The campsite that the Ruins Exploration Team had built was located in a small oasis in the southern part of the desert. By the time Sato, Lucy, and Hughes arrived, it had already grown into a medium-sized camp, with an estimated two to three hundred people inside.
It was clear that the ruins exploration had attracted many opportunists. Even before excavation work had begun, some tomb raiders had already tried to start digging. Unfortunately, very few of them had ever managed to make it back out.
At this moment, many of these opportunists had gathered outside the camp, forming a crude antique trading market.
Unfortunately, just like any normal antique market, over 90% of the items on display were fake. Even the genuine ones were nothing more than worthless fragments of antiques. There was almost nothing truly useful to be found.
The three of them had arrived in a flashy, rugged off-road vehicle, naturally drawing quite a bit of attention. Hughes and Lucy, in particular—clearly wealthy heirs from privileged backgrounds—attracted special notice from the people here.
Thus, when Hughes and Lucy stepped out of the vehicle and passed by the makeshift antique market outside the camp, many of the stall owners enthusiastically rushed over to peddle their wares.
Both Hughes and Lucy came from distinguished families and possessed a certain level of appraisal skill. The crudely made forgeries on those stalls naturally couldn't fool them.
As for Sato, who had the system's identification function at his disposal, he paid even less attention to these vendors. He strode directly toward the camp's entrance.
Before long, the three of them arrived at the gate. After stating their purpose and presenting their letters of recommendation to the guards at the entrance, they were let into the camp.
"Welcome, the three of you. Unfortunately, the excavation work will still take some time to begin. Some precision detection and excavation equipment haven't arrived or been assembled yet. Also, elite guards like yourselves haven't all shown up."
Soon, a ruins exploration team member named Beck got in touch with Sato and the others. He led them toward the temporary residential area in the camp while enthusiastically explaining the current situation there.
"What's the deal with those people outside? They're bold enough to be selling antiques. Has the excavation work already started?"
Though he was asking a question he already knew the answer to, Sato decided to pose it to their guide in order to get accurate information.
"Those people are just clowns, really. As you can see, because of the ruins, this oasis—the closest one to the site—has attracted a bunch of opportunists. Before we even started excavating, plenty of tomb raiders had already tried every possible way to get into the ruins."
"But this ruin is different from ordinary ones. It seems to be protected by some kind of powerful force. Those ridiculous tomb raiders couldn't get in at all. Many tried to force their way inside, but every single one of them failed."
"But you probably know this already—antiques from ruins are extremely valuable. So some shady merchants specifically make forgeries and sell them here, tricking the people drawn in by the ancient ruins. Let me tell you, 99% of the stuff on those stalls outside is fake. Don't be a sucker."
Beck chuckled when he heard Sato's question and gave him an amusing explanation.
Beck was a busy man. After settling Sato and the other two in, he took his leave. Before leaving, however, he told them they could move freely around the camp but advised them not to wander outside and interact with those people unnecessarily, so as to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Having traveled through the desert for half a day—and even though they had come in an air-conditioned vehicle—the bumpy ride and the various wild Pokémon attacks along the way had still left Sato feeling quite exhausted.
It was now past four in the afternoon. With some time left before dinner, Sato bid farewell to Lucy and Hughes and lay down on the hard plank bed in his quarters for a good sleep.
However, when Sato woke up, it was already past seven in the evening. He had been startled awake by the sound of a collapsing building.
"What's going on?"
Sato was highly alert. He instantly opened his sleepy eyes, jumped out of bed, and assumed a fighting stance.
Then, a flash of blue light appeared in his eyes as he used psychic detection to survey the situation outside.
It turned out that the oasis was being hit by a very common desert phenomenon: a sandstorm. Outside, the sky was filled with flying yellow sand, and many people in the camp were frantically looking for places to take shelter.
"So it's a sandstorm. Oh no, this rickety house might not withstand the sandstorm's blast."
Seeing the situation, Sato relaxed slightly. But when he noticed that his small tin shack was creaking and groaning in the sandstorm, on the verge of collapse, his expression quickly soured.
Though his strength was not insignificant, it was still nothing compared to the power of a natural disaster. He knew that if his tin shack collapsed, he would be in serious trouble.
"Come out, Roserade. Use your vines to reinforce this tin shack."
Without overthinking it, Sato immediately sent out Roserade and gave her the command.
Hearing Sato's command, Roserade pressed her hands to the ground. In an instant, a large number of thorny vines grew wildly outside the tin shack, tightly binding the entire structure.
With Roserade's vines reinforcing it, the tin shack finally stopped its precarious creaking.
But Sato's mind did not relax because of this. The sandstorm was fierce and showed no signs of letting up. Typically, such storms lasted at least two days, and the longest could persist for as long as one or even two months.
"It seems I used up all my good luck in Mauville City. Getting hit by a sandstorm right off the bat—that's not a good omen."
Seeing no sign of the sandstorm abating, Sato found himself stuck inside the tin shack with nowhere to go. He frowned as he thought to himself.
As time passed, something happened that filled Sato—and everyone else in the oasis—with growing concern.
A large number of wild Pokémon native to the desert, led by some powerful wild Pokémon bosses, had surrounded the oasis. In the eyes of the desert-dwelling wild Pokémon, an oasis was just as crucial a resource.
Now that the oasis had been occupied by Sato and the other humans, it had naturally stirred discontent among the desert's wild Pokémon. The only reason they hadn't managed to take it back was that the human force gathered there was simply too powerful.
But now, the sandstorm had arrived, leaving the humans in the oasis gasping for breath. And this predicament had not gone unnoticed by the wild Pokémon lurking nearby.
ROOOAR!!!
A deafening roar echoed through the air. Then, a massive horde of wild Pokémon that had gathered outside the oasis began their charge against the human camp.