With the Hoenn League Preliminary Rounds just one day away, Ash and his Pokémon make their final preparations. While Ash and the Pokémon stretch, May, Brock and Max sit on a rock and watch. May says that watching all the stretching is making her hungry. Max just wants to see the stadium, and Brock tells Ash that he checked by the Pokémon Center and they said that no one by the name of Morrison had registered yet and that he only has until 5:00 that night to register. With the stretches done, Ash tells the Pokémon that it’s time for the battle practices.

He has Grovyle use Quick Attack, Pikachu use Thunderbolt, and Glalie use Ice Beam. Glalie fires the attack just as Morrison runs by chasing his sandwich again. He gets blasted by the attack and falls into the pond. Once he’s defrosted, he tells Ash that he had a hard time tracking down and winning his eighth Badge, an hourglass shaped one. He spots Ash’s team and compliments them all before releasing his own team - Beldum, Girafarig, Steelix, Swampert, Gligar, and Growlithe. Ash and Morrison soon begin to argue again and they set off on another footrace.

A little ways down the path by the forest, they fall into a hole, dug by none other than Team Rocket. They say their motto again and tell Ash and Morrison that they plan to steal both of their teams. They start to leave but are confronted by Tyson and Meowth in Boots. Meowth in Boots calls Meowth an embarrassment to all Meowths. James wonders what he said so Meowth tells him, and then realizes that it was an insult before getting mad. Meowth in Boots says that Team Rocket’s Meowth eats hairballs, which gets him steaming mad. He moves in for a Fury Swipes attack but an Iron Tail from Meowth in Boots sends them all blasting off.

Tyson helps Ash and Morrison out of the pit and Brock tells Morrison that he has to register. Morrison wonders what he has to register for so Ash explains that he must register by 5:00 to enter the League; Morrison dashes down the hill towards the Pokémon Center.

At 4:55, Morrison finishes his registration and says that it was lucky Tyson was there or he never would’ve made it. Meowth in Boots leaves the Pokémon Center with its head bowed so Tyson follows it to see what’s wrong with a comment that he’ll see both of them in the preliminaries. Morrison asks what the preliminaries are so Brock and Max explain that they are the first 1-on-1 matches to determine the 256 trainers to go to the Qualifying Tournament Rounds.

The next day, trainers continue to cram in some last-minute training with their Pokémon before the preliminaries. And so, the first round preliminary matches begin with battles between Golduck and Venonat, Machamp and Nidoking, Grimer and Hitmonchan, and Scyther and Magmar. While the matches progress, Tyson and Meowth sit outside on a bench meditating.

Morrison’s turn finally comes up to battle a trainer with an Electabuzz. Morrison has Beldum use its Take Down attack to which the trainer responds with a Protect. Morrison tries another Take Down but Electabuzz counters with Protect again. Electabuzz uses Thunderpunch and Quick Attack which both hit Beldum. Beldum attempts Take Down again but Electabuzz uses Protect. Electabuzz powers up another Thunderpunch and is about to hit Beldum when Beldum begins to glow. Electabuzz is blasted backwards by the force of the glow and when it disappears, a Metang floats where Beldum was seconds before. In the stands, Ash looks up Metang in his Pokédex. Electabuzz uses Thunderpunch once more, but with renewed confidence, Morrison has Metang stop it in its tracks with Confusion and then show them a real Take Down attack. Electabuzz is declared unable to battle and Morrison the winner.

Morrison heads to the stands to see his friends, who compliment him on his victory. May says that Tyson’s match will be in another arena soon so they all head over for it. Meanwhile, Jessie and James decide to go back to an old scheme - selling snacks! Over in another arena, Tyson and Meowth in Boots enter the stadium to see Ash and the others cheering him on. Meowth in Boots looks very angry to see the Persian it must face…

The battle begins between Tyson and Vivica with Meowth in Boots using Slash while Team Rocket’s Meowth watches from the stands as Jessie and James sell lots of things. Persian counters Meowth’s Slash with Fury Swipes. Tyson calls for a Double Team from Meowth but Vivica gets rid of the fakes quickly with a Water Pulse and Shadow Ball. Meowth attacks with Iron Tail but switches to Thunderbolt when Persian goes underground. Meowth follows the Persian with Thunderbolt, tearing up the field in the process, and eventually hits it, sending it down for the count. Even after Tyson and Meowth are declared the winners, Meowth tries to attack the Persian. Tyson tries to restrain it but it breaks free and charges at Persian. With quick thinking, Tyson recalls Meowth to its Pokéball before any more damage is done.

After the match, Ash and the others meet up with Tyson, who sits on a bench holding Meowth’s Pokéball. Team Rocket’s Meowth hides in the bushes and listens to Tyson’s story of how he met Meowth. One evening, he was walking back to the cabin where he was staying and he heard a fight. He noticed a Persian fighting a Meowth and Meowth was losing badly while the other Meowths just watched. The Persian finished off Meowth with Fury Swipes and Shadow Ball and then left with the other Meowths. Tyson took the Meowth in and fixed up its feet which were badly damaged. He gave Meowth the boots to help support it when it tried to walk again. And that’s why Meowth doesn’t want to evolve - it wants to prove that it can beat a Persian without being one himself. Jessie and James spot Meowth in the bushes and wonder what it’s doing.

Later, Ash’s preliminary match against Gilbert begins. Gilbert has his Hitmonlee use Rolling Kick on Pikachu which Pikachu counters with Iron Tail. Hitmonlee attempts a Hi Jump Kick but misses and ends up hurting itself. Pikachu uses Quick Attack and then charges at Hitmonlee. The Kicking Pokémon uses a Mega Kick on Pikachu but Pikachu turns the battle around by knocking Hitmonlee out with an Iron Tail attack. Pikachu is declared the winner and the preliminaries come to a close. Ash is given the Torch to light the wok in honor of his defending the Flame earlier. Watching the Hoenn League from Pallet Town are Professor Oak, Delia, and Tracey. In Cerulean City, Misty watches, as do Norman and Caroline in Petalburg. The Hoenn League has begun.