Bai Shi's surprise assault on Prism Tower had forced Lysandre to set his plan in motion ahead of schedule.
Steven, the Hoenn Region Champion who would originally have played a key role in these events, had yet to arrive in Lumiose City.
Fortunately, Diantha, the Kalos Region Champion, and Malva, the Elite Four member who had finally come to her senses, both arrived in time.
With those two powerful allies present, Bai Shi felt somewhat more confident.
After a brief discussion, everyone ultimately decided to stop the advancing Giant Rock at any cost, intercepting it outside Anistar City.
Of course, they first had to rescue Mairin's Gogoat from inside the Giant Rock, safe and sound.
With our current lineup of Pokémon Trainers, our chances of success should be pretty high.
Bai Shi glanced at the Pokémon Trainers beside him, feeling fairly optimistic.
Diantha and Malva's strength went without saying, while Ash and Alain were the tournament's newly crowned runner-up and champion.
Lemon, in his guise as the Blaziken Mask, was also a formidable fighter.
Even Professor Sycamore, a Pokémon researcher, could use Mega Evolution.
On top of that, Bai Shi himself would send out his main Pokémon to help.
With their combined strength, surely they could at least rescue Gogoat?
Once Gogoat was safe, he could use Rockium Z without any worries.
Meanwhile, Squishy, who was in Bonnie's shoulder bag, had also tried to persuade Z2 to help after seeing it.
Unfortunately, Z2 had made up its mind to remain on the sidelines.
No matter what Squishy said, Z2 remained unmoved and refused to merge with it.
The two Zygarde Cores had profound differences and could not agree, leaving them at an impasse.
Knowing he could not count on them, Bai Shi devoted his full attention to the operation ahead.