The episode starts out in Ash's house. Mr. Mime is sweeping the floor and Mrs. Ketchum is cleaning the dishes. Mrs. Kethcum tells herself that it is nice for Ash to be home. Ash was going to talk about his adventures, but instead he dashed to Professor Oak's lab. The doorbell rings and Mr. Mime answers it. Combusken, Bulbasaur, and Munchlax at the front of the house. Then May appears. Mrs. Ketchum greets May and invites her in the house.

Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle are sitting on the table, and they are hungry. Misty feeds them some Pokémon food, and the Pokémon are happy. Max says that the Pokémon are so cute. Misty agrees with him and says that they are perfect for any beginning trainer. Max extends his hand to Squirtle. Squirtle immediately begins to cry. Max apologizes to Squirtle for scaring it. Tracey tells Max that Squirtle is just too sensitive. He sketches the three Pokémon together. Max admires Tracey's drawings. Max thinks that Tracey is really cool because he is a great artist and Professor Oak's assistant. Tracey thanks Max for the compliment. He adds in that drawing Pokémon teaches him a whole lot about them. Professor Oak used to draw Pokémon when he was a kid. Max imagines himself sketching some Pokémon. The Pokémon yawn as they are very tired. Misty tells Tracey to give the Pokémon a rest. Max offers to put the Pokémon back into their Pokéballs. Charmander and Bulbasaur goes in first. When Max gets Squirtle's Pokéball, Squirtle runs away crying. Max chases after Squirtle.

May walks up the stairs, and Squirtle jumps into her arms. May scolds Max for scaring Squirtle. Then she asks what Max is doing in the lab. Professor Oak, Professor Birch, and Ash walks up to them. Professor Birch tells May that he brought Max along. May thanks Professor Birch for bringing Max along with him. Suddenly, Muk comes out and throws itself on top of Professor Birch. Ash tells Muk to leave Professor Birch alone. Professor Oak thinks that Muk has taken a liking to Professor Birch.

Everyone sits down for a drink. Ash tells May about the Battle Frontier. May thinks that the Battle Frontier could be fun. Ash knows that it will be fun. Mrs. Ketchum is not surprised that Ash is already planning his next journey. She tells Ash that May is planning on participating in the Pokémon Contests that are held in the Kanto Region. Professor Birch tells everyone that they might be some rare Pokémon along the way. May is already excited. Ash offers for May to travel with him. May accepts Ash's offer. Ash tells her that they will leave first thing tomorrow. This makes Mrs. Ketchum worried. Max asks May if he can come along. May tells Max that he has to get approval from his parents first. Ash tells Max not to worry as they will all ask. Mrs. Ketchum announces that she will prepare a lunch for everyone. Ash, May, and Max tells Mrs. Ketchum their requests.

Team Rocket is hiding behind a bush. James says that Pikachu and all of the other Pokémon are in the lab. Muk is still playing with Professor Birch. Professor Birch wants Muk to play outside instead. Professor Oak walks up to Mrs. Ketchum and asks her if he's worried about Ash leaving so soon. Mrs. Ketchum says that she's not worried at all. Ash shows May and Max his Snorlax which is sleeping against a tree. May and Max are impressed with the Snorlax. Snorlax wakes up and waves to Ash. May sends out all of her Pokémon. May's Pokémon waves back to Snorlax. Ash notices that Beautifly and Skitty aren't with her. May tells her that they are at the gym. Suddenly, all of Ash's other Pokémon that he caught in the Johto and Kanto region runs up to him. The Tauros tramples across them. Ash gets stuck on one of the Tauros. Phanpy walks up to Pikachu and greets it. Pikachu is happy to see Phanpy again. It gives Phanpy a bit of a shock which doesn't hurt Phanpy at all. Ash's Bulbasaur and May's Bulbasaur greets each other too. Ash wants his Tauros to let him down on the ground. Bayleef chases after the Tauros. Misty and Tracey walks outside. They see the stampede of Tauros. Tracey sends out Marill which uses Water Gun on the Tauros that is carrying Ash. Then Bayleef uses Vine Whip to grab Ash and bring him safely to the ground. Ash thanks Bayleef and gives it a hug. Misty and Tracey runs up to Ash to make sure he is okay.

May, Max, and Ash's other Pokémon heads towards the group. Squirtle, the Pokémon that dislikes Max, runs up to May and hugs her. Tracey tells Ash that Bulbasaur was excited to see him. It even told everyone that Ash was coming back home. Ash says hello to Bulbasaur. Then Ash sends out all of his Pokémon from the Hoenn Region. Max can't believe at the amount of Pokémon that Ash has. Corphish and Kingler meet up with each other and shake hands. All the Pokémon greets each other.

Team Rocket is spying on all of the Pokémon. Once they give the Pokémon to the boss, James dreams about becoming executives.

Team Rocket dresses up as news reporters. They claim about working for the Pokémon Sunday Special. Ash and co. loves that show. Their next interviewer is Ash. Ash says that he made it to the Top 8 in the Hoenn League. Wobbuffet is the camera man. It speaks and James covers Wobbuffet's mouth with his hands, and he tells Wobbuffet to be quiet. Then Team Rocket says that they will all be on television. James tells them to step back. The group steps back, and they fall into a hole. Noctowl and Swellow try to fly out of the hole, but a net covers it. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, but the attack doesn't break the net. Team Rocket walks towards them, and they say their motto. Misty notices that Team Rocket hasn't changed at all. Jessie tells her that they changed the motto a bit. Grovyle uses Leaf Blade and cuts through the net. Noctowl and Swellow flies out of the hole. Jessie tells Meowth that he was suppose to get a net that was resistant to all types. Meowth meekly says that he only got a net that was shock resistant. Ash and co. climbs out of the hole. Meowth presses a button and a giant machine comes out. The machine powers up, and it begins to suck in everything. Ash tells everyone to hold on tight. Some of the Pokémon flies towards the machine. Bulbasaur uses Vine Whip to bring them back. Squirtle is scared, but May reassures it that everything will be fine. Meowth begins to turn the machine up when Snorlax comes in and uses Tackle. Team Rocket falls to the ground.

Jessie sends out Seviper and James sends out Cacnea which hugs James again. Mrs. Kethcum, Professor Birch, and Professor Oak walks outside. Professor Oak isn't surprised to see Team Rocket again. Professor Birch thinks that Ash and co. might need some help. He takes out a Pokéball, but Mrs. Ketchum stops him. She tells Professor Birch that it's best to leave the battle to the children. Seviper uses Poison Tail, but Ash commands his Bulbasaur to use Vine Whip. Vine Whip counters Seviper's attack. Cacnea uses Pin Missile, but May's Bulbasaur uses Petal Dance. Ash's Bulbasaur uses Solarbeam, and Seviper and Cacnea blast off into the sky. Team Rocket is worried now. They begin to slowly walk away when Tracey tells them to stop. He says that these grounds are important habitats to the Pokémon. Marill and Azurill uses Water Gun, sending Team Rocket back to their machine. Combusken burns Team Rocket with a Flamethrower. Then Pikachu uses Thunderbolt which blasts Team Rocket off again.

Back at the lab, Tracey puts Charmander and Bulbasaur back into their Pokéballs. Squirtle still doesn't want to go in its Pokéball. It jumps into May's arms again. It looks like Squirtle has found its own trainer. May agrees to take care of Squirtle. Professor Oak asks May if she would like to leave Bulbasaur with him. May thinks that leaving Bulbasaur behind is a good idea because Ash's Bulbasaur will now have a friend. Ash decides to leave Torkoal and Glalie behind. Then Professor Oak hands Ash and May a new Pokédex. They thank Professor Oak for it. Max wants something too. Tracey holds out Max's Pokenav and tells Max that he has downloaded all of the Battle Frontier information in it. Max searches for the closest area which happens to be the Battle Factory. The Battle Factory happens to be near Cerulean City. Because of this, Misty can travel with Ash for awhile. Professor Birch says a little poem. Professor Oak revises the poem a bit. Professor Birch tells Professor Oak that he is still number one when it comes to poetry. Then Professor Oak reminds the kids to do their best to achieve their goals.

Ash tells his mother that they will be leaving now. Mrs. Ketchum knows that Ash is a Pokémon Trainer with great spirit, so he couldn't stay home anyways. Phanpy walks up to Ash. It wants to come along with Ash. Ash agrees to have Phanpy again. Ash and his friends then heads off for the Battle Factory. Brock comes up from behind them. He rejoins with Ash and co.

English Official Summary

Ash has returned to Pallet Town to find a reunion of friends! May stops by Ash's house but Ash has left for Professor Oak's lab, where Max, Misty, and Tracey are getting to know a trio of Kanto starter Pokémon. Max upsets the Squirtle, which goes running to May just as she arrives with Ash's mother. May wants to know what Max is doing there when he should be at home—it seems he's a guest of Professor Birch, who enters with Professor Oak and Ash in tow. As everyone takes this opportunity to discuss their plans for the future and meet Ash's other Pokémon, Team Rocket shows up to ruin the fun with their new Sucker for Punishment, a giant vacuuming robot! Ash calls on his old pal Snorlax to knock Team Rocket down a notch, and with the help of May, Misty, Tracey, Team Rocket's plan to nab Pikachu is foiled once again. With that excitement over, Ash prepares to depart for the Battle Factory. Glalie and Torkoal will stay behind, but Phanpy wants to tag along for the trip. As for May, her Beautifly and Skitty are living the good life at home, but her new friend Squirtle makes a perfect addition to her team. Misty will travel with her friends on her way home too, and they just can't leave without Brock, who catches up to them as they're leaving Pallet Town! Together again, our intrepid group of Trainers sets off in search of another adventure.

French Official Summary

Sacha est revenu à Bourg Palette pour y retrouver ses amis ! Flora décide de faire une halte chez Sacha, mais ce dernier est parti au laboratoire du Professeur Chen.

German Official Summary

Ash ist wieder in Alabastia, wo er das Wiedersehen mit seinen Freunden feiert! Maike will Ash besuchen, aber der ist gerade unterwegs zu Professor Eich.

Italian Official Summary

Ash torna a Biancavilla (Pallet Town), dove trova tutti i suoi amici riuniti. Vera passa da casa di Ash, ma non lo trova: il ragazzo è già al laboratorio del Prof. Oak.

Portuguese Official Summary

Max e May visitam Ash na Cidade de Pallet, juntos de Misty e Brock, e todos fazem planos para outra jornada juntos—dessa vez, para a Batalha da Fronteira!

Finnish Official Summary

Max ja May käyvät Pallet Townissa Ashin luona kylässä, mukanaan Misty ja Brock, ja he kaikki suunnittelevat seuraavaa yhteistä matkaansa - tällä kertaa kohti Battle Frontieria!

Spanish Latin America Official Summary

Max y May van a visitar a Ash a Pueblo Paleta, junto con Misty y Brock, y todos hacen planes para otro viaje juntos, ¡esta vez, para la Batalla de la Frontera!

Spanish Official Summary

¡Ash ha vuelto a Pueblo Paleta donde se encuentra una reunión de amigos! Aura para en la casa de Ash, pero Ash se ha ido al laboratorio del Profesor Oak.

English Great Britian Official Summary

Ash has returned to Pallet Town to find a reunion of friends! May stops by Ash's house but Ash has left for Professor Oak's lab, where Max, Misty, and Tracey are getting to know a trio of Kanto starter Pokémon. Max upsets the Squirtle, which goes running to May just as she arrives with Ash's mother. May wants to know what Max is doing there when he should be at home—it seems he's a guest of Professor Birch, who enters with Professor Oak and Ash in tow. As everyone takes this opportunity to discuss their plans for the future and meet Ash's other Pokémon, Team Rocket shows up to ruin the fun with their new Sucker for Punishment, a giant vacuuming robot! Ash calls on his old pal Snorlax to knock Team Rocket down a notch, and with the help of May, Misty, Tracey, Team Rocket's plan to nab Pikachu is foiled once again. With that excitement over, Ash prepares to depart for the Battle Factory. Glalie and Torkoal will stay behind, but Phanpy wants to tag along for the trip. As for May, her Beautifly and Skitty are living the good life at home, but her new friend Squirtle makes a perfect addition to her team. Misty will travel with her friends on her way home too, and they just can't leave without Brock, who catches up to them as they're leaving Pallet Town! Together again, our intrepid group of Trainers sets off in search of another adventure.

Russian Official Summary

Эш возвращается домой, где встречает друзей и семью, а также своих многочисленных покемонов, которые находились под присмотром профессора Оука. К сожалению, Команда Р применяет все более современные технологии и строит планы по краже из лаборатории профессора Оука редких и сильных покемонов. Эшу удаётся им противостоять, и он отправляется на поиски новых приключений на Боевом рубеже.

Dutch Official Summary

Max en May gaan bij Ash in Pallet Town op bezoek, samen met Misty en Brock en ze maken allemaal plannen voor een reis samen, dit keer naar de Battle Frontier!

Norwegian Official Summary

Max og May kommer på besøk til Ash i Pallet Town, sammen med Misty og Brock. De legger planer for en ny reise sammen, denne gangen til Battle Frontier!

Swedish Official Summary

Max och May hälsar på Ash i Pallet Town, tillsammans med Misty och Brock, och de gör upp planer för en ny resa tillsammans—den här gången till Stridsfronten!

Danish Official Summary

Sammen med Misty og Brock besøger Max og May Ash i Pallet Town, og sammen planlægger de en ny rejse sammen – og denne gang er målet Battle Frontier!