The episode starts with Ash and Brock handing Dawn an entry card for the Hearthome City Tag Battle competition. Zoey suggested it to give Dawn a confidence boost after not making it into the second round of the Hearthome contest. At the stadium, the MC explains the rules and shows the competitors the prize for winning, which is a Soothe Bell that Team Rocket wants to steal. The contestants are shuffled and put into partners for the competition. The three set off to find their partners. Dawn is the first to find her partner, an odd boy named Conway and his Slowking. Next Brock finds his partner, a girl named Holly with a Wingull. Of course, she is a beautiful girl which Brock falls for, but she tells him that she is not interested in younger men. Ash is still searching for his partner when a voice calls out "of course you had to be number 15." He turns around to find his partner is none other than Paul standing there with his Elekid and Chimchar.
Dawn and Conway are first to battle with their Piplup and Slowking against a Koffing and Scyther. Scyther starts things off with a Razor Wind and Koffing attacks with a Sludge Bomb. Piplup blocks the razor wind with a BubbleBeam and Slowking blocks the Sludge bomb with a Safeguard. Koffing comes back with a Thunderbolt which Slowking blocks with Protect. Scyther attacks with an X-Scissor but Piplup comes from above with a Peck attack that knocks out Scyther. Koffing uses Gyro Ball which is stopped by Slowking's Psychic. Slowking then slams Koffing into the ground knocking it out. The two win with a combination of Conway's defense and Dawn's attack.
Brock and Holly are up next. It's Sudowoodo and Wingull against a Yanma and Bagon. Wingull uses a Blizzard attack but is hit by a Steel Wing from Yanma first. While Wingull is falling, Bagon comes in with a Zen Headbutt which is stopped by a Double-Edge from Sudowoodo. The other side is arguing about getting in each others way. Wingull uses an icy Blizzard. Bagon tries to counter with DragonBreath but is hit by Sudowoodo's Flail first. Wingull hits Yanma with an Aerial Ace and both Bagon and Yanma faint. They win and advance to the next round. Brock starts to flirt with Holly, then catches himself and stops... only for Holly to start flirting with him. Brock is surprised, while Croagunk is left bemused.
Ash and Paul are the last battle of the first round. Ash sends out Pikachu and Paul sends out Chimchar, and the opposition sends out a Rhydon and Magmar. Ash decides to battle his way and starts things off with a Thunderbolt towards Magmar however the attack is redirected to Rhydon thanks to it's Lightning Rod ability. Rhydon, who is naturally unharmed, then smashes Pikachu with a Megahorn attack. Magmar attacks with a Lava Plume, which is an extremely powerful fire-type that affects everyone on the field. Rhydon is left barely affected thanks to its type-advantage, but the blaze of fire quickly heads towards Pikachu and Chimchar. Ash tells Pikachu to dodge but Paul sends Chimchar straight into the fire. The flame on Chimchar's tail becomes bigger and Chimchar gives a powerful blast of Flamethrower which has very little effect on Rhydon. Rhydon counters with a direct hit from a Hammer Arm. Pikachu comes down from its dodge with an Iron Tail. Now the two opponents are aware that even without electric attacks, Pikachu shouldn't be taken lightly and they have Rhydon strike back with a surprise Surf attack while Magmar uses Protect. Paul decides to take it head on with a Flame Wheel. Ash tries to convince him that Chimchar could really get hurt but he doesn't care. Ash remembers what Zoey did in the contest and breaks through the surf with an Iron Tail which slams into Rhydon. Rhydon is knocked out leaving Magmar alone. Now free to use electric attacks, Pikachu goes straight for Magmar with a Volt Tackle but Magmar deflects it with a Fire Punch. While Pikachu and Magmar are fighting, Chimchar comes from beneath with a Dig that knocks out Magmar. Brock tells Dawn that Ash and Paul can't get much further unless they start working as a team.