Ash, Misty, and Tracey are riding Lapras across the ocean. They want to stop and find somewhere to eat, and Tracey says that they are getting close to Mikan Island, where one of the four gym leaders in the Orange Crew is. They talk to Professor Oak at the Pokémon Center.
Team Rocket, now in a Magikarp submarine, is tracking them, but their submarine gets tangled in seaweed.
On Mikan Island, Ash, Misty, Tracey, Pikachu, and Togepi walk along the path and see Mikan Gym up ahead, but as Ash runs toward the gym, he spots a coconut on the ground next to a tree. He runs over to it with Pikachu and picks it up, but a bucket of water falls on their heads. The coconut was a trap set by a boy named Senta, but he is told off by Cissy, his older sister and the Mikan Gym Leader.
On the Orange Islands, the gym battles are different from Pokémon battles; First is a Water Gun challenge, where Ash's Squirtle and Cissy's Seadra shoot Water Guns at cans on the wall and flying plates. Both are evenly matched and hit every target. To decide the winner, they both aim for the same target, and hit it at the same time.
To break the tie is a Pokémon Wave Ride, where Ash's Lapras and Cissy's Blastoise will race to a flag, go around it, and race back to shore. Before the race can begin, however, Team Rocket attacks. James had to go out and untangle their submarine, and nearly drowned trying to get back to the surface. They capture Blastoise in a net, and head back underwater, but their submarine stalls and their pedals break. Blastoise is too strong for them and gets back to the surface. Pikachu dips its tail in the water and uses a Thunderbolt to electrocute them, and Blastoise sends them blasting off with Hydro Pump.
With Team Rocket defeated, the Pokémon Wave Ride begins. However, Ash and Cissy must stand on their Pokémon's back. During the race, they are evenly matched; however, Ash nearly falls off and is caught by Lapras, but in the process Cissy gets ahead of him and turns around the flag first. Suddenly a tidal wave comes up behind them, and Lapras freezes it with Ice Beam. The wave sends Cissy flying, but she is caught by Blastoise, and then they get ahead of Ash. Ash has Lapras use Ice Beam to make an ice track. Lapras is faster on ice than in water, and wins the race.
Cissy gives Ash a Coral Eye Badge, and he and his friends ride Lapras off the island, continuing their Pokémon journey.
