Our heroes are walking through a thick forest, Brock thinks there's something wrong with his map but Misty thinks they're just lost again. A tall kid comes up to them and asks if they've seen any Cyndaquil around, which are supposed to be all over this area. Ash gets excited and starts to look around for one. The kid tells him to stay away from the Cyndaquil but he's not listening.
Brock and Misty tell the kid that he has no right to say things like that; anyone who catches a Pokemon fairly gets to keep it. The kid leaves in a huff. Misty and Brock turn around and realize that Ash isn't with them any more, and go off to search for him. Unknown to them, Team Rocket has been watching. They still want to get Pikachu, they had even taken jobs to earn enough money to build their latest secret weapon. Their dream is to be the stars of Team Rocket.
Misty and Brock get confronted by a giant Meowth robot, it's Team Rocket! However when TR realizes that Ash and Pikachu aren't with them, they run back into the forest. Meanwhile Ash is wandering through the woods looking for a Cyndaquil. Suddenly the Meowth robot lands in front of him! He has Pikachu do a Thunderbolt attack but the robot absorbs the electricity and gets powered up. Then James has the robot shoot bubble-gum blobs at Ash, but Ash runs between the robot's legs, causing it to bend over too far and fall down. Ash runs into the forest to hide but the robot has a special viewer that helps TR find him. TR tries to follow him but the robot slips on a tree root and falls again, giving Ash a chance to escape.
Soon Ash comes to a cliff with lots of caves in it. At the opening of one of the caves is a Cyndaquil! Ash uses Dexter to find out that Cyndaquil is usually mild-tempered but emits flames from its back when upset. He wants to catch it, and begins to climb up the cliff. Unfortunately the tall kid comes and sees him, and tells his Sandslash to climb ahead of Ash and use its Sand Attack. Ash gets showered with sand and falls back to the bottom of the cliff, and yells at the kid that he's being unfair. The kid climbs up and says he'll catch the Cyndaquil himself but the Cyndaquil runs into a cave. The kid and his Sandslash run after it.
Ash is determined not to lose to this creep. He starts to climb again and the Meowth robot appears, but he ignores it and continues into the cave. He chases after the Cyndaquil but the Sandslash trips him up, and the kid runs ahead. Outside, James makes the robot shoot a giant bouncing ball into the cave. Ash sees it coming and runs. In the meantime the tall kid has cornered the Cyndaquil and orders his Sandslash to attack it, but Ash runs by just at that moment and scoops the Cyndaquil up and runs away with it. The kid starts to chase him but gets squashed by the ball as it rolls by.
Ash keeps running. The ball hits a sharp edge in the tunnel and explodes, blowing Ash and his two Pokemon right out of the cave. TR is there waiting for him in the Meowth robot. Team Rocket fires the bubble-gum weapon again, Ash and Pikachu get stuck to the cliff. They notice he has a Cyndaquil and decide to steal it too. Ash tells the Cyndaquil to escape and tosses it away with his free arm. It climbs up the cliff but the robot takes aim at it. Ash yells at it to go but it doesn't, and as the robot prepares to attack, fire sprouts from its back and it attacks the robot with a Flamethrower attack.
At first TR laughs but then they realize the robot is badly damaged and will explode. Ash notices that the Cyndaquil is too close to the robot and will get caught in the blast, so tells Pikachu to use his Thunderbolt to free them even though he'll get shocked too. Pikachu does, and the gumball breaks apart. Ash grabs a PokeBall and captures the Cyndaquil just as the robot blows up and sends TR blasting off.
Then he lets the Cyndaquil out, it's okay. Brock and Misty come running, and Ash explains that he just wanted to help the Cyndaquil but used his PokeBall without thinking. The tall kid emerges from the cave, still after the Cyndaquil but Ash tells him he has already caught it. The kid challenges him to a match, with the winner getting the Cyndaquil. Brock says that's crazy since Ash already caught it, but Ash accepts the challenge and will use Cyndaquil as his Pokemon.
The kid starts the match off strongly, and his Sandslash cuts down trees with its Slash attacks while the Cyndaquil just keeps dodging. Ash is surprised at how good the Cyndaquil's defense is and encourages it to keep dodging. Eventually the Sandslash gets tired and Ash wants Cyndaquil to use its Flamethrower attack, but it can't: it needs to warm up first before it can use it.
The Sandslash starts to get the upper hand, but Ash advises his Cyndaquil to watch its opponent carefully and dodge its moves. Sandslash tries one last attack, and when Cyndaquil dodges the Sandslash gets its claws stuck in a tree. This gives the Cyndaquil the chance to Tackle and knock it out. Ash has won!
The kid, however, won't accept defeat and chases the Cyndaquil with a net. Ash says he's cheating. At last the Cyndaquil fires up and blasts the kid, who runs away. Ash rejoices that he has a new Pokemon!
As for Team Rocket, they go back to their jobs and dream about the stars again.