At the Fennel Valley Pokémon Center, Ash gets a special delivery from Oak's Lab—his Bulbasaur. Officer Jenny soon arrives with his Squirtle, and his Charizard flies in too. Ash is going on a retreat with these three Pokémon and Pikachu to train for his upcoming rematch with Brandon. Out in the forest, the four Pokémon work together to build a bed to sleep on, but Charizard hogs it at first and starts a fight. Eventually they calm down and rebuild the bed, get some food, and even practice their moves. That night Charizard lights a campfire, and Ash remembers how he met Pikachu, Charizard, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur.

The episode was rated 7.09 from 22 votes.

On the way to Fennel Valley and Ash's rematch with Brandon, our heroes meet Chatot, a Pokémon that can imitate anything it hears. However, this Chatot keeps running away from its Trainer, Audrey! After Ash and his friends help Audrey get Chatot back, Audrey explains that she and Chatot are a stand-up comedy duo. The only problem is that Audrey can't travel to perform her act because Chatot keeps flying away.

The episode was rated 7.09 from 22 votes.

With Charizard out of the battle for his rematch against Pyramid King Brandon, Ash calls out Bulbasaur. Dusclops performs Mean Look again, while Bulbasaur wraps the Ghost-type with Leech Seed. The two Pokémon are evenly matched, but Bulbasaur takes a beating from the Fire-type move Will-O-Wisp and is affected by Confuse Ray, which causes it to use Vine Whip on itself. Because Leech Seed is taking energy from Dusclops and giving it to Bulbasaur, the Grass-type manages to stay in the fight, using SolarBeam to knock Dusclops out.

The episode was rated 7.10 from 20 votes.

Ash and friends arrive at a Ninja School. There they meet a wild Bonsly who cries a lot and does not get along with the other Pokémon at the school. However, Team Rocket appear and decide to capture all of the Pokémon in the school, including Ash and his friends.

The episode was rated 7.10 from 20 votes.

May and Drew are in a battle to reach the final four of the Grand Festival, and both Coordinators have some powerful combinations up their sleeve. May even picked up a few tricks from watching Ash's Battle Dome match against Tucker! Her Combusken and Squirtle give it their all against Drew's Flygon and Absol, and nobody in the arena can even predict which way things are going to go.

The episode was rated 7.13 from 24 votes.

Ash is still recovering from his defeat at the Battle Pyramid, while May is also melancholy about her own defeat at the Grand Festival. Professor Oak shows up at the Pokémon Center in Fennel Valley, with a special care package meant to cheer Ash up. It contains a poster with the prints of his Pokémon, a fishing lure from Misty, and food from his mother. There's even a postcard from Gary in Sinnoh, which gets Ash thinking about their rivalry and actually pulls him out of his funk.

The episode was rated 7.15 from 20 votes.

At the Fennel Valley Pokémon Center, Ash is practicing attacks with his Pokémon while Brock is excited to be cooking with Nurse Joy. His excitement quickly disappears when he finds Nurse Joy unconscious on the floor. They put her in bed, and Professor Oak says she needs rest. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is incredibly lost from when Harley sent them blasting off, and to choose their path, Jessie throws a stick that hits several Pokémon and damages a small bus passing on the road below.

The episode was rated 7.17 from 24 votes.

The smoke finally clears at the Terracotta Town Pokémon Contest, and the winner is revealed—it is a tie between May and Ash! Both are declared the winner with only one prize medal between the two, so Sceptile cuts it neatly in half. That night, during dinner, May announces her intention to go to Johto and compete in Pokémon Contests. She doesn't want Max to come, though, because she'd depend on her brother too much. Max is sad, but Ash cheers him up by promising to battle some day.

The episode was rated 7.20 from 20 votes.

Ash finally arrives at the third Battle Frontier location where he challenges the Battle Dome Brain Tucker to a match. The battle begins with Ash using his Swellow and Corphish against Tucker's Arcanine and Swampert. During the battle, Ash learns how to combine his Pokémon's attacks and uses their power to defeat Tucker.

The episode was rated 7.24 from 29 votes.

After May's Squirtle runs away, May goes searching for her Pokémon. Once she finds Squirtle, May finds an elderly woman, Edna, waiting for a train. After hearing the sad story about Edna's past, Meowth and May go back in time in order to change history.

The episode was rated 7.26 from 27 votes.

Ash finally arrives at the Battle Palace, ready to take on Spenser for the Spirit Symbol. As they head out to the battlefield, Ash learns that he has the entire surrounding jungle to battle in! As the battle begins, May, Brock and Max head up in a balloon with Scott to watch the battle. As the battle begins, Ash pits his newly "revived" Sceptile against Spenser's Shiftry and the battle quickly takes into the forest. Will Ash be able to beat Spenser while battling in a forest? And does he have a secret weapon waiting in the wings?

The episode was rated 7.27 from 26 votes.

The kids are at Terracotta Town, where May and Max will catch a boat back home to Hoenn. The town happens to be hosting a festival, complete with its very own Pokémon Contest. Ash figures it's unofficial, so he wants to compete. Both Ash and May sign up, with Ash using Pikachu and Sceptile, and May using her Eevee and Combusken. Nurse Joy is the MC, doing her best Lillian impersonation. May goes first, impressing the crowd by having Eevee use Dig and Shadow Ball to create a fireworks display. Ash is equally impressive when Pikachu uses Quick Attack, Thunderbolt, and Iron Tail to create electric rings that buzz around the arena. At the end of the first round, May is in first place with Ash a close second, both of them advancing to the finals against each other.

The episode was rated 7.30 from 23 votes.

After a devastating defeat at the hands of Anabel, Ash is eager to challenge her again, except this time he plans to think with his Pokémon like Anabel instead of rushing in. While training for the rematch, Ash is once again attacked by Beedrill and then Team Rocket after eating their lunch. After sending Team Rocket away, Ash and May try to learn how to talk to their Pokémon just like Anabel, however Corphish and Combusken just look on with blank looks. After finishing his little "lesson", Ash begins his battle with Anabel. Just like the last time, Anabel uses her telepathy ability to fight. Even though Ash is at disadvantage, he surprisingly does better than last time, even managing to win in the first round! Will Anabel prove to be too powerful with her telepathy or will Ash overcome it to win his sixth Frontier Symbol?

The episode was rated 7.36 from 22 votes.

As Ash and the others finally arrive at the Battle Tower, Ash does some last minute training with Pikachu. He is suddenly attacked by a Beedrill and a girl comes to his rescue. After sending Beedrill away, they are attacked by a Gyarados and she once again talks to it and helps it calm down. Soon, Team Rocket attacks wanting Pikachu and this human who can talk to Pokémon. After fending Team Rocket off, she introduces herself as Anabel. Before Anabel can properly introduce herself, Ash runs off to the Battle Tower only to find out Anabel is the Frontier Brain. As the battle begins, Ash quickly falls behind as Anabel can speak with Pokémon through telepathy. Can Ash manage to get past her special ability and win his sixth Frontier Symbol?

The episode was rated 7.43 from 21 votes.

When May's Munchlax and James' Chimecho both have fallen ill, they seek the Pokémon healing skills of an elderly couple named Nanny and Pop-Pop, who happens to be James grandparents. Team Rocket and the gang call a temporary truce until their Pokémon get better. Meanwhile, James tries to impress Nanny and Pop-Pop by pretending to be a business owner while also hiding his status as a member of Team Rocket.

The episode was rated 7.62 from 42 votes.