"Entei... I actually ran into Entei here."
Looking at the Pokémon that had suddenly appeared before him, Sato's face filled with surprise.
He recognized the majestic Pokémon instantly. Wasn't it Entei, one of the three Legendary Beasts that wandered the world? For it to suddenly appear before him was so unexpected that he almost felt flattered.
Sato knew that Legendary Pokémon were not beings one could simply meet on a whim. For Pokémon like Entei, which roamed the world freely, people could only encounter them if they themselves wished to be seen.
"Pika..."
"Kec..."
Neither Pikachu nor Kecleon recognized Entei, but they could clearly sense the overwhelming aura emanating from it. It was a powerful being fully capable of killing them with ease.
For a moment, both Pokémon had their fur standing on end as they stared at Entei with extreme vigilance.
"Entei, I know who you are. Did you come looking for me for some reason?"
Sato gently calmed the two frightened Pokémon on his shoulders before cautiously addressing Entei, who had been silently watching him.
Entei had appeared out of nowhere and deliberately stopped in front of him. It was obvious that it had some purpose.
Moreover, Sato knew that Legendary Pokémon like Entei possessed telepathic abilities similar to his own. As long as they wished, they could communicate with humans regardless of language barriers.
Unfortunately, Entei never exchanged a single word with him.
Instead, it slowly turned its head to one side.
The flames covering its body suddenly flared violently. A fierce gust of wind swept through the area, carrying enormous clouds of volcanic ash into the air.
Seeing this, blue light flashed from Sato's eyes as an invisible psychic barrier materialized before him, blocking both the powerful wind and the ash it carried.
At the same time, he kept his psychic senses firmly locked onto Entei.
Through his psychic perception, he saw Entei sprinting toward the northwest. Less than two seconds later, the Legendary Pokémon had already outrun the limits of his psychic range.
"What was that supposed to mean?"
Once the gale subsided, Sato immediately turned toward the direction Entei had disappeared. Watching the volcanic ash still drifting down from the sky, he frowned in confusion.
Then suddenly, a thought struck him.
"Wait... could Entei have appeared here to warn me that Mt. Chimney is about to erupt?"
Teleporting to the exact spot where Entei had been standing, Sato looked in the direction Entei had been gazing just before leaving.
The moment he connected that with the countless legends surrounding Entei, his expression changed dramatically.
Mt. Chimney was an active volcano that remained active throughout the year in the Hoenn region. Anyone could tell simply by the constant rain of volcanic ash drifting from it day and night.
Saying it could erupt at any moment would not be an exaggeration.
Furthermore, in folklore, Entei was frequently associated with volcanic eruptions. Whenever Entei appeared near volcanic terrain, it was often considered an omen that an eruption was imminent.
Standing where Entei had stood, Sato followed its line of sight.
Directly ahead...
...was Mt. Chimney.
Combining what he knew with the old legends, Sato instinctively concluded that Entei had been warning him.
"I can't stay here. If Mt. Chimney really erupts, remaining in this area is simply too dangerous. I have to get away immediately."
Whether Entei had truly intended to warn him or not, Sato wasn't willing to gamble with his own life.
A wise man never stands beneath a collapsing wall.
His current position was only five or six hundred meters from Mt. Chimney.
If the volcano erupted, it would be no joke.
Forget the rivers of lava that could surge toward him like a tidal wave—even the endless rain of volcanic bombs falling from the sky would be enough to wipe out countless lives.
Faced with a natural disaster of that magnitude, Sato was nothing more than an ant.
Perhaps only true divine Legendary Pokémon could resist such a catastrophe.
Therefore, regardless of whether his guess was correct, leaving immediately was unquestionably the wisest choice.
"Since Entei headed northwest... perhaps that's the direction of safety."
Recalling the direction Entei had taken, Sato pondered for a moment.
However, just as he prepared to sprint forward, his raised right foot stopped in midair.
He looked warily at the thick blanket of volcanic ash covering the ground.
The ash lay like freshly fallen snow, concealing countless hidden dangers beneath it.
There was no way Sato would risk running across it.
Instead, he chose a safer and more efficient method of escaping Mt. Chimney.
"Come out, Vibrava. Fly me across this rocky area."
The next moment, he removed a PokeBall from his belt and released the Vibrava inside.
Although Vibrava couldn't carry Sato over long distances, short bursts of flight were well within its capabilities.
After a period of training, Vibrava had already reached Level 41. It was only four levels away from evolving.
However, it had only completed two of the several molting cycles required by its unique growth process. True evolution was still a long way off.
Upon hearing Sato's command, Vibrava immediately flew behind him.
It wrapped its insect-like legs around Sato's waist before beating its wings powerfully and lifting him into the air.
Following Sato's directions, Vibrava quickly flew northwest.
...….
While Sato, after encountering Entei, had decided to flee from Mt. Chimney...
Inside Mt. Chimney's crater, on a temporary artificial platform carved into the volcanic wall, a group of people wearing crimson uniforms were rapidly assembling a gigantic machine under the direction of several bald men dressed in white lab coats.
"Hurry up! The Boss has drawn away those League dogs for us. We absolutely cannot disappoint him this time. Whether Groudon awakens once again depends on us!"
A man dressed in a Team Magma Admin uniform paced around the enormous machine, repeatedly shouting passionately at the sweating Team Magma members working on the assembly.
"Yes, Lord Blaise!"
The Team Magma members were clearly fanatical loyalists. Upon hearing the man's words, they answered in perfect unison.
Just as the Admin named Blaise had said, Team Magma's leader had successfully lured away the League personnel stationed around Mt. Chimney.
As a result, the assembly of the massive machine had proceeded without any interference.
However… just as the machine was nearing completion—
A majestic lion-like Pokémon leapt over the rim of the crater.
After several agile bounds across the steep volcanic walls, it landed directly before Team Magma.
It was none other than Entei—the same Legendary Pokémon Sato had encountered moments earlier.
Unlike the relatively peaceful attitude it had shown toward Sato, Entei displayed unmistakable hostility toward Team Magma.
It was as though an old grudge existed between them.
The instant it arrived...
It attacked without hesitation.
"ROOOAR!!"
Golden flames erupted across Entei's body.
Throwing back its head, it released a deafening leonine roar.
Then, from its mouth, a gigantic pillar of golden fire burst forth, hurtling straight toward the colossal machine that Team Magma had painstakingly assembled.