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Sato and Thomas wandered through the forest, stopping now and then. Along the way, they encountered powerful wild Pokémon, leading either to battles or wise retreats.
In the blink of an eye, half a day had passed.
Before sunset, the two of them successfully withdrew from the Withered Forest and returned to their temporary campsite on the edge of the central region of the Mysterious Island.
After today, they only had to spend two more days on the island to complete this stage of the competition and advance to the final phase.
In fact, after 19 days of surviving the Mysterious Island, only 63 participants remained from the over 1,000 who originally entered (over 500 had been eliminated during the pre-island aerial challenge).
Sato had learned this exact number from a gluttonous Xatu in exchange for ten packs of premium Psychic-type Pokémon food.
A third of the participants were eliminated on the very first day due to various unfortunate reasons. Not everyone had Sato's ability to escape from a nest of toxic Ariados—especially when everyone only had one Pokémon at the start.
That first day was also the deadliest.
Nearly half of the eliminated contestants didn't even get the chance to use their emergency transmitter before being torn apart by swarming wild Pokémon using various moves. Everything on them met the same fate.
Then came the next week, a period meant for adapting to life on the island—also the time when most participants were at their weakest.
During this stage, many were eliminated due to encounters with wild Pokémon too strong to handle, injuries, illness, or the lack of medical supplies. The number of participants soon dropped by another third.
In just one week, the number fell to around 300.
In the second week, the remaining participants—now acclimated to island life—entered a golden period of rapid growth. They began to realize that the Mysterious Island was a great place to strengthen themselves.
Of course, they also discovered that power required resources. Without them, they'd be eliminated before they ever got stronger. The shortage of medical supplies was especially critical.
Those who had started to benefit from the island began hunting other participants, trying to take their number tags in exchange for vital resources, sometimes settling personal scores along the way.
In this survival-of-the-fittest game, the numbers dropped again—until now, only 63 remained.
There was no doubt that, even if some survived purely out of luck or sheer stubbornness, lasting this long proved that each remaining contestant was no ordinary trainer.
"Lord Sato, are we heading back to the Withered Forest tomorrow, or somewhere else?"
At the campsite, under the crackling firelight, Thomas served a roasted chicken he had grilled himself and asked Sato attentively.
After two weeks of training and cooperation, Thomas had become a fairly skilled BBQ chef and had grown used to deferring decisions to Sato. Each night, he would ask about their plan for the next day.
"Let's go to Diamond Canyon. The Pokémon have been fighting continuously in the Withered Forest for days. It's time to ease up a bit. We'll wander around and see if we run into a Pokémon worth catching."
Tearing off a drumstick and taking a few bites, Sato made up his mind and answered Thomas.
Perhaps it was because he carried a Mega Stone for Aggron—Sato kept feeling a growing desire to catch an Aron.
Unfortunately, for various reasons, he hadn't encountered one he liked so far.
Ever since his Swampert had grown significantly stronger, Sato no longer feared ambushes from the large Aron horde in Diamond Canyon—unless their leader, an Elite-Four tier Aggron, personally appeared.
But so far, he hadn't managed to get into the heart of their territory. Every time he got close, the Elite Four level Aggron would appear with a whole group of high-level Aggron, forcing him to retreat.
Because of this, Sato could only search around the outskirts of their domain for a suitable Aron.
But realistically, how good could the Arons surviving on the fringes really be?
Sato knew that if he wanted a truly outstanding Aron, he'd have to enter deep into the Aron tribe's territory—where their most promising newborns were raised.
He had made several attempts to lure the Elite Four level Aggron out, hoping to sneak inside during its absence, but it seemed to anticipate his goal. Unless he approached the core area, the Aggron wouldn't show up at all. It was incredibly frustrating.
Upon hearing they'd be going to Diamond Canyon, Thomas's face instantly soured. But not daring to defy Sato, he simply nodded and returned to his grill.
Sato noticed Thomas's expression but only smiled playfully without changing his decision.
He knew exactly what Thomas feared. Every time they visited Diamond Canyon, there was a high chance of running into Vanna while she was digging for gems.
Which inevitably meant a battle. Thomas had nearly been killed several times by Vanna's Pokémon.
But Sato was no longer afraid of her. His current strength was enough to stand on equal footing with her—no longer worried about being chased down.
Sato had come to firmly believe that Vanna was a gem-obsessed maniac. Ever since she and her Kommo-o seized control of several gem mines in the canyon, they had been mining day and night, collecting as many high-quality gemstones as they could.
Because of this, her Pokémon had barely grown stronger these past two weeks, while Sato had improved dramatically. The gap between them was narrowing.
Still, it was undeniable—Vanna remained one of the top contenders. She was one of four participants Sato had encountered on the island whom he still couldn't defeat entirely.
Yes, by this point, more and more participants had gathered in the island's central region. Over the past few days in the Withered Forest, Sato and Thomas had run into more than twenty of them.
Sato managed to defeat three after hard-fought battles. Most of the others weren't as strong as him but still capable enough to escape. Among them were three individuals Sato had no choice but to avoid.
Their names were: Tomoki, Ailes, and Rin Akikaze.
Tomoki didn't need much introduction—he was the nephew of Giovanni himself, wielding a terrifying Garchomp.
He was probably the strongest participant on the island and had five other powerful trainers allied with him. Together, they formed the most formidable faction on the island.
Tomoya seemed to know who Sato was, and when their groups crossed paths, he chose not to make a move. That decision spared Sato from elimination.
Still, it was the biggest humiliation Sato had faced since entering the island. Technically, Tomoya had already defeated him—and that stung.
As for Ailes, he was a powerful psychic and the same person Maya had once vowed to take revenge on.
But seeing as Maya was still missing and Ailes remained perfectly fine, Sato could only assume Maya had either been eliminated or suffered a worse fate.
Sato had recently clashed with Ailes, whose Alakazam and Gallade were both level 59—matching his Swampert. However, because of their mastery of Teleport, they managed to suppress both Swampert (who temporarily had the Swift Swim ability) and Bellossom.
Had Crobat not caught Alakazam off guard with Taunt, allowing Swampert to land a critical blow, and had Ailes not chosen to retreat in concern for Alakazam, Sato and Thomas might have lost.
The last was Rin Akikaze—a ruthless woman and core member of the Apollo faction, wielding a level 63 Salamence.
In terms of strength, Sato believed she was only slightly behind Tomoki.
When they encountered her, Rin's Salamence almost annihilated Sato and Thomas's team with a single Draco Meteor. She even had her Pokémon directly attack the trainers without hesitation or remorse.
Had they not been saved mid-battle by two wild Elite Four level Pokémon arriving at the time to find the arrogant intruders (them), Sato and Thomas might not have lived to tell the tale.
That day marked the beginning of a deadly grudge between Sato and Rin—she was now at the very top of his personal hit list.
Time ticked by quietly. Dinner came and went in good spirits—but just as the pleasant moment drew to a close, an uninvited guest who hadn't been seen for some time silently arrived.
"You?!"
Sato shot to his feet the moment he saw the figure emerge from behind the bonfire, his face filled with shock.