The main projection screen outside Vertress Cave once again switched to Sato's team, since they were the first to find a Mission Flag and had claimed it at lightning speed.
"Their luck is just ridiculous..." Most of the audience were locals from the Unova Region, and after seeing Sato's performance, they couldn't help but feel sour.
Drake and the "bigshots" officials were also watching the live broadcast of the trial at League headquarters. When they saw Sato's team being the first to secure a Mission Flag, their expressions varied.
"As expected of the genius Trainers from Headquarters~ Their efficiency and speed really are remarkable," one of the officials said with a cheerful laugh, offering generous praise to Sato and the others.
"They're just kids messing around," Drake said with a blank expression. But behind him, Greno, sharp-eyed as ever, noticed that the captain's fingers were rhythmically tapping.
And from his understanding of Drake, that subtle motion clearly meant he was in a "good mood".
Thinking of this, Greno could only curl his lip in secret. 'Stubborn old man.'
The scene returned to Sato's team. After securing the first Mission Flag, they didn't leave immediately. Instead, they quietly hid in a dark corner.
---
"Sato, how long until they arrive?" Phoebe asked, glancing in the direction they had come from.
"Very soon. They're about a hundred meters away. Their speed isn't bad, looks like they're tracking us."
Ralts sat on Sato's shoulder, its blood-red eyes glowing faintly blue beneath its bangs, clearly using psychic power to scout ahead.
"Get ready," Sato suddenly warned. Within a few seconds, a four-person team appeared in the cave.
"How much longer? Why haven't we seen them yet?" The one speaking was a rather handsome blond man, seemingly the captain of the team.
"Ruff... Ruff..."
A Stoutland let out a low whimper, anxiously pawing at the ground as it stared intently toward the cave ahead.
"Stoutland is very tense, the scent here is strong… they must've stayed in this area for a while. It's very likely they already secured a Mission Flag."
Stoutland's Trainer was a female dressed in a tight athletic outfit. She was crouched down, gently soothing her Pokémon.
"Well, they're lucky. Hurry and catch up," the blond man muttered, frowning as he looked around, seemingly trying to locate the hidden camera.
As the four-person team took two more steps forward, a sudden scream came from behind.
"IT'S MY JELLICENT! IT WAS AN AMBUSH!" shouted the Trainer at the back of the group. A pink jellyfish had just revealed itself, writhing in pain on the ground.
The next moment, before the four could even react, moves like Thunderbolt, Fire Blast, and Petal Dance rained down all at once on the Pokémon beside them.
Half a minute later, the four regrouped in a disheveled state, with four new Pokémon to stand guard while they scanned the area, shaken.
"Boss, should we keep chasing?"
"Chase what? They spotted us a long time ago. Their scouting tools(?) are way better than ours. What, you want to fight them now?" the blond man snapped bitterly.
He had thought they were just a bunch of clueless kids. After imagining the fame that would come from defeating them, he'd marked them as a target the moment he entered.
But now…
"They've probably gone far. We should get moving too," the blond man added, and the others followed without objection.
The scene they had just caused was quite a commotion. If they were unlucky enough to run into another ambush, they'd really be done for.
---
"Guess they got off easy," Phoebe said with a bit of regret on their way out.
"Let it go, Phoebe. We're technically guests here. If we act too arrogant, it'll be hard for Elite Four Drake to handle things," Ryoko advised.
"I know that, obviously. But just thinking about how they tried to ambush us makes me want to wipe them out," Phoebe said in a chilling tone, making the other four shiver slightly.
'…She was definitely the ruthless type.'
"They won't be having a good time out there either. Trying to ambush someone at the start of the trial? What do you think others will say about that? Don't forget, the whole battle was definitely recorded. Let's hurry and find the next Mission Flag. Mark, which way?"
"Huh? Oh… this way!"
Phoebe didn't argue with Joseph anymore and took the lead down the path Mark pointed toward.
----
Just as Joseph had predicted, things outside Vertress Cave were in an uproar.
Usually, "tactics" like ambushes or betrayals didn't happen until the mid or late stages of the trial, during fights over Blue and Red Flags.
Besides, Sato and the others were guests after all. If the hosts eliminated them through an ambush right at the start, the ones embarrassed would be the people of the Unova Region.
The faction behind the blond man naturally had people stationed outside Vertress Cave and quickly received the latest updates.
The moment they saw the footage on the main screen, they immediately exploded in rage.
"Idiotic know-it-alls!"
One of them stormed off right away to report the incident.
Since Sato's group had a "special status", they already attracted a lot of attention. Whenever they appeared on the main screen, they were instantly the center of focus.
And soon, the audience noticed something else…
Sato's team was showing up on the main screen a lot!
In the early stages of the trial, there was usually only one reason for that.
They had found yet another Mission Flag.
---
Inside Vertress Cave, after Phoebe defeated another guardian Pokémon -Scolipede- Gogoat didn't even wait for Joseph's command. It simply retrieved the Mission Flag on its own and handed it to Sato.
"This should be our first Green Flag, right? The guardian Pokémon was a bit stronger, but not by much," Phoebe said casually.
No one disagreed. Without Sato going all out, Phoebe's combat power was definitely daunting, almost unmatched among her peers.
"White Flags are worth 1 point, Green 10, Blue 50, and Red 100. We'd better find a few Red Flags if we want to play it safe," Joseph said calmly.
Again, no one objected. After Mark's flag-finding performance, none of them were worried about locating a Red Flag.
"Let's keep it up!"
"HOH!" x4
The group continued onward. Since it was only the first day of the trial, even when they encountered others, most interactions were more exploratory than aggressive, with almost no real damage.
In contrast, Sato's counterattack had been the most intense battle of the day.
Which, of course, earned them even more attention. After all, this was the one thing from the whole day that people were still talking about.
Seeing this, the faction behind the blond man grew increasingly frustrated.
.
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150
PW
=
Extra
Chap