Yes—at the very moment Sato stood on the brink of death, the strongest trainers publicly affiliated with the Hoenn League finally arrived.
The handsome young man standing atop the shiny Metagross was, naturally, Steven. The one commanding Articuno was Hoenn's Ice-type Elite Four member, Glacia, while the trainer with Mega Gengar was Phoebe, Hoenn's Ghost-type Elite Four member, who had recently fought the Magma Team leader in a fierce battle.
It was the combined attack of the three of them and their strongest Pokémon that allowed Sato to narrowly escape death.
In fact, they weren't alone. Behind them followed more than a dozen trainers whose presence was only slightly inferior to theirs. Using his system's scanning ability, Sato discovered that every Flying-type Pokémon carrying them was at the Elite-Four level.
In other words, every one of the trainers accompanying the Champion and Elite Four was a fully-fledged Elite-Four level Trainer capable of standing on their own.
"Fall back, Tyler. Leave this place to us."
Steven clearly still remembered Sato, that rare "rock enthusiast." After saving him, he smiled and spoke to him.
Sato naturally agreed with both hands and feet. He immediately thanked the three of them before using Teleport to bring Mega Salamence to Drake's side.
"Thank you, young man. I'll never forget that you saved Salamence."
Drake immediately jumped from Flygon onto Mega Salamence's back and sincerely made his promise to Sato.
He himself had just gone through an emotional roller coaster, nearly suffering a heart attack. Moments earlier, he'd instinctively believed that both Sato and Salamence were about to be burned alive by the scorching flames released by Groudon.
Who would have thought that the reinforcements he had desperately been waiting for would arrive at precisely that moment?
With the arrival of Steven, Glacia, and Phoebe—three household names throughout Hoenn—along with the dozen Elite-Four level Trainers they brought, the morale of everyone present soared instantly. Their courage returned just as quickly.
However, Groudon was still Groudon.
The power of a super-legendary Pokémon was overwhelming. Although the combined attack from Steven and the others had caused it pain, they were still unimaginably far from truly defeating it.
Worse still, the pain only made Groudon even more enraged. As its fury intensified, the earth beneath it seemed to share its anger. Violent earthquakes continued one after another, while rivers of magma erupted across the battlefield.
As Groudon let out another earth-shaking roar, the battle erupted once more.
Fortunately, with the arrival of Steven and the other top Trainers, the battle was no longer the completely one-sided massacre it had been at the beginning.
Meanwhile, while Sato and the others were desperately trying to stop Groudon's advance, an unexpected situation was unfolding at Mt. Pyre.
After winning both the Grand Festival and the Kanto League Championship in Kanto, Wallace had returned to his hometown of Sootopolis City. Since then, he had secluded himself within the Awakening Shrine guarded by his family to continue his training.
Not long ago, however, he received an urgent message from the clan elder, forcing him to end his seclusion early and rush toward Mt. Pyre from Sootopolis City.
With the help of a Salamence borrowed from his family, Wallace reached the skies above Mt. Pyre in less than half an hour.
As always, Mt. Pyre was enveloped in dense sea fog, making it nearly impossible to see what lay within.
The Wallace clan were the current guardians of Mt. Pyre, so Wallace knew exactly how dangerous the mountain hidden beneath the mist truly was.
Along the outer perimeter, his family had once stationed a Darkrai to command the countless Ghost-type Pokémon inhabiting Mt. Pyre.
However, six months earlier, Darkrai had been seriously wounded during Team Magma's invasion. The family had no choice but to replace it with an Elite-Four level Hydreigon.
Upon arriving above Mt. Pyre, Wallace quickly took out a horn carved from the bone of a Dragon-type Pokémon and blew into it.
A long, resonant note echoed through the mountain.
Moments later, dragon roars answered from deep within the mist.
Soon afterward, a magnificently developed Hydreigon appeared before Wallace.
The dragon-bone horn in Wallace's hand seemed to possess an extraordinary authority. Despite normally ruling Mt. Pyre with unquestioned dominance, Hydreigon behaved as meekly as a puppy before Wallace.
Satisfied, Wallace recalled Salamence into its PokeBall before climbing onto Hydreigon's back.
Knowing exactly why Wallace had come, Hydreigon needed no instructions. It immediately carried him into Mt. Pyre.
Since Mt. Pyre housed the Red Orb and the Blue Orb—the sacred treasures capable of controlling Groudon and Kyogre—the Wallace clan had invested enormous defensive resources into protecting the mountain.
Hydreigon guarded the outer perimeter, while the interior was filled with deadly traps and numerous powerful Elite-Four level Pokémon comparable to Hydreigon itself.
Escorted by Hydreigon, Wallace entered Mt. Pyre with ease and rapidly descended deeper into its interior.
However...
Wallace had no idea that, at that very moment, a group of uninvited guests was entering the sealed chamber containing the Red Orb and the Blue Orb through a hidden underground passage.
Had Sato been present, he would have immediately recognized the leader.
It was none other than Courtney, whom he had encountered not long ago.
No one knew what methods she had employed, but somehow Courtney had quietly led a group of Team Magma members past Hydreigon and the numerous Ghost-type Pokémon guarding Mt. Pyre, infiltrating all the way into the mountain's core and successfully entering the sealed chamber.
"Hahaha... We've finally met, you two precious orbs."
Courtney was the last to emerge from the hidden tunnel. Looking at the two ancient orbs resting atop stone pedestals before her, she couldn't help but laugh excitedly.
Team Magma's purpose in releasing Groudon this time wasn't merely to let it rampage across Hoenn.
More importantly, they intended to draw all of the Hoenn League's strength and attention toward Groudon, allowing Courtney to steal these treasures unnoticed.
Ever since her failed theft half a year ago, the Hoenn League had maintained constant vigilance over Mt. Pyre.
Without Groudon's appearance, infiltrating Mt. Pyre in secret would have been nearly impossible.
"You two—go bring me the orbs."
Although Courtney desperately wanted to rush forward and seize them herself, she forcefully suppressed the temptation. Instead, she ordered the two subordinates standing closest to the pedestals to test the situation first.
Half a year earlier, she'd learned of this secret passage leading directly into the sealed chamber from a descendant of Mt. Pyre's former guardians.
Unfortunately, that previous operation had ended in complete failure and had nearly cost her life.
She understood better than anyone how dangerous Mt. Pyre truly was.
With the forces she had brought today, cleverness—not brute force—was her only option.
And above all else...
She had to be cautious.
More cautious than ever.
To Courtney's surprise, the two reluctant Team Magma elites successfully picked up both orbs without encountering any resistance.
Even after nearly a full minute had passed...
Nothing happened.
"Was I just being overly cautious?"
Seeing no traps activate, Courtney couldn't help mocking herself inwardly.
But the thought had barely crossed her mind when—
"Heh... heh... heh... At last... I'm free..."
A mass of black mist suddenly poured out from the stone pedestal that had held the orbs.
At the same time, waves of eerie, sinister laughter echoed directly inside the minds of Courtney and every Team Magma member present.