With Ash's Sunyshore Gym match delayed, Ash and friends head towards Lake Valor for the Grand Festival. They meet up with Dawn's mother Johanna who asks them to help out at a school. They help out, but things get hectic, especially when a kid takes a "liking" to Piplup. Dawn decides to use this time at the school to perfect some combos for the Grand Festival, while Jessie sets her sights on her fourth ribbon.
A young boy named Ash Ketchum embarks on a journey to become a "Pokemon Master" with his first Pokemon, Pikachu. Joining him on his travels are Brock, a girl-obsessed Rock Pokemon Trainer, and Misty, a tomboyish Water Pokemon Trainer who may have a crush on him. Ash and Co. end up traveling through various regions, including Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto, and then enter the Pokemon League competitions there.
Along the way, they run into many confrontations with Jessie, James, and Meowth, a trio of Pokemon thieves who are apart of an evil organization called "Team Rocket". But every time Team Rocket try to do their evil deeds, they fail thanks to Ash and his Pokemon.