got to see a great trainer in action. Misty glances at Tracey's pad, and sees another picture of Sissy. They all laugh, and Lapras carries them off into the sunset.