Tie One On

Plot
During the second match of Group H of the Silver Conference, Macy faces off against Jackson, the group's third competitor. Though Macy is ready, Jackson is more prepared to showboat than battle, saying hello to Dani and Yoshi to one of the stadium cameras. The three-on-three match gets well underway, and soon it is down to a winner-takes-all situation with Macy's Quilava and Jackson's Poliwhirl battling for the victory. Jackson's showboating gets to the better of him, as he trips over his cape issuing orders to Poliwhirl, leaving Poliwhirl standing as it takes a Flamethrower. This, combined with a Starmie Thunderbolt from an earlier round, seals the match for Macy. As Ash and his friends watches from the stands, Brock notes that Macy saved herself from elimination by winning, which also means that Ash and Macy are tied at the top of Group H. He adds that Ash will only need a tie against Jackson in order to advance, while Jackson must win outright to force a three-way tie. Noting this, Brock also mentions that a second tiebreaker round-robin would be needed should Jackson win outright.

Back at the Athlete's Village, Squirtle and Bulbasaur are rekindling their old friendship outside, as everyone else walks inside the Pokémon Center. Ash suddenly overhears a familiar voice, and he turns to see his next opponent, Jackson talking to Professor Elm. Ash interrupts the conversation, and Elm informs the group that Larvitar is happy with its mother. As they exchange pleasantries, Jackson explains that Professor Elm had given him Chikorita, his starter, and that it had only recently evolved into a Meganium. Asking why Meganium wasn't entered, Jackson admits that he thought that it would have been better for him to save Meganium for the victory rounds, which, in retrospect, was a mistake.

Back outside, the Bulbasaur and Squirtle see an apple from a tree, which Bulbasaur tries to grab. At the same time, a Meganium, accompanied by an Azumarill, also see the same apple. The two Grass Pokémon get into a heated tug-of-war over the apple. As the two Water types receive their halves, Azumarill throws its piece towards Squirtle, hitting it in the face and knocking off the other half of the apple. As Meganium and Azumarill laugh at Squirtle's misfortunes, Squirtle's short-tempered side rears itself. Putting on its Squirtle Squad glasses, Squirtle prepares to pick a fight with the two, only to be restrained by Bulbasaur. As Bulbasaur tries to apologize, Azumarill slaps it in the face, bringing out Squirtle's anger once again. Bulbasaur easily shakes it off, and tries once again to restrain Squirtle once again. As the two leave, Meganium's vine latches onto Bulbasaur, tripping it, and causing Azumarill and Meganium to laugh once again. Now with the better half of the duo also angered, the four Pokémon begin to fight each other. The catch up with Elm ends when everyone hears that a Pokémon brawl is happening outside, with Bulbasaur and Meganium involved. Ash and Jackson figure that their Pokémon are involved, and rush out. Seeing their Pokémon grappling, they try in vain to quell the fighting. Only when Harrison appears with Miltank does the fighting stop, by way of Heal Bell. As both Ash and Jackson thank Harrison for breaking up the fight, Officer Jenny arrives to see what the commotion was about, and warns that any brawls could get their Pokémon's Trainers disqualified. Harrison covers for Ash and Jackson, saying that the four Pokémon were only practicing against each other, with Gary appearing to back up Harrison's claim. With Officer Jenny gone, Gary and Ash exchange a bit of trash talk, before Gary leaves.

Later, as Ash and company are deciding on the three entrants to use against Jackson, noting that, in addition to Azumarill and his strong Meganium, he also has a Shiny Magneton on his team. Misty advises Ash to enter Cyndaquil as a Meganium counter and Pikachu for the advantage over Azumarill.

The next day, the match begins, with Jackson given the first move. Jackson greets his mother via the cameras before calling on his Azumarill. Ash selects his Pikachu. Azumarill leads off with Water Gun, while Pikachu evades with Quick Attack. As Pikachu reverses for the attack, Azumarill dodges at the last minute. After exchanging a Thunderbolt and a Bubble Beam, Azumarill connects with Icy Wind and follows up with Iron Tail. Pikachu, however, grabs the tail just as it connects and replies with a Thunder, knocking Azumarill out.

Next up, Jackson calls out his Magneton. After exchanging Thunderbolts, Ash attempts a Quick Attack. Though Magneton dodges and uses Thunder Wave, holding Pikachu down. Finally, Jackson ends it all with a Tri Attack. Pikachu is hurled right into a wall, and is out for the count. Sending out Cyndaquil, as Brock remarks that Magneton, as a Steel-type, would have the disadvantage. After exchanging a Thunderbolt and a Flamethrower, Cyndaquil manages to use a Smokescreen. The haze of thick smoke leaves obscures Magneton’s view, and Cyndaquil lands a Swift attack on it. Ash orders another Flamethrower, but Jackson has Magneton enter into an evasive Double Team. Cyndaquil finds itself surrounded, but before it can act, Magneton lashes it with a Thunder Wave. Jackson calls for a Tri Attack, and Cyndaquil is knocked out.

Now down to his last Pokémon, Ash brings out Bulbasaur. Jackson begins with a Thunderbolt, which Bulbasaur counters with Razor Leaf. Magneton evades with Double Team. Bulbasaur avoids the same Thunder Wave and Tri Attack combination that defeated Pikachu and Cyndaquil by using a spinning Vine Whip to mow down the afterimages. The vine soon connects and swats Magneton aside. Nevertheless, Jackson attempts the winning combo again, but Thunder Wave is blocked by a last-minute Razor Leaf, and Vine Whip is used to evade the Tri Attack. Finally, Bulbasaur fires Leech Seed at Magneton, which manages to sap much of its energy. Magneton then falls to the ground due to the energy loss from Leech Seed and Ash uses this chance to order Bulbasaur to use Vine Whip to grab and spin Magneton around. This wraps up the match-up, as Magneton is knocked out.

Bulbasaur and Meganium are now battling for the match, and the prior bad blood is still fresh in their minds. Trading off Razor Leafs and Vine Whips, Meganium appears to be more powerful as some of its Razor Leaves hit its opponent and it manages to throw Bulbasaur while locked in the Vine Whip. Narrowly dodging several Body Slam attempts, Bulbasaur connects on another Razor Leaf. Evading another Meganium Vine Whip with its own Vine Whip, however, allows Meganium to hit Bulbasaur while airborne with a Razor Leaf. However, Bulbasaur manages to evade Meganium's Body Slam, and uses another Vine Whip to hook on to Meganium's neck and pelt it with more Razor Leafs. Both slowly get back up, and slowly wear each other down by hitting each other in the face with Vine Whips. On the sidelines, Misty wonders why neither are taking time to evade the attacks, in which Brock explains that the battle may be of pride as well, and thus both are willing to take as much as they are willing to give. As they talk, both Grass types cross counter with their Vine Whip attacks. Getting up one last time, both Pokémon trade off Solar Beams. The pair emerge standing despite the large explosion. They both smirk at each other before collapsing on the battlefield, forcing the referee to declare a tied result. Despite the draw, both Trainers congratulate each other on a battle well fought, and the rival Grass types also shake vines. With the tie game, Ash officially advances to the victory round from Group H. Macy, also in the audience, also cheers Ash on, believing he can go all the way.

Meanwhile, at the Team Rocket concession stand, the trio has also sold out of its new Thunderbolt Badges, thanks to James's knack for collecting. Once again, Team Rocket redouble their efforts into making more money. Back at the Athlete's Village, the preliminary rounds have been decided. Ash discovers that Harrison advanced from his group, as did Gary. What surprises him even more, though, is that his first round match in the victory tournament is against none other than Gary.

Major Events

 * Macy defeats Jackson in their preliminary battle.
 * Jackson is revealed to own an Azumarill, a Shiny Magneton, a Poliwhirl, a Quagsire, and a Golduck.
 * Macy is revealed to own a Starmie.
 * Harrison is revealed to own a Miltank.
 * Ash and Jackson's match ends in a draw, meaning Ash has advanced to the Victory Tournament.
 * Gary and Harrison also advance to the Victory Tournament.
 * Ash learns that he will battle Gary in the first round of the Victory Tournament.