"Whew, it looks like we made it in time."
"Thank you so much, kid!"
At that moment, a Pokémon hunter riding a Pidgeot arrived beside Ethan.
He looked at Gengar, who was holding up the building with its psychic power, and let out a small sigh of relief.
Fortunately, there was that Gengar whose strength had reached the Quasi-Elite level; otherwise, relying only on the professional-level Pokémon they had, it really wasn't certain they could have held out.
"It's what I should do. First, let's see if there are people inside the building; Gengar won't be able to hold it for much longer."
After hearing Ethan's words, the Pokémon hunter immediately sprang into action and sent his own Pokémon into the building.
At the same time, Ethan's gaze swept over the surroundings, and he discovered that the Pokémon hunters had already begun to act; one after another, Pidgeot were flying through the sky.
"Wait, where are they flying to?"
Suddenly, a look of confusion appeared on Ethan's face.
Although some Pokémon hunters stayed at the scene, most of the Pidgeot were flying toward the outskirts of the city.
"That place should be... the Volcanic Mountain Range?"
Ethan's expression became even more puzzled. Had something happened in the Volcanic Mountain Range?
"Viiibbrraa!"
At that moment, the Vibrava behind Ethan made another sound.
At the same time, faint vibrations could be felt spreading through the city, though they were much weaker than before.
The chaos within the city, under the control of the Pokémon hunters and a large number of trainers, began to calm down.
The citizens could be seen being organized in an orderly manner and moved to open areas to avoid the effects of aftershocks.
Just as Ethan let out a sigh of relief, a siren suddenly resounded in the sky above Emberfall City. Immediately afterward, more and more Pidgeot took off from the city and flew toward the Volcanic Mountain Range.
"Viiibbrraa!"
At that instant, Vibrava cried out again, fixing its gaze on the Volcanic Mountain Range.
"The epicenter of this earthquake is in the Volcanic Mountain Range. The cities around the Volcanic Mountain Range have suffered extremely severe damage. We also need to go there to help with the rescue."
The Pokémon hunter who had previously entered the building was already mounting his Pidgeot and flew over to Ethan as he spoke.
"The epicenter is in the Volcanic Mountain Range!"
Ethan's eyes flashed slightly.
Normally, the League always issues advance warnings before earthquakes.
That this earthquake had occurred so suddenly made it very likely that it was related to a Secret Kingdom.
"Let's go help as well!"
Ethan looked at the now almost stabilized Emberfall City and said to Charizard beneath him.
Charizard let out a low roar and, flapping its wings, quickly flew up into the sky.
At the same time, the Pokémon Trainers' Guild, the Pokémon Researchers' Guild, and other organizations within Emberfall City mobilized rapidly, and numerous Advanced-level trainers were summoned, all heading toward the Volcanic Mountain Range.
...
"Is this Dragonlake City?"
Riding on Charizard, Ethan looked at the city below with a gloomy expression.
The once prosperous Dragonlake City had been completely reduced to ruins by the earthquake.
Countless houses had collapsed, landslides had occurred, and even a section of the imposing city walls had crumbled.
At the same time, in front of the collapsed wall, many Pokémon could be seen emerging from the Volcanic Mountain Range, gathering there and trying to break into the city in order to get as far away from the epicenter as possible.
Fortunately, the Pokémon Hunters' Guild reacted with extreme speed and had already dispatched many hunters to firmly contain the advance of the Pokémon, thus buying precious time for the rescue efforts.
"Viiibbrraa!"
At that moment, Vibrava made another sound.
Immediately afterward, its figure dove down from the sky and flew rapidly to a pile of collapsed houses, bracing its body against the rubble.
"Vibrava, are you saying there might be someone underneath?"
Ethan also descended, and his expression changed slightly.
"Gengar, I'll trouble you again. Use Psychic."
After hearing Ethan's order, Gengar immediately floated up.
A blue flash shone in its eyes, and in the next instant, the bricks and fragments of roof tiles on the rubble began to rise.
Sure enough, among the ruins there was a child crouching in a corner; upon seeing Ethan's head appear, he began to cry out loudly for help.
"There really is someone! Charizard, hurry up and clear this."
Ethan exclaimed in surprise and quickly ordered the Pokémon to work together to rescue the child.
"Medical team, medical team! There's an injured person here!"
After rescuing the child, Ethan immediately carried him to the first-aid point.
Along the way, he could also see trainers continuously escorting the injured.
Some of the injured had extremely severe wounds, with flesh and blood exposed, and they groaned in pain without ceasing.
Fortunately, this was a world with Pokémon. When Ethan arrived at the treatment point, there were already more than ten Bellossom using the move Grassy Terrain together.
The ground was covered with lush vegetation, with dense Grass-type energy gathering; simply placing the injured within the area of effect of Grassy Terrain would envelop their bodies in a gentle green light, and their wounds would begin to ease rapidly.
After receiving this basic treatment, the more seriously injured were immediately transported to the hospital by Fighting-type Pokémon, where other Pokémon would provide specialized care.
Thanks to the existence of Pokémon, the efficiency of the rescue was extremely high; each Pokémon performed its role, and very soon a large number of injured received treatment.
"Charizard, Vibrava, Gengar, let's continue the search and rescue."
After leaving the injured person at the treatment point, Ethan mounted Charizard once more and rose into the sky.
"Viiibbrraa!"
At the same time, Vibrava's ultrasonic detection and vibration perception abilities were pushed to their limits, beginning to search for possible survivors.
Very soon, Vibrava made another discovery and quickly flew toward another area of rubble.
"Kid, leave this to me!"
At that moment, a Fearow flew in behind Ethan.
The trainer riding it directly released a Machamp and said to Ethan.
Machamp quickly began clearing the rubble with its strength, and sure enough, they found another injured person.
"Great! Kid, your Vibrava can really find the injured. From now on, we'll follow you. You take charge of locating the injured, and we'll handle the rescue."
At that moment, other trainers also noticed the situation and approached one after another, releasing their own Pokémon. Unfortunately, none of them had detection abilities.
Ethan knew that his own capabilities were limited, and that only by joining forces could they maximize efficiency, so he immediately nodded.
"Alright. Vibrava, from now on it all depends on you."
Under Ethan's direction, Vibrava's figure rose into the air once more, moving rapidly among the rubble, pushing ultrasonic detection and vibration perception to their limits to locate more injured people.
"Gengar, I have Charizard and Meltan protecting me here. You go help as well—use your psychic power to sense the injured; saving lives is the most urgent priority."
At the same time, Ethan also sent Gengar to assist.
Now, time was life; disaster was an order, and rescue was a responsibility. There was no room for even the slightest delay.
(End of chapter)