Participants released their Pokémon one after another, and this action completely ignited the atmosphere of the venue.
Whether it was the Trainers inside or the spectators outside, everyone could vaguely feel the tension rushing toward them.
Sato scanned the surrounding opponents and found that every Pokémon they had were near to Pseudo-Elite Four level.
In comparison, Sato's Sharpedo was only at initial Peak Elite. While the spectators further away couldn't tell, the nearby participants immediately noticed and couldn't help but reveal ambiguous expressions.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, no one stepped forward to mock openly, but their guard visibly lowered, and some even showed signs of underestimation.
Then, amid the host's enthusiastic announcements, participants began leaving the waiting area and entering Vertress Cave one after another.
This time, Sato and his group were assigned to the middle zone and entered without any disturbance.
"According to intel, the main road ahead is fully monitored to prevent ambushes right at the start. Once we reach a crossroad, we'll break away from the main group immediately."
After some discussion, it was decided that Joseph, who played the support role, would serve as "team leader". As soon as they entered Vertress Cave, he took command without hesitation.
"Mark, when we reach a crossroad, you'll decide which path we take."
"No problem!" Standing on the flank of the team, Mark responded immediately after hearing Joseph's instruction.
"Phoebe, send out scouts to check the entire path leading up to the next crossroad."
"Got it~" Phoebe nodded and gave a small hand gesture. Two black shadows instantly slipped into the ground and sped ahead.
"Sato, how many people are behind us?"
"Thirty-two. Six four-person squads, two three-person squads, and two 'lone wolves'. One of the lone wolves has already dug underground and disappeared," Sato reported with total familiarity.
"Alright, speed up!" Joseph said, and the group all increased their pace at once. Still, their formation remained perfectly in sync without any disorder.
Five minutes later, the five of them arrived at the first crossroad. Excluding the path they came from, there were three options ahead. Mark pointed without hesitation to the middle path, and the group followed without delay.
In the plaza outside Vertress Cave, dozens of giant projection screens had been neatly arranged. At the center stood three even larger main screens broadcasting live footage from inside the cave.
Whenever a participant engaged in battle or discovered a Mission Flag, the footage would switch to the main screen for everyone to see immediately.
At the same time, the most exciting moments of the Vertress Cave Trial Tournament were being streamed live to households all across the Unova Region. Anyone interested could simply turn on their TV to watch.
Since everyone had just entered, nearly every squad and lone wolf had been assigned a projection screen.
One of the main projection screens happened to be broadcasting Sato's group charging through the cave. Compared to the cautious steps of other teams, their approach was downright wild.
"They've stopped!"
On the screen, the five members of Sato's team came to a halt simultaneously. Then, two Ghost-type Pokémon suddenly appeared, pointing ahead in the direction they were heading.
After that, the female Trainer on the right side of the formation sent out a blue Pokémon, which raised a massive wave and washed the entire road ahead with a crashing roar.
Another main projection screen suddenly switched to the area where the huge wave had just surged through. Several Excadrill ambushed underground were blasted out without warning, flailing wildly in the water and losing over half their health instantly.
---
"They're using Ghost-types to scout for danger ahead!" someone in the audience suddenly exclaimed, which earned them a series of disdainful glares from those around.
"…"
What's there to be so shocked about? Everyone could tell already…
----
Then, Sato and the others continued forward without even glancing at the trembling Excadrill, heading straight into deeper territory.
At this point, various teams began encountering wild Pokémon ambushes.
Though most weren't particularly strong, they had the advantage of surprise. Without prior warning, it was still possible for someone to lose part of their strength immediately.
"…Let's go this way."
Upon reaching another crossroad, Mark hesitated briefly before pointing to the leftmost path.
"Go!" Phoebe charged ahead without hesitation, and the others followed closely behind.
After taking two sharp turns, a slightly larger cave appeared in front of them. On one side of the cave wall hung a clearly visible White Flag.
"FOUND ONE!" Mark couldn't help shouting. Letting a "directionally challenged" person like him pick the path had been a gamble on his absurd luck.
Although Mark had begun to use his ability to some extent, luck was still a mysterious force: hard to rely on.
That's why he was feeling the pressure.
But now, not even fifteen minutes into the cave, they had already found a flag. Even though it was a White Flag, it still eased his nerves considerably.
"Giga!"
At that moment, a rock that had been motionless suddenly stood up and roared at Sato and the others.
"That's a Gigalith, a Rock-type Pokémon. It likes to build, specializes in physical offense and defense, but it's extremely slow. Most of the time it's asleep and hates being disturbed."
Ryoko listed everything in detail. She even knew about its preference for building, clearly showing she had put a lot of effort into studying the materials recently.
That was the role she had set for herself. In terms of battle strength, she was weaker than Phoebe and Sato. She couldn't serve as support either, and her luck didn't compare to Mark's.
But since they were fighting on unfamiliar ground, data was a weak point; so she had taken over all the information Greno had gathered over the past few days and memorized everything.
She was showcasing her "top-student" skills perfectly.
"Leave it to me. Mismagius, Hypnosis, Gengar, Nightmare." Phoebe stepped up without hesitation and immediately sent out her hidden two Pokémon.
The extremely slow Gigalith had only managed to let out one cry before being swiftly taken down by Phoebe.
"Gogoat, Vine Whip!"
"Gogo~" Gogoat gave a soft bleat and extended two Vine Whips from its neck, which it used to pull the flag off the wall and hand it to Sato.
Since the final "honor" of the competition was awarded individually, most teams designated a single member to collect the flags and score the points.
Considering that Sato had the highest potential when he went all out, even Phoebe hadn't hesitated to let him be the central figure.
In other words, the four of them were now fully supporting Sato in securing a higher ranking.
Sato nodded to the others and waved the White Flag around slightly. The hidden camera would naturally record everything, ensuring the points were credited to him.