While traveling along a road, Ash and his friends spot a Delibird flying across the sky. Said Delibird soon arrives in front of the Team Rocket trio, delivering them boxed lunches and ten Poké Balls, containing the Pokémon they had previously left behind at the Team Rocket HQ, much to their great delight. Delibird then produces a golden statue of Giovanni, through which the actual Giovanni contacts them, telling Jessie and James to take charge of managing these Pokémon from now on. The statue then self-destructs and Delibird flies away. The trio is happy to reunite with their Pokémon and takes a moment to reminisce about the Pokémon that are no longer with them. With all these Pokémon at their disposal, they decide to launch the ultimate Pikachu capture scheme, with James already having a plan in mind.
Soon after, Mime Jr. appears before Ash and his friends, pleading for help. Pikachu, recognizing it, is distrustful, but the others sympathize with it due to its distressed expression, just as James had planned. Team Rocket appears on a nearby tree and performs their motto before claiming that Mime Jr. has betrayed them and is trying to meet up with an Officer Jenny to turn them in. Ash has Pikachu send Team Rocket blasting off with a Thunderbolt to defend Mime Jr., who then starts leading them towards the spot where it supposedly wants to meet Officer Jenny. Along the way, however, the second part of Team Rocket's scheme is put into action in order to split the group up. First off, Amoonguss and Yanmega attack the group, with Brock staying behind so he and Ludicolo can hold them off. Next up, Ash and Misty run into Frillish and Yamask. Misty sends out Staryu and stays behind to fight them. Psyduck also emerges to join in, only for Yamask to attach its mask to its face and render it useless. Lastly, Ash runs into Carnivine and Gourgeist, which he fights with Infernape and Hawlucha while telling Pikachu and Mime Jr. to run ahead.
Ash's team for this episode
Pikachu and Mime Jr. arrive at the supposed meetup spot, where Jessie, James, Meowth, Wobbuffet, and Morpeko appear. Mime Jr. then reveals its true colors and tries to hold Pikachu back while James fires a net at it, but Pikachu manages to break free, resulting in Mime Jr. getting caught in the net instead. James frees the Mime Pokémon and congratulates it on its great work. Woobat, Seviper, and Inkay join in to keep Pikachu from getting away while Jessie and James prepare to seize him in a net, forcing Pikachu to fight off multiple enemies alone. Latias, who has invisibly been watching the entire scheme unfold, refuses to just stand by any longer and relays Ash a telepathic vision of Pikachu's distressed state. Though confused, Ash trusts the vision and abandons the fight with Carnivine and Gourgeist to go save his partner. Gourgeist fires Seed Bombs into the air to signal that the plan has been exposed, but before Pikachu can be seized, Ash arrives in the nick of time and has Infernape destroy Team Rocket's nets with Flare Blitz.
All of Team Rocket's Pokémon come together while the trio reveals to Ash that Mime Jr.'s seeming betrayal was just a part of their plan all along. The Pokémon launch a devastating combo attack towards Ash and his Pokémon, but they quickly move out of the way, forcing Wobbuffet to take the hit instead. He manages to reflect the attack back with Mirror Coat, causing it to strike a nearby tree and obliterate part of its trunk. When the tree falls down, a Slakoth that was resting on it is sent flying, so Ash runs up a rock and jumps high into the air to save it. Just as Brock and Misty arrive, they notice Ash seemingly floating through the air and being brought back down. Ash realizes Latias was behind this, and she reveals herself, much to Brock and Misty's surprise. Latias then turns to Team Rocket, using Psychic to send them and their Pokémon blasting off. After crashing down, the trio starts considering what they did wrong. The situation quickly dissolves into the trio members blaming each other, until they finally declare they're through and head their different ways, their Pokémon sadly looking after them.
Meanwhile, Ash is thanking Latias for her help, understanding that she was also the source behind the vision he saw. Brock and Misty reveal that Ash had actually told them of his encounter with her. Suddenly, Latias starts showing them another vision, this time showing them a Latios behind a glass wall in an underground facility. He breaks the glass and the vision moves outdoors, showing the group a view of the surrounding landscape before the vision cuts off. Latias is looking sad, making Ash wonder what exactly is going on.
This episode also marks the first appearance of a Carnivine in the anime since then, as well as the first appearance of a Yanmega in the anime since Beyond the Rainbow!, 361 episodes earlier.
This is the first episode where Jessie has had more than two Pokémon on hand since Memories are Made of Bliss!, 573 episodes earlier, as well as the first episode where James has had more than one Pokémon on hand since The Dream Continues!, 431 episodes earlier.
This is also the first time Jessie and James have had a full team of six Pokémon on hand each.
This is also the first episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series when Jessie has had Pokémon other than Wobbuffet in her active team.
At 12 Pokémon (21 including fantasies), this episode features the highest number of Team Rocket's Pokémon ever seen in a single episode.
Gyarados is the only Pokémon that has been in Team Rocket's party for longer than one episode to not appear in this episode in any capacity.
Growlie also didn't appear in the episode. However, even though it appeared in two episodes and is James's Pokémon, it never was a part of Team Rocket and never joined James's active party.
Team Rocket's motto music from Pokémon the Series: XY is also reused as background music in this episode.
This episode marks the first time James's Amoonguss has used a new move since its debut, 464 episodes prior.
Gourgeist's method of firing Seed Bombs that explode like fireworks up into the sky is reminiscent of Ash's Bulbasaur doing so with its Solar Beam in The Dream Continues!.
Unshō Ishizuka was added into the credits for this episode, with archived audio of his voice being used for James's Weezing.
As of this episode, all of Ash's Kalos Pokémon that reside at Professor Oak's Laboratory have been in his active party at some point during Aim to Be a Pokémon Master.
Mime Jr.'s act of seemingly leaving Team Rocket is similar to what Meowth did in Pokémon the Series: Black & White.
Latias sends Team Rocket and their Pokémon blasting off with Psychic, including Inkay and Morpeko, even though they’re Dark types.
Dub edits
The title card featuring Meowth is replaced with the one with Pikachu in the English dub.
The maracas Brock uses during his performance of Takeshi's Paradise are removed in all international dubs outside of Japan, including the English dub and Asian language dubs based on the Japanese version.
