Sato and the others' sudden entry into the battlefield naturally did not escape the notice of people like Brandon and the blonde woman. The two, who had been struggling to hold on, were the first to spot Sato's group. A trace of relief immediately appeared in their eyes as they continued doing their best to hold back the Elite-Four level wild Pokémon on the battlefield.
Both Brandon and the blonde woman were indeed powerful Elite-Four Trainers. Under their precise command, although the opposing Elite-Four level Pokémon held a numerical advantage, they only managed to gain a slight upper hand.
At present, the blonde woman's Garchomp had already taken down three Elite-Four level wild Pokémon—even while fighting five at once.
Of course, it had paid a heavy price. Its body was covered in wounds, and one of its arms was completely broken, hanging limply at its side.
Injuries at the Elite-Four level could no longer be treated by ordinary means. While their bodies were extremely tough, once injured, recovery was equally difficult. The energy required for healing far exceeded that of Pokémon below the Elite-Four level.
At the beginning, Roserade's Grassy Terrain could still heal some of Garchomp's lighter injuries. But for severe wounds like broken bones, even Grassy Terrain was insufficient.
Yet Garchomp was still Garchomp. Despite its crippled arm and battered body, its combat strength showed no signs of weakening.
Roserade herself wasn't having an easy time either. Although she continuously restored her stamina through Ingrain and Giga Drain, her recovery speed was far slower than her expenditure. Besides supporting Garchomp, she also had to allocate a large portion of her healing energy to the wounded inside the stone fortress.
There were many injured inside the fortress, yet not a single one had died—and much of that credit belonged to Roserade. Unfortunately, there were simply too many casualties. The healing energy she gained through Ingrain and Giga Drain was like a drop in the ocean.
On the other hand, Brandon's side remained relatively stable.
Altaria, thanks to its Cloud Nine ability, could ignore the sandstorm entirely and continue flying freely in the air.
Moreover, it had used Dragon Dance repeatedly. After such a long time, its Attack and Speed had risen to terrifying levels. A casual strike from it could heavily injure even another Elite-Four level Pokémon.
Because Altaria loomed overhead, the six Elite-Four level wild Pokémon surrounding Dusclops did not dare act recklessly. They were forced to constantly divide their attention, wary of giving Altaria an opening.
Meanwhile, Dusclops—thanks to holding an Eviolite—had astonishing physical and special defenses. Even when besieged by six Elite-Four level opponents, it could still hold its ground with ease.
On top of that, it possessed the powerful move Pain Split. As long as enemies remained nearby and it wasn't defeated in a single blow, its stamina was practically endless.
The six wild Pokémon were highly intelligent and repeatedly attempted to combine their attacks to eliminate Dusclops in one decisive strike. However, Dusclops possessed a terrifying ability—Black Hole.
Whenever they launched a coordinated assault, Dusclops would activate this ability, diverting most of the incoming attacks into another space.
Under this shameless yet nearly unsolvable war of attrition tactic, two of the six Elite-Four level wild Pokémon had already retreated due to severe injuries. The remaining four, unwilling to swallow their pride, continued relentlessly attacking Dusclops.
However, the cost of using Black Hole devour was extremely high. Each use consumed massive amounts of stamina and mental energy, and it was also very dangerous.
Although Dusclops did not appear severely injured, its stamina and mental state had already dropped to their lowest point. It no longer dared to use that ability again.
Sato and his team's arrival was noticed not only by Brandon and the blonde woman, but also by the opposing Elite-Four level wild Pokémon.
Fortunately, these Elite-Four level Pokémon were prideful beings. They disdained dealing with "ants" like Sato personally, instead issuing special signals to command their subordinates to intercept them.
Because of this, although Sato's group avoided direct attacks from Elite-Four level Pokémon, the pressure on them increased drastically.
"Hold on! We're almost at the fortress. Once we reach it, we can safely evacuate by air!"
Sato commanded his Pokémon to repel incoming wild Pokémon while simultaneously encouraging his companions through telepathy.
As more elite subordinates were sent to intercept them, casualties finally began to appear among Sato's group.
The burly man who had complained earlier was ambushed by a Sandslash with Sand Rush. Its claws pierced straight through his chest. If not for Lucy's last healing Pokémon, Jigglypuff, acting in time, he would have died on the spot.
Beck, the one who had initiated the rescue, was also struck by a Rock-type move from a Ground-type Pokémon and collapsed unconscious.
Now, only Sato and five other Trainers remained, barely holding on.
Still, Sato was right—they were very close to the fortress. Everyone could already see it in the distance through the light, and their spirits were greatly lifted.
According to Sato's plan, they would first rely on Steelix and the others to approach the fortress, then use Flying-type Pokémon to evacuate the people inside.
Among them, a Trainer named Fitz specialized in Flying-types. She had more than ten flying Pokémon, each medium-sized or larger, and each capable of carrying at least three people.
In the final step of the evacuation plan, Kecleon would play a crucial role.
Sato planned to use Kecleon's ability-manipulation to transfer Altaria's Cloud Nine ability to these Flying-type Pokémon.
This way, the temporarily empowered Pokémon could ignore the sandstorm and safely fly everyone out of the battlefield.
Unfortunately, repeatedly using Role Play and Skill Swap consumed a great deal of stamina, and the duration of borrowed abilities was short. Sato worried that Kecleon wouldn't be able to sustain it—otherwise, he would have used this method from the beginning to approach the fortress.
Two minutes later, Steelix finally dragged its heavily wounded body to the front of the stone fortress with Sato and the others.
At that moment, the people still holding out inside the fortress finally saw hope for survival.
"Don't panic! Follow my instructions! No pushing or scrambling—anyone who disobeys, I'll throw them out myself!"
When Sato was less than a hundred meters from the fortress, he used Teleport to enter it directly and quickly conveyed his evacuation plan through telepathy.
The people inside had long fallen into despair. Now that Sato and the others had risked their lives to rescue them, none dared to complain. Everyone obediently followed his instructions.
Soon, with Kecleon's help—and Lucy's Jigglypuff using Healing Wish on it—more than a dozen Flying-type Pokémon successfully gained Cloud Nine temporarily.
Under Fitz's command, these Pokémon carried the wounded from the fortress into the sky in an orderly manner, then swiftly flew toward the oasis lake.
Seeing the fortress occupants being evacuated one by one, Brandon and the blonde woman exchanged a signal. They immediately ceased their engagement with the Elite-level wild Pokémon.
Brandon quickly instructed Altaria to dive down, picked up the blonde woman, and then commanded Altaria to follow the retreating group at full speed.