They reunite with Ash and sleep in the cave. The next morning they head off for the first real time in Sinnoh.

As they walk down a path, Jessie and James look up when they hear a voice.

"A gorgeous blue sky, accented by fluffy white clouds, sets off another picture-perfect day for our hero's continuing Sinnoh Journey."

"What was that?" James asks.

"What was what?" Ash replies.

"The voice."

"I'm the narrator," the voice responds, "Ash and his friends don't hear me very often. You, Jessie, and Meowth have always humored me when you respond. By the way, congratulations on the second chance."

Jessie and James exchange a glance, then shrug. They reach the top of a cliff and gasp in awe.

"Awesome, it's like a desert," Dawn says.

"And it's giant," Brock says.

"Alright, here we go!" Ash slides down the sandy side.

"Does he do that often?" Jessie asks boredly.

"Yeah," Brock says, "he's the type who runs into situations without thinking. That's both his strength and weakness."

Jessie almost replies, but hears grunting as James tries to follow Ash's lead. Instead of sliding, he trips and rolls down the slope. It was a good thing Mime Jr. was catching a ride on Meowth, who walks down calmly after James.

"That makes two of them." Dawn sighs.

"Maybe," Jessie says, "but he's also a lot different from Ash."

"Hey, come on out," Ash releases all of his Pokemon. When Dawn, Jessie, and Brock finally slide down, James already released his Pokemon too. Growlie was rolling around with Pikachu and Turtwig.

"We can't leave them out." Dawn grabs her Pokeballs.

"For sure." Brock does the same, with Jessie following suit.

Chimecho floats with Staravia and Dustox, chasing after Pikachu, Piplup, and Meowth (with Mime Jr. still riding on him). Wobbuffet joins Chimchar in throwing sand at Ambipom and Carnivine. Turtwig runs around with Pachirisu on its back. Tropius helps Sudowoodo, Buneary, and Happiny build a sand castle. Seviper and Arbok glare at each other before smiling and shaking the ends of their tails in respect. Growlie shakes off some sand and sits with Buizel and Croagunk, watching the others play.

Suddenly, the ground starts to shake violently. The sand castle collapses. The humans lose their balance as some Pokemon fall over. A Pokemon emerges under Pachirisu, who fell off Turtwig's back during the earthquake. Ash gasps. The Pokemon roars.

"Woah, what's that?" Ash asks.

"That's a . . . Hippowdon!" Brock says. The dust clears to show a brown and gray hippo-like Pokemon.

"Chippa?/What happened?" Pachirisu stands up.

"Man, it's huge," Ash says.

"You think so?" Jessie replies sarcastically.

Dawn opens her Pokedex, "Hippowdon, the Heavyweight Pokemon. It creates an enormous tornado of sand by blowing sand out of the holes in it's body. And it's mouth is over six feet in diameter."

"Chipi. Chip, chip, chipa, chipi./Hi, you are huge aren't you?" Pachirisu runs onto its head.

"Hipppow!/Please get off my head." It opens its large mouth and Pachirisu peaks down.

"Chipa?/What did you say?"

"Pachirisu, look out," Dawn warns.

"Chipa!/Ow." Pachirisu falls into Hippowdon's mouth. It snaps closed.

"Aah! Pachirisu!" Dawn exclaims.

"Hippowdon, don, don./These humans are yelling, I'm outta here." It digs into the ground.

"No, you don't!" Ash runs after it.

"Pachirisu!" Dawn exclaims again, following Ash, Brock, James, and Jessie. They run to where Hippowdon disappeared and start to dig. "Pachirisu!" She calls.

"Aren't you going to help?" Jessie snaps up at Dawn, who was just standing above them.

The Pokemon watch worriedly. The ground shakes again and a dust cloud appears nearby. "Pikachu!" Pikachu points, then runs off toward it with Piplup and Meowth.

"Pikachu said, 'Look over there,'" James translates as they stand and follow.

"Everyone, return," Ash says to his Pokemon. Dawn, Brock, Jessie, and James do the same. The dust clears and Piplup, Pikachu, and Meowth catch up.

"Pip, pip, pip./Pachirisu, are you okay?" Piplup calls, then they wave their paws and flippers.

"Ripa. Chipa. Chipa, chipa, chipa!/I'm in here. Hey, guys! What are you doing down there?" He waves.

"Pika! Piplup! Meowth!/Trying to rescue you!" They say in unison.

"Pachirisu, get out of there, right now!" Dawn calls.

"Chipa./Alright," he says, trying to pull himself out and struggling, "Chip! Chipa? Chipioo!/Uh, I'm stuck. I can't move an inch!"

"Hip, ow, don, don, don./I have an itch. The sand should fix that." It digs again.

"Chipa!/Hide!" He quickly ducks back inside.

"Come back here!" Ash exclaims, but it disappears.

"Ash," James says, "you need to calm down. Our yelling scared Hippowdon away in the first place."

"Really?" James nods and Ash scratches the back of his neck. "I guess I never thought of that."

"Come on," Dawn interrupts, "We need to find them."

"Right," everyone says and runs after her. Soon, Ash takes the lead.

"There's Hippowdon!" Ash notices the Pokemon emerge again.

"Hip./It's them again," Hippowdon glares down at the humans.

"Ipa?/Dawn?" Pachirisu notices his trainer.

"Pachirisu, discharge!"

"Chipa. A, chi!/Right, Discharge!" Pachirisu unleashes lightning bolts inside to no effect.

"Nothing!" Dawn says.

Ash looks down. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt, let's go!"

"Pikachu./On it." Pikachu nods. "Pika-chuuuuuu!/Thunderbolt!" Pikachu curls into ball and releases a large bolt of electricity. Hippowdon just looks up, unharmed.

"Thunderbolt, didn't do anything either!"

"Hippowdon is a ground-type Pokemon, so electric-type moves don't have any effect at all," Brock and James say at the same time.

Brock looks at him. "How did you know that?"

James shrugs. "Most non-ground-types don't naturally learn Dig?"

Jessie shakes her head in her hand. "Did no one seriously notice that?"

Hippowdon looks over. "Hip, ow, don, don, don./They're distracted, I'm done." It digs again with Pachirisu still stuck.

"No, not again," Ash says in the earthquake.

"Pachirisu!" Dawn shouts.

"Piplup!/Pachrisu!"

"They're that way!" Ash leads them off again. They lose track of the Hippo-Pokemon. "Aw man, that Hippowdon. Where'd it go?" A patch of sand slips away nearby and everyone notices it. "Huh? That it?"

A Hippopotas appears, the sand sliding off his back. "Hippo, hippo, hippa!/Ash, it's' you!"

"It's a Hippopotas."

"Hippo? Hippa./Hi, Pikachu." He walks over to his friend.

"Pika. Pikachu!/Hi. Nice to see you too." Pikachu says when Hippopotas nuzzles him.

"Hip, hip, hippa./Ash, I've missed you. Thank you for before." He rubs up against Ash's pant leg.

"No, do ya think?" Ash remembers what happened before.

"It knows you," James says. "When did you see him last?"

"Well, we rescued him from a cliff, then, well, you three."

"Oh."

"This must be the Hippopotas we met that got separated from its herd," Dawn says.

"Yeah, it is," Ash replies, "I'm sure of it."

"I wonder . . . did it get lost again?" Brock says, then the ground rumbles.

"Hippowdon!" Ash sees the creature rise from the dust.

"Hippo!/Daddy!" Hippopotas walks towards him.

"Pow!/What are doing? Get away from those humans!" He roars, then a squirrel pops out of his left nostril, causing him to cross his eyes.

"Chipa, chi!/I'm here again!"

"Pachirisu!" Dawn exclaims, again.

Hippowdon tries to blow Pachirisu out. "Chipoo./Eek." he ducks back in.

"Hip. Hip, pow, pow, pow, pow./Get out. Alright, I'll just have to bury to get you out." He buries into the sand.

"Pip-pip? Pip, lup, lup./What? Get back here!" Piplup chases after everyone.

"Gone again!" Ash says.

"We really need to just stop and talk to it." Jessie pants, leaning on her knees.

"Hippo?/Daddy?"

"Did you hear that?" Brock asks.

"Yeah," Ash replies.

"If Hippopotas feel sad, maybe it's because it misses hanging out with that Hippowdon."

"Hippopotas, is that true?"

"Hippo, hippo./Yeah, I've been trying to find him again after hide-and-seek." He looks at Ash sadly.

"Hey, we'll help you out," Ash leans down, taking Hippopotas's head in his hands. "We need to find Hippowdon, just like you!" He lifts Hippopotas onto his head.

"Hippa./Thanks!"

Jessie stares at Ash. "How on earth can you carry that thing on your head?! Isn't it really heavy?"

James checks his Pokedex. "She's right. The average Hippopotas weighs around 109 pounds."

"Ash has a thick skull," Dawn jokes.

James walks over and picks Hippopotas up. "Wow, he is actually pretty light."

"Huh? Let me see." She tries it out. "Wow, you're right!"

Brock examines him."It seems to be about five pounds. How can that be?"

"Hippo? Hippa. Hippo . . ."

"He says, 'I ate something weird. I'm still healthy, but weigh about as much as a balloon. Or at least in comparison.'"

"Hm, I wonder what it was . . ." Brock thinks.

"That doesn't matter." Ash returns Hippopotas to his place. "It doesn't crush my head, that's what counts."

James finally says, "It's a he."

"Huh?"

"Hippopotas. See his markings?" He compares the gender difference in the Pokedex with the real thing. "It's kind of rude to say 'it' all the time."

"Oh." Ash looks up "I'm sorry, Hippopotas."

"Hippo./It's okay."

"If it's rude, can you maybe tell us all of our Pokemon's genders later?" Dawn suggests.

James shrugs. "I don't see why not." They continue to search for Hippowdon.

"Hippow!/What is this?!" A roar comes from nearby.

The humans gasp as they see Hippowdon caught in a net. "Where'd this come from?" Ash runs up.

The ground rumbles. "Meowth!/Is that another Hippowdon?" The sand shifts, knocking everyone back and throwing Hippowdon to the side.

"Ah, what's that?!" Ash exclaims. A huge shiny robot Rhyhorn embleming a red 'R' shows through the dust. "But-but how?"

"What?" Jessie asks, "What's wrong?"

Brock replies, "Well, it looks like something you three would've built."

"No way it could've been us!" James shakes his head quickly with his hands out.

The head slides away on the machine. The back of a yellow-orange haired woman says, "A shrieking whine, a blast from the past."

"Spinning like a gyro ball and moving fast," the green-haired man replies.

"To the moon."

"And beyond."

"What a blast!" They say in unison.

"Administering justice with lightning speed," she continues.

"Bashing the bad guys, should we feel the need."

"So here's the newsflash from across the wire,"

"The real Team Rocket is now on fire."

"Cassidy." They turn around

"And it's Butch."

"Shuckle-luckle," a Shuckle joins them.

"Teaching the losers a thing or two."

"The true Team Rocket-"

"Us, not you!" They finish together.

"Cassidy!" Ash yells.

"And Biff!" Brock says.

"I told you it's not Biff, it's Butch!" He stops short, "Something's different . . ."

"Don't you see?" Cassidy leans over in surprise. "Jessie and James are children!"

"Uh," Jessie turns to Ash and his friends, "are we supposed to know them?"

"They were pretty much your rivals, although you were on the same team," Ash says. "You absolutely hated Cassidy."

"And was that supposed to be our motto?" James asks.

Brock says, "A variation, I think. They used to mock you."

"What happened to you two?" Cassidy interrupts.

"Uh." Jessie and James share a look.

"No matter. You'll just be easier to beat."

"What are you doing here?" Ash asks.

"Ask Professor Bamba," a phone rings in her pocket, "Hello there?"

"It's Namba!"

She hangs up and puts away the phone. "We're here on orders from Professor Namba. He wants to study the sand that Hippowdons spread out." Hippowdon struggles in the net. "So, he sent us to capture it. Giovanni told me personally that we were his two and only Sinnoh region reps."

"Then, why were Jessie and James here?" Brock says, "They've been following us the whole time."

"Maybe you've forgotten how forgettable those two fools can be," Butch says.

"True, tee hee!" After Cassidy's words, they laugh.

Jessie starts to fume. "Now I see why I hated you!" She yells, "Where'd you get that bucket of bolts?!"

"It's actually a present from Professor Kimba," Butch's phone rings.

"It's Namba!" He puts the phone away.

"It's one of Professor Namba's inventions."

"Why is that Belch and Cassidy get donations?" James asks. "You said we built our inventions ourselves."

"I just told you, it's not Belch, it's Butch!"

"Well, in my opinion, Dutch, we were much more creative than you. You'd never be able to make a machine that comlex in your lifetime. Ash told us our inventions were original and complicated."

Butch tenses up, about to explode again. Ash interferes. "Now, Turtwig, use Razor Leaf, let's go! Help out Hippowdon!"

"Turrr, twig-ig./Right, Razor Leaf!" Turtwig releases a wave of sharp leaves, slicing the net apart.

"We don't need twerp interference," Cassidy says.

"Hip, powdon, hip, pow pow./Again with the humans. I'm leaving!" Hippowdon digs again.

Cassidy growls, then turns to Butch, "Hooch, after them."

Butch spits at her, "Come on! That doesn't even rhyme!" They hop back into their machine and roll away.

Ash clenches his fist. "Okay guys, the only way we're going to save Pachirisu to to get to Hippowdon before they do, right?"

Dawn nods. "Right."

They start to run. "Pip, piplup. Pip, piplup. Pip!/Wait for me! Why can't we fly?"

"Great idea," James says and throws a Pokeball into the air. "Tropius, we need you!"

Tropius coos, "What do you need me for?"

"Can you fly me, Brock, and Ash to look for Hippowdon?" James asks, and she nods. He looks to Jessie.

"Oh, right." She releases Arbok. "Arbok can carry me and Dawn. It's pretty fast and large enough for the both of us."

"Arbok's a he," James provides before they lift off.

"Fine, Arbok, is the plan okay with you?"

"Chabok./Of course." He nods.

In Team Rocket's machine, Butch says, "Signs of large life ahead, stirring in the sand."

Cassidy agrees, "Hippowdon will soon be ours, as will Sinnoh."

On Ash's head, Hippopotas looks around sadly. "Hippo. Hippo . . ./Where is he?"

Ash looks up. "Don't worry, we're going to find Hippowdon soon."

"Hipow!/I'm finally free of those people." A voice carries on the wind.

"That sounds like Hippowdon's call," Brock says.

"Hippa!/Down there!" Hippopotas points to dark figures on the ground.

"That way!" Ash says and James guides Tropius towards the ground.

"Ippa. Ip, ip. Chipa!/Huh? Where are they? Oh no!" Pachirisu sticks his head out of one of Hippowdon's holes and looks around. He sees the Rhyhorn-robot rolling after them.

"Let's do it!" Cassidy speaks.

"Capturing," Butch says. A mechanical arm comes out of the Rhyhorn's mouth.

"Chip! Chipa-i!/Watch out! Eek!" He ducks back inside quickly as Hippowdon glances back.

"Hip?/What?" Before the arm can grab him, a lighting bolt freezes it in its path.

"Oh please!" Cassidy snarls.

"You're not getting Hippowdon!" Ash jumps from Tropius when they land. Jessie recalls Arbok as she and Dawn arrive.

James returns Tropius and says, "Hippowdon's under our protection now."

"A, chipa-chipa!/Phew, Dawn it's you!" Pachirisu peeks his head out next to his trainer.

She turns to him. "Pachirisu!"

"Okay Pikachu, Thunderbolt, let's go!" Ash orders.

"Pika, chuuuuuu!/Alright, take thiiiis!" The Thunderbolt does nothing.

"Just like sitting in a pair of rubber gloves." Cassidy smiles calmly.

"Nice imagery," Butch says.

Ash growls before Brock says, "We've gotta get moving."

Ash looks up. "Hippopotas, tell Hippowdon to follow us!"

"Hippa!/I'll try." They start to run away. "Hippo, hippo, hippa!/Daddy, come with us!"

"Pip./Wait for me."

"No, you don't." Butch presses a few buttons and the Rhyhorn follows them.

"Great, Hippopotas, it's working," Ash says, not looking where he's running. He steps on a soft patch.

Everyone screams as they fall into a large sinkhole. "Pip, piplup! Pipluuup!" Piplup screams along.

"We're going down!" Cassidy yells as Butch shouts.

"What the? Where'd this come from?" Ash asks.

James says, "Maybe it was a tunnel used by Hippowdon and Hippopotas around here. We were all too heavy and it collapsed."

"Hippa." Hippopotas nods his head, confirming James' answer.

"No matter." Cassidy presses a special button. A hot air balloon releases out of the robot. It's a simple green and yellow-orange, like their hair. They hop inside and float above. "It's time to finish this." A rope with a suction cup grabs onto Hippowdon and starts to pull him out of the sand.

"Hip!/Help!"

"Hippowdon!" Ash yells and shifts through the sand to grab onto a leg. "No you don't!"

"Ipa, ippa!/Hold on tight!"

"Pachirisu, I'm coming too." Dawn grabs onto a back leg with Piplup on her shoulder.

"Ipa, ipa, ippa-ippaaa!/Don't you dare let go!" Pachirisu waves his arms frantically. Brock grabbed onto the other back leg, and Jessie and James share the front left leg. Meowth was clinging to James' head.

Before they could respond, Meowth ran up Hippowdon and bit the rope. From the sudden lack of weight, Butch and Cassidy's balloon spins through the air and crashes back into the hole. Everyone screams as they fall towards the earth and land in the sand headfirst. Ash pulls himself out and gasps for breath. "Can't breathe down there."

Jessie comes up for air. "Why did Meowth do that?!" She yells.

"Meowth . . ./I thought it would help . . ."

James translates and Jessie shrugs. "You could've thought of something better."

The ground rumbles and the Rhyhorn machine comes from the sand. "Why did they use that thing again?" Jessie criticizes.

"Because you wrecked our balloon!" Butch shouts.

Dawn glares at them, "Then, why didn't you try the machine in the first place?" Her friends look at her. "What? I'm just saying that would have been smarter."

"Billy? Why didn't you think of that?!" Cassidy argues.

"You know it's Butch!" He fights back.

Cassidy ignores him. "Try as you might, you twerps can't avoid technology. It's better than the traditional balloon."

Everyone blocks Hippowdon and Ash retaliates, "You're not gonna beat us with some stupid machine, kay?"

"You didn't even build it yourself!" James teases.

"That's open to debate and enough of that," Butch says, raising the mechanical arm above them. It pounds behind them, causing them to fall into the sand.

"Hip? Hip!/Huh? I'm gone!" Hippowdon turns to dig.

"Pickup." Butch grabs Hippowdon before he can leave.

"Hippowdon!" Ash exclaims.

"Hiiiii!/Help!" Hippowdon is lifted into the air.

"Now that was a clean lift," Cassidy boasts.

James wriggles in the sand. "Carnivine, help us!"

"Carni-vine!/James!" Carnivine comes from his Pokeball underneath the sand and chomps onto James' head.

James struggles. "Please stop that! Bite the arm, not me!" Carnivine quickly turns around and snaps the arm in two, then continues to chew on James. He groans, then says, "While you're chewing me, can you at least get me out?" Carnivine pulls him out, then he helps the others, his Pokemon still on his head.

Cassidy growls, "You twerps are getting in our way! Move it or lose it!"

"No," Ash says, "we said we were protecting Hippowdon! Turtwig, go!" He throws a Pokeball.

"Turtwig!/What should I do?" It looks at Ash.

"Use Energy ball!"

"Turrrr-twig!/Energy, Ball!" The green sphere does nothing.

"It didn't work," Ash says. The Horn Rocket come barreling at them again and they leap out of the way.

"Hippow!/Stop it!" Hippowdon yells, the Horn Rocket explodes out of the sand, knocking him over. He coughs up Pachirisu when he hits the sand hard. "Peh!"

"Ipa, ipa. Ipa, ipa. Pa./Ow, make it stop! Phew." He rolls head over tail and stop in front of Dawn.

"Pachirisu!"

"Ipa?/Dawn?" He looks up to the voice.

"Pachirisu!" Dawn smiles happily and opens her arms.

"Chipa!/Dawn!" They run towards each other.

"Oh Pachirisu, you're okay!" Dawn giggles, embracing him.

"Chipa, chip./You are too!" He nods.

Piplup dances by them. "Piplup, piplup, piplup, piplup!/We're all together again!" Ash laughs.

Hippowdon groans, "Hip . . ./I'm so sore."

"Alright, Big Boy, get your jumbo size self up already!" Cassidy teases him.

"Hippow? Hiiiiiiip-owww!/Jumbo huh? Try this on for size!" He glares at them, then releases a bright move that hit them with a large force, creating an explosion.

"Wow, that was Hippowdon's Hyper Beam!" Brock informs.

"Awesome!" Ash replies. The machine steams, then the face and legs fall off and shatter. "Alright!"

"Yeah!" Brock says.

"That should do it," Jessie says.

"Pip, piplup, piplup./Ha, take that and that!" Piplup and Pikachu dance as everyone else cheers.

"Pika!/You deserved it."

Butch and Cassidy stand stunned for a moment before Cassidy explodes, "No one mangles our machine! Well if it's a Pokemon battle you want, buster, you've got one! Granbull, let's go!" She throws a Pokeball.

"Shuckle, you too!" Butch responds.

"Granbull!/Let's do this!"

"Shuckle!/Fine."

"Granbull./These kids won't stand a chance."

"Protect hippowdon!" Ash shouts.

"Go Seviper!" Jessie throws her Pokeball angrily. The Pokeball hits forcefully and Seviper shoves Granbull away with its head. Jessie looks to James, Carnivine still clinging to him.

"Chomp those chumps," he orders and Carnivine finally moves away.

"Granbull, Fire Fang, let's go!" Cassidy shouts.

"Graaaan./Fiiire-" Granbull warms up his move.

"Seviper, Wrap up Granbull!" Jessie quickly decides.

Before Granbull can finish, Seviper curls around it and squeezes. "Seviper!/Ha, try to get out of this!"

"Granbull, unwrap, then use Bite!" Cassidy orders.

"Sevie?/What?" Seviper watches Granbull wriggle out.

"Gran, bull!/What were you saying?" It chomps down on Seviper's middle.

"Viper!/Forget I said anything!" It yells in pain.

"You use Bite too!" Jessie says quickly.

"Vie? Viper!/Oh? Right!" Seviper spins around and grabs onto Granbull from behind.

"Graaaa!/Stop!" Granbull screams, but still holds onto Seviper.

Shuckle lands before Hippowdon. "Shuck./Uh, can you come with me?"

"Hip./no."

Carnivine jumps in front of it. "Carnivine./Not if I can help it."

"Now Carnivine, Bullet Seed, pronto." James points.

"Carni-viiine!/Bullet Seed!" Carnivine spits seeds at Shuckle.

As Shuckle cringes in the range of fire, Butch says, "Shuckle, use Sludge Bomb now."

Shuckle jumps, then shoots black liquid from its mouth. "Shuckle./Sludge Bomb."

"Ava./Sorry!" Carnivine jumps out of the way and it hits Hippowdon.

"Pooow!/Ouch!" His voice says from the smoke.

"Oh no, Hippowdon!" Ash exclaims, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt quick!"

"Pikaaa-chuuuuuu!/Thunder . . . Bolt!" Pikachu does a nice twist in the air before releasing the energy.

"Shuckle-luckle-luckle-luckle!/Aaaaaaah!" Shuckle screeches.

"Piplup, use Bubblebeam!" Dawn says.

"Pip, lup-lup-lup!/Bubblebeam!" The water balls hit Granbull and he finally lets go of Seviper.

Hippowdon starts to run at an amazing speed, a trail of light behind him. "Hip, hip, hip, hip, hip-hip-hip-hip-hiphiphiphipow!" It hits Shuckle, making it fly through the air.

"Wow, Dawn, that was Hippowdon's Double Edge," Brock says.

"Amazing power!" She replies.

"Look ou-" Butch is cut off as Shuckle slams into his middle.

"Hippo, po, po./Yawn." Hippopotas sends out three Yawn bubbles. One hits Butch as he tries to lift Shuckle off. He falls back onto the sand, asleep. Another hits Cassidy, and the last one hits Granbull, who finally lets go of Seviper.

"Hip-po!" Hippopotas released clouds of dust from his nostrils. It blows Cassidy, Butch, Shuckle, and Granbull around. Seviper uses the rest his energy to slither under the attack over to Jessie.

"That's Hippopotas's sandstorm!" Ash notices.

"And I thought I was the expert." James grins. The dust clears to show them lying in a heap.

"Hip . . . pow!/Hyper Beam!" Hippowdon releases a beam of light.

The villains fly into the sky, still mostly asleep. "Those dummies put up with this every week?" Butch mumbles.

"Go to sleep," Cassidy grumbles. They disappear into the sky with a wink of a star.

"Hippo, hippo!/Daddy, Daddy!" Hippopotas runs to his parent.

"Hippo./I'm here." Hippowdon walks over too.

"Hippowdon, is everything okay?" Ash asks.

He nods, "Hip./Thanks to you."

"I think Pachirisu took Hippowdon a bit by surprise," Brock says.

"Sorry about that, Hippowdon," Dawn apologizes.

Pachirisu nods. "Chipa, Chipa./At least it was fun."

Hippowdon leans toward his son, "Hippo./How are you?"

Hippopotas rubs against his muzzle. "Hippa, Hippo-pa, Hippa./I'm a lot better now that you're here."

"Awesome, that's so sweet," Dawn says.

"Yeah, you stay put," Brock says.

"Hip./And up!" Hippowdon flings Hippopotas into the air.

"Hippo-po! Hip-pa./Weee! I love you."

When he lands on Hippowdon's head, the latter says, "Hip./I love you too."

"That's great," Ash says, "What a team!"

"Hippo, hippo./Well, yeah!" Hippopotas smiles.

"Even with new Team Rocket trouble, our heroes were still able to unite an old friend with a new one. So now, it's off to Veilstone City," the Narrator says.

"There's that voice again." James looks into the sky.

"What voice?" Dawn asks.

"I said they can't hear me. They'll just think you're crazy."

"I guess I was just hearing things." James scratches the back of his neck bashfully.

She shrugs, then Ash says, "I'm glad you're back with your mom, but we have to leave."

Hippowdon glares at him. "Uh," James quickly interferes, "Hippowdon is his father."

"Huh? How do you know?"

"For one, Hippopotas has called him 'Daddy' this entire time, and two, the color is clearly different." He shows his Pokedex with the gender differences. The female was primarily gray, while the male was tan.

"Alright, I'm sorry about that."

"Hip./That's fine."

"While we're on the topic," Dawn starts, "can you maybe tell us our Pokemon's genders?"

"I don't see why not," James replies. Everyone releases their Pokemon. James kneels next to each, politely asking what they are. "Piplup is a boy. As are Pikachu, Buizel, Gligar, Chimchar, Staravia, Pachirisu, Sudowoodo, Croagunk, Meowth, Growlie, Carnivine, Arbok, Seviper, and Wobbuffet. The girls are Ambipom, Buneary, Happiny, Chimecho, Mime Jr., and Dustox."

"Wait, what about Turtwig?" Ash asks.

"Uh, Turtwig doesn't want to tell you."

"Why not?"

"Wobbuffet!" Jessie's Pokemon waves behind James.

"Nice pun," James says, then turns back to Ash. "Turtwig thinks you'll treat Turtwig differently."

"Why would I do that? I don't care if Turtwig is a boy or girl. Both can be strong anytime."

Turtwig nods to James. "Alright, Turtwig is a girl. She believes you'll treat her the same. You will, right?"

"Of course! I just wanted to know their genders so I won't call them 'it'. You said that was rude."

"It is. Now we can all be closer to our Pokemon."

"Yeah!" Ash high fives him.

The Narrator clears his voice. "And now they're off to Veilstone City." James and Jessie roll their eyes.

AN: This is the longest chapter yet. It just so happened that the next episode was the last appearance of Butch and Cassidy. How lucky is that? Yeah, the new Team Rocket . . . For this time, I stuck to the original episode as much as possible. I didn't realize how many times Dawn shouted Pachirisu in the episode. . . (13) -_- Yeah, James clears up the genders for everyone. Now I don't have to write "it" all the time. Anyway, from now on I'll try to mix it up more and not write the episode word for word. Unless you like it this way. ;)