Originally, even in a 1v3 situation, Tyranitar hadn't flinched. Now, with Lucario and Gogoat joining the battle, there was no chance of losing.
However, the three opponents clearly had more than just the Sinnoh starter trio. As flashes of red light erupted, several more Pokémon suddenly appeared on the battlefield.
"Floatzel, Roserade, and Lopunny…"
Without exception, every one of them was chosen specifically to counter Tyranitar. Clearly, in the eyes of the enemy, Tyranitar was the biggest threat.
The field instantly shifted to a 3v5, and the scales of victory seemed to tip away from Sato's side once more.
But in the next moment, a familiar roar reached the trio from afar.
"It's Zoroark! They've completed their mission and made it back!" Mark shouted in delight.
From the direction of Lake Verity, Zoroark, Sharpedo, and Gengar appeared before everyone's eyes at the same time.
Because of their speed, the three had been sent by Sato ahead of time to the three dam locations. Their task was to take down the dams at exactly 3:15 and at least shut down their operations.
And now, with the mission complete, Zoroark had returned at the most critical moment to support Sato!
This time, nearly Sato's entire team had been deployed: Zoroark, Gengar, Tyranitar, Skorupi, Umbreon, Ralts, Houndoom and Sharpedo.
6v5 -plus a Tyranitar capable of taking on multiple opponents by itself- the tide of battle instantly swung back in Sato's favor.
Another red flash came from the opposing side. Sato thought they were sending out more Pokémon to balance the numbers.
…But when a Bronzong appeared, Sato immediately thought of Cyrus's Bronzong. The one that could use Teleport.
"Ralts, Imprison." Sato gave the command almost instinctively.
Imprison would disable any move the opponent shared with Ralts for a limited time.
Ralts, following Sato's command, instantly cast Imprison on Bronzong. The moment it finished, Bronzong's body flickered.
…And then went completely still.
Teleport disabled.
They had planned to escape!
"All-out attack."
Seeing this, Sato didn't hesitate for a second. Tyranitar and the returning Zoroark launched powerful moves without delay.
Lucario and Gogoat paused for half a second, but instinctively followed their teammates into the offensive.
The failure of Teleport clearly caught the three grunts off guard. That Bronzong had been sent out by the same Trainer who used Empoleon.
For a moment, the other two Trainers began to suspect… could there be a traitor among them?
Otherwise, how had things ended up this badly?
Stone Edge, Night Daze, a barrage of Shadow Balls…
As a wave of devastating attacks swept across the field, the three grunts frantically ordered their Pokémon to defend. The quicker ones responded in time, while the slower ones had no choice but to take the hits.
BOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM…
A chain of explosions rocked the area. Moves of mixed types often caused blast reactions, and even more so when they came from all Ace level Pokémon.
When the dust cleared, several battered figures appeared before them.
Bronzong, having moved last, had drawn the full brunt of the focus fire. Despite its high defense, it still collapsed cleanly under the assault.
Infernape and Roserade, whose defenses were relatively weaker, were also taken out under the heavy barrage from the Pokémon.
With six down to three, the remaining Torterra had held on the longest, but now it was a spent force.
Lopunny and Floatzel had reacted quickly at the critical moment. They not only preserved most of their battle strength but also managed to shield their Trainers from the attacks.
As for the grunt of that seemingly cursed Empoleon, he only barely survived thanks to Bronzong's sacrifice.
By this point, both luck and strength had completely shifted to Sato's side.
Just as the enemy had the upper hand, Ralts used Disable to break their strongest combination strategy. Then, Tyranitar seized the opportunity and forcefully took down Empoleon.
When they tried to escape, Ralts used Imprison to block their retreat. Caught off guard, the opposing Pokémon were overwhelmed by focused attacks and lost half their team in an instant.
As for the remaining Torterra, Lopunny, and Floatzel… what could they possibly do now?
Not every Pokémon could fight 1v3 like Tyranitar and still come out on top.
Even though Ralts hadn't directly joined the battle, through its "mysterious" and "eerie" psychic abilities, it had completely locked victory in Sato's favor.
The enemy had lost the will to resist, and their only chance of escape -Bronzong- had been taken down.
Sato ordered Gengar to guard against any further enemy Pokémon being sent out. At the same time, they swiftly ganged up to eliminate Torterra and the rest…
Soon, the three defeated Trainers were subdued by Gengar and forced to their knees, staring in fear as Sato and the others approached step by step.
"There should be more of them. Bring over everyone who's still alive," Sato instructed Tyranitar and the rest, sending them out to deal with the scattered "survivors".
Eager for more, the Pokémon quickly scattered to find new opponents they were interested in.
Only Zoroark and Gengar remained, one wanted to stay by Sato's side just in case, and the other, with its "laid-back" nature -sure-, wasn't really interested in finishing off the stragglers.
Besides, if they needed to interrogate someone, Gengar's Hypnosis was the best tool.
But clearly, the three captured grunts didn't have much backbone. One of them had already wet his pants and didn't even dare look at Sato.
"Who's behind the Lake Verity events?" Sato asked bluntly, cutting straight to the point. But all three kept their heads down, trying to stay silent.
Sato couldn't be bothered to waste words. He had a hundred ways to extract the answer, but none were more convenient than Gengar's Hypnosis.
So, when Gengar -thinking it was done- saw Sato waving at it, it immediately realized: 'this guy's trying to slack off!'
In the end, Gengar used Hypnosis on the one who'd already wet himself. It didn't even need to expend much effort, the guy answered every question obediently.
As the truth gradually spilled from his mouth, names that frequently appeared in Sinnoh League official reports were mentioned again and again. The weight in Sato and the others' hearts only grew heavier.
"I know you… you're the Dark King… Gym Leader from… the Johto Region…
Sinnoh's DEEPER than you think… It's not something… a mere Ace-level Trainer like you can meddle in. Let us go. We swear we won't tell anyone you attacked the base…" one of the un-hypnotized men suddenly stammered.
Sato turned and looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.
'Yep, definitely a dumb one. A chuunibyou like Cyrus…'