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When Sato noticed several nearby Trainers drifting toward him for shelter, his brows furrowed slightly — but he didn't stop them.
However, as the number of people gathering around him increased, the wild Pokémon that hadn't yet fallen also began converging in even greater numbers.
Very quickly, the pressure on Sato's side mounted sharply, and the firepower output of Pikachu, Lanturn, and Cloyster began to feel stretched thin.
What chilled him most was seeing some civilian Trainers secretly capturing the wild Pokémon he had defeated, using the special PokeBalls distributed by the League.
"Phil, Safina, Gibson — what are you standing there for? Hurry up and use the League-issued PokeBalls to capture the fainted wild Pokémon around us!"
Sato was not generous enough to let others profit from his efforts while increasing his own risk. Without hesitation, he ordered his three teammates — who had mostly been half-hearted and bewildered up to this point — to secure the spoils of his victories.
Hearing his command, none of the three dared to disobey. They quickly hurled their League-issued PokeBalls at the incapacitated Pokémon floating in the water, then released their own Pokémon to retrieve the captured PokeBalls.
Besides assigning Phil, Safina, and Gibson to collect spoils, Sato also had Pikachu, Lanturn, and Cloyster — his three main attackers — halt their offensive. He then pulled out high-quality PokeBlocks to restore their stamina.
The instant his three Pokémon stopped attacking, the pressure on the other Trainers surged dramatically. Some civilian Trainers who had been busy secretly fishing for benefits instead of focusing on the battlefield were immediately overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of wild Pokémon — many were gravely injured or killed outright.
For a moment, countless injured Trainers turned their furious glares toward Sato.
But when they met his eyes, which reflected a cold killing gaze, they instantly remembered what kind of terrifying person they were facing. Heads dropped; no one dared meet his gaze.
Sato understood clearly that in a massive battlefield like this, individual strength was insignificant, no matter how powerful.
He also knew that having more people around wasn't necessarily better. It wasn't that he doubted their abilities — he simply couldn't trust complete strangers.
Above all, he could never entrust his back to them, especially when they were still competitors entangled in conflicting interests.
Each civilian Trainer had been issued only twenty special PokeBalls by the League. Yet Sato had already defeated several times that number of wild Pokémon.
As a result, Phil and the others quickly used up their allotted twenty PokeBalls each, and Sato exhausted his own as well.
Once no more spoils could be secured, Sato decisively chose to retreat with the trio, taking to the skies on Flying-types toward a nearby temporary supply station.
According to the League's briefing, their reinforcement objectives had already been met. Leaving now wouldn't be treated as desertion.
Phil, Safina, and Gibson were very self-aware. They knew how little they had contributed in this battle.
Thus, apart from Phil — who had acted as a courier and kept half his spoils — Safina and Gibson each kept only five captured Pokémon. The rest of the special PokeBalls became Sato's spoils alone.
Because of the suddenness and danger of this mission, the League's rewards were unusually generous: each special PokeBall could be exchanged for 10 contribution points.
From this one task alone, Sato gained 600 points, a huge step closer to earning his qualification to become a real League Trainer.
By League rules, he only needed another 2400 contribution points to qualify for the trial to advance as an Outer League Trainer.
Having tasted such rewards, Sato naturally had no intention of stopping. After submitting his spoils, he set out again.
Unfortunately, only Phil chose to continue the mission with him; Safina and Gibson withdrew.
While Sato and Phil headed back to the battlefield, one of Hoenn's Elite Four — the Dragon-type Master, Drake — received his League orders. He arrived at the site with his fleet, swiftly intervening in the sudden Pokémon riot.
Meanwhile, five or six kilometers away, a massive submarine marked with Team Aqua's insignia was slowly submerging, then speeding away from the scene.
"Since the Elite Four have arrived, there's no need to continue the experiment. Heh heh heh~ At least this round of research finally proved useful."
Inside the submarine, in a chamber filled with scientific instruments, a bald old man in a white lab coat cackled gleefully as he read the report on his communicator: Drake had reached the site.
He then turned his gaze to a massive machine at the room's center, his face filled with pride.
But when his eyes shifted to the glassy-eyed assistants standing nearby — especially another white-coated old man — his smile vanished, replaced by a grim expression.
Atop the great machine hovered a large azure stone, which, under its influence, pulsed intermittently with eerie red light.
Each time the stone flashed, it released a strange energy wave. Immediately, the wild Water-type Pokémon around the submarine would have their eyes flare scarlet, before swarming obediently behind the vessel.
With Drake and his elite forces intervening, the previously precarious battlefield was soon brought under control.
And once Team Aqua's submarine had traveled several dozen kilometers away, the crazed wild Pokémon rapidly regained their senses.
Before long, the League successfully quelled the sudden Pokémon riot.