Training Daze

Plot
Team Rocket is flying through the sky after being blasted off. They exchange remarks on their pathetic situation. James rifles through one of his pockets, sending a bunch of his prized bottle caps flying through the air. One of them, a beat-up gold one with a red R on it, lands on Meowth's face. Jessie gets very sentimental, and a flashback begins.

Jessie is hanging upside down, wearing a maroon Team Rocket outfit. She slowly descends downward, hanging by a rope. She stops just above a giant Articuno statue. Looking up, she sees her partners, Jubei and Mankey, struggling to hold the rope. Back to the task at hand, she wraps her arms around the statue and tells them to pull her and the statue up. Suddenly, the rope slips, and Jessie drops the statue; it shatters on the floor. The room turns red and shakes and an alarm rings. Jessie drops to the ground and runs out a door, Jubei calling after her; she ignores him and leaves. The room collapses on him and Mankey.

A female voice on an intercom announces the results of the training test, and a man with a Mohawk, Viper, emerges from the darkness. Bright lights suddenly shine on Jessie, and looking back, it is seen that Team Rocket Grunts are helping Jubei and Mankey to their feet. Viper chastises Jessie, and she blows him off and walks away.

Later, Viper is reporting to Giovanni the results of the test. He looks at a chart and sees that the top group in the Blue Team of trainees consists of Cassidy, Butch, and their Raticate. He looks at another chart and sees that the top contenders in the Red Team were rejected except for Jessie.

Suddenly, a grunt bursts in the room, telling Giovanni that his unit discovered something rare: a talking Pokémon. At that point, Meowth appears, saying that he wants to join Team Rocket, and Giovanni accepts the offer.

Meanwhile, Jessie and Cassidy are running on treadmills; they glare at each other and begin seeing who can run the fastest. As a result, both treadmills break down. Later, both are in a locker room when they begin exchanging insulting remarks. Cassidy wonders who Jessie's new partner will be. At the end of the conversation, Cassidy calls for Butch (using the wrong name) over the wall to the male locker room; he yells at her that she got his name wrong. Jessie looks depressed.

In Giovanni's office, Giovanni's Persian looks jealous of Meowth, who is on the floor eating ravenously from a bowl, talking to Giovanni as he eats. Giovanni simply remarks, "I see," without making further comment.

Outside, the sun is setting on the mountainous base, and Jessie leans on a railing, looking out over the rocks. Viper approaches her from behind and tells her she was the top trainee in the Red Group; he also tells her that she has a new partner. He points to a nearby wall, against which James is leaning. Both trainees glare at each other and speak cautiously. James tells Jessie that he has never run away.

The next day, Jessie and James are put through an agility and endurance course together, jumping over pits and barriers. While crawling under barbed wire, they stop and glare at each other before continuing on. Jessie manages to run over a group of hole traps without falling in, but James falls into one. Jessie stops and looks back, and James climbs up, saying he won't run away because he never has. Both trainees begin running again.

Meanwhile, Giovanni talks to someone on the phone (probably Viper) about how Jessie and James need a Pokémon teammate. Meowth walks down a nearby hall, carrying a cup of coffee for Giovanni. He trips over a wet mop that hits an overhead light, electrocuting him. He enters Giovanni's office, burnt and disheveled. Giovanni calls him over, and Meowth responds enthusiastically, hoping he can replace Persian as Giovanni's pet. However, Giovanni has other plans.

Later, Viper introduces Meowth to Jessie and James, telling them he will be their teammate. They look skeptical at first, but are shocked when they learn he can speak human language. Meowth thinks he is special because Giovanni gave him a job to do...

Viper shows a group of teams a mountainous map with an X, telling them to reach that point (the exercise is another skills test). Jessie and James exchange unsatisfactory glances again before setting off.

In the hills, the teams are seen hiking over rocks. Meowth stops to eat some bread and drink and bathe himself in some water. Later, he ends up stuck on a rock in the middle of water. James has to rescue him, carrying him across the water on his head. While scaling a rock, Meowth slips down, James having to aid him again, giving him some of his water and bread on one condition- he returns the water bottle's bottle cap. Jessie looks back and keeps climbing the rock.

Nightfall, and the three are around a campfire, James and Meowth appearing to sleep. Jessie pulls out her bread and water and hears Meowth's stomach growls. She almost eats her bread, but instead splits it into three parts, giving one to Meowth and one to James. He originally resists, but she tells him that "we eat together as a team." He takes the bread.

Some time later, the campfire is out and the trio appear to be sleeping. Meowth is snoring loudly. Turned away from each other, James asks Jessie if she's awake, and she answers "yeah." He confesses to her that his remarks about not running away were lies, and that he has been running away his entire life thus far. She then confesses that she has always been alone and has never felt friendship or love. Both say they are optimistic about tomorrow, and vow to be the top team. Meowth agrees in his sleep.

The next morning, the three find that they have to cross a rundown bridge. Meowth is scared, but Jessie and James are determined. Jessie tells him that they are a team and have to go together. James gives Meowth a pep talk, and Jessie continues ahead onto the bridge. A plank falls out ahead of her, but she misses the gap and keeps going. She eventually makes it across the bridge safely. Then, James attempts to cross with Meowth riding on his head. Suddenly, a rope holding the bridge up breaks. Jessie reaches out to them, but all James can do is throw Meowth to her while holding on to his tail. Seeing that Meowth is in pain, James lets go, dropping into the river. Jessie screams for him.

Later, Jessie and Meowth are standing outside an operating room with a doctor while James is seen, bandaged from head to toe, inside the room laying on a bed.

Then, Jessie, Cassidy, and Butch sit in desks in a classroom while Viper tells them of their next test. They have to get to a red Snorlax in the top of a tall penthouse, but there are many traps waiting for them. The first team to get there becomes the top team. Butch asks a question, and Viper praises him, but calls him by the wrong name. Butch tries to correct him, but is ignored. Viper once again calls him the wrong name. Cassidy mocks Jessie for having an injured teammate, then calls Butch the wrong name again.

Later that night, Jessie and Meowth appear in some bushes alongside Cassidy, Butch, and Raticate. Cassidy once again calls Butch the wrong name. They scale the penthouse wall using suction cups. Back in the bushes, Jessie walks off, about to give up, remarking that failure is the story of her life. Suddenly, James appears, still bandaged. He says the first couple of lines from what will soon be the team's motto, and pulls the bandages off, apparently unscathed, to a shocked Jessie and Meowth. He tells Jessie that he doesn't want to run away this time. Jessie's eyes well up with tears, which she clears, and the three rush off to beat Butch, Cassidy, and Raticate.

After a montage of the two teams making it through numerous traps, both appear in the room with the red Snorlax from opposite doors at the same time. Cassidy and Butch run ahead to the Snorlax, Cassidy actually calling Butch the right name this time, but a hole appears in front of them and they fall in. James and Meowth, not having seen the other team fall into the hole, run ahead and fall in their hole, Jessie trying to stop them but it being too late. James grabs onto Meowth's tail again, and Meowth manages to hook his claws onto the floor above, but the two begin sinking quickly. Jessie runs up and grabs Meowth's paws. James tells Jessie and Meowth to go on to be a good team, leaving him behind. Jessie tells him she hates that idea, but James lets go of Meowth's tail anyway. Both Jessie and Meowth manage to grab onto his hand before he falls into the hole (it's really just Jessie holding him up, though, because she is simultaneously holding Meowth). James tells them to let go, but they refuse. James is visibly touched.

Finally, Jessie and Meowth pull James out of the hole, James landing awkwardly on top of Jessie, who blushes. Meowth jumps up in excitement and both spring up immediately and act as if nothing has happened. They make it to the caged Snorlax and activate a balloon that pulls it to the ceiling. An alarm clock rings and Viper emerges from the Snorlax, which was a costume.

The next day, Jessie, James, Meowth, Cassidy, Butch, and Raticate stand before Viper, with the latter three in bandages (Cassidy calls Butch the wrong name again, too, and his angry response is muffled by bandages). Viper tells the groups that despite the fact that they didn't capture the Snorlax, they have been made official teams. They all looked shocked, and Viper congratulates them. The two groups shout in excitement and hug their respective group members.

The flashback ends with Jessie's narration, and the trio goes flying off into the distance, Jessie's Wobbuffet appearing just in time to get in its obligatory agreement with whatever has just been said.

Major events

 * Meowth recalls how he met Jessie and James for the first time.
 * Jessie, James and Meowth recall how they, Cassidy, and Butch went through training to become Team Rocket members.

Trivia

 * The flashback in this episode takes place some years before Ash begins his Pokemon journey.
 * This episode takes place between The Princess and the Togepi (LAoPtS) and A Togepi Mirage! (LAoPtS)