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  Mahogany City is just another step away as Ash and the gang gaze upon it from a hill. Jus before they go, they hear a voice and soon see a Arcanine. Just before it passes by Ash notices it's Gary, and Gary notices it's Ash! Gary stops and Ash catches up, both of them catching up with each other's events. Ash challenges Gary to a match but Gary politely declines, saying he's training for something else in mind. He takes off and Ash tries to follow but as soon as they see the bottom of the hill their standing on, they see a bunch of people doing the same thing Gary is!

They later have lunch at a diner, Ash still wondering what Gary is doing. More or less, Ash wants to compete against him, if he only knew what it was. An old man next to him mentions about the Pokemon Ride Race. Ash asks what's that all about. The man says his name is Tamazo and he's the one who's a part of the whole thing. He explains that trainers ride with their Pokemon to his house, get a egg as a relay and go back. It's one big event that happens here. Since Ash is pretty late for the contest, he says he can manage registration. Tamazo gives them a ride to his farm, explaining more about the race.

Once at Tamazo's farm, his wife greets them, asking about Ash and the others. After the introductions, Tamazo's wife explains that they raise a Pokemon Breeding center, mainly just egg harvesting and care. They have a pretty impressive collection of eggs on their shevles. Afterwards, Tamazo gives Ash his equipment: A leash and a skateboard. Ash rides around on the skateboard for a while, Tamazo asking if this is his first time. Ash says he used to ride a wooden board down hills back in Pallet. He goes down another hill but ends up hitting a rock, however something stops him from going down further after impact. Ash looks up and sees it's Gary and his Arcanine. Gary wonders what Ash is doing and sees the skateboard, Gary getting the idea. Now Gary gets all competitive over this.

Back at the farm, Ash wonders which Pokemon to use, since after all he has to have the one. He knows Pikachu can't do it, neither Cyndaquil or Totodile. Ash sends out Bayleef, which should do the job just fine. Ash starts off training Bayleef for a while, starting off with directions, but as soon as he told Bayleef to change on direction, he slid off. Maybe this sort of thing he needed to get used to. Meowth is later spying on him, telling Jesse and James that he's up to something again. Noticing that they're slacking off, he wakes them up and tells them the info.

After a while, Tamazo is ahead yelling towards Ash. He tells him that the egg he's giving him is the relay baton. And so they head off after a while.

The next day is the race, all the contestants line up at the starting point as the announcer explains everything. At the start of the race, every is off to a good start but a racer with a Scyther causes a big mess up at the beggining, causing a lot of the racers to fall back. Ash, Gary and a few others make it out however. Meanwhile, Team Rocket float in a balloon above, planing out their scheme. They soon fire their net-cannon and capture Gary's Arcanine! Ash stops to see if Gary is alright and then they look up to Team Rocket, who soon flies away.

Ash soon charges after them, telling Bayleef to flail him towards a slope. As Ash hits the slope, he jumps towards the balloon, the skateboard causing it to poke a hole, however Ash is still stuck on it, and he flies with them. Later at the the starting point where all the bleachers are, the monitor is at Tamazo's farm. Noticing a surprised expression from Tamazo, the camera turns and ends up getting knocked out by Team Rocket's balloon!

Tamazo wonders what's going on, and he sees Ash come out of the balloon. Ash wonders if Arcanine is okay and he is, but Team Rocket soon find a catch of eggs! Jesse sends out Arbok to defend them, but with no Pokemon on him, Ash can't do anything, except when Bayleef makes her way. Ash tells Bayleef to use Razor Leaf but is blocked by a Poison Pin attack and that hits Bayleef. Arbok is about to make another attack when Gary comes in to tell Arcanine to bash it out of the way. Team Rocket soon make their way out with the eggs but Bayleef gets them back with a Vine Whip. Then Arcanine hits the whole group with a Master Attack, sending them off.

After that, Tamazo gives Gary and Ash the eggs and both of them race off towards the finish. Arcanine is pretty good at keeping a pace or two higher than Bayleef. Ash tries to find another way he can manage and finds a slope. Gary wonders where Ash is but soon he sees him, coming up from above! The competition seems close as both try to race for the goal. Aranine jumps towards it giving him a good speed but then Bayleef uses Vine Whip on herself to give her a added boost. At the finish line, all it comes to is Bayleef winning by a nose. Ash wins the Pokemon Ride Race!

Afterwards, Gary sets off towards his journey. Tamazo later comes by to present Ash with an egg. Misty wonders what's inside but Tamazo's wife says they'll just have to wait and see. Soon the gang sets off towards Mahogany City.

Who's that Pokemon?: Bayleef

To be continued...

Big thanks to Xeno Lugia for writing this review!