Ash and Turtwig are doing some more training with the Energy Ball attack. Brock tells Ash that it will be getting dark soon, and they need to be headed off to the next town. Ash agrees and returns Turtwig back into its Pokéball. Ash can't wait to get to the Pokémon Center for a bath. Brock checks his guide book and finds out that there isn't a Pokémon Center in the next town. Dawn isn't worried because she knows a hot spring that is close by. Brock asks Dawn how she knows that there is a hot spring, and Dawn tells him that she knows a friend that lives in a hot spring hotel. So Dawn leads the way towards the hot spring.
At the hotel is a girl with her three Swinub. She tells the Swinub that the hot spring is going through some hard times and that she needs their help. The Swinub agree to help her. Ash and co. approaches her, and Dawn waves. The girl's name is Leona, and she recognizes Dawn right away. Dawn asks Leona how the hotel is going. Leona tells her that things have been going a bit slow. Then she talks about Dawn's contest. Dawn tells her that she's taking a short break from contests ever since that loss. Dawn thinks that taking a break in the hot spring is a great idea. Then she introduces Ash and Brock. Leona tells them that she is a Pokémon trainer. Ash challenges her to a battle. Leona thinks that it is a great idea, but she doesn't have time for it. Dawn tells Ash that they should go to the hot spring instead. Ash agrees. Leona tries to stop them, but the three trainers end up going without her.
Ash and co. change into their swimming suits. All three of them jump in, but when they do only their feet get covered with water. Leona runs up to them and apologizes. She tells them that the water isn't flowing, so there is no water for the hot spring. Ash and co. get back into their normal clothes. Leona explains that the hot spring suddenly stopped flowing. The source of the water is located on the top of a mountain, and the water flows through a pipe. If the water doesn't begin flowing again, the hotel will be closed. Leona tells Dawn not to worry because her Swinub have agreed to help find another hot spring. Dawn looks up Swinub in her Pokédex. Leona explains that she taught her Swinub the Dig attack, so it shouldn't be too hard for them to find a new hot spring. Dawn tells her that they need to work together, just like they did when they were kids. So the Swinub begin searching. In a few moments, they pick up a scent for a hot spring. Ash and co. begin to follow the Swinub towards the source.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket is at the hot spring site. They plan to give the hot spring to the boss so that they are rewarded with big promotions. Suddenly, the Swinub stop and point above. Leona takes a look and sees steam coming deep from below the trees. When Ash and co. arrive at the hot spring, they find out that it will be replaced with a hotel. Team Rocket is dressed up in worker outfits. They notice that Ash and co. are at the hot spring. Meowth tells Jessie and James not to worry because he has a plan. Meowth walks up to Ash and co. and tells them to get lost. Leona refuses to move and Jessie and James approach them. Team Rocket then begins to tell a story about how they discovered the hot spring (even though it's a complete lie). Leona realizes that there is something wrong. She notices that the water from Team Rocket's hot spring is the same as hers, so she accuses Team Rocket of stealing her hot spring water. Jessie demands for proof. Brock states that Team Rocket's hot spring water could have just come down from the same mountain, so they really aren't stealing anything.
Suddenly, a Wooper with a device attached to its tail flows down into the hot spring. Leona recognizes the Wooper belonging to her parents. Her parents call out to Leona from the mountain above, and Leona signals her parents to come down. Her parents tell Leona that they went to investigate the water problem. They found another pipe connected to their main pipe, and the second pipe had been stealing all the water. So they sent their Wooper down the secondary pipe, and it led straight to Team Rocket's hot spring. Leona realizes that Team Rocket did steal their water. Team Rocket reveals themselves, and they say their motto. Leona's parents notice that Team Rocket is an interesting group. Dawn states that Team Rocket is a group of criminals who steal Pokémon. Leona demands that Team Rocket fix their water problem. In response to Leona's request, Meowth takes out a remote and presses a button. A robot appears from the mountains. It shoots out a blast of water at Ash and co. Pikachu gets mad and charges up for a Thunderbolt, but Ash stops it. Ash tells Pikachu that the electricity could be dangerous with everyone soaking wet. So Pikachu uses Iron Tail instead, but the attack has no effect on the robot. Team Rocket tells them that their robot is very slippery from all the water.
Dawn tells Leona that they can defeat Team Rocket if they work together. Leona agrees. She orders the Swinub to use Dig. All three Swinub use Dig and pop out underneat the robot's foot. The robot loses its balance and its container of water spills on top of Team Rocket. The robot begins to hit up. Dawn sends out Buneary, and it uses Ice Beam to freeze the robot. When the ice breaks, the robot begins to crack. The robot shuts down and falls on Team Rocket. An explosion occurs, and Team Rocket blasts off again.
With Team Rocket gone, Leona and Dawn celebrate. Brock mentions that they performed some awesome combo moves to get rid of Team Rocket. Leona's father tells Ash, Dawn, and Brock that he will fix the pipe, and then they can try out their hot spring. Before the hot spring is ready, Leona challenges Ash to a battle. However, she wants to do a tag battle, and she chooses Dawn as her partner. So Brock is Ash's partner. Leona's Pokémon is Swinub, Dawn's Pokémon is Piplup, Brock uses Sudowoodo, and Ash chooses Chimchar. The battle then begins.
Swinub uses Tackle on Sudowoodo, but Sudowoodo dodges the attack. Piplup then uses Peck at Chimchar, but Chimchar strikes Piplup with its Scratch attack. Piplup recovers from the Scratch and uses Bubblebeam on Sudowoodo. Swinub uses its Ice Shard attack on Chimchar. Both Chimchar and Sudowoodo dodge the attacks. Then Chimchar uses Flamethrower followed up by a Flame Wheel. Swinub is the target. Piplup, however, moves in front of Swinub. With the team work of the two Pokémon, Swinub digs a hole, and both Pokémon go underneath to dodge Chimchar. Swinub uses Dig on Chimchar, and then Piplup launches a Whirlpool. The Whirlpool hits Chimchar, and Chimchar is drowned in it. Brock notices that Leona and Dawn make a great team together.
Piplup uses another Bubblebeam on Chimchar. Then Swinub uses Blizzard. To protect Chimchar, Sudowoodo hits Swinub with Double-Edge, and then it mimics the Blizzard attack. Swinub counters with another Blizzard attack. Both Blizzard attacks hit, and all four Pokémon end up becoming frozen. The battle ends up becoming a tie. Leona thanks Ash and Brock for a great battle. Then Leona invites Ash and co. into the hot spring.
At night, Ash and co. jump into the hot spring. All the Pokémon love the hot spring too. Leona is sure that Dawn will do better in contests now that she's been in the hot spring. Dawn is glad to hear that, and her confidence is boosted. Ash then asks Leona why Dawn's old friends call her "Dee-dee". Before Leona can answer, Dawn pushes Leona's head underwater. Leona and Dawn end up laughing and decide to keep it a secret. The next day, Ash and co. wave goodbye to Leona and her parents, and the group continues their way towards Veilstone City.
