Drake threw his pokeball and his Salamence materialized.
"Hyper Beam. Level it," Drake ordered.
The dragon unhinged its jaw. A yellow-hot pillar of energy slammed into the steel bulkhead. The mountain shook. The wall was vaporized.Alarms shrieked. Red lights flashed deep in the tunnel. Dozens of Guild members scrambled toward the breach, Pokéballs in hand.
"That's the dinner bell," Drake said. He adjusted his coat. "Ten of you, with me. We hold the mouth of this cave. Nobody gets past."The ten trainers stepped forward. They released a wall of Gyarados, Aggron, Machamp, Blazikens, sceptiles, Swamperts and Breloom . The frontline was set.Drake looked at Daichi. "Take the other five. Go deep. Get the data, find the survivors, and burn their servers," Drake said. "We'll keep the main force busy."
Daichi nodded. He signaled to the five remaining Elites.
"Follow me," Daichi said.
They moved into the smoke. Behind them, the first wave of Guild Pokémon hit Drake's line. Explosions rocked the entrance.Daichi didn't look back. He ran into the heart of the facility.Drake watched the smoke swallow Daichi and the five trainers.
"They're in," Drake said. He turned his back to the tunnel.The mountain pass was crawling. Fifty Guild trainers emerged from the rock face and the forest. Most were Ace-level. They formed a semi-circle, blocking the exit.
"Surround them!" a Guild leader yelled. "Kill the old man first!"
Drake didn't move. He tapped five more balls.
Haxorus thudded onto the dirt, its tusks gleaming. Kingdra hovered in a slick of summoned rain. Dragonite landed heavily, its presence pinning the air. Noivern and Altaria took to the sky, flanking the massive Salamence.
The Guild members froze. The air felt thick. These weren't Elite Four-level Pokémon. They were higher probably on low champion tier.
"You're in the way," Drake said.
His six dragons fanned out. The pressure was suffocating. The Ace trainers looked at their Manectrics and Mightyenas. Their Pokémon were whimpering.
"It's fifty against eleven," a Hunter shouted, trying to steady his shaking hand. "We have the numbers!"
Drake pulled a cigar from his pocket but didn't light it. He looked at the wall of enemies.
"Numbers don't win wars," Drake said. "Strength does."
He raised his hand. Drake's team stood their ground. Behind him, the ten Elite trainers released their squads. Six Pokémon each. Sixty Elite-level Pokémon joined Drake's six dragons.Sixty-six pokemon against three hundred pokemon. The Guild pushed forward. Three hundred Pokémon, Rhyhorns, Electivires, Skarmorys, manetric, Houndooms, Mightenyas and toxicroak charged across the rocky slope. It was a wall of steel and muscle.
"Hold the line," Drake said.
The ten trainers commanded in unison. A barrage of Thunderbolts and Ice Beams met the Guild's charge. The front rank of the Guild's force collapsed, but more surged over the fallen. Drake's Haxorus stepped forward. It caught a charging Rhyhorn by the horns and snapped its neck with a single Guillotine.
"Kingdra, Dragon Dance. Noivern, Boomburst," Drake barked.
The Kingdra spiraled in the rain, its speed doubling. Noivern let out a sonic screech that shattered the eardrums of the nearest Hunters. The air was a mess of fire and debris. Drake's dragons moved like titans. Salamence took flight, raining Dragon Pulse down into the thickest part of the enemy crowd. Each blast cleared a ten-meter radius.
"They're not breaking!" a Hunter screamed.
"They're Elites for a reason," Drake muttered.
The 300 Guild Pokémon were Ace-level, but they were hitting a wall of Champions and high-tier Elites. The numbers were shrinking fast. Drake looked toward the facility entrance. The distraction was working. The entire Guild garrison was focused on him.
"Keep them here," Drake ordered his trainers. "Nobody leaves this meat grinder."
The 50 hunters parted. Five men stepped forward. Their presence was different, it was heavier. They were the Guild's regional commanders, all Gym Leader-level.
"Reinforcements are 30 minutes out," Drake said, checking his watch. "Sidney and Glacia are slow." He looked at the five commanders. They released their aces: a Nidoqeen, a Gyarados, a Magmortor, an Ursaring, and a pidegeot.
"Focus on the fodder," Drake commanded the ten Elite trainers. "These five are mine."
Drake sighed. He adjusted his cap. "I'm too old for this. I should be on a porch somewhere." He didn't look tired. He looked bored. Salamence and Dragonite took the flanks. Haxorus stood center. Kingdra, Noivern, and Altaria hovered above.
The five commanders attacked at once. Stone Edge, Hydro Pump, and Fire Blast lit up the mountain. Drake didn't flinch. His dragons intercepted the moves with raw power, swatting them aside.
"Is that it?" Drake asked.
He scanned the tree line. Something was off. The Guild had responded too fast. He didn't like how 50 hunters suddenly appeared. They weren't just defending , they were flanking from positions they shouldn't have reached yet. The forest behind the League's line was crawling with movement.
Drake's eyes narrowed. The bad feeling in his gut sharpened. This wasn't a desperate defense. It felt like a trap.
"Daichi better move fast," Drake muttered. "I don't like where this is going ."
Five minutes in. The mountain air smelled of burnt flesh and iron.
The five Guild commanders had emptied their belts. Thirty Pokémon now circled Drake's six. Behind Drake, the ten Elite trainers were heaving. They were elite tier, but the sheer volume of the Guild's 300 strong horde was grinding them down.
"Too soft," Drake grumbled. "The new generation has no stamina."
He spat his cigar out."Salamence! Dragonite! Into the Front!"
Drake stepped forward, leaving the safety of the Elite line. He became a magnet for the aggression. The five gym-leader level hunters and fifteen elite scouts saw the opening. They diverted their attention, desperate to take down the Elite Four's heavy hitter.
Drake's six Pokémon were now engulfed. 120 enemies,Golems, onix,rhyhorns, and Scizors swarmed them. The pressure on the Elite trainers vanished instantly. The enemy count in front of them dropped from 300 to 180.
"Don't just stand there!" Drake roared over his shoulder. "Clean up the trash while I hold the door!" In the center of the chaos, Drake's dragons became a whirlwind.
Haxorus used Outrage, swinging its axe-head through anything that moved. Dragonite took a Stone Edge to the chest, didn't flinch, and countered with a Thunder that arched through the wet air, leaping from target to target. Kingdra whipped up a Muddy Water vortex, blinding the ground-based attackers.
Drake stood in the middle of the storm, arms crossed. He didn't look like a man fighting a small army. He looked like a man waiting for the bus.
"You've got twenty-five minutes until my help arrives," Drake told the Guild commanders. "I suggest you use them wisely."