Gaia, the Spirit of Earth, is sleeping in her chamber on Hope Island when she is disturbed by a rumbling. Upon waking, she learns that the Earth is in serious danger due to over-population and pollution. She decides to summon five "special young people" from across the globe to fight for Earth.
Kwame, Wheeler, Linka, Gi, and Ma-Ti are all summoned to Hope Island and given five rings. Their powers are Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Heart respectively.
Given little time to get used to their new surroundings and responsibilities, the Planeteers are sent on their first mission: Hoggish Greedly is illegally drilling for oil in the ocean, flooding the coastline with pollution.
The Planeteers are forced to bond and test their new powers while fighting Greedly's operation. They also learn what happens when their powers combine: Captain Planet is summoned.
