Ash and Goh have returned to Galar for a trip to Stow-On-Side, in the hopes they could meet the local gym leader Allister. Just as they leave their train to transfer to another one, they spot a masked boy who drops his ticket. The two try to give it back, but they end up on another train heading towards their intended destination. However, this "Ghost Train" begins to go from a quiet ride to a nightmarish one as Ash starts acting strange, and a great evil awakens!
This episode contains the following tropes:
- Ambiguous Situation: It's not clear why Allister dropped the ticket and let Ash and Goh follow him on the Ghost Train.
- Creepy Child: Allister is a more benign example of this trope. Nervous and shy around others, he is an actively helpful member of the party in calming Spiritomb, but he tends to disappear without notice when the others take their eyes off him for a second.
- Foreshadowing: Upon seeing Ash's Gengar go to any lengths for its trainer, Allister takes an interest in the Ghost type, setting up the events of the next episode.
- Ghost Train: The episode takes place entirely on one. However, the train in question isn't an actual ghost train of a wreck from long ago—it's a train carrying Ghost-type Pokemon to Stow-On-Side, although it's indicated it has some spectral abilities beyond that.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ash bumps into the Keystone containing Spiritomb and knocks it over, allowing one of its spirits to possess him and cause the ruckus that occurs in the episode.
- Out of Character: After Ash touches the Keystone, he starts acting like more of a bully towards Goh as a result of being possessed by one of the spirits from said keystone.
- Wins by Doing Absolutely Nothing: Goh winds up catching a Shedinja without even attempting a capture, since it appears when a group of Nincada evolve into Ninjask in front of him.
- Transformation of the Possessed: Spiritomb!Ash gains a Jagged Mouth and later green eyes with purple skin.
