Ash and Brock, along with May and Max, meet up with Misty. The old friends exchange greetings, and Misty proceeded on telling May and Max that she already knows their name. Misty shows off her invitation to a convention for Togepi trainers and approaches the hotel behind them. Just then, two mysterious people dressed in outfits with Togepi markings come up to Misty and take her into the building. Inside, the two people, who are actually Team Rocket, tell Meowth to take off. The building then collapses and a blimp starts floating away. Ash and his friends realize that Misty was in trouble and rush toward the rope hanging from the blimp. All of them manage to grab the rope and make their way into the blimp.
The blimp goes through a sandstorm in a desert and reaches their destination, the Mirage Kingdom. Meowth lands the blimp in a landing area, and Jessie and James disguise themselves again. As Misty leaves the blimp, Ash and the others come out, as well as Jessie and James. When they were asked for their identity, Team Rocket gladly recite their motto. Misty becomes furious at them, thinking that they were trying to steal Pikachu. However, Team Rocket tells them that they were after Togepi. As the battle commences, a man steps in together with his Ninjask and a Shedinja.
He demands for Misty's Togepi, but Misty refuses to hand it over to him. Hansen then orders Shedinja to use Solarbeam to demonstrate its power. Ash and Brock face Hansen with Pikachu and Mudkip, while Misty, Max, and May run away. When Hansen notices that the Togepi is getting away, he commanded Shedinja to go after them. Misty, Max, and May keeps running until they reach a maze. Shedinja appears, freaking Misty out. But she is determined to protect Togepi. She sends out Corsola and orders it to use Spike Canon. Unfortunately, the attack did not scratch the bug Pokémon a bit. Shedinja attacks with another SolarBeam, hitting Misty so hard that she loses Togepi.
A girl in a blue dress discovers Togepi and notices how hurt it is. She informs the caretaker about her find and brings Togepi to a room for treatment. This girl turns out to be Sara, the princess of the Mirage Kingdom. When Sara brings Togepi to her parents, both are certainly thrilled by it. At this point, Misty barges in and sees Togepi. The queen thinks that Misty was trying to steal Togepi, but Sara quickly realizes that Togepi belonged to her. Misty thanks the princess for taking care of Togepi and proceeded on telling them that Hansen tried to steal it from her.
Meanwhile, Hansen states that he has a plan to steal Togepi and tells Team Rocket that they will be rewarded if they do their job.
As Misty and company go outside of the temple, Ash and Brock meet up with them. Brock goes gaga for the princess and starts flirting with her. Misty does her usual thing with him, which is pulling him by the ear, but she also throws him back. Max and May are quite shocked by this but they were impressed nevertheless.
The princess explains the importance of Togepi to the kingdom. However, knowing that Hansen is set on trying to take Togepi, she asks Ash and his friends to leave the Mirage Kingdom immediately for their safety. But as they are about to leave they notice a temple in the sky. Togepi seems to be reaching for it and then it suddenly floats away. Hansen and Team Rocket appears. Shedinja fires a SolarBeam at them and Pikachu counters it with its Thunderbolt.
