Sato quickly took out a PokeBall and captured the Vibrava, then immediately headed toward the Mirage Tower. As he gradually approached it, he finally got a clear look at the tower's appearance.
It was a four-story earthen tower, but after years of erosion from the desert winds and sand, the outer walls were covered in cracks. Some areas even had large holes in them, making the entire structure look as though it could collapse at any moment.
"Pikachu, do you really think there could be treasure hidden inside this rundown tower?"
Looking at the shabby structure before him, Sato twitched slightly, then jokingly asked the Pikachu on his shoulder.
Legends had always circulated in the desert that precious treasures were hidden within Mirage Tower. Anyone lucky enough to encounter the tower in the desert could supposedly obtain enormous rewards from it.
"Pika pii~~"
Pikachu was an extreme appearance enthusiast. Hearing Sato's question, he immediately shook his head with obvious disdain.
"Hah, I knew you'd say that. Still, since we're already here, we have to explore it no matter what. Let's go, Pikachu."
Seeing Pikachu's disgusted expression, Sato laughed and pinched the little mouse Pokémon's puffed-up cheeks.
"Pikapi pika!"
At once, Pikachu's look of disdain vanished, replaced with excitement. Tiny sparks crackled from the red electric sacs on his cheeks. Having followed Sato for so long, he had grown to love adventures as well.
After speaking, Sato straightened his clothes and strode toward the entrance of Mirage Tower with Pikachu.
The entrance had no door, but beyond it was pitch-black darkness. Standing at the doorway, Sato found that he couldn't see anything inside. Even the sunlight shining in from outside seemed to be swallowed whole.
"Interesting… this tower really isn't as simple as it looks from the outside."
His psychic power suffered the same fate. The moment he extended his mental force inward, it too was devoured by the darkness. The strange phenomenon greatly raised Sato's evaluation of the tower.
Yet the truly mysterious part came after he stepped inside the first floor of Mirage Tower.
The interior was surprisingly well-lit, and he could clearly see everything around him.
The first floor had a square-ring structure. In the center stood a massive stone pillar, likely acting like a support beam to stabilize the tower.
The surrounding corridors were extremely spacious—wide enough for three cars to drive side by side with ease. Unfortunately, the interior was barren. Aside from sand and broken rocks, there was nothing else of note.
However, not long after entering, the Pikachu sitting on Sato's head suddenly perked up his ears and entered a combat stance.
The next second, several pillars of sand erupted from the ground around them.
To Sato's surprise, those sand pillars rapidly collided and fused together. Moments later, a Pokémon made entirely of sand appeared before him.
Judging from its shape, it was clearly a Camerupt. And based on the aura it emitted, it possessed at least peak Elite-level strength—around level 50, just shy of the Elite Four tier.
The moment the sand Camerupt fully formed, crimson light flashed in its eyes, and it immediately unleashed a gigantic pillar of fire at Sato.
"Kecleon, use Water Pulse! Staryu, use Bubble Beam!"
Sato reacted instantly. He rolled to the right to dodge the sand Camerupt's Flamethrower, while commanding Kecleon and Staryu to attack.
The invisible Kecleon immediately changed its skin to a watery blue color. A spiraling sphere of water rapidly formed between its hands before firing toward the sand Camerupt.
At the same time, Staryu—previously shrunk down and attached to Sato's chest—returned to normal size, unleashing a torrent of bubble energy from its jewel core.
The sand Camerupt appeared to perfectly replicate the strengths and weaknesses of a real Camerupt. Its movement speed was painfully slow, it was heavily disadvantaged against Water-type attacks, and its reactions were sluggish.
It was directly struck by Kecleon's Water Pulse and Staryu's Bubble Beam.
In the next instant, the sand Camerupt collapsed back into nothing more than a useless pile of sand.
But Sato felt no joy at defeating it.
Because more pillars of sand were already rising from the ground around him.
Once again, they began converging together.
Soon, two more sand Pokémon formed before his eyes.
This time, they were Victreebel and Vileplume.
Just like the sand Camerupt before them, these newly formed sand Pokémon also possessed peak Elite-level strength. The moment they took shape, crimson light flashed through their eyes, and they launched attacks immediately.
The moves they used were Leaf Blade and Energy Ball.
The sand Victreebel swung the massive leaf atop its head, turning it into a gigantic emerald blade that slashed directly toward the Kecleon on Sato's shoulder.
Meanwhile, the sand Vileplume rapidly condensed a green sphere of energy between its hands before hurling it toward the Staryu on Sato's chest.
Seeing this, Sato naturally didn't dare take the attacks head-on. He immediately used Teleport to escape.
But what happened next made his expression change drastically.
The two sand Pokémon seemed capable of predicting his landing point.
Victreebel's Leaf Blade abruptly curved midair and continued slashing toward Kecleon, while Vileplume threw another Energy Ball directly at Staryu.
And at that moment, Sato had only just landed on the sand before the attacks were already nearly upon him.
"Pikachu, use Iron Tail to block Victreebel's Leaf Blade! Kecleon, use Flamethrower to destroy Vileplume's Energy Ball! Staryu, use Ice Beam against Victreebel!"
Since there was nowhere left to run, the only option was a direct clash. Sato immediately issued commands to his three Pokémon through telepathy.
"Pikapi pika~!"
The moment Pikachu received the order, his tail became coated in metallic luster while electric currents surged across it.
Then he leapt upward and swung his tail with full force.
Clang!
Pikachu's Iron Tail collided with Victreebel's Leaf Blade, sending sparks flying everywhere.
In the end, Pikachu successfully knocked the attack aside.
At the same time, Kecleon's skin instantly shifted to fiery red, and a scorching stream of flames erupted from its mouth.
Thanks to type advantage, Flamethrower shattered the incoming Energy Ball and continued blasting toward Vileplume.
Meanwhile, Staryu's jewel core emitted an icy blue beam that struck the sand Victreebel head-on.
Under the combined assault of Flamethrower and Ice Beam, both the sand Vileplume and sand Victreebel suffered heavy damage. Large amounts of sand crumbled away from their bodies, making them appear on the verge of total collapse at any second.