Daichi released five Pokéballs in a single motion.
Tyranitar and Nidoking took the front. From his belt, he added Gengar and Crobat for the poison core, then Excadrill and Hippowdon to solidify the sandstorm.
The hallway choked with sand as Hippowdon and Tyranitar ability activated making a much more gruesome sandstorm. Nidoking, Excadrill, Gengar, and Crobat fanned out.
The two hunters pushed their twelve Pokémon forward. Hunter 1's Breloom and Gallade took point. Hunter 2's Alakazam and Hariyama braced for the impact.
"Move," Hunter 1 ordered.
Breloom lunged through the sand with Mach Punch. Nidoking caught the hit on its forearm and countered with a point-blank Sludge Wave. The toxic tide slammed into the Venosaur and Sableye backing them up.
Hunter 2's Alakazam eyes glowed. It used Psychic to halt the Excadrill's charge, suspending the steel mole in mid-air.
"Crobat, Confuse Ray on the Alakazam , Tyranitar, Crunch that Gallade!" Daichi ordered.
The Gallade attempted to parry, but Tyranitar's jaws snapped shut on its arm. Mismagius and Dusclops faded into the walls, preparing to flank. The Hariyama stepped up, throwing a Close Combat at Tyranitar's chest, forcing the massive titan back a step.
The corridor was a mess steel , concrete, and fallen debris. Daichi's sand began to chip away at the Fearow and Alakazam, while his poison team looked for an opening in the Guild's front line.
Gengar dissolved into the floor, reappearing directly behind Alakazam. The psychic turned, but it was too late, Gengar's Shadow Ball detonated at point-blank range, knocking the Alakazam into the wall.
The rest of the hallway soon turned into a slaughter. Nidoking and Tyranitar acted as a meat grinder. Hariyama and Vigoroth tried to hold the center, but Hippowdon's sand weighed them down while Excadrill used Iron Head to pierce through the Venosaur's vines.
Hunter 1's Breloom, Gallade, and Arbok were caught in a pincer. Crobat shredded the Fearow with Air Slash before diving to strike the Mismagius. Druddigon roared, charging Tyranitar, but was met with a brutal Stone Edge that sent it crashing into the Dusclops.
Sableye tried to stall with Will-O-Wisp, but the relentless sand and Nidoking's Earth Power shattered the floor beneath it.
Within minutes, the twelve Pokémon lay in a heap of bruised limbs and fainted forms. The two hunters stood paralyzed against the far wall, their belts empty.
Daichi didn't even look at them. He recalled his team, the sand finally settling over the unconscious bodies.
"You're out of time," Daichi said.
He stepped over the wreckage and sprinted toward the surface to find Drake.
Daichi stepped out from the broken, smoking jaw of the facility entrance, the heavy scent of burnt electronics clinging to his cloak. He stopped dead, his boots crunching on the earth as he took in the sheer scale of the devastation before him.
The plateau had been transformed into a god forsaken battle field. The fifteen Elite trainers, hand-picked for their potential, were a broken line. Six of them stood in a tight defensive perimeter, their eyes wide with a mixture of shock and respect. Three were slumped against nearby boulders, clutching bloodied limbs and tending to Pokémon that were heavily injured. The remaining six were being dragged toward the rear, their breathing shallow and their gear shredded, heavily injured, they were lucky to be breathing at all.
But in the center of the storm stood the reason why they were still alive.
Drake was an immovable figure amidst the entire carnage. He was surrounded on all sides, the epicenter of a desperate, closing circle. The five original Gym Leader-level hunters, men who could have commanded respect in any major city had been bolstered by three more high-rank reinforcements. Eight of the Guild's finest stood in a tense ring, their faces pale and filled with anxiety and tension. Behind them, a literal wall of forty Ace-level trainers and their Pokémon loomed, a secondary wave meant to crush whatever remained. Scattered across the rocks like discarded toys were the remains of another forty Aces, their Pokémon fainted in heaps, smoke still rising from their hides.
Despite the staggering 48 on 1 odds, the "ambush" wasn't a trap anymore it had failed , instead it looked like they were being ambushed instead.
Drake's Salamence was a mess, its massive wings scarred by elemental blasts. His Haxorus stood tall, though fresh gashes leaked blood onto its gold-plated hide. Yet, Drake himself wasn't much in danger. Aside from a few minor scratches on his weathered face and a slight tear in his captain's coat, he was untouched. He had functioned as a human lightning rod, drawing eighty percent of the enemy's total firepower onto his own six Pokémon. By sheer force of strength, he had absorbed a strike meant to wipe out a small army and had crippled seventy percent of the Guild's total strength in the process.
The eight hunters looked shaken to their core. They had spent months planning this operation, calculating for the interference of an Elite Four member. They had budgeted for a high-level threat , not a human reincarnation of a disaster.
Drake spat a thick glob of blood onto the dirt, the only sign of the internal pressure he was under, and looked up for a second as Daichi approached, then started at the enemies again. His gaze didn't waver from the eight hunters, his eyes as hard and unforgiving.
"Took your sweet time," Drake said, his voice a low, that seemed to vibrate in the chests of everyone present. "The data? Did you find what we came for, or did my men get injured for nothing?"
Daichi stepped up to Drake's flank, his Nidoking and Tyranitar immediately taking up a defensive posture to shield the injured behind them. "I have it," Daichi replied, his voice grim. "But we've been played, Drake. This whole Guild... the base, the hunters, the assassination... it's a setup. A distraction. They wanted us here, pinned down and bleeding, while the the actual people behind it move elsewhere."
Drake grunted, a sound of pure irritation. He didn't look surprised. He simply raised a hand, and the air pressure on the plateau spiked so sharply it made the hunters' Pokémon whine in terror. His six dragons shifted in unison, their eyes glowing with a terrifying intent. They had been holding back to protect the Elites and now, that leash was on the verge of snapping.
"A distraction, eh?" Drake adjusted his grip on his sleeves. "Then let's stop wasting time with the pawns and finish this. I've got a fishing trip with my niece tomorrow afternoon and these bloody bastards are in my way."