While Maria (Melodi) was watering flowers in her garden, she had her Gardevoir stolen by the evil Pokémon Hunter J and her ruthless followers. Ash, Brock, and Dawn noticed what was happening and had to help her get Gardevoir back. When Ash tried to rescue Maria's Gardevoir, Pikachu was stolen. The same thing happened to Team Rocket's Meowth after Jessie and James attempted to steal all the Pokémon that J and her henchmen had stolen. After a brief confrontation with J, Ash and the Rockets managed to sneak into J's airborne fortress and rescue Maria's Gardevoir. After rescuing all the Pokémon J stole, Maria was reunited with her Gardevoir.