Before Ash's gym battle, Ash is trying to perfect Pikachu's Iron Tail. They have just finished splitting a boulder into two pieces. Brock, May, and Max are eating lunch and watching Ash train Pikachu. They are impressed at the amount of work Ash put in with training Pikachu. Ash tells Pikachu to use Iron Tail on another rock. Unfortunately, the attack fails and Ash sighs.

Ash and Pikachu stop their training for a lunch break. Brock tells Ash that even if Iron Tail did work, it would take much more than that to defeat Roxanne's Geodude. Max asks May what her strategy is for her gym match. May tells everyone that she won't be battling gym leaders. She instead wants to become a Pokémon coordinator just like Janet. Ash and Brock are happy that May has found something that she wants to do. Max is disappointed that May is choosing to be a coordinator instead of a trainer.

James is looking in a Pokémon book. He is surprised to see that Roxanne is the gym leader. They all want to steal Roxanne's Pokémon. James, however thinks they should come up with a new plan because all of their previous plans have failed before. He says that digging up a tunnel will work.

Ash and co. have entered the gym. They see an awesome battlefield in the center of the gym. A bunch of people are preparing the battlefield for Ash and May. Roxanne shows up. She is glad that Ash and May are beginning their journies at Rustboro City. Before the battles can start, May tells Roxanne that she wants to become a Pokémon coordinator rather than a trainer. Roxanne understands and she wishes May the best of luck. Roxanne decides to make a video of the battle with Ash because it helps students learn better. Max is very excited because it is the first gym battle he is going to see.

The battle begins. Roxanne sends out Geodude. May looks up Geodude in her Pokédex. May and Max notice that Geodude is a very strong Pokémon. Ash sends out Treecko. Being a Grass type, Treecko has the type advantage over Geodude except Treecko doesn't know any grass attacks. Treecko starts off with Quick Attack, but Geodude just blocks the attack. Roxanne tells Ash that physical attacks won't do much damage on Geodude. Geodude uses Mega Punch on Treecko. Treecko lands in the air. Then it charges down towards Geodude and uses Pound. The force from the attack sends Geodude backwards into a pile of rocks. Roxanne is impressed at Ash's move. However, Geodude has recovered from the attack. It uses Rollout. Treecko dodges the attack, but Geodude flies up near Treecko and strikes it down with Mega Punch. Treecko is knocked out.

Ash's next Pokémon is Pikachu. Roxanne is surprised that Ash would choose an electric Pokémon for the battle, however Ash is confident that he will win. Pikachu starts the battle with a powerful Thunder. The attack flattens the whole battlefield.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is digging a tunnel underground towards the gym. Jessie and Meowth are tired, but James doesn't want anyone to take a break. Jessie wants to know how James plans to capture the Pokémon. James tells them that they will dig their way to the gym floor, grab Pikachu, and escape underground. He adds in that using expensive equipment always leads to disaster.

May and Max think that Pikachu's Thunder attack was awesome although Pikachu could've lost a lot of energy. Roxanne tells Ash that now that the battlefield is flattened, Geodude can launch more attacks. Geodude uses Rock Throw, but Pikachu dodges all the rocks by using Quick Attack. When Pikachu gets close to Geodude, Geodude hits Pikachu with Mega Punch. Then Geodude uses Rollout, however it gets stuck in the ground. Pikachu then uses Quick Attack to get close to Geodude. Then with a powerful Thunder attack, Geodude is knocked out. Roxanne is impressed at Ash's battle skills.

Roxanne's next Pokémon is Nosepass. Ash looks up Nosepass in his Pokédex. Pikachu is exhausted from its last battle. Hopefully they can get through the next battle. Pikachu uses Iron Tail on Nosepass. The attack works, and Nosepass slides backwards. Nosepass charges for Pikachu, but Pikachu dodges and uses Iron Tail again. This time, however, the attack doesn't work. Nosepass uses Rock Tomb which seals Pikachu in a cave of rocks. Pikachu blows the rocks away with Thunder. However, this causes Pikachu to lose even more energy. Then Nosepass uses Sandstorm. A large sandstorm is whipped up making it harder to see. However, Nosepass can track down Pikachu because its nose can act like a compass.

When the sand disappears, Nosepass has Pikachu pinned down the the ground. Nosepass lifts its foot up. Before it can slam it down, Pikachu moves out of the way. Nosepass then uses a series of Rock Tombs. Pikachu dodges them all and circles Nosepass. Their strategy is to try and confuse Nosepass. Roxanne tells Nosepass to sense Pikachu's electricity instead of looking for it. Pikachu leaps up and tries another Iron Tail, but the attack fails again because Pikachu doesn't have enough energy. Suddenly, Nosepass jumps up and uses Thunder Wave. Pikachu dodges the attack. James sticks his shovel out on the gym arena. The Thunder Wave hits his shovel, and the electric current blasts them out from the ground and in the sky.

Ash wonders what to do. Pikachu is very weak now, and there aren't many options left. Suddenly, he sees electricity spark on Pikachu's tail. He gets an idea. Pikachu begins to charge towards Nosepass. Nosepass fires a Zap Cannon, and Pikachu absorbs the attack. Then Pikachu hits Nosepass with its own electricity. This causes Nosepass to become paralyzed. Now that Nosepass is paralyzed, Pikachu strikes it with one last Iron Tail and knocks Nosepass out.

Roxanne thanks Ash for a great battle. She and her students have learned a lot from it. Then Roxanne gives Ash his first badge, the Stone Badge. Now Ash and co. focus on getting to the next town.

English Official Summary

Pikachu is getting pretty good at its Iron Tail attack and that's a good thing. Ash is finally about to take on Roxanne, the leader of the Rustboro City Gym. He's going to need all the help he can get to take down her Geodude. May, on the other hand, isn't really looking forward to the battle. In fact, she announces that she's not going to be a trainer anymore. She wants to become a Pokémon Coordinator and compete in contests instead. When the battle begins, it doesn't look like Ash has much of a chance. Roxanne's Geodude knocks out Treecko pretty quickly. It's all up to Pikachu. Electric attacks aren't going to help much against a strong Rock Type—but Ash is very clever and Pikachu not only brings down Geodude, but it wipes out Nosepass with its newly perfected Iron Tail Attack. Ash defeats Roxanne and receives his Stone Badge.

French Official Summary

Sacha va enfin pouvoir livrer son premier combat d'Arène officiel depuis son arrivée dans la région de Hoenn : il va affronter Roxanne dans l’Arène de Mérouville. Sacha sait qu’il va devoir combattre son puissant Racaillou, et il s’est préparé en entraînant Pikachu à utiliser sa nouvelle attaque : Queue de Fer. Bientôt, le combat pour le Badge Roche commence, et c’est l’Arcko de Sacha qui va affronter Racaillou. Malgré son avantage de type, Arcko a du mal à résister aux assauts de Racaillou. Et lorsqu’enfin, Pikachu remporte la victoire sur Racaillou, Sacha se retrouve face à face avec un adversaire qu’il connaît mal, un Tarinor, qui va faire tout ce qui est en son pouvoir pour empêcher notre héros de gagner son premier Badge d’Arène de la région de Hoenn !

German Official Summary

Pikachu beherrscht seinen Eisenschweif-Angriff immer besser. Ash tritt endlich gegen Felizia, die Leiterin der Metarost-Arena an.

Italian Official Summary

Pikachu sta migliorando molto con il suo attacco Codacciaio, ed è un'ottima cosa. Ash sta finalmente per affrontare Petra, la Capopalestra di Ferrugipoli.

Portuguese Official Summary

Armado com o novo Movimento Cauda de Ferro de Pikachu, Ash desafia a Líder de Ginásio Roxanne!

Spanish Latin America Official Summary

¡Armado con el nuevo ataque de Pikachu, Cola de Hierro, Ash desafía a la Líder de Gimnasio, Roxanne!

Spanish Official Summary

Ash por fin ha llegado a su primer Combate de Gimnasio oficial desde que llegó a la región de Hoenn, en el que se enfrentará a Petra en el Gimnasio de Ciudad Férrica. Consciente de que se enfrentará a un poderoso Geodude, Ash se ha estado preparando, entrenando a Pikachu con su nuevo ataque Cola Férrea. Pronto comienza el combate por la Medalla Piedra, y será el Treecko de Ash quien se enfrentará al Geodude. Aun con su ventaja de tipo, al Treecko le cuesta responder a la implacable ofensiva del Geodude. Cuando Pikachu vence al Geodude, Ash debe enfrentarse a un oponente desconocido, Nosepass, que no se lo pondrá nada fácil para conseguir su primera Medalla de Gimnasio en Hoenn!

English Great Britian Official Summary

Pikachu is getting pretty good at its Iron Tail attack and that's a good thing. Ash is finally about to take on Roxanne, the leader of the Rustboro City Gym. He's going to need all the help he can get to take down her Geodude. May, on the other hand, isn't really looking forward to the battle. In fact, she announces that she's not going to be a trainer anymore. She wants to become a Pokémon Coordinator and compete in contests instead. When the battle begins, it doesn't look like Ash has much of a chance. Roxanne's Geodude knocks out Treecko pretty quickly. It's all up to Pikachu. Electric attacks aren't going to help much against a strong Rock Type—but Ash is very clever and Pikachu not only brings down Geodude, but it wipes out Nosepass with its newly perfected Iron Tail Attack. Ash defeats Roxanne and receives his Stone Badge.

Russian Official Summary

Мэй удивляет всех заявлением, что ее не интересует битва за значки. Вместо этого она хочет стать координатором покемонов и участвовать в состязаниях покемонов. Эш, вызывает Роксану, гим-лидера Растборо-Сити на гим-битву в одиночку. Геодут Роксаны быстро расправляется с Трико Эша, но Пикачу применяет  Гром и лишает Геодута возможности двигаться по полю битвы. Тогда Роксана выбирает Ноузпасса, и ее непревзойдённая техника почти сокрушает Пикачу: Ноузпасс применяет песчаную бурю и ухудшает видимость на поле битвы, но даже в условиях плохой видимости Ноузпасс безошибочно находит Пикачу с помощью мощного электромагнита на своём носу. Благодаря продуманной стратегии, Эш помогает Пикачу набраться энергии от атаки своего оппонента, и сокрушает его мощным ударом стального хвоста. Эш уносит с собой  каменный значок - свой первый трофей в гим-битвах региона Хоенн.

Dutch Official Summary

Nu Pikachu een nieuwe zet IJzerstaart beheerst, daagt Ash de Gym Leader Roxanne uit!

Danish Official Summary

Bevæbnet med Pikachus nye angreb, Iron Tail, udfordrer Ash Sallederen Roxanne!

Swedish Official Summary

Beväpnad med Pikachus nya attack Iron Tail, utmanar Ash Gym-ledaren Roxanne!