"Jirarudan is a Pokémon collector out to capture the most rare and mysterious Pokemon of all, Lugia. No one has ever see it, but it is written that it will appear when all three of the Legendary Birds are brought together in one place. It is for this reason that each bird has its own Island. Jirarudan approaches the Island of Moltres in the Hikoukyu. He attacks it with ice, freezing the island and injuring Moltres. Weakened, Jirarudan is able to capture Moltres using an electric net. The flying fortress moves on toward the island of Zapdos, and the weather begins to take a turn for the worst... Ash, Kenji, and Misty are riding a boat (piloted by Mic-chan, a guide) to Asia Island. They have just let their Pokemon out of their balls to relax when a storm blows in. Their ship is badly shaken, but Mic-chan manages to get it into the port (all but destroying it in the process). Team Rocket are following Ash in their submarine, the Mecca-Gyarados, and are hit by the same storm. They hit something and lose their rudder. Helpless, they are swept up in a school of REAL Gyarados, which carry them towards the port but land them on the rocks instead... Misty's mom is out on her front lawn when Professor Oak comes up on his bike, commenting on the nice weather. Out of nowhere, a herd of Digletts come down the road, picking up Oak's bike and carrying it with them down the road. Behind the Digletts come another huge group of Pokémon, heading in the same direction, South. Dumbfounded, the two notice that it has started to snow even though it is the middle of the summer... Having landed at Ashia Island, Ash and his friends get off the damaged boat, only to be surrounded by a group of strangely dressed people. One takes off his mask and explains that there is a festival going on to celebrate the Pokémon Gods. They are introduced to Furura, the Miko (a young girls who acts as the messenger for the gods) for the ceremony. She seems to like Ash, but gets on Misty's bad side (she first asks if Misty is Ash's sister, then his girlfriend.) The group leaves the beach for a pavilion where the ceremony will take place. Since Ash revealed himself as a Pokémon trainer (apparently the only on on the island at the time...), during the festival; he is chosen to go to the islands of the Legendary Pokémon to retrieve their power crystals. Apparently, the weather disturbances are caused by an unbalance in their powers, and bringing all three stones to a stone circle on the main island will calm these forces. "Never catch a god of fire, a god of thunder, or a god of ice. If you do, it will evoke their anger and the marine god would destroy Heaven and Earth. The world would fall to ruins." Mic-chan and Ash set out on the boat (apparently it wasn't THAT damaged...) to the Island of Moltres on the stormy sea... Upon reaching the island, Ash runs from the boat up the stairs to the top of the mountain, where Moltres's shrine is located and where he will find the power crystal... Misty and Furura decide to follow the others in a faster (very spiffy) boat. Of course, the waterlogged Team Rocket manage to hitch a ride... They are thrown from the boat when it hits a big wave, but end up near the top of the mountain. They are at the top of the stairs up the mountain (beginning their speech) when Furura's boat (propelled up the mountain stairs by a wind sail) jumps over them and into the depression on top of the mountain. Ash has gotten the stone and is getting ready to get into the boat for the trip back down when who should appear... Zapdos! He is looking for Moltres, scared of something. He begins shooting out Thunderbolts, his way of communicating. Pikachu begins to thunderbolt back, explaining why they are there and what they know. Their conversation is cut short when something from about begins to draw Zapdos's electricity away... Jirarudan's net drops Ash on the floor of a great hall. They see both Zapdos and Moltres trapped still, Zapdos fighting the new bonds, but Moltres has submitted and is sitting quietly. Furura notices a copy of the stone tablet (which is in a shrine on Asia Island) between the cages of the birds. On it is the legend of the God of the Sea, Lugia. Jirarudan's computer notified him of his "guests," and he came down to explain his plan (like any good villain). He returns in his hydraulic chair to the bridge (above the great hall) when he is notified that they are approaching the Island of Articuno. Somewhere during all of this, I don't know where, Professor Oak consults with his friend, the breeder whom Brock has gone to live with. She agrees to meet him to take a helicopter to the Orange Islands in order to find out what is causing all of the weather fluctuations. Brock is seen running around in the background when he is talking to her, carrying Nidoran back and forth. Ash's mom also insists on coming along to make sure he is OK. Determined to stop Jirarudan from creating a permanent unbalance in the world by capturing Lugia, Ash decide to free Zapdos and Moltres. They bring out all of their Pokemon and begin to work on Moltres first. The Rockets send their Pokemon out at Zapdos. The combination of water, fire, and electric attacks causes an explosion, and Moltres's cage is broken. Immediately Moltres lets out a huge burst of flame at Zapdos's cage, freeing him. Pokemon from all over the world are traveling as far south as they can get, those who cannot fly or swim sit anxiously at the southernmost shore they could reach. They seem to sense the struggle between their gods... The weather keeps getting colder as Articuno's powers are getting out of control. Zapdos and Moltres break their way out of the airship, and meet up with Articuno (who was so upset he had frozen the entire sea). Together they begin to attack the airship. Damaged badly and getting worse, the airship crashes into the Island of Zapdos. Ash run from the ship as it breaks apart. It has crushed the Shrine containing the orb of Zapdos's power, and the ball rolls over. Ash picks it up and keeps running. Somehow they all manage to get back into the broken boat (the one captured with them on the airship). The ship falls from the cliff, but a mysterious spout of water catches it an deposits it at the shrine on Asia Island... Team Rocket inflate the emergency raft on the boat and sit in it, feeling a bit safer until the spout of water came up. Their raft was tossed from the boat and flew away... After the boat lands, everyone jumps out, and the boat falls to the frozen sea below. Professor Oak is being filmed by a news crew in the helicopter to the Orange Islands. he explains that the "gulf stream," the path all the world's water flows through among the islands, is normally controlled by the balance of powers among the bird gods. The disruption in that balance was causing the terrible weather fluctuations being felt throughout the world. The film crew happens to catch Ash's mom, and she explains she is there because her son is in this dangerous area. Just as they are finishing the interview, the helicopter is caught in a huge gust of wind and is propelled into the mountain on Asia Island below. All get out safely, but Ash's mom worries about her son... Ash brings the two power orbs to the shrine, and places them in their corresponding places inside the shrine. Slowking comes up behind him and expresses concern that he has only found two of them. Ash is about to leave to get the other orb, when the three bird gods begin to attack him. As one of the birds dives towards them (Ash bravely stepping out in front to protect the others), the strange spout of water comes up and gets in the way, only this time, Lugia appears out of the top of the spout.Lugia begins to fight with the birds, when Furura recognizes the sound he is making. It is the same as the music she has learned for the festival, the music said to be used to call the gods. All three birds attack him at once, and he falls under the ice... Furura plays a few notes on her flute, which revives Lugia. Lugia bursts from the ice and flies over, talking about what they need to do to get the world back into order (basically, "you have to go get the third orb and put it in the shrine in order to save the world"). Ash reluctantly agrees to go, and starts out on foot towards the Island of Articuno. He realizes quickly that the snow on top of the ice is way too thick for him to walk, then notices the wreckage of the boat. He has an idea... Charizard, Bulbasaur, and Pikachu now pull Ash on an improvised sled (made of part of the boat). The birds begin to attack from above, but Lugia flies in and shields them. They are about halfway across the sea, when a huge attack from Moltres and Articuno causes the ice to break up under them, and freeze again. There is now a huge iceberg in front of him, and Ash doesn't know what to do. From behind he hears a noise... it is the Team Rocket, who have taken the tail blade from the crashed helicopter and fastened it to their emergency raft, creating a hydrofoil. They give their speech again, and motion Ash and Pikachu (the others went back into their balls) to get in. All of the Pokemon who had been lined up on shore now are running across the ice towards the battle. There are literally thousands here now (computer animated when looked at from above). Lugia provides cover while the group blasts across the ice and up the path on the mountain towards the shrine. The have to go inside a very long cave to get to the shrine, and Ash runs up to the statue and grabs the orb. He jumps back into the raft to make the way back when Articuno, having been injured by one of the other birds, crashes through the roof and demolishes the shrine. The destruction of the room also blocked off the escape route through the cave. Lugia swoops down and tells Ash to get on his back. Ash does so, and Lugia takes off (the Rockets hanging from his leg) Lugia is having trouble now dodging the attacks of the Bird Gods, and decides to go way up high to try to lose them. He can't go fast enough, and the Rockets realize they are weighing him down too much. They let go, saying they have done all they could to "Protect the world from devastation." As they plummet, they remember that the sea is frozen and they think they'll die when they hit, but when they reach the sea, they plunge into the water. When they surface they see that the gathered Pokemon have broken a hole in the ice to save them. Ash nears Asia Island with Lugia, when Jirarudan (does the guy ever quit?) focuses in on them with his trapping machine and sends out the electric traps at Lugia. Lugia destroys many of them as the try to capture him, but they move too fast and eventually snare him. Lugia lets out a huge beam from his mouth at Jirarudan and what remains of his ship, destroying it and de-electrifying the cage/nets. Worn out, Lugia falls into the ice, breaking through and sinking... Ash surfaces, but is unconscious. The friends on the shrine above are scared, and argue about who should go save him. Furura is about to go, but Misty says it is her job. She runs down the slope and drags Ash from the water; he doesn't seem to be breathing (we almost thought something was coming here, but it didn't happen), but manages to come to in a moment. Ash insists on climbing the slope himself as part of his quest, and finally gets to the shrine and places the last stone in the shrine. By now, all of the birds have fallen exhausted to the ground. Ash places the third power orb in its place in the shrine, causing a reaction between the three which makes the shrine glow. Furura now takes a step into the center of the shrine (it looks like stone hence, with the platform in the middle with the prophecy stone and the receptacles for the power orbs). She begins to play the Festival song, which magically brightens the sky and makes water flow over the shrine ledge, making all of the grass grow again through the snow and flowers bloom. Each of the stone monoliths glows when she hits a different note on the flute, and the healing of the song begins to spread over the water. The Bird Gods begin to wake up, and all of the gathered Pokemon begin to rejoice. After a seeming long wait, Lugia himself rises from the water. He thanks them all for their help, and asks Ash to once again ride on his back. As the two (and Pikachu) fly, Lugia summons the damaged gulf stream up into the air, eventually placing it back down where it belongs. All of the Bird Gods return to their islands, and the gathered Pokemon all begin to return home (the land ones riding on the backs of water ones). When Ash and Lugia land, Ash asks if he will ever see him again. Lugia says he is looking forward to it, but that Ash will have to catch him on his own. They both have their own duties, but should their paths cross again he will be glad. When Lugia leaves (returning into the ocean water), Ash's mom and the others climb down the mountain onto the cliff, relatively unscathed. Ash's mom berates him for once again getting himself into a dangerous situation, but she is glad that he is OK.