"Th-they… where did they come from?" Mark pointed at the massive group of Houndour, speaking in utter disbelief.
"Let's talk after the assessment ends. From here on, the Houndour and Murkrow will be dispersed throughout Shadownight Town. If you need to send a message that can't go through the walkie-talkies, you can use them directly."
"Holy crap, that works too?!" Mark was stunned. But lacking a proper vocabulary, all he could say was "holy crap" to cover the situation.
"Let's move. If you don't have a rideable Pokémon, you can use Houndoom for now," Sato continued.
Everyone nodded immediately, then set off toward their assigned posts as fast as possible.
From beginning to end, no one asked Sato… if he and Akira were going to the Pokémon Center, then what about Shadownight Gym?
"Ralts…"
"Leave it to me."
Before Sato could finish, Ralts already understood his meaning. A bright evolutionary glow lit up, and when it faded, Ralts had evolved into Gardevoir.
"I'll protect our home, Toto. You can go deal with the enemy without worry!" Gardevoir's telepathy once again echoed in Sato's mind.
"I'm counting on you… Oh, and also, Trish."
"Don't worry, Sato! I'll stay at the Gym like a good girl~" Trish stood beside Gardevoir and replied sweetly.
"Alright, let's go, Akira." Sato turned and left the Gym with Akira.
---
At that moment, the "assault" team dispatched by the League had already taken out their maps and begun "attacking" the key locations according to their plan.
Since this was a "simulated city defense battle", of course they wouldn't do anything truly harmful.
However, every response from Shadownight Gym during the event would be recorded for the final evaluation.
-----
The battle erupted instantly!
The first to encounter the "invaders" were Joseph and the others, since the west entrance they had been sent to was the primary point of entry.
And the moment they saw the "invaders", Joseph realized the walkie-talkies had gone dead. The enemy had obviously brought signal jammers.
"Murkrow, Houndour, a large group of Pokémon at the west entrance. Uh… pass the message on?" Joseph wasn't sure how to issue the command and could only say it awkwardly.
But Murkrow and Houndour were clearly professionals. The two nodded seriously at Joseph, then one let out a long howl to the sky, while the other flapped its wings and cried out.
The most basic and direct form of sound transmission, but thanks to the pre-positioned Murkrow and Houndour all across town, the message traveled incredibly fast.
In Shadownight Town, the locals just thought the bird calls and dog barks were a bit more frequent today, unaware that the message had already reached Gardevoir at the Gym.
"Sato, there's a large group of Pokémon at the west side. Most of them will probably reach the town center soon," Gardevoir relayed via telepathy.
In truth, Gardevoir could have used its Psychic powers to cover the entire Shadownight Town, but the energy drain would've been too much.
Instead, it made more sense to pass messages via Murkrow and Houndour, and then have Gardevoir provide individual telepathic feedback.
That way, the others could get real training. Otherwise, if Gardevoir just puppeteered everything, what would be the point?
"Tell Joseph to let those invaders in. Once I give the signal, counterattack and hold the entrance," Sato said in his mind.
"Got it, Sato."
"Akira, go find Nurse Joy and tell her our Gym is undergoing the annual assessment. Stay by her side and protect her."
Sato and Akira were still en route, but once they got the message, they immediately adjusted their plan.
"Understood, Leader!" Akira was a bit confused in his heart… how could he protect Nurse Joy all by himself? But he didn't dare talk back.
"Gardevoir, tell Mark to have Sina stay where he is, and take Ponyo to assist at the Pokémon Center."
"Got it, Sato."
With the plan adjusted, Sato ducked into a side alley and sent out Cacturne, Sharpedo, Weavile, and Ariados all at once.
"Murkrow, guide your teammates. There are a lot of opponents, so you'll need to fight independently. If anything comes up, Murkrow, report it immediately and I'll send others to assist," Sato instructed the Pokémon.
All the Pokémon responded with a cry, each one heading off with a Murkrow down the narrow city paths.
Watching them vanish, Sato also sent out Zoroark and Umbreon to stay by his side, intending to take the offensive himself.
"Sato, message from Amber: the Intelligence Shop was attacked, but the assault wasn't strong and it's under control…"
"Sato, Mark and Sosuke encountered an attack the moment they reached the Pokémon Center. Sharpedo has arrived to assist, no issues so far…"
"Sato, Joseph reports that the invaders on the west side are showing signs of movement. He's asking whether to launch a counterattack…"
"Counterattack."
"Okay, Sato."
"Sato…"
"Gardevoir!"
"Hmm? What is it, Sato?"
"Could you… um, just get to the point and stop calling me every time…?
"Sato… doesn't like it?" Gardevoir's telepathy came through with noticeably hurt emotions.
"…Not exactly."
"That's good. Sato, Joseph's counterattack succeeded. All defenders at the west entrance have surrendered. Also, the Intelligence Shop is fully under control now. (˙▽˙)"
"Uh… where are the remaining enemies now?" Sato gave up resisting and decided to mentally detach himself from the rest of the assessment.
"One sec, Sato~ I'll summarize everything… Emmm… Some of them are heading for the Gym. Another group seems to be moving toward the Pokémon Center. They're close together, so it's hard to tell which direction has more."
"Tell Cacturne and the others to assist at the Pokémon Center. Murkrow and Houndoom too. Also, don't get involved. I'll head back to the Gym and deal with them. Wouldn't it be awkward if the assessment ended and they never even saw me?"
"If anyone should feel awkward, it's them, not you." Gardevoir boosted Sato with her words.
"We're all colleagues, gotta save 'face' for others," Sato replied smugly, then added seriously.
"Sato is happy?"
"I'm not…"
"Sato likes showing off~?"
"Ahem… Gardevoir, your tone is kinda off today!" Sato started sweating.
"I've been lurking the forums lately. Turns out the internet is so much fun," Gardevoir said cheerfully.
"…Who taught you that again? Sure, you don't need to train, but the internet's too messy, it's not right for you."
While chatting with Gardevoir via telepathy, Sato rushed to the Gym entrance, arriving just in time to see two "invaders" in uniform.
"Zoroark, Extrasensory. Umbreon, Psychic. Let's end this assessment." Sato still showed "mercy", going for control instead of harm.
"That's not certain. We're not the only ones who came." The invaders didn't resist much, but spoke to Sato in an even tone.
"Doesn't matter. You're just about the last ones left."