Ash and friends, on the way to Slateport City and the Grand Festival, have stopped on an island for a bit of lunch. Having finished his first, Ash tells the others that he’s going to train Snorunt’s Ice Beam some more. Snorunt quickly finishes its food and runs off with Ash. May gets up and says that she needs to train more in order to keep up with Ash. She looks over to see five empty bowls sitting in front of Munchlax. As she yells at it for eating her other Pokémon’s food, Ash begins training. He calls for an Ice Beam but it fizzles out. Suddenly, a sandwich rolls down the hill. Ash catches the sandwich as a man with orange hair comes running down the hill screaming.

The man runs past Ash and straight into a tree as Ash looks on bewildered. He pulls himself off the tree and has a red streak on his face. He commands Ash to give back the sandwich, except Ash doesn’t have it. They look around in time to see Munchlax plop the sandwich whole into its mouth. May, Max, and Brock arrive and May apologizes for Munchlax. The man lets out a scream that can be heard all across the island. After letting out the scream, the man introduces himself as Morrison. After a bit of conversation, Ash and Morrison begin to argue over who will be the best Pokémon Master in the universe. The arguments escalate until they lead into a battle challenge.

A short time later, everyone is in a clearing, Ash and Morrison facing each other from opposite sides. Ash sends in his pal Pikachu to face Morrison and his Beldum. May looks up Beldum in her Pokédex as Morrison orders a Take Down. Pikachu dodges and smacks Beldum with Quick Attack. Beldum turns around and aims Take Down again; Pikachu dodges once more and fires a Thunderbolt. Once again, Beldum uses Take Down. This time, Pikachu gets hit and Morrison calls for another Take Down. Pikachu tries to dodge again but ends up getting hit once more. Ash calls for an Iron Tail as Beldum launches Take Down again. The two attacks collide and create an explosion, knocking both Pokémon out. Brock declares the battle a draw as Ash picks up Pikachu.

Morrison bets Ash that he has more Badges and says that he already has seven. Ash pulls out his Badge Case and shows Morrison all eight of his Badges. Morrison runs off shouting that he’s going to get his eighth Badge. May looks around and sees that Munchlax is missing again.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket has just one cracker left to split between the four of them. They start to play Rock-Paper-Scissors for it and it disappears. Blames are thrown at each other while Munchlax hides in the bushes, eating the cracker. Ash and the others arrive and May gets mad at Munchlax for taking other people’s food. Munchlax tries to run away but May recalls it.

And so the gang heads for the Pokémon Center. As they reach the clear area where the Center is situated, Ash spots Morrison coming from a different path. Ash says that he thought he was going to get his eighth Badge. Morrison shrugs and says that there isn’t a Gym on the island. Without another word, he heads for the Center. Ash catches up and passes him. Morrison passes him back. The two continue passing each other until they flat out run for the Center. Crashing into the door, it slides open and the two eager trainers reach the counter at exactly the same time, holding out their Pokémon.

At dinner, Ash pulls a plate of small meat patties towards him and says that having ten of those will be good. Morrison says that he can eat 20. Ash excuses his “mistake” and takes 30; Morrison continues to escalate the number by making it 40. In the hot springs later, Brock and Max tell Ash and Morrison that they’ve had enough and head out. Ash decides to follow them but a snide remark from Morrison and he’s back in the water. Morrison turns up the temperature of the water and all of the other people leave because it’s too hot. They sink below the water and faint.

Back at the Pokémon Center, Brock, May and Max cool off the “heated friends” as Nurse Joy returns all of their Pokémon. Ash exclaims that he’s ready for bed; Morrison agrees and starts heading for the door. Ash inquires as to where Morrison is going and he gets a response that he is going to where he always sleeps: outside.

Morrison leads everyone outside and shows them a hammock hanging high in a tree. He releases Beldum and has it carry him up to the hammock. Ash, being competitive with Morrison, also decides to climb up and sleep in the tree. He climbs rather uncomfortably onto a branch above Morrison. Pikachu watches as Ash plummets to the ground; Beldum catches him and brings him back up as Morrison offers him another hammock. Two Oddish sleep together as a crescent moon rises over the peaceful scene.

The next day, May, Max and Brock make some more Pokéblocks, this time with the recipe from Professor Oak that he uses on Snorlax. May hands Munchlax one block of “May’s Pink Surprise” and it falls asleep, having filled its stomach. Outside, Ash and Morrison arrive at a spot in the woods at the exact same time and they both claim it as their spot to train. They arm wrestle over a tree stump, and when that ends in a tie, they have another race. Meanwhile, Team Rocket watches from the bushes, planning to steal Beldum for Giovanni to use for a massage.

Ash and Morrison continue to race towards the top of a mountain. Ash slips on a steep cliff, and Morrison taunts Ash, ending up right next to his new rival at the bottom of the cliff. The two friends look around and spot a solitary apple hanging on a tree. They race for it, and both end up with half the apple; agreeing that they tied, they start to eat their apple. Suddenly, metal claws grab Beldum and Pikachu as a huge cage appears around their trainers. Team Rocket’s balloon emerges from behind a tree with Meowth perched on another cage, which holds the two Pokémon captive.

In the cage on the ground, Ash and Morrison complain that they left all of their other Pokémon at the Pokémon Center. Tackling and kicking the bars several times, they manage to break out and give chase to Team Rocket. A large chasm between cliffsides appears before Ash and Morrison, but no challenge is too great for them and they leap clear across it. Morrison almost falls but Ash grabs his hand and helps him up. The balloon, still in front of them, threatens to get beyond their reach, but Ash and Morrison soar onto the top and bite the Meowth’s ears, much to the dismay of the real Meowth inside. The balloon plummets to the ground, and Team Rocket gets outraged.

Jessie calls out Seviper and orders a Poison Tail attack on Ash and Morrison. The Pokémon obeys her and smacks them away. James releases Cacnea and gets yet another hug from his loving Pokémon. He orders a Sandstorm which blinds Ash and Morrison as Seviper moves in for a Wrap. They retaliate with their own Take Down, breaking open the cage with their Pokémon, and freeing them. As Ash and Morrison reunite with their beloved Pokémon, Jessie and James order Bite and Pin Missile, respectively. They order Pikachu and Beldum to fight back; Pikachu rides Beldum past the attacks from their opponents, and then uses Iron Tail and Thunderbolt to send Team Rocket blasting off again. Pikachu cheers while Beldum hovers above it.

As the sun sets on a harbor on the island, Brock, May, Max, and Ash wave goodbye to Morrison as he leaves on a ship to get his eighth Badge. Next stop for Ash and friends: Slateport City and the Grand Festival!