In Lake Verity, the battle between the two giant Gastrodon was becoming increasingly dangerous. To avoid getting caught in the crossfire, Sato and the others retreated a considerable distance.
However, this time, both Sato and Joseph stood in front of Mark, clearly intent on shielding him.
Mark stood behind them, hands clasped together in a praying posture. Togekiss leaned against him, and both Trainer and Pokémon were faintly wrapped in a strange energy.
Both Sato's Dark Energy and Joseph's Viridian Power could clearly sense the presence of this energy.
But unlike them, neither Mark nor anyone else could see it with the naked eye.
Whether this power would affect the final outcome of the battle between the two giant Gastrodon… only time would tell.
Compared to the earlier three-way chaos, this 1v1 battle was clearly lasting much longer. Each side only had to focus on the opponent in front of them, without worrying about sneak attacks.
Perhaps because they had absorbed the pink glow released by the first Gastrodon, while their size hadn't changed much, their overall skills had noticeably improved.
But at this stage, Sato and Joseph no longer had much room to intervene. Only Mark could still use his special ability, a desperate attempt when there was nothing else left.
No one knew how much time had passed -Joseph even managed to make a sandwich for breakfast- before the two giant Gastrodon finally approached the end of their fight.
In the later stages of the battle, each time they clashed, a large number of true Gastrodon were separated from them, falling into the lake and vanishing from sight.
Sato and the others also noticed many of these Gastrodon fleeing Lake Verity, but seeing they were unharmed, they didn't bother interfering.
"GAAAAAS~"
"GAAAAAAS~"
Two nearly identical roars echoed from the center of Lake Verity, both sides had landed a Hydro Pump on each other at the same time.
The knockback effect of the Hydro Pump sent both giant Gastrodon toppling backward simultaneously.
At that exact moment, both Mark and Togekiss felt a sudden emptiness wash over them, their legs buckling as they nearly collapsed.
The fallen Gastrodon could no longer rise. Pink light appeared again, and both began to fully disintegrate, transforming into normal-sized Gastrodon.
Once all the Gastrodon had vanished from Lake Verity, the two massive orbs of pink energy in the air merged into one, rapidly shrinking into a pink energy sphere no bigger than a basketball.
Pop~
The pink energy sphere suddenly burst open. In a flash of blinding white light, a "cute" pink-and-white Pokémon appeared above Lake Verity.
"IT'S MESPRIT!" Mark, who had the sharpest eyes at times like this, pointed to the center of the lake and shouted loudly.
Indeed, the "final form" of the pink orb had become one of the Lake Guardians… Mesprit.
If Sato and the others hadn't discovered the underground base nearby beforehand, they might never have understood why Mesprit would have become an accomplice in destroying its own home.
"Meeees~"
A sorrowful cry echoed from the center of Lake Verity, Mesprit had just regained consciousness.
Seeing its once-beautiful home reduced to ruins, even a near-immortal Pokémon like Mesprit found it hard to accept.
Mesprit's return also stirred the Pokémon of the forests and rivers. As if seeing the return of their anchor, many of them began to emerge again, slowly returning in scattered groups.
Just when Sato and the others had thought for who knows how many times that the Lake Verity incident was finally over, Ralts suddenly used Teleport to land on Sato's shoulder and sent a telepathic message: "Look up!"
Sato looked up abruptly and saw a large helicopter suddenly appear in the sky.
It was identical to the one that had attacked them off the coast of Pastoria City!
And judging from its position, this time the helicopter wasn't targeting them, but rather Mesprit in the center of the lake, completely exposed.
Whoosh~
BOOOOM!
A massive iron net was launched from beneath the helicopter at high speed, shooting straight toward Mesprit.
Having only just gathered its energy and restored its true form, Mesprit was clearly in no state to respond properly and was immediately ensnared by the net.
"Meeees!"
A burst of white light flared from Mesprit's body, but quickly faded.
Nothing happened.
Sato and the others could easily guess even without thinking. Mesprit's Teleport had failed, and the iron net was clearly designed specifically to capture it.
Then, before Sato and the others could command their Flying-type Pokémon to go rescue Mesprit, the helicopter activated its cloaking system again and immediately turned to flee.
"Charge in, Guillotine!"
A voice rang out, one that felt faintly familiar to Sato and the others.
They turned to look and saw, from the other side of Lake Verity, two figures -one green and one purple- rapidly approaching.
The purple-black figure in front accelerated in a burst, instantly shooting toward the spot where the helicopter had just been, then continued upward.
BOOM!
An explosion rang out. When the large helicopter became visible again, it already had a massive hole blasted through it.
As it happened, the scene was nearly identical to when Sharpedo had pierced through a helicopter previously.
The purple figure quickly stopped mid-air, and Sato and the others finally got a clear look at it.
It was a seemingly ordinary Pokémon, but its aura revealed it to be an Elite Four Gliscor!
And in its massive pincers, it held the iron net that had trapped Mesprit. Without hesitation, Gliscor tore the net open in a few swift motions, successfully releasing Mesprit.
The green figure soon flew over as well, it was a Flygon. And standing on Flygon's back was none other than Sinnoh's Elite Four member, Bertha!
"Flygon, Boomburst!"
"Flyyyy!"
Flygon let out a clear cry, then unleashed a transparent wave of energy, forcefully pushing the falling helicopter toward the shore, preventing it from polluting Lake Verity.
This time, Mesprit had learned its lesson. It quickly nodded toward Gliscor in gratitude, then vanished in a flash of white light using Teleport.
Bertha squinted as she surveyed the ravaged Lake Verity. After letting out a soft sigh, she turned to look at Sato and the others on the shore.
Flygon carried Bertha to the trio's location, with Gliscor following closely behind. At a glance, one would never guess these two Pokémon were Elite Four level.
"Didn't expect to see you here. Can you explain in detail what happened at Lake Verity?" Bertha said seriously.
"No problem, but all three of our teams are completely exhausted and need urgent healing," Sato replied bluntly, stepping forward.
Bertha stared at Sato for two seconds, then finally said, "Come with me."