As our heroes continue their journey to Lilypad Town and Dawn's next Pokémon Contest, a stopover in Greenstation Town reveals a competition called the "Sinnoh Pokémon Hustle," where trainers and their Pokémon compete on various challenging stages, and it's just about to start! Of course our heroes want to participate, but on this day the event is secretly being masterminded by none other than Team Rocket, who have two goals in mind: steal as many Pokémon as possible, and recruit a new Team Rocket member! But the last thing Team Rocket wants is for Ash and friends to get involved... but Ash and Dawn keep winning and moving on, stage after stage! Meanwhile, Team Rocket has their eyes on three gifted competitors in particular. What they don't know is that two of them are actually Pokémon thieves themselves, while the third is actually Officer Jenny in disguise and on the thieving duo's trail!

Team Rocket thinks they've stolen all the competitors' Pokémon, but they wind up empty-handed. It turns out that the mysterious duo has stolen the Pokémon that Team Rocket thought they had! But when the duo refuses to join up with Jessie, James and Meowth, a huge battle ensues. But with the help of Officer Jenny, the duo is arrested, the Poké Balls are all safely returned, and Team Rocket is sent blasting off once again.