Team Rocket is on the road digging holes in the ground. Jessie and James are tired, but Meowth pushes them to keep on going. Meowth tells them that they need Pikachu in order to get money. This motivates Jessie and James to keep on digging. Suddenly, their shovels get stuck in the ground. With all their might they try to move the shovels out of the ground, but they do not budge. Suddenly, they hear something. They are knocked off their feet as something huge comes out of the ground. It is a Steelix, and the shovels have been wedged into Steelix's head. Steelix is angry at Team Rocket, and it begins to chase them.

Meanwhile, Ash and co. are continuing their way towards Floaroma Town for Dawn's next Pokémon contest. They see a Bidoof crying. Brock inspects it and sees that it is wounded. He pulls out a Super Potion. Bidoof sees the medicine and gets scared. Pikachu reassures Bidoof that it is okay. Brock sprays the Super Potion on Bidoof which heals Bidoof's wound. Then Brock places a bandage on Bidoof, and Bidoof becomes happy again. Ash looks up Bidoof in his Pokédex. He finds out that Bidoof usually live near the water. Brock looks in his guide book and finds out that there's a waterfall up ahead. Ash promises Bidoof that they will take it back to its friends.

Suddenly, Team Rocket comes out in the middle of nowhere. They meet up with Ash and co. Steelix follows up behind them. Dawn looks up Steelix in her Pokédex. Pikachu points to the three shovels stuck in Steelix's head. Brock asks Team Rocket if they had anything to do with Steelix's anger. Team Rocket tells them the whole story. Steelix roars again, and everyone runs from Steelix while Steelix chases them.

They come to a fork in the road. Bidoof orders Ash and co. to take the left route. Team Rocket decides to follow Ash and co. Steelix then uses its Hyper Beam on Team Rocket. The blast throws Meowth towards Ash and co., and Jessie and James get blasted to another side of the forest. Steelix uses another Hyper Beam towards Ash and co., and they continue to run away. Jessie and James think they are lucky from avoiding the Steelix. However, they realize that Meowth is missing.

Ash and co. approach the waterfall. Bidoof points to an opening in a wall, and Ash and co. run inside it. Steelix tries to jam its way inside, but the hard, solid wall prevents it from coming any closer. Ash and co. look around and find out that they are in a Bidoof village. Bidoof calls out for all its friends. All the rest of the Bidoof run out of their homes to meet its friend. Ash and co. wonder why the other Bidoof didn't come out to look for its friend. One of the Bidoof begins to explain everything, and Meowth translates. It says that the Bidoof were scared because of the Steelix. The hard walls will also not hold Steelix out for long. Eventually the walls will give in.

Suddenly, Ash and co. hear a loud crash. They run up the wall and see that Steelix is still trying to make its way in. They notice that the walls won't hold Steelix out forever, and that it will eventually terrorize the Bidoof village. Jessie and James come up looking for Meowth. They soon meet up with Steelix. Steelix uses its Hyper Beam on Jessie and James, and they are blasted into the Bidoof village. Meowth is glad to meet up with its friends again. Ash explains to Team Rocket that they are in a Bidoof village, and the Bidoof are soon going to be terrorized by the Steelix because of them. Jessie and James hate being wrong. They find one of the Bidoofs' hideout, and they decide to go in there. Meowth begins to walk on over to them, but Dawn stops him. She asks him about his special strategies he mentioned before. Meowth doesn't have any.

Meanwhile, Steelix is still trying to make its way into the village. Ash and co. notice that Steelix is even more angrier than ever. They decide to make a plan. Dawn has Piplup use its Bubblebeam attack on Steelix to buy them some time. The Bidoof begin to cut down trees to make a shield that blocks the opening. Jessie and James notice that everyone is helping out. Ash walks up to them and asks them to help, but Jessie and James prefers not to help. Ash, Brock, and the Bidoof begin to set up stones around the logs to help them stay in place. Piplup soon becomes exhausted, and it can no longer use Bubblebeam. Dawn returns Piplup for a long rest. Steelix uses a Hyper Beam to blast the opening wall. Now all that is holding Steelix back is the logs and stones.

While Steelix begins headbutting the logs and stones, Dawn thinks of a new plan. She thinks that getting the shovels out of Steelix's head will put it to rest. She then points to a large hole in the ground. If they can get Steelix into that hole, they can get the shovels out from above. Dawn tells Meowth that it will act as the decoy since Steelix is still mad at it. Steelix finally blasts its way through the second wall. It is now in the Bidoof village. Meowth and Steelix face each other. Meowth begins to run towards the hole, and Steelix chases it. Jessie and James walk out of their hiding place, and they see Meowth being chased by Steelix. When Meowth comes towards the edge of the hole, it jumps with Steelix following it. Ash sends out Staravia to grab onto Meowth before it falls into the hole. Steelix then ends up falling into the bottom of the hole.

Ash, Dawn, and Brock jump into to get the shovels out of Steelix's body. Staravia brings Meowth back to Jessie and James. Meowth is angry that Steelix was chasing it. Team Rocket then makes fun of Steelix. Ash and co. order Team Rocket to keep quiet, but Team Rocket ignores them. They begin to say their motto. The motto wakes up Steelix. Steelix uses Hyper Beam on Team Rocket, blasting them off again.

The Steelix is more angry than ever. It uses a Hyper Beam at the whole Bidoof village. Ash and co. know that they have to get the shovels out of Steelix's body. Ash commands Staravia to use Aerial Ace on one of the shovels. Staravia uses its Aerial Ace attack, and one shovels flies out of Steelix's body. Staravia is about to use another Aerial Ace attack, but Steelix uses its tail to pin Staravia to the ground. Before Staravia can get hurt any more, Ash returns it back. Next up is Pikachu. Pikachu uses its Iron Tail attack on another shovel, and that shovel comes out. Then Pikachu quickly jumps off of Steelix before it can get hurt. Only one shovel remains in Steelix's body, but it is too dangerous to get close to Steelix since it is Hyper Beaming everything.

Meanwhile, the Bidoof begin to make a plan to get the last shovel out of the Steelix's body. When the plan is ready, all the Bidoof jump onto the Steelix's head. Then they all try to pull the shovel out of it. Ash and co. are glad that the Bidoof are helping. However, they see that the Steelix is heading straight for the waterfall. Dawn knows that Steelix is weak against water, but right now Steelix doesn't care. Ash sends out Turtwig to help stop Steelix from going into the waterfall. Turtwig uses its Razor Leaf on the Steelix to stop it from moving. This upsets the Steelix even more, and it blasts Turtwig away with its Hyper Beam attack. Then Steelix continues to move towards the waterfall. The Bidoof try their very best to get the shovel out of Steelix. Just before Steelix can hit the water, the Bidoof successfully get the shovel out. Steelix stops moving. The Bidoof are happy that their village is saved, and they throw the shovel away.

The Steelix leaves the Bidoof village in peace. Brock knows that the Bidoof will be fine now, so Ash and co. continue on towards Floaroma Town for Dawn's next Pokémon contest.