Ash and co. are continuing their way to Rustboro City. Right now, Ash is in the forest battling with another trainer. The trainer's Beedrill uses Twineedle, striking Pikachu. Pikachu counters back with Thunderbolt which causes the Beedrill to faint. Brock announces that Ash is the winner. The trainer picks up Beedrill. He thanks Ash for a great battle, and the two of them shake hands.

Ash and co. discusses Ash's last battle. May thinks that having a friendship with the trainer after battling is great. Making friends is what battling is all about. Max comments that Ash is wasting a lot of energy in his battles. For example, Quick Attack would've dodged Twineedle instead of a Thunderbolt. Ash starts to say something, but Max stops him and remembers that Ash is still training. Suddenly, a Zigzagoon jumps out of the bushes. The Zigzagoon moves side to side. Max notices that this Zigzagoon is big. Max tells May that an average Zigzagoon is only 16 inches tall, but this wild one is much bigger. A bunch more Zigzagoon rest beside the trees. However, these Zigzagoon are smaller. A Sentret and Pinsir pop out of the trees. The big Zizagoon creeps up to one of the smaller ones. The big one stands up and takes off a costume revealing himself as a human. Ash and co. are surprised by this. May didn't think that Zigzagoon evolved. She walks up to the boy and checks him out to make sure that he really is a human. After she does that, the Zigzagoon walks away. The boy gets angry at May and Max. He looks at them and notices that they are wearing the same kind of shorts that he is wearing. May asks for the boy's name. The boy shows them all his disguises that he has. The boy then tells them that his name is Nicolie the Knickerbocker. Ash and co. wonders what a knickerbocker is. Nicolie tells them that a knickerbocker is someone who communicates with nature while wearing short pants. He asks for the names of May and Max. Everyone introduces themself. Nicolie ignores Ash and Brock's introductions and focuses more on May and Max. Then Brock asks Nicolie why he used the Zigzagoon costume. Nicolie tells him that he likes to become one with a Pokémon and know their feelings and actions. Then it is easier to catch them. Nicolie tells everyone that he wants to capture a Zigzagoon so that he can battle the Petalburg City gym leader. May and Max tells him that their dad is the gym leader. Nicolie offers to battle May for some practice. May accepts Nicolie's challenge.

At a field, Brock announces that Nicolie and May will use one Pokémon each. The match begins. Nicolie sends out Mudkip. Ash looks up Mudkip in his Pokédex. Nicolie changes into his Mudkip costume. May sends out Torchic. Max notices that May has a big disadvantage because Mudkip is a water type. May tells Torchic to attack, but Torchic just stands there because it doesn't know what to attack with. Finally, May orders Torchic to use Ember. Mudkip uses Water Gun and douses out the fire. Next, May tells Torchic to use Peck. Torchic dives to Mudkip, but Mudkip uses another Water Gun causing Torchic to faint. Nicolie is surprised that May is bad at battling. He says that winning a badge will be so easy. Max gets really angry at Nicolie.

Team Rocket has been spying on Ash and co. They also want to catch Nicolie's Mudkip. May is disappointed that she lost her first battle to someone like Nicolie. Brock tells May to forget about it because her Pokémon was at a disadvantage. May is also a bit angry at Nicolie. She looks behind her and notices that Max is missing.

Max is hiding behind a tree. He sees Nicolie dress up in his Zigzagoon costume. Max is angry that Nicolie insulted his dad. He sees Nicolie throwing some food out. Max knows that Nicolie is using the food to bring the Zigzagoon closer to him. Max gets an idea. He picks up a bunch of the berries that the Zigzagoon like. His plan is to attract all the Zigzagoon so that Nicolie won't be able to catch any of them. A whole army of Zigzagoon walk towards Max. Max screams. Ash has Taillow guide them to Max. When they arrive at the sight, Pikachu uses Thunderbolt to scare the Zigzagoon away. May runs to her brother asking if he's alright. The Zigzagoon begin to walk up to the group. Ash tells Pikachu to use Thundershock, but Max stops him. He says that the Zigzagoon only want the berries that he collected for them. Brock takes the berries from Max and gives them to the Zigzagoon. One Zigzagoon attacks Brock.

Suddenly, Nicolie comes and says, "Zagoon, Zigzagoon!" He runs off with Mudkip, and the squad of Zigzagoon follow him. Nicolie rams a tree and the berries fall off. Mudkip uses Water Gun on other trees to knock some berries down. The Zigzagoon are happily eating the food. Ash and co. walk up to Nicolie. They thank him for saving them. Max apologizes to Nicolie for the things that he has done. Then he wonders how Nicolie learned to speak to the Zigzagoon real well. Nicolie tells Max to say what is in his heart. Then Nicolie challenges a Zigzagoon to a battle. He changes into his Mudkip costume. Mudkip uses Water Gun, but Zigzagoon dodges the attacks and tackles Mudkip. Mudkip chases Zigzagoon and hits it with a Water Gun. Then Nicolie throws a Pokéball and successfully captures the Zigzagoon.

Suddenly, a mechanical arm extends out and grabs Mudkip. Team Rocket appears in their balloon, and they say their motto. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, but Team Rocket has a satellite dish to stop the attack. Nicolie changes to an Aipom and runs up a cliff. He then quickly changes to a Gligar and jumps and retrieves Mudkip. Then Ash sends out Taillow, and it uses Peck on the balloon. The balloon crashes and Team Rocket falls into the deep hole that the Zigzagoon dugged. When Team Rocket gets out of the hole, the Zigzagoon surround them. Jessie sends out Arbok, and James sends out Weezing. Arbok and Weezing attack, but Pikachu's Quick Attack gets the best out of them. Then Pikachu uses Thunder, and Team Rocket blast off again.

Nicolie comments Ash on how well he battles. Ash thanks Nicolie and wishes that his battle went well at the Petalburg City gym. Nicolie is surprised that Ash lost to the gym leader. Then Nicolie challenges Ash to a battle. Nicolie uses Zigzagoon as his Pokémon, and Ash chooses Taillow. Zigzagoon starts off with a Tackle, but Taillow dodges the attack by flying into the air. May thinks it's cool how both Ash and Nicolie are battling with new Pokémon. Max is enjoying the battle every bit.