Ash and his friends have made their way through Twist Mountain, meeting a Pokémon archeologist named Ferris, whose Cover Fossil was stolen by Team Rocket and restored into the ancient Pokémon Tirtouga. Then Tirtouga ran away in a state of fear and confusion, and our heroes went after it, hoping to catch up to it before Team Rocket got there!

With some protection and reassurance—and a lunch of berries, adjusted to Tirtouga’s ancient taste buds by Ferris—Tirtouga finally calms down and decides to trust Ash and the others. But Team Rocket has been tracking the ancient Pokémon, intending to use its energy to open the Time Gate, the space-time warp beneath Twist Mountain. Sure enough, the villains show up to catch it—and in the ensuing battle, it evolves into Carracosta and takes off toward the Time Gate!

Team Rocket sets off in pursuit, and manages to trap Carracosta and stabilize the space-time warp, just as Dr. Zager planned! Thanks to Ferris’s boss Sierra and her impressive knowledge of the mountain, our heroes catch up just as Jessie, James, and Meowth are about to cross into the ancient world, and attempt to drive them away with a battle.

The battle doesn’t go too well for Ash and friends—but then Carracosta sounds a bellowing roar, drawing several wild Carracosta through the Time Gate to answer its call for help! These reinforcements send Team Rocket packing, and our heroes—along with Sierra and Ferris, who has confirmed that this Carracosta is the same Pokémon he befriended as a boy—have just a few minutes to experience the ancient world before they must say goodbye and escape through the Time Gate before it closes.

Finally, Sierra and Ferris guide Ash, Iris, and Cilan safely to the other side of Twist Mountain, and their journey to Icirrus City continues!