Ash and co. are walking through a forest towards the Battling Pyramid. Max says that they are getting really close to it now. Up ahead May can see the top of the Pyramid. Ash is confident that he will win. May reminds everyone that they are going to the Grand Festival afterwards. They all continue to walk when all of a sudden, the ground crumbles beneath them. Ash and co. fall into the large hole.

They land in a place that looks like some sort of ancient ruins. Ash asks everyone if they are okay. Max wonders if it is one of Team Rocket's traps, but Brock doesn't think it is. May wonders how they will escape. They can't go back up. Max sees a light ahead and thinks they should go towards it. Ash leads the way, and the otherw follow him.

Team Rocket is next to the hole. Jessie wonders if Ash and co. fell into it. Suddenly, the ground begins to split, and the cracks lead into a circle. The ground gives in, and Team Rocket falls into the hole. Ash and co. comes across a statue Pikachu. Ash picks it up, but May thinks that is a bad idea. Suddenly, the eyes to the Pikachu begin to flash and a wall opens up. A large boulder comes out and begins to roll towards Ash and co. Ash and co. run for their lives so that they don't get crushed by the boulder. Up ahead is a man. He sees that Ash and co. set off his trap. He sends out Regirock, and it uses Focus Punch to break the boulder. May looks up Regirock in her Pokédex.

Ash and co. thank the man for saving their lives. The man's name is Brandon. He asks them how they got in the ruins. Ash says that he kind of went crazy and picked up the Pikachu statue. Brandon scolds Ash for falling for a trick like that since he is a Pokémon trainer. Brock wants to know what kind of ruins they are in. Brandon tells them a story about how an empire wanted to conquer the world by using a Pokémon called Ho-oh. Then Brandon goes on about how Pokelantis, a city, was destroyed after encountering Ho-oh. However, the king of Pokelantis wanted revenge, and he sealed Ho-oh away in a stone orb and placed it underground so that it could be left there for all of eternity.

Team Rocket has listened to the story, and they want to capture Ho-oh for themselves in order to make a lot of money. They run off. Ash wants to find Ho-oh. Brandon tells him that he cannot wander around in the ruins. Ash says that he won six Battle Frontier symbols and that he can also beat a Ho-oh. He runs off, and the rest of the group chases after him. Meanwhile, Jessie has encountered a Smoochum statue. She picks it up. The Smoochum's eyes begin to flash, and a wall opens up. A giant boulder rolls out ready to crush Team Rocket.

Ash comes to a wall. He examines it. Suddenly, the wall turns forcing Ash to go to the other side of it. The others encounter the same wall too. They wonder how they can get in. Brandon says that Ash may be in the king's chambers. They have to find the secret switch that activates the door. Ash opens his eyes and a stream of fire is lit. He sees the stone orb resting on a throne. Ash picks up the orb. Brandon has found the secret switch and presses it. The door opens and they run inside. Brandon orders Ash to release the orb at once. Suddenly, the orb begins to glow. Ash begins to talk in a much lower voice. Brandon fears that Ash has been possessed by the spirit of the king. Brock wants to help, but Brandon tells him that there is nothing that he can do. Brandon walks up to the spirit and tells it to battle with him. Brandon happens to be the leader of the Battle Pyramid. Brandon promises the spirit that if it can defeat him in a Pokémon battle, then the world will bow down to him. The spirit agrees to battle Brandon.

Team Rocket has come across another cavern. The think that Ho-oh is inside. A loud roar is sounded from the inside of the cave. Team Rocket runs inside hoping to see Ho-oh. Instead of Ho-oh, there is a Salamence. Salamence uses Flamethrower on Team Rocket.

Outside the Battle Pyramid is Scott. Scott doesn't know that Ash has been possessed. He tells Brandon that Ash is a tough opponent. Brandon says that Ash is a fool. Ash, with a low voice, moves Scott to the side and walks into the Battle Pyramid. Scott wonders what happened to Ash. Before the battle can start, Brock, May, and Max tell Scott that Ash has been possessed by the spirit. Brock notices that Brandon knows a lot about the ruins. Scott tells Brock that Brandon researches a lot about rare Pokémon and the ruins while also being a Frontier Brain. Scott wonders what plan Ash has in mind.

The announcer says that only one Pokémon may be used in the battle. Brandon sends out Regirock. The real Ash wakes up. He is in an open, dark area, but he can see whatever the spirit can see. Ash chooses to send out Sceptile for the battle. Brock and the others think Sceptile was the right choice of Pokémon since it is strong against rock types like Regirock. Sceptile starts off with Leaf Blade, but Regirock uses Iron Defense to protect itself. Then Sceptile uses Bullet Seed, but Regirock uses Iron Defense again. The spirit is getting angry because none of Sceptile's attacks are inflicting any damage on Regirock. He tells Sceptile to use Bullet Seed on the ceiling. Sceptile looks at Ash with a strange look, but Ash demands Sceptile to do it. Sceptile does that. The ceiling falls apart, and rocks tumble down on Regirock. Brandon calls Ash a coward for not attacking directly. This gets Ash mad. He manages to break free from the spirit's spell, but the spirit comes back after a little while.

Regirock comes back out. It prepares a Hyper Beam attack. The spirit tells Sceptile to hide behind the referee. Sceptile does so preventing Regirock to fire its attack. Then Sceptile uses Leaf Blade, but it hits Regirock in the legs. Regirock is unable to support itself. Regirock then uses Lock-On on Sceptile. Sceptile uses Leaf Blade again and hurts Regirock's second leg. Regirock fires another Hyper Beam at Sceptile. Sceptile tries to dodge the attack, but it fails because of the Lock-On attack Regirock used earlier. Sceptile is knocked out. Before the referee can call Brandon the winner, the spirit silences him. He wants to use Pikachu next. Brock, May, and Max stop him from doing so. They try to get in touch with the real Ash. Brandon tells Ash to try to remember who his best friends are. The real Ash sees Pikachu in trouble. He tells Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on him. Pikachu hears Ash's command and shocks the spirit. The spirit is released from Ash's body. Then Brandon holds out the stone orb and returns the spirit back into it.

Pikachu runs to Ash to make sure he is okay. Scott congratulates Brandon for his great thinking. Brandon says that it was truely Ash's friends who saved the day. Meanwhile, Team Rocket opens up another door. Inside is a Hoothoot. Jessie is mad because they still haven't found Ho-oh. She throws a rock at Hoothoot. Hoothoot gets angry at Team Rocket and begins to chase them. Team Rocket triggers a spring, and the spring throws Team Rocket out of the ruins and into the sky.

Ash thanks his friends for helping him out. He couldn't have been saved without them. Brandon then tells Ash that he was defeated by himself. The evil spirit was attracted to Ash because of his arrogance. Ash agrees, but he still wants another chance to battle Brandon. Brandon tells him that they will battle again, but for now he has to leave to the next ruins. He tells Ash to train hard. Four rocket jets emerge from the Battle Pyramid. The Pyramid begins to lift up in the air and flies away. Ash promises to train really hard. May suddenly sees something in the sky. It is Ho-oh! Ash remembers when he started his first journey and encountered Ho-oh for the very first time. Ash wants to take a whole new fresh start for training. May also has to train for the Grand Festival.