With the Grand Festival over, Ash and co. travel towards the valley where the Battle Pyramid is located at. Right now they are enjoying a lunch break. All of the Pokémon are out eating food. Ash rushes with his food. He looks down and sees that Aipom isn't there. Aipom is in the grass fields making a crown of flowers.
When they are done eating, Ash asks Pikachu if it wants to train. Pikachu happily runs towards Ash. This makes Aipom angry. It tackles Ash to the ground and steals Ash's hat. Ash thinks Aipom is a really annoying. Aipom then runs away, and Ash chases after it. May and Max think Aipom is good with making Ash look like a fool. Brock thinks things are getting way out of hand. He tells May and Max to watch over the Pokémon. Then Brock runs off to find Ash. Ash doesn't know where to look next. Brock meets up with Ash. Then from a distance they see a large temple. They decide to check it out.
Ash and Brock see a large group of people gathering together. Ash wonders what they are doing. A man named Hank tells them that today is the day where they pick the king that will rule their village. Ash and Brock introduce themselves to Hank. Ash is suprised that the people are allowed to choose a real king. Brock wonders how it is done. Suddenly, someone hits a gong. A man holds out a crown over his head. He tells the people that whoever can get ahold of the crown by sundown will be recognized as their new king. Hank tells Brock that a lot of girls will adore you when you are king. It is Hank's dream to become king himself, however it isn't easy. Brock can't wait to be king. Ash tells Brock that he doesn't even live at the village. The man that was holding the crown before says that anyone may participate in the ritual. This makes Brock even more excited.
Team Rocket is peering over at the village. They imagine their boss as the king and themselves with a lot of money. The man tells everyone that anyone who wants to become king should enter their doorway. The gates open and a lot of people rush in including Brock. However, Hank and Brock are trampled by the rest of the people. Ash runs towards them and makes sure that they are okay. The people all run towards the crown. Team Rocket hides behind a pole. Meowth holds a mechanical arm device. He uses it to try and grab the crown. Suddenly, Aipom jumps towards the place where the crown is and grabs it. Meowth instead grabs Ash's hat. Jessie throws Ash's hat away. Ash finds his hat and places it back on his head. The people wonder what will happen if Aipom still has the crown by midnight. The man tells them that it doesn't matter who has the crown by sundown. That person or Pokémon will be crowned as king.
Aipom begins to run away. Team Rocket and the other people begin to chase after it. Hank sighs as if Aipom still has the crown, all of the village's decisions will be made by a Pokémon. Brock asks Aipom to hand the crown to him, but Aipom sticks out its tongue at Brock. Ash asks Aipom to give the crown to him, but Aipom ignores Ash and runs away. Ash, Brock, and Hank chase after Aipom in the forest. The village people also run in the forest. They do not want Aipom as their king.
Aipom tries to put the crown on its head, but the crown keeps falling off. So Aipom firmly presses the crown on its head so hard that the crown covers Aipom's eyes. Aipom can't get the crown off. Pikachu is nearby, so Pikachu tries to pull the crown off of Aipom. Pikachu and Aipom manage to lift the crown up a little so Aipom can see, however the crown isn't fully off of Aipom. The village people see Aipom, so they begin to chase after it. Meanwhile, Ash, Brock, and Hank continue to search for Aipom. They hear the village people saying that Aipom is going North. However, Ash and Brock do not know where North is at. Hank sends out Nosepass since Nosepass has the ability to see where North is at. Ash looks up Nosepass in his Pokédex. Nosepass points to the North direction, and Ash, Brock, and Hank continue their way towards Aipom. While they search for Aipom, they run into May and Max.
Meanwhile, Aipom and Pikachu are running from the village people. They come to the edge of a cliff. The fall is a long one. Pikachu sees a cavern in the wall. It points to the cavern, and they both go inside it. The village people look inside the cavern. They see Aipom and Pikachu running deep inside the cavern. Angry that they lost the Pokémon, the village people walk away. The Pokémon has hid in the bushes. When they see that no one is around, they walk out. Aipom and Pikachu walk in the open. They hear rustling from the bushes and hide behind a nearby stump. They peek out from behind the stump and see Ash and co. Happy, Aipom and Pikachu walk out from their hiding place. Ash hugs Aipom and Pikachu. Then Ash tries to take the crown off of Aipom's head, but it is really stuck. Ash promises Aipom that he will stay behind with it if Aipom is made king even though he will miss his Battle Pyramid challenge. This makes Aipom happy.
Suddenly, a Fearow comes and picks up Aipom. Ash holds onto Aipom. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt so that the Fearow can release Aipom. Then Team Rocket comes out, and they say their motto. They want to take the crown away from Aipom. Meowth presses a button on a remote and a flock of robot Fearow appears. They dive down towards Aipom. Ash protects Aipom while taking the attacks from the Fearow. Ash tells Pikachu to use Thunderbolt. Before Pikachu can shock the Fearow, Meowth presses another button which repels the Fearow from Ash. Pikachu tries to shock the Fearow, but the Fearow are too far away from Pikachu. Ash sends out Swellow. He tells Swellow to knock all the Swellow out of the sky. Swellow does a good job with this, but Meowth flips a switch on the remote, and all of the Swellow reappear again. The flock of Fearow attack Swellow, but Swellow manages to beat a few of them. Then, when Swellow isn't looking, a Fearow sneaks up to Swellow and tackles it. Swellow falls down, but it gets back up again. Swellow then tackles the Fearow again, but they just keep coming up. Realizing that nothing is going to change, Ash calls Swellow back.
Hank asks if Aipom can use Double Team. Brock, May, and Max think it's a great idea because Team Rocket won't be able to tell which Aipom is real. Ash also think it's a good idea. He orders Aipom to use Double Team. Jessie and James are worried because now they can't tell the difference between the fake Aipom and the real one. Meowth isn't worried at all. He has his flock of robot Fearow tackle all of the fake Aipom. When the real Aipom stands, a Fearow claws its crown and begins to pull it away. Pikachu and Ash grab onto Fearow to try and stop it from taking Aipom and the crown. Hank gets another idea. He suggests that they use Nosepass's magnetic waves in order to disrupt Team Rocket's remote. He tells Nosepass to use Thunder Wave. The electricity affects all of the Fearow, and Meowth can't control them with his remote. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt and Aipom uses Swift. Both attacks hit Team Rocket, causing them to blast off into the sky.
Sundown approaches and the village people head towards the place where Ash and co. are at. Ash and co. do their best to try and pull the crown off of Aipom, but the crown is still stuck on it. Ash assumes that he will be staying with Aipom for the next year. Hank gets another idea. He takes out a blueberry from his bag and tells Aipom to eat it. Aipom eats the blueberry. It is very sour. Aipom's head is smaller now, and Hank is able to pull the crown off of Aipom. Ash and Aipom are both happy. Ash tells Aipom to stop doing crazy stuff like that.
The village people approach Ash and co. The gong is sounded, and Hank is holding the crown. The village people bow down to Hank because he is the new king. Hank's dream came true. Ash and co. think that Hank will be a great king. The village people cheer as Hank accepts his new status as king. Now Ash and co. continue their way towards the Battle Pyramid.
