Dr. Yung built a machine to resurrect the dead, and it immediately turns on him. The special doesn't waste time on setup: within minutes, theoretical sci-fi becomes a kidnapping, and Ash is chasing a Pokémon that shouldn't exist into a mansion designed to trap him. This is the Pokémon movie formula stripped to its skeleton, all momentum and no breathing room, which is exactly what a one-hour special needs to be.

Dr. Yung, a mysterious Pokémon scientist, has built a Mirage system that draws on computer data to bring extinct Pokémon such as Kabutops and Armaldo back to life. Invited to the Mirage Mansion, Ash, his friends and Professor Oak watch the machine in action. During a battle between Ash and Dr. Yung's Mirage Pokémon, the system malfunctions, and a Mirage Aerodactyl carries Dr. Yung away. A figure calling himself the Mirage Master then steps forward, declaring that the system can produce Pokémon with no weaknesses at all. Ash, Misty and Professor Oak must stop him and get out alive in this action-packed, lightly comic special.