Ep 12. Hoenn Alone!

Ash, May, Max, and Brock arrive in the town of Mauville and decide to split up to explore the city. May, eager to find a new outfit for her upcoming contests, heads to the local Pokémon Contest Hall. Upon arriving, she meets a fellow trainer named Savannah who is also looking for a new outfit. The two quickly become friends and Savannah invites May to enter the next contest in Verdanturf Town.

Meanwhile, Ash and Pikachu decide to visit the Mauville Gym and challenge the Gym Leader, Wattson. Upon arriving, they discover that Wattson is not there and has left his gym in the hands of his apprentice, a young girl named Mae. Ash and Pikachu decide to battle Mae, but she proves to be a tough opponent, even without her Pokémon. Eventually, Mae reveals that she is actually Wattson's granddaughter and was testing Ash's skills before she reveals the whereabouts of her grandfather.

Max, on the other hand, stumbles upon a group of Pokémon trappers who are using a complicated network of traps to capture wild Pokémon. Max is determined to put a stop to their evil plan and enlists the help of a wild Pikachu to disarm the traps. Together, they manage to free all of the trapped Pokémon and send the trappers fleeing from the area.

As the day comes to an end, the group meets back up and shares their individual experiences. That night, they are all woken up by a loud noise and discover that a blackout has occurred in the city. Ash and Pikachu head to the power plant to investigate and end up battling against Team Rocket, who had caused the blackout in an attempt to steal electricity.

In the end, Ash and Pikachu defeat Team Rocket and restore power to the city. The group then continues on their journey to Verdanturf Town for the upcoming Pokémon Contest.