Interlude XIII - Titans

Professor Birch watches in horror as the legendary Groudon awakens, walking onto the ocean to expand Hoenn's landmass. He realizes that Norman's children, Brendan and May, are flying toward the chaos instead of away from it. Meanwhile, Steven Stone and the Hoenn Elite Four rush to confront Groudon, only to encounter Team Magma's leader, Maxie, who surrenders the Red Orb. Maxie admits he lost control of Groudon as it grew too strong, and claims he awakened it only to counter Team Aqua's Archie, who awoke Kyogre. In Celadon, Lizzy and Bretta survive the casino's initial collapse. Learning Blue is buried under the rubble, Lizzy leaves the rescue efforts to restore the building's power—an application of comparative advantage. Deep in the Cinnabar lab, engineer Gyokusho suggests risking Mewtwo's release from its containment pod to help the staff survive the ongoing quakes. He feels a psychic pulse of gratitude, realizing the experiment is listening.