Ash, Misty, and Tracey have been stuck on an island for several days due to a storm making the ocean rough. Misty comments that they will run out of food for themselves and their Pokémon soon, but Tracey disagrees. He takes out a book, and proceeds to tell Ash and Misty that there are several plants on the island that a Pokémon would love to eat. He finds some flowers growing on a rock and tries to pick them, only to discover that they're attached to a kid's head. The kid introduces himself as "Gulzar, the greatest grass Pokémon trainer in the Orange Islands." Tracey apologizes, but Gulzar challenges him to a match. Ash intervenes, saying that they'll go look for food elsewhere, but Gulzar mocks him for trying to run away from battle. He challenges Ash instead of Tracey, and Ash accepts.
The battle starts, and Gulzar sends out a Gloom. After checking his PokéDex and finding out that Glooms are weak against Fire and Flying types, Ash throws out what he thinks is Charizard's Pokéball. Instead, it's Squirtle. Ash tries to attack with it, but only manages to water Gloom's blossom. He returns Squirtle, then tries to send out Charizard again. Just before he throws the Pokéball, however, it slips out of his hand and crashes onto a rock. Once again, it's the wrong Pokéball, as Snorlax comes out. Ash tries to return him, but the fall onto the rock broke the Pokéball. Tracey tells Ash that he'll have to battle with Snorlax.
This is easier said than done, however, for Snorlax is asleep. Ash tries to get it to wake up, but to no avail. Gulzar gets impatient, and tells Gloom to use Solar Beam. Ash gets out of the way just in time as the beam flips Snorlax over a few times. Snorlax wakes up and crawls over to Gloom. After sniffing it a few times, Snorlax tries to eat it. Gulzar returns Gloom, but is unable to send out another Pokémon before Snorlax eats the flowers in his hair, then the lunch his mother made him.
Gulzar starts to cry, and Snorlax falls asleep again. Gulzar tells Ash that he's going home, and Ash asks him if there's a Pokémon Center nearby to get Snorlax's Pokéball fixed. Gulzar points at a mountain, telling him that there's a Center on the other side of it. He then runs off.
Ash and his friends wonder for a while how they are going to get Snorlax over the mountain. They come up with the idea of putting logs on the trail and dragging the huge Pokémon. This works for a little while, but they get tired very quickly and have to stop. Suddenly, Tracey fishes an apple out of his backpack. He tells the others that they'll use it as bait to get Snorlax to follow them. He hangs it over Snorlax's face, but it wakes up just enough to eat the fruit. It then falls asleep again.
Misty gets another idea. She reminds Ash and Tracey how fishermen use lures when they don't have any bait. Tracey catches on and adds that as long as they have something Snorlax thinks is food, it'll follow them anywhere. Ash volunteers to be the lure. Moments later, he's dressed up to look like a giant apple (I won't ask where they got the costume from...). Tracey and Misty suppress a laugh, then Tracey wakes Snorlax up again. Ash starts to run up the mountain with Snorlax very soon behind. Tracey comments that for such a huge Pokémon, Snorlax can run really fast.
Ash trips on a rock, and Snorlax catches up with him. After trying to take a bite and discovering that the apple is fake, it falls asleep again. Tracey and Misty arrive and congratulate Ash on getting Snorlax all the way up the mountain. The next problem, however, is getting it down the mountain. They hear a river flowing nearby, and conclude that all they need to do is make a raft and float down. They forget, however, that when there's a mountain and a river, there's almost always rapids and waterfalls. Needless to say, they run into both.
After falling down one particularly high waterfall, Ash and his friends splash around begging someone to save them. Gulzar shows up and tells them to stand, as the water is only ankle deep. He then points to the Pokémon Center right on the shore of the river. Ash and his friends use the log method to drag Snorlax over to the building, and they notice a large crowd standing outside. Gulzar tells them that the island they're on doesn't have an airport or seaport, and supplies are cargo-dropped by plane. The drop that was supposed to happen this day is behind schedule, and the inhabitants are nervous. Nurse Joy cools their feelings by saying that the plane carrying their supplies left Valencia Island that morning and should arrive any minute. As if on cue, they all hear the plane approaching. It flies over head, and the package drops out.
Nearby, Team Rocket watches the supplies drift downward. Meowth is in some sort of robot called the "Mecha-Meowthinator" and fires a hook at the package. It's pulled into the forest, and the people waiting run after it.
Soon, they come across Meowth pulling the huge crate. Jessie and James jump up from behind and say their motto. Jessie then tells the group that they can have their food if Ash gives Team Rocket his Pikachu. Ash resists, but the others don't seem to be torn up about handing it over. Gulzar steps between them, however, saying that they should be ashamed of themselves for being willing to sacrifice someone else's Pokémon just for their own benefit. Team Rocket scoffs, and Meowth tells Ash that is he can beat him they can all have their PokéChow. Ash accepts.
The battle starts, and Ash tries to use a Thunder Bolt attack. Unfortunately (yet unsurprisingly), it doesn't work. The electricity flows right through and into the ground through the Meowth robot's tail. Meowth turns on the robot's Power Swipes, and runs after Pikachu. After a few moments of this, Pikachu jumps into Ash's arms. Team Rocket is about to take it away from him when Snorlax comes barreling through the trees. He looks very peeved.
Meowth attacks it repeatedly, but Snorlax keeps dodging. The robot's claws get stuck in a rock and break off, but Meowth has other tricks. The top of the robot flies off in a Skull Bash attack. It hits Snorlax full in the face, but it is completely ineffective. Meowth has one more thing to try, the Turbo Body Slam. Unfortunately for Meowth, this turns out to be him flying through the air at Snorlax. He just pushes into Snorlax's huge stomach, who then fires Meowth back at Team Rocket, knocking them into the water. Snorlax then fires a huge Hyper Beam at the trio, knocking them into the air and out of the episode. Ash and Snorlax run towards each other to give what Ash thinks is a hug. Snorlax runs right past him however, rips open the crate, eats some packages of food, and falls asleep.
Later, Nurse Joy fixes Snorlax's Pokéball and Ash returns the sleeping Pokémon. Gulzar apologizes for thinking Ash was such a bad trainer, and they shake hands. The storm out at sea has ceased as well, so the ocean calms down. Waving goodbye, Ash and his friends ride Lapras off to their next adventure.