Plot

The race is on to find Team Rocket's Wobbuffet when it runs off with the key to an indestructible cage...a cage that holds Ash's Pikachu!

As Ash, Misty, and Brock continue on to Ash's next gym battle in Olivine City, they are traveling through a forest as Team Rocket lies in wait. Jessie and James are dressed up as scientist who cannot figure out how to open a case. Ash asks them if they can help them with their problem. The scientists (Team Rocket) say it is a Pokémon transport device.

The scientists take Pikachu to make sure that it works perfectly. They cannot open it because Jessie gave the key to Wobbuffet. Team Rocket escapes when Weezing uses smog, and while running, Jessie hands off Pikachu to Wobbuffet. Wobbuffet makes noise, and the gang turn around and realize that Wobbuffet now has Pikachu.

When Wobbuffet starts to run away, he falls over a cliff, and Ash catches Pikachu still locked in the device. Jessie and James says that they will give Ash the key when they find Wobbuffet in return for Pikachu. The gang starts on the hunt while Team Rocket starts looking for it also. The gang look over the falls where Wobbuffet fell, while Team Rocket flies in the Meowth hot air balloon.

Wobbuffet in the meanwhile runs into Quagsire, which points in the way of land. The gang catch sight of Wobbuffet, but before they can catch it, it swings off. Ash falls over a cliff, and so does Team Rocket. Pikachu points out Wobbuffet, hanging on a branch, and when Jessie tries to get Wobbuffet it lands on top of a truck.

Then Officer Jenny arrives, and asks the gang to step aside because they need to follow the truck that has Wobbuffet. Officer Jenny allows the gang to ride in the car with her. Meanwhile, Team Rocket runs off when they hear the police sirens.

Officer Jenny tells the gang that the person driving the truck is master thief Gonnef, a Golem trader who sneaks into jewelry stores and vaults and steals everything in sight. Brock hits on Office Jenny. The police have set up a road block to stop the truck.

The master thief thinks hes in the all clear, when Wobbuffet sticks his head onto the windshield and surprise the master thief. The thief tries to use the windshield wipers to get rid of Wobbuffet, but its to no avail. The thief doesn't realize that the police have blocked the road until he tries to grab Wobbuffet with his own hands. He tries to brake, but its too late and he goes through the police barricade.

Jenny alerts all units that the vehicle is now within city limits, and to lock down all escape routes. The truck stops when the bridge to the town is pulled up. Then the thief reveals a golem hot air balloon, and Wobbuffet is stuck in it. Wobbuffet uses counter when the thief tries to throw it out of the balloon.

Jessie tries to bring Wobbuffet back by recalling it with its Poké Ball. The Meowth balloon gets a hole in it, and Meowth tries to patch it up, but Team Rocket goes blasting off again. Chikorita wraps its vine whip around Wobbuffet, but it gets snagged on a ramp, and Wobbuffet falls into a boat.

Team Rocket lands safely into a tree, and then they realize that wobbuffet is right near them, in a river, and they try and get it. Ash and the gang are doing the same thing, and Ash and Jessie both jump into the boat that Wobbuffets in. Wobbuffet pulls off the steering wheel, and manages to break the throttle when it tries to stop the boat with the throttle.

As the master thief steals a motorcycle and with the police chasing him. Ash, Jessie, and Wobbuffet are about to crash into a Lapras boat, but instead they fly over it, and Wobbuffet lands on the motorcycle that they master thief is using to get away.

Ash and Jessie see a ladder and Ash uses Totodile's Water Gun to slow down the boat, and they climb up the ladder. The master thief is holding Wobbuffet hostage, and in exchange for Wobbuffet, he wants a helicopter. The thief tells Wobbuffet to shut up when it keeps talking. Team Rocket digs a hole underneath the building and dig up into the room where Wobbuffet is.

Ash and the gang see the hole, and realize that its the doing of Team Rocket. Team Rocket wants to trade the tunnel that they built in exchange for the Wobbuffet and the jewels. Golem starts to attack them, and the master thief decides to use the tunnel and keep Wobbuffet. Ash and Totodile arrive, and Totodile loses in a battle with Golem. Wobbuffet uses Counter against Golem's Tackle, and Golem hits the thief, and they fly out of the building.

Team Rocket escapes the building and uses a new Wobbuffet air balloon. Wobbuffet is inside the Poké Ball and it appears to say Wobbuffet. When Noctowl pokes a hole in the balloon, Ash gets the key, unlocks Pikachu, and they go blasting off via a Thunderbolt.