There's more bad than good or significant in this episode, and, the overall feeling, I think, is that the series is starting to drag a little. But it'll right itself out.
So to focus on what's good here...This is your preview of next region TR, which is sort of funny b/c of the premise of this episode is TR going to their roots. The TR you see that successfully and skillfully breaks into the pokemon center and bypasses security is the type of TR you see in the next region (and the different uniforms is actually a good preview, as well, of what they'll be wearing). Maybe this episode was really successful in some manner, that the writers decided to dedicate next region to writing TR this way.
The only other scene I really liked was Brock's fantasy of Nurse Joy, and seeing some of Ash's exasperation. There just wasn't enough of these type of scenes b/w Ash and Brock, and it's nice to enjoy them the few times they show up. I think Ash and Brock respected each other very much, but personality wise, I think Ash and serious Brock are just such different people that scenes like this are kind of rare.
Well, finally, despite how rather boring much of this episode was, the ending did bring a smile to my face, with Meowth purposely not making the robot electric-proof, with James sort of complimenting Meowth for paying really good attention to detail. A few more references like that, maybe, would have made this episode really memorable. There just wasn't enough, though, and Dawn's predicament in this episode is just out-of-the-blue, and really taken nowhere. Whatever the writers wanted to say about this, and also Professor Oak's advice about interacting with other trainers, wasn't really well thought-out or developed to a point where it would make an impact.