In the land of Hoenn, a girl named May travels to Prof. Birch’s lab. She is attacked by a wild ghost Pokémon called Duskull. Scared, but unharmed, she travels on her bike to the lab in Littleroot Town.
Ash also travels to Littleroot town and is going to sign up for the Hoenn League. Team Rocket's failed attempt to catch Pikachu has left the little yellow Pokémon dangerously ill. Ash arrives in town to discover that Littleroot doesn’t have a Pokémon Center! Ash rushes to the Profesor’s lab and talks to one of the assistants. The assistant alerts Prof. Birch. Professor Birch thinks that Pikachu can be cured—but first they'll have to catch it. Delirious with fever, Pikachu has run off into the forest.
Meanwhile, May arrives at the lab in order to receive her first Pokémon to find that the Prof. isn’t there. The assistants tell her that he drove into the woods and she rides after them.
In the woods, the prof. tumbles down a cliff and lands on a Pochyena. He is suddenly surrounded by a group of the Pokémon and he looks like he is in trouble. Suddenly, May arrives and the prof. tells her to take one of the Pokémon out of his bag and use it to battle the Pochyena. She ends up throwing Mudkip. Birch tells Mudkip to do a water gun attack.
As May and Prof.Birch find Ash. As the group is about to leave, Team Rocket arrive on the scene in a giant robot. They reintroduce themselves to Ash and let May and the prof. know who they are. Jessie still doesn’t care about this mission and James and Meowth do the dirty work as they launch an arm that begins draining Pikachu’s energy. However, it accidentely HEALS Pikachu and he uses a super-powered Thunderbolt.
Back at the lab, May picks the fire Pokémon, Torchic. Prof. Birch gives her a Pokédex and she qiuetly says how she really doesn’t like Pokémon. May’s damaged bike due to Pikachu’s thunderbolt makes her angry but she decides to ask Ash if she can go with him on his journey. He says OK and they head over to Oladale town as Ash’s journey in Hoenn begins.
Pikachu must've suffered from an Electric Overload
Our only hope is to drain out all that energy
The Machine is going to Explode!
Pikachu's Escaped I gotta find him!
Ash isn't carrying any other Pokémon!
Professor, we need those starters for
May!
Sorry
May, you'll have to wait for the Professor
Joshua, I'm going after the Professor. May! No!
Pikachu? Where are you Pikachu? Hhhh where are you hiding? Waah! *slips down the hill*
Uhhh, that's not a friendly greeting!
Terrific, you must be
May! Great timing! Please, open that bag over there!
Okay, this one! Here goes!
"Alright a Mudkip!" "That's good, now what should I do?" "Call out one of it's attacks!"
Use Water Gun... BLEHHHHHHHHH
*falls off tree* Mudkip use Water Gun on the Poocheyena.
Muuuuuudkiiiiiiiiiiiiip! Roh roh roh roh rohhhh!
Professor, what's going on? What were you doing up in that tree?
There's really no time for this
May we'll catch up later.
Pikachu is confused, it's vision is blurred
So it uses an Electric Attack
"What was that?" "Pikachu's electrical build up is reaching critical mass. Pikachu, he might explode."
You gotta get back to Professor Birch's Laboratory now!
Pikachu runs and (due to poor vision) jumps off the cliff, Ash jumps after him.
I'm gonna help you Pikachu, don't worry!
Professor Birch and May send down a rope, Ash grabs onto it clutching Pikachu and climbs up whilst Birch and May pull
Pikachu hold still, it's okay! I promise your gonna be fine!
"That was close!" "Thanks a lot you guys"
Prepare for trouble for the umpteenth time, make it double and I'll make it rhyme. To protect the world from devastion. To unite all peoples within our nation.
To denounce the evils of truth and love, to extend our reach to the stars above. Jessie. James. Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light. Surrender now or prepare for an out of this world fight. Meowth, that's right!
"Professor Birch, that's Team Rocket and they keep trying to catch Pikachu!" "Team Rocket who are they?"
"I've never heard of them." "Trust me, they're always up to no good."
Pikachu, where's all your Thunder Bolt?! Well I for one have been doing my homework now dig this! I've come up with a machine that'll beat that pesky Pikachu at it's own nasty game. No matter how high these volts go this machine will absorb them!
Don't do anything Pikachu!
That's how you wanna play? Fine with us!
Begin the Absorbtion! Pull the lever James!
"Hahahahaha! What an electrifying moment for Team Rocket!" "Shocking!"
"Professor?" "Now that's power!" "Pikachu's output is incredible!"
"Don't worry!" "Do I look worried?" "Well, another blast off?"
"We haven't been wasting our time after all! This amazing Pikachu's the only thing the boss would want!" "But have we captured..." "Too much of a good thing?"
"Do you smell something burning?" "I think we're smelling us!"
"Quite a Thunderbolt..." "It has renewed my energy and passion" "We're blasting off agaaaaaaain!"
"Professor Birch, it appears that Pikachu's Electricity Pressure has reached normal levels." "Good, that machine of Team Rocket's must've absorbed all of Pikachu's unneeded electricity."
A good night's sleep ought to do the trick.
Errrr Hi! Thought I'd introduce myself... I'm May. So, how's Pikachu?
And I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. Sleeping pretty good, finally.
By tomorrow, Pikachu should be as good as new! Well now May, are you ready to choose your first Pokémon?
These Poké Balls contain three beginner Pokémon.
"So, is it a water type?" "No Ash, it's a grass type." "Cool" "Ahhh! It's creepy!" "No it's not May I think it's a really cool Pokémon."
"That's a water type." "Correct." "Yeah but that Mudkip wouldn't do a single thing that I asked it to do." "Really? How could that little guy cause trouble?" You're very fond of Pokémon aren't you Ash?
Next, I'd like you to meet Torchic.
"Torchic is a Fire Type." "Awesome"
Well this one's not so bad, I like it. That's that. I choose Torchic!
Be sure to take that Pokédex and those Poké Balls too. If you work hard you can become an even better Pokémon Trainer than your father.
Sounds like a great goal May.
My gorgeous bike... This is all that Pikachu's fault! I've got a bone to pick with them!
Poor Ash.. he's been taking care of his Pikachu all night long...
Well look at that! Pikachu recovered.
Ughhh walking all that way alone makes me nervous and my bike's destroyed thanks to your Pikachu, Mister. There must be a solution, a way to get to Oladale Town safely on foot. Heyyyyy why don't we go there together? I happen to know the way there. Really Ash I don't mind at all. It's no trouble! Shall we?
"That's a good idea, you can look after one another." "Yes be careful."
So with Pikachu fully recovered, Ash and May can begin their journey together. As they head for
Oldale Town and the nearest
Pokémon Center. Together they're sure to discover new Pokémon and new friends aswell. One things for sure, even more adventures lie just ahead.