Bulma's search for six more Dragon Balls leads her to a remote valley and to Son Goku, who is in possession of one of the balls. Their relationship gets off to a rocky start, but after Goku saves Bulma's life, the two join forces in search of the remaining five Dragon Balls. They had better take care, for an evil force - Pilaf - also seeks the Dragon Balls.

Without realizing where they are, Bulma and Goku camp near Ryugadani, a foreboding land where one of the Dragon Balls lies hidden. Pilaf dispatches his henchmen to recover the ball, but they and Goku run into each other and a pack of ravenous wolves. Who will emerge the winner?

As a token of appreciation, the Turtle Hermit presents Goku Kinto'un, a magical flying cloud that can be ridden only by someone pure of heart. He gives Bulma an orange bauble that he wears around his neck, a seemingly worthless stone that had washed up on the beach. It turns out that this "bauble" is in fact a Dragon Ball. Unfortunately for our friends, Pilaf and his aids, Mai and Shu, are also after this same Dragon Ball...and now they know that Bulma has it.

Goku and Bulma arrive at a certain village, where the fifth Dragon Ball is located. Goku is mistaken for the freely shape-shifting monster Oolong, who raids the village, and is hit by a sudden attack from one of the villagers! Bulma makes a promise with the villagers that “We’ll take care of Oolong in exchange for the Six-Star Ball that’s in this village”. Goku disguises himself as one of the village girls, and the captured monster’s true identity turns out to be a piglet, of all things!! Bulma and Goku obtain the Six-Star Ball. Taking in Oolong as their ally, they continue their adventure to find the remaining Dragon Balls!!

Goku and the others aim for Mt. Frypan. Because Bulma dropped her capsules into a river, they end up having to cross a desert on foot! Completely exhausted, Bulma rests there. At this point, the desert bandit Yamcha appears, and tries to seize Oolong’s capsules. Goku battles Yamcha, but he has no power on account of his empty stomach. At the critical moment, Bulma wakes up and Yamcha, who can’t bear to be around women, runs away with a few sharp parting remarks.

Yamcha attacks at night in an attempt to steal Oolong’s capsules! As Yamcha looks into the condition of their opponents, he learns about the Dragon Balls. Yamcha and Pu’er try to steal Goku and the others’ Dragon Balls through any means necessary, but fail!! At this point, they come up with the plan of waiting for Goku and the others to gather all seven Dragon Balls, and then steal them. Unaware of this, Goku and the others aim for Mt. Frypan in search of the sixth Dragon Ball.