After Serena registers for the Pokémon Showcase, our heroes find the locals busily hanging decorations and wrapping presents! Ramos explains that Coumarine City holds an annual festival where Trainers give their Pokémon presents under the giant Pledging Tree. Ash and Serena go shopping for gifts, and while Serena has great success, Ash can’t find anything. On the way back, Serena asks what kind of present would make him happy, which gives him an idea!
That evening, when the festival begins, Team Rocket swoops in to steal all the presents! Our heroes quickly join forces to send the villains blasting off again and distribute the gifts to their rightful recipients. It turns out the thing that makes Ash happiest is food, and he’s gathered a huge harvest of berries for all of his Pokémon! Serena has decorated some lovely accessories for Fennekin and Pancham to wear on stage. Clemont has created a music box with little figures of Bunnelby, Chespin, and Luxio, and Bonnie has drawn a picture of the whole gang. There’s one present left under the tree, and it’s for Serena: her mother has sent her a stunning dress to wear in her upcoming performance!
As Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie walk into the streets of Coumarine City, they notice lots of people putting up decorations for some sort of festival. Ramos, who is passing by them on his Gogoat, tells the group how, every year, the people of Coumarine City hold a festival to celebrate the bonds between Trainers and their Pokémon by having the Trainers gather under an enormous tree, the Pledging Tree, at sunset and give special presents to their Pokémon. This tradition began with a legend of a man and his Pokémon traveling far and wide together before finally coming to stop at what would become Coumarine City, and planting a tree that eventually grew to become the Pledging Tree.
Ash and the others love the idea of the festival and decide to participate. As a result, he and Serena both leave to go find suitable gifts for their Pokémon. Clemont and Bonnie stay at the Pokémon Center, because Clemont would rather build a gift for his Pokémon himself and Bonnie assumes the duty of keeping watch over everyone's Pokémon while Ash and Serena are out shopping. Being alone with Ash makes Serena nervous at first, as it reminds her of a date, but she and Ash have fun all the same. Team Rocket overhears this conversation and plans on stealing all the presents and Pokémon. Meanwhile, Ash has a tendency to take notice of the most ludicrous or impractical gifts, leaving it to Serena to point out why they wouldn't work. While Serena is looking in the displays of more shops, Ash decides to leave and find a present for his Pokémon himself, promising to meet up with Serena at the monorail station later. Meanwhile, Bonnie is having a hard time keeping the Pokémon under control. While trying to have the Pokémon line up so she can brush them, she realizes that Goomy needs water, has to tell Bunnelby and Hawlucha to listen to her, and tries to break up yet another squabble between Pancham and Chespin.
Later that afternoon, Ash and Serena meet each other at the monorail station as they promised. Serena has found presents for Fennekin and Pancham, but Ash has had no such luck and is worried that he won't be able to find the right gift for his Pokémon. As he enters the monorail station ahead of Serena, however, Ash is suddenly approached by workers at the station and congratulated for being the millionth visitor to the monorail, being given a long blue ribbon as a prize. On the ride back, Ash confides to Serena his difficulties in finding a present, and she asks him what he would want as a gift, because all of his Pokémon are similar to him. Thinking about her words, Ash has a stroke of inspiration for a gift and runs to the woods outside Coumarine City, searching for his gift to his Pokémon. While searching, he sees a Dunsparce and decides to catch it, but is unable to because he has no Poké Balls with him. Despite this disappointment, Ash quickly refocuses his attention back to the task at hand.
When Serena arrives back at the Pokémon Center, she sits down at the table Clemont is working at and the two of them work on their presents while Bonnie decides to give all of the Pokémon a present herself by drawing a portrait of all of them. Finally, the presents are finished and Ash runs up to them outside the Pokémon Center, holding a huge sack over his shoulder. The group all heads up to the Pledging Tree, where they place their presents underneath it. Just as Ramos begins the ceremony, however, a huge vacuum begins taking away all of the presents. Frogadier, being the quickest to react, aims a Water Pulse at the source of the vacuum and causes Team Rocket to fall out of the tree. The heroes are shocked to see Team Rocket and demands them to give back everyone's presents, but the crooks refuse and starts using the vacuum to suck up the Pokémon. Thinking fast, Ash tells Pikachu to use Iron Tail to cut the vacuum's hose, stopping it. Enraged, Jessie sends out Pumpkaboo to use Shadow Ball, but it gets blocked by Frogadier's Water Pulse. James sends out Inkay to use Psybeam, but Bunnelby blocks it with Mud Shot. Fennekin, Pikachu and Chespin use Flamethrower, Thunderbolt and Pin Missile, blasting off Team Rocket.
With all the presents returned safely to the Pokémon, the ceremony begins and everybody begins exchanging gifts. Serena gives Fennekin and Pancham a pink ribbon and special sunglasses, respectively; Clemont shows Chespin, Bunnelby, and Luxio the music box he made for them; Bonnie shows everybody her drawing, and Ash gives all of his Pokémon a huge pile of Berries and tells them to dig in. Meanwhile, Jessie and James both give presents to their Pokémon, including Meowth, and Nurse Joy presents her Wigglytuff with a gift as well.
At the end of the ceremony, Serena notices one package left under the Pledging Tree. It is labeled for her, so she opens it to find a beautiful dress for her to wear at the Pokémon Showcase. Nurse Joy tells her how it had been sent to the Pokémon Center to be given to Serena as a surprise gift from her mother, and back at the Pokémon Center, Serena calls her mother to thank her for the wonderful dress. The festival is closed with a display of fireworks behind the Pledging Tree, and Ash gives Serena the ribbon he won at the monorail in thanks for her help in choosing a present for his Pokémon. Serena thanks him and promises to treasure the ribbon.