May and Max are watching a Zigzagoon drink water from a river. Max talks too loud, scaring the Zigzagoon away. May tells Max to be more quiet next time. Max points to a group of Stantler. May and Max think that the Pokémon are really cool. A flock of Beautifly fly in the sky. May and Max are happy to see all of the Pokémon in the forest. Ash thinks there is something strange about all the Pokémon.

Max sees a Sudowoodo and Shroomish. Unfortunately, he scares them away because he gets too close to them. May thinks that Max is overreacting. Max tells his sister that looking at Pokémon for the first time is very different than just studying them because you can feel them, smell them, and you can see them breathe. Ash agrees with Max.

Suddenly, they hear a sound from the deeper part of the forest. Up on a rock are three Mightyena. The Mightyena jump down from the rock and they surround Ash and co. Ash looks up Mightyena in his Pokédex. May thinks that Ash should use his "real life experience" and make friends with the Mightyena. Ash disagrees with May. He wants to run, but Brock tells him no. Brock sends out Forretress, May sends out Torchic, and Pikachu is ready to battle. One Mightyena attacks. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, but the Mightyena dodges the attack. It hits Pikachu with Tackle. Suddenly, another Pokémon appears with blazing speed. It is Poochyena. Before Poochyena can attack Ash and co., a woman walks up to the group. She says that they are in a restricted area. Ash and co. apologize for trespassing. The woman introduces herself. Her name is Katrina. Ash and co. introduce themselves as well.

Team Rocket are also in the forest looking for Pokémon. However, they haven't found any yet. They are also hungry, and so they name the foods they want to eat. A Murkrow lands on a tree. Jessie then sees a tree full of different Pokémon. Wobbuffet pops out, holding a sign. The sign reads that they are entering a restricted area. Jessie, James, and Meowth are excited by this.

Katrina leads Ash and co. back to her place. She has been taking care of many injured Pokémon. Brock, who is in love again, tells Katrina that he is also a Pokémon Doctor. When Brock becomes love crazy over Katrina, Poochyena tackles him. Katrina scolds Poochyena and tells it to not tackle anymore. Max uses May's Pokédex to looks up Poocyhena. Max thinks that Poochyena will evolve into a Mightyena very soon. Katrina disagrees with Max. She explains to Max that Poochyena was born at the exact same time as the other three Mightyena, and they evolved at the same time awhile ago. Max wonders why Poochyena still hasn't evolved. Katrina has a theory, but she isn't too worried about it. Max is disappointed that Poochyena hasn't evolved. He tells Katrina that Poochyena will be able to be more stronger, and it will be able to take care of itself once it is a Mightyena.

May wonders how her Pokémon will turn out once it evolves. She imagines a big version of Torchic. May pulls out her Pokédex and looks up Combusken. Max can hardly wait for Torchic to evolve because he wants to see a Pokémon evolve. Ash and Brock tells May and Max that evolving a Pokémon takes time and patience. When your Pokémon gets enough experience, then it evolves. May wants to know why Pikachu hasn't evolved yet. Brock explains the whole meaning of evolution and how the Pokémon evolve. From Brock's speech, May and Max now understand how evolution works. Because of this, Max does not want to miss Poochyena evolve. He thinks that giving it a slight push will do the trick. Katrina tells everyone that they can stay at her place for awhile. Brock accepts this.

Max is out in the forest training Poochyena. Poochyena uses Tackle on Torchic. Max tells Poochyena that in order to evolve it has to use different attacks. He says that Bite will do more damage. Poochyena jumps up and prepares for an attack, however Torchic uses Ember on both Poochyena and Max. Then it walks away. Meanwhile, Ash is in the house feeding Pikachu. Max walks up to Ash and asks him if he can borrow one of his Pokémon. May tells Ash not to let Max use a Pokémon because Max will just let it lose on purpose. Ash tells Max that letting a Pokémon lose on purpose isn't the way to get Poochyena to evolve.

Max sits on a rock. He watches Poochyena play with the other Mightyena. He tries to think of an alternative way for Poochyena to evolve. Ash and May walk up to Max. Ash tells Max that some Pokémon just don't want to evolve and that they are happy the way they are. Max is angry and runs in the forest with Poochyena. Katrina walks up to Ash and May. She shows them part of a net, a tool used for capturing Pokémon. This means that there are poachers out in the forest.

Team Rocket have captured many Pokémon in a net. They are celebrating. Suddenly, Meowth sees something from behind the bushes. It is Max and Poochyena. Max tells Poochyena that it will evolve when it starts to use other attacks aside from Tackle. Team Rocket has a plan to help Max.

Max looks for a good opponent for Poochyena. From behind lies a big machine. Max thinks it's a trap, and he begins to walk away from it. Two people walk out. They notice that Max has discovered their machine or their "laboratory." The two people are Jessie and James but in disguise. James tells Max that they are doing some evolution research. They provide a demonstration for Max. Jessie places Meowth in the machine, and James pulls a lever. Within 5 seconds comes a Persian (which is Meowth in a costume). Then they have the "Persian" evolve into many other Pokémon. Because of this, Max thinks the machine is rigged. Jessie thinks that they should evolve Poochyena. She places Poochyena in the machine. The machine explodes and out comes Team Rocket's balloon. Poochyena is in the net with the other Pokémon.

Ash, Brock, May, Katrina, and the three Mightyena run up to Max. Team Rocket says their motto. Then James takes out an arm-like thing. He extends it out and uses it to grab Pikachu. Then they begin to float away in their balloon. Ash and co. chase after Team Rocket. Ash sends out Taillow. Taillow flies up and pecks at Team Rocket, lowering the balloon down. Max calls out to Poochyena. He tells it to bite through the net so that it can save all the other Pokémon. Poochyena hesitates, Max believes that Poochyena can it. Poochyena then uses Bite, and it bites its way through the net. The net breaks and the Pokémon are saved. Taillow has pecked James a lot causing him to lose track of Pikachu. Then Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, and Team Rocket blasts off into the sky.

Max tells Poochyena that it saved the day and that it is already a great Pokémon whether it evolves or not. Suddenly, Poochyena begins to glow, and it evolves into a Mightyena. Mightyena knew how Max felt, and so it evolved for him. Max is very happy that he got to experience evolution. May also got to experience evolution for her first time. Max hugs Mightyena.

English Official Summary

As our heroes travel on towards Rustboro City, they stumble into a forest filled with many different kinds of Pokémon. It turns out that the area is actually a Pokémon preserve, and it's looked after by a girl named Katrina. Katrina takes care of all of the Pokémon in the area and helps to nurse them back to health when they are sick. Max takes a particular liking to her Poochyena and he's determined to see it evolve before they leave the preserve. All of the Poochyena's companions who were born at the same time have already evolved, but this one Poochyena just doesn't seem ready. Max decides to coach the Pokémon and leads it out into the forest. Team Rocket has followed Max and they decide to play a trick on him to take the Poochyena. They claim to be researchers working on an evolution machine. Max is too smart too be fooled, but that doesn't stop Team Rocket from taking Poochyena. Luckily, Katrina and Ash show up just in time. This time Poochyena gets in on the action, too. That last battle turns out to be just what this little Poochyena needs—it evolves right before Max's eyes!

French Official Summary

Tandis que nos héros se rapprochent de Mérouville, ils trouvent sur leur chemin une merveilleuse réserve naturelle de Pokémon, surveillée par une jeune fille nommée Katrina. Katrina prend soin de tous les Pokémon qui s’y trouvent et les aide à retrouver la santé quand ils sont malades. Max porte un intérêt particulier à un Medhyèna de la réserve, et est bien décidé à le voir évoluer avant son départ. Tous les compagnons de ce Medhyèna ont déjà évolués en Grahyèna, mais ce dernier Medhyèna ne semble pas encore prêt. Sacha et Pierre essaient d’expliquer que l’Évolution ne peut être accomplie qu’en acquérant de l’expérience au cours des combats, mais Max est très impatient et décide d’emmener Medhyèna s’entraîner dans la forêt. C’est seulement lorsque la Team Rocket fait une nouvelle tentative pour s’emparer de tous les Pokémon que Maxcommence à appréhender les règles complexes de l’Évolution...

German Official Summary

Wieder auf dem Weg nach Metarost City kommen unsere Helden in einen Wald, in dem die unterschiedlichsten Pokémon leben.

Italian Official Summary

Lungo il cammino verso Ferrugipoli, il gruppo fa tappa in una foresta abitata da vari tipi di Pokémon.

Portuguese Official Summary

Depois de encontrar um grupo de Mightyena, Max faz amizade com um Poochyena que ainda não evoluiu e decide treiná-lo!

Spanish Latin America Official Summary

Luego de conocer a un grupo de Mightyena, Max se hace amigo de un Poochyena que todavía no ha evolucionado, y decide entrenarlo él mismo.

Spanish Official Summary

Cuando nuestros héroes se acercan a Ciudad Férrica, se topan con una preciosa y diversa reserva de Pokémon a cargo de una niña llamada Katrina. Ella se ocupa de todos los Pokémon de la zona y los cura cuando están enfermos. Max se encariña con un Poochyena de la reserva y está empeñado en verlo evolucionar antes de que se vayan. Todos sus compañeros ya han evolucionado a Mightyena, pero él no parece preparado aún. Ash y Brock intentan explicarle que la evolución solo se produce a través de la experiencia en los combates, pero Max sigue impaciente y decide llevarse al Poochyena a entrenar al bosque. Cuando el Team Rocket irrumpe en escena para robarle todos sus Pokémon, Max contempla por fin la belleza de la evolución Pokémon.

English Great Britian Official Summary

As our heroes travel on towards Rustboro City, they stumble into a forest filled with many different kinds of Pokémon. It turns out that the area is actually a Pokémon preserve, and it's looked after by a girl named Katrina. Katrina takes care of all of the Pokémon in the area and helps to nurse them back to health when they are sick. Max takes a particular liking to her Poochyena and he's determined to see it evolve before they leave the preserve. All of the Poochyena's companions who were born at the same time have already evolved, but this one Poochyena just doesn't seem ready. Max decides to coach the Pokémon and leads it out into the forest. Team Rocket has followed Max and they decide to play a trick on him to take the Poochyena. They claim to be researchers working on an evolution machine. Max is too smart too be fooled, but that doesn't stop Team Rocket from taking Poochyena. Luckily, Katrina and Ash show up just in time. This time Poochyena gets in on the action, too. That last battle turns out to be just what this little Poochyena needs—it evolves right before Max's eyes!

Russian Official Summary

На пути в Растборо Сити, Эш и его друзья оказываются в заповеднике покемонов, который охраняет девочка по имени Катрина. Она выхаживает диких покемонов и возвращает их к нормальной жизни. Макс очень привязывается к Пучиене, которая еще не эволюционировала в Майтиену, как все остальные в группе. И хотя Пучиена просто не готова эволюционировать, а Эш и Брок пытаются объяснить, что эволюция не самое главное для покемона, Макс одержим этой идеей и уходит в лес, чтобы тренировать Пучиену. Когда появляется Команда Р и пытается похитить всех покемонов, Макс и Пучиена должны действовать слаженно, чтобы победить их. Пережитой опыт позволяет, наконец, Пучиене эволюционировать в Майтиену .

Dutch Official Summary

Nadat Max een groep Mightyena heeft ontmoet, raakt hij bevriend met een Poochyena die nog niet geëvolueerd is en besluit hij hem zelf te gaan trainen!

Danish Official Summary

Efter et møde med en gruppe Mightyena blive Max venner med en Poochyena, som ikke har udviklet sig endnu, men har besluttet sig for at træne sig selv!

Swedish Official Summary

Efter att ha träffat på en grupp med Mightyena, blir Max vän med en Poochyena som ännu inte utvecklats och han bestämmer sig för att själv träna upp den!