After Sato's single remark made everyone realize that this mission was not a suicide mission, the atmosphere within the support team immediately became lively, no longer weighed down by the previous gloom.
Moreover, everyone began to carefully introduce the abilities of their own Pokémon along the way, so that they could work together to devise the best possible rescue plan.
Since Sato knew that his identity as a Psychic would inevitably be exposed during the upcoming exploration of the ruins, he chose not to hide it this time. When introducing himself, he openly revealed that he was a Psychic.
"What? Brother Tyler, you're actually a Psychic? And you even have a rare Psychic-type Pokémon like Kadabra?"
"You should've said so earlier! I was worried for nothing. With your help, this mission is practically guaranteed to succeed."
"Exactly! We'll just provide cover for you later. Brother, we'll leave the non-combatants to you and Kadabra—use Teleport to get them out of danger."
When Sato revealed his abilities and his Pokémon, the rest of the team was shocked at first, then immediately delighted as they spoke to him.
Every Trainer in the support team was at least at peak Elite level. None of them were fools—they fully understood how significant it was to have a Psychic in the team.
In their eyes, what had once been an extremely dangerous rescue mission now seemed like a low-risk operation.
Lucy, upon learning that Sato was a Psychic, was equally shocked—and filled with regret. She realized that her earlier decision to stand by and do nothing must have displeased him.
Then, somewhat irritated, she glanced at Hughes, who was still wearing a calm expression.
"Hmph, this stupid woman is blaming me now. Clearly it's her own poor judgment. She insisted on dragging him along at the start, then revealed her true colors when she thought he wasn't anything special. Women really are short-sighted."
Hughes noticed Lucy's displeased gaze and instantly understood that his calm demeanor had exposed him. She was clearly angry that he hadn't told her about Sato being a Psychic. He sneered inwardly with disdain.
"No, I have to make amends later. If I can get his help, the safety of this ruin expedition will increase at least twofold."
Realizing how important a Psychic would be for the upcoming exploration, Lucy quickly decided to remedy the situation and repair her relationship with Sato.
"You flatter me. I'll do my best."
Sato didn't get carried away by all the praise. He simply smiled and responded modestly, without making any bold guarantees.
As the group ventured deeper into the eastern region, the wild Pokémon they encountered grew stronger and stronger. They had already begun facing resistance from pseudo Elite Four level wild Pokémon.
Suddenly, eight pseudo Elite Four level wild Pokémon, along with a large number of lower-level ones, burst out from beneath the sand and surrounded Sato and the others. At the same time, the ground beneath them began to form a quicksand vortex.
Wild Pokémon in the desert loved to ambush from underground, and "quicksand hell" was one of their favorite methods for trapping prey.
The moment the quicksand appeared, Sato had already used Teleport to leave his position, taking two teammates with him.
As for the others, they quickly used their own methods to escape the range of the quicksand vortex and began directing their Pokémon to counterattack.
"Everyone, be careful! More and more wild Pokémon are heading our way. We need to break out immediately, or it'll be too late. Follow me—this way!"
After directing his Kecleon and Staryu to defeat several nearby Ground-type Pokémon, Sato's expression changed. He immediately communicated with the team using telepathy.
Through his mental detection, he had already discovered a large number of wild Pokémon converging on their position.
Without hesitation, he released Blastoise, Tentacruel, and Cloyster, commanding them to unleash their strongest Water-type moves toward the incoming enemies on the left flank.
"Victreebel, Razor Leaf!"
"Ludicolo, Hydro Pump!"
"Roselia, Magical Leaf!"
At the same time, after hearing Sato's warning and seeing his actions, the others quickly commanded their own Water- or Grass-type Pokémon to attack.
Under the combined assault of the Trainers' Pokémon, the incoming Ground-types on the left were instantly overwhelmed, leaving behind a narrow opening.
Seeing this, Sato quickly recalled Blastoise and the others into their PokeBalls, keeping only Staryu, Kecleon, and Pikachu as he charged through the opening.
It was nighttime, and with a sandstorm raging, visibility for everyone except Sato was extremely limited.
Becky and the others trusted Sato completely—after all, Psychics possessed mental detection abilities. They hurriedly followed him.
Under Sato's leadership, the group finally managed to break free from the encirclement of wild Pokémon and rapidly advanced toward the battlefield where Brandon and the others were located.
While Sato and his team struggled to approach the battlefield, Brandon and the others were already reaching a critical point between life and death.
Although Brandon and the blonde woman—both Elite-Four level Trainers—had already defeated five Elite-Four level wild Pokémon and numerous lower-level ones, they still couldn't fully protect everyone on the battlefield.
At this point, only a dozen or so combatants remained, and all of them were injured. The number of Pokémon they still had capable of fighting was also rapidly dwindling.
The reason both combatants and non-combatants had managed to hold on this long was not only because Brandon and the blonde woman had been holding off large numbers of wild Pokémon, but also thanks to a sturdy stone fortress they were currently sheltering in.
This fortress had been hastily constructed by the Trainers using their Ground- and Rock-type Pokémon and Rock-type moves. With its protection, they had managed to repel wave after wave of attacks.
However, while the fortress provided shelter, it also turned them into fish in a barrel.
The outside of the stone fortress was now completely surrounded by a massive number of wild Pokémon. Escape was nearly impossible.
As the number of combatants continued to decrease and reinforcements had yet to arrive, a shadow of despair gradually spread among those trapped inside the fortress.