At the critical moment, Sato successfully used Teleport together with Kadabra to safely rescue Steven and his shiny Metagross.
However, he himself collapsed unconscious from excessive mental exhaustion.
...….
"...Where am I?"
Sato slowly opened his eyes.
Instead of the fierce battlefield he had expected, all he saw was a white ceiling.
He slowly sat up and looked around, discovering that he was inside a temporary hospital ward.
He had already been changed into a patient's gown, while Pikachu was curled up beside his pillow, sleeping soundly.
Judging from the scenery outside the window, it was already nighttime.
"Ah, Mr. Tyler, you're awake! Thank goodness you're all right."
The movement from Sato waking up had evidently alerted someone standing outside the room.
A moment later, a Nurse Joy entered the ward, smiling brightly as she greeted him.
"How did the battle end, Nurse Joy? Was Groudon driven back?"
The moment he saw her, Sato instinctively asked about the outcome of the operation.
The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness had been Groudon's furious rampage, and the thought made him anxious about what had happened afterward.
"There's no need to worry. Thanks to the efforts of brave people like you, Groudon has been successfully sealed away. You're currently in the temporary hospital in Fallarbor Town."
Hearing his question, Nurse Joy's expression became slightly more serious as she calmly explained everything that had happened after the battle.
It turned out that shortly after Sato lost consciousness and was rushed to a nearby field hospital, Wallace finally arrived on the battlefield carrying the Red Orb.
However, while the Red Orb was said to be capable of controlling Groudon, the truth was that anyone wishing to control it first had to engage Groudon in a battle of wills through the orb itself.
For a human to compete mentally against an ancient Legendary Pokémon that had lived for untold ages...
...the odds were unimaginably slim.
Furthermore, the moment the user harbored even the slightest selfish desire to control Groudon, Groudon would immediately seize control of that person's mind instead.
Fortunately, Wallace truly lived up to being the carefully chosen heir of the Ryurei Clan.
Having trained since childhood within the Awakening Shrine, his willpower was extraordinarily strong, and he possessed not even the slightest greed toward Groudon's power.
After an agonizing battle of wills, Wallace finally succeeded in suppressing Groudon's consciousness through the Red Orb, forcing the Legendary Pokémon back into slumber.
He then guided Groudon's body back into the magma chamber beneath Mt. Chimney's main volcano.
Thus...
...the operation to stop the Legendary Pokémon finally came to a perfect conclusion.
"Haa..."
"I see… As long as we succeeded... that's all that matters."
After hearing Nurse Joy's explanation, Sato let out a long sigh before silently nodding.
At that moment—
Grrrrrr...
His stomach suddenly growled loudly.
"You must be starving. I suppose that's only natural. You've been unconscious for two days and one night. You've only been kept alive on glucose drips."
"Just wait a moment. I'll have someone bring your dinner."
Hearing his stomach rumble, Nurse Joy covered her mouth and laughed softly.
As soon as she finished speaking, she hurried out of the ward to prepare his meal.
"Pika pii~!"
The moment Pikachu heard the word "dinner," he immediately woke up. He happily climbed onto Sato's shoulder, staring expectantly toward the doorway.
Soon afterward, Nurse Joy returned carrying a hearty dinner.
This time, Drake, the Dragon-type Elite Four member, accompanied her.
Drake himself appeared to have suffered considerable injuries. One of his arms had been immobilized with bandages and a wooden splint, clearly indicating a fracture.
Nevertheless, he looked to be in excellent spirits.
Following beside him was an adorable Bagon.
The Bagon appeared to be female. She had a gentle temperament and wore a flower wreath atop her head.
Upon seeing Sato, she showed no fear whatsoever.
She trotted over, sniffed him curiously, then fixed her gaze upon the Pikachu on his shoulder—
—or rather...
...upon Pikachu's constantly swaying tail.
Pikachu, meanwhile, was completely focused on the delicious dinner Nurse Joy was carrying.
He was practically drooling.
Then—
"Aah!"
He suddenly cried out in pain.
Bagon had abruptly leaped into the air and bitten Pikachu's tail with all her strength. Startled and hurting, Pikachu instinctively unleashed an Thunder Shock.
The next instant, Bagon crashed onto the floor, her entire body charred black. Yet almost immediately, she climbed back to her feet.
She shook herself vigorously, dusted the soot from her body, and behaved as though nothing had happened.
Then she noticed...
...that her beloved flower wreath had been completely burned to ashes.
Instantly, she puffed out her cheeks in anger and glared furiously at Pikachu.
Pikachu wasn't exactly fond of the little troublemaker who had bitten his tail either.
The two Pokémon immediately began glaring fiercely at one another, looking ready to start fighting at any second.
Fortunately, with Nurse Joy present, the battle never broke out.
She effortlessly separated the two Pokémon, and with a few practiced techniques, quickly had them getting along peacefully again.
"Hahaha! Kid, looks like you've recovered pretty well."
"Here. This belongs to you."
After seeing Bagon and Pikachu begin playing together instead, Drake turned his attention back to Sato.
He reached into his pocket, took out a brilliantly shining badge, and handed it to him with a hearty laugh.
The badge was crafted entirely from pure gold.
Its design resembled a beautiful, unidentified flower, decorated with colorful gemstones that shimmered magnificently beneath the room's lights.
"W-What's this?"
Sato accepted the badge and examined it carefully.
Having never seen anything like it before, he looked up at Drake in confusion.
"In recognition of your contributions during this operation, the League has decided to award you the Second-Class Merit Medal."
"Congratulations. From today onward, you're officially recognized as a true League Trainer."
"You can finally remove the word 'Outer/Provincial.' Also, from now on, whenever you present this medal at any League-affiliated facility, you'll receive priority service and a twenty percent discount."
"In short… This medal is proof of the honor you've earned in this battle. I look forward to seeing you achieve even greater things in the future."
Seeing that Sato didn't understand either the medal's significance or its privileges, Drake patiently explained everything in detail.
"I understand. Thank you for the League's recognition."
"I'll continue working hard."
After learning what the medal represented, Sato immediately treated it with much greater respect and sincerely thanked Drake.
It was obvious that this medal symbolized the League's acceptance of him—a commoner Trainer.
One could even say it was his ticket into the League's upper ranks.
With it, his future path of promotion within the League would undoubtedly become much smoother.
Drake was extremely satisfied with Sato's reaction. A broad smile spread across his face once more.
He had long since conducted a thorough investigation into the background of the "Tyler" identity Sato was using.
As far as the investigation showed, Sato was a commoner Trainer with a completely clean background.
Because of that, Drake thought very highly of him.
Then he remembered how Sato had saved his Salamence during the battle...
...how he had rescued countless others afterward...
...and how, despite being utterly exhausted, he had still refused to retreat.
The more Drake recalled those scenes, the more favorably he regarded Sato.
Nowadays, Trainers with both tremendous potential and such a strong sense of responsibility were becoming increasingly rare.
Especially considering that Sato was also a naturally gifted Psychic...
There was simply no way Drake could fail to value him.
"Well then, that's enough about the League's reward. Now it's my turn to thank you."
"If it weren't for you, my Salamence wouldn't have survived. That old partner has been with me for decades."
"Saving him was the same as saving me."
"Come on… Take a look. This is my personal gift to you."
"What do you think?"
After personally pinning the medal onto Sato's chest, Drake stepped back a few paces.
Then he picked up the Bagon, who had been happily playing with Pikachu, smiled warmly, and looked toward Sato.