Lizabeth and her family run the show, and because the heroes are thirsty, take them into their trailer for a drink. While there, they accidentally see the blue-and-red egg from earlier, but Lizabeth's father conspicuously covers it up, because there's nothing that will get a ten year-old to stop thinking about something like awkwardly pretending it's not important. We then get a montage of the show performing.
After the show, May again accidentally checks out the egg, but one of the show's clowns takes it and gives it to Lizabeth. Team Rocket sees the egg, and realizing it's valuable, call the pirate captain from earlier, whose name we are now told is "Phantom," to tell him about it in hopes of a reward. How do they know Phantom is after it? Well, it's mentioned in Team Rocket Quarterly, the official mafia magazine. No, that isn’t a joke.
At night, the egg is exposed to moonlight or whatever and glows. May is asleep in the same as it, and has a dream of swimming with a Manaphy to an underwater temple.
In the morning, as they have pizza for breakfast (?), May talks about her dream, and Lizabeth and her family instantly recognize what she's talking about. Her mom asks if they've heard of "the People of the Water," which is just about the most ambiguous term ever. Freaking Venetians could technically be called “People of the Water.” In any case, Lizabeth's family is descended from the People of the Water, and her grandfather explains that their ancestors revered and worshipped the water, building the Sea Temple. They no longer live in the Temple, but they frequently dream of the temple. How is this? It's "a memory written straight into your DNA." I could seriously complain about this explanation for pages, but in the interests of eventually getting around to writing my British Literature essay, I’m going to make another joke about Japan misunderstanding simple concepts.
You so silly, Nippon.
May and Max wonder if they're descended from the People of the Water as well, since she had the dream, and the grandfather admits it's a possibility. Spoilers: the answer is maybe, and no one ever brings the question up again.
Team Rocket finds and steals the egg, which glows, but this time, it switches all of their bodies. Meowth is in James, Jessie is in Meowth, and James is in Jessie. I could make a joke about that last one, but nah. Too easy. The heroes and Lizabeth's family discover them, but they escape in their balloon. Ash can't just have Pikachu attack the balloon because it could damage the egg, so he sends out Swellow to grab it before having Pikachu down the noooo he just lets them escape. Fortunately, it's revealed that the clown from earlier is Jackie, the Pokemon Ranger, who enlists a Fearow to stop Team Rocket.
Jackie explains that he's on a mission, and the Marina Group is helping him out. He is to ensure the egg hatches safely and to deliver it to the Sea Temple. This is an event that literally affects all of the oceans in the world, all of the water pokemon everywhere on Earth, so you would think the Pokemon Rangers would devote more than one agent to the task.
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Not changing this sig until I decide to change this sig.
Started: July 6, 2005