Illusion.
This was Zoroark's exclusive Ability. Unlike Ditto's Transform move, Illusion only mimicked the appearance of another foe. In essence, it was still Zoroark.
In his previous life, Sato had long lost count of how many times they had used Zoroark's Illusion to complete missions and evade pursuit.
And now, watching the freely moving Zoroark, Sato suddenly felt as if he had returned to those days.
Illusion wasn't particularly effective in battle; at most, it could surprise the opponent with a type-disadvantage counterattack.
But in the Trial Tournament, Zoroark had become an even more troublesome opponent than Ghost-types.
When a "traitor" suddenly appeared within a team, it was far more serious and terrifying than facing a tough enemy head-on.
And now was just such a moment. After being hit by Surf, Zoroark could no longer maintain its Illusion and "returned" to its original form.
Even so, Zoroark had successfully secured the Blue Flag and delivered it to Sato at incredible speed.
The other two teams shot Sato's group a hateful glare, but knowing they were not to be trifled with, they turned and left.
"Let's move too. That tremor just now definitely wasn't caused by any ordinary Pokémon," Joseph urged as soon as Sato put the Blue Flag back in his backpack.
No one delayed. They quickly released their ride/mount Pokémon and rushed off.
Not far from them, in a huge cave, a swarm of Swoobat hanging upside down from the ceiling had been provoked. Hundreds upon hundreds of Swoobat and Woobat swirled through the air, attacking the participants who kept pouring in.
And in the center of the swarm, a strangely colored Swoobat with a golden head and green fur flapped its wings steadily, keeping itself fixed in the middle, barely moving.
A closer look revealed that this Shiny Swoobat had a Red Flag hooked onto its claw-like feet!
The second Red Flag had appeared, and the guardian Pokémon was a Psychic/Flying-type far more troublesome than Durant: Swoobat.
As the chaos escalated, by the time Sato and his group arrived, the battlefield was already in utter disorder.
Teams were battling Swoobat. Participants were battling other participants. Even the Swoobat themselves had fallen into disarray, with several attacking one another.
The root cause, of course, was the gleaming Red Flag on that Shiny Swoobat, it had captured the attention of every participant on the field.
"Close ranks! Move in slowly, don't rush!" Joseph shouted, and Sato's group immediately tightened formation.
"Switch roles. Sato on offense, the rest focus on defense!"
Phoebe and Sato reacted to the order at once, one retreating, the other advancing; they switched places in an instant. The moment Sato took position, he had already thrown out three Poké Balls.
Zoroark, Sharpedo, and Umbreon.
"Night Daze, Dark Pulse, Crunch."
All three Dark-type Pokémon sprang into action. They tore open a gap and forced their way onto the battlefield.
"Ryoko and Mark, watch for nearby participants! Phoebe, block any that slip past!"
"No problem!"
Phoebe also sent out three Ghost-type Pokémon at once.
That's why Joseph had put Sato in charge of offense: he could go all out without restraint.
And indeed, even Umbreon chose to charge in and fight head-on against the Swoobat, without a trace of a defensive mindset.
Sato's team was like a sharp knife, stabbing into one corner of the battle and charging with overwhelming momentum straight toward the Shiny Swoobat.
"Marshal, I spotted Sato's group!" From the other side of the battlefield, Skyla, sharp-eyed, reported to her captain.
"Ignore them, we keep moving forward. That Shiny Swoobat clearly controls the entire swarm. Otherwise, there's no way they'd all attack together."
Marshal's expression was tense. Fighting-types were completely countered by Swoobat, and the one with the strongest offense -him- was now forced to play defense.
"Sato specializes in Dark-types. He's way better at dealing with Swoobat than we are. Weren't we supposed to help each other out?" Jona, usually carefree, spoke with meaning.
"…Slowly move toward them, but don't make it obvious," Marshal said after a moment of silence.
Marlon glanced at Jona and Marshal but said nothing. Instead, he just had Cryogonal and Vanilluxe attack more fiercely.
While he did specialize in Water-types, he also had several very capable Ice-types. So dealing with Swoobat was no problem for him.
Swoobat were numerous and Flying-types, skilled at evasion. It was hard to bring down many at once, which made the battle drag on endlessly.
Plus, under the command of the Shiny Swoobat, whenever one area became intense, it would send in another group of Swoobat to reinforce it.
Faced with an overwhelming wave of Swoobat, Sato's group was forced to slow their advance.
"Boss, looks like someone's slowly approaching us," Mark said, glancing sideways with an uncertain expression.
Sato turned to look for a moment, then immediately recognized the four approaching "figures" as Marshal's team.
"Are we really going to team up?" After Sato informed everyone, Mark asked in surprise, clearly reluctant.
"Sure, more people means we're more likely to get swarmed, but once we pass a certain number, the Swoobat start getting in each other's way," Ryoko said, face a little pale. Surrounded by a dense swarm of bats, she was clearly queasy but still kept calm and shared her view.
"I agree to the 'alliance'. But in the final moment, the Red Flag is ours," Sato commanded his three Pokémon to unleash a fierce assault on the Swoobat without even turning his head.
"Alright, let's move closer!" Joseph stopped hesitating and began adjusting their course.
Before long, with coordinated efforts on both sides, the two teams seamlessly merged.
"Phoebe, Marlon, you two join the offense team. Marshal, get into the inner ring, I'll heal you. Skyla, you scout and keep us updated on the progress of other teams. Everyone else focus on defense and make sure we stay safe."
Joseph didn't hold back from taking command. With both Sato and Phoebe on their side, their contribution against the Swoobat was clearly greater, they had earned the right to lead.
Of course, if they had been facing a swarm of Gigalith instead, things might have played out differently.
Marshal's team wasn't stupid either. They quietly accepted Joseph's instructions; consider it a chance to rest and recover a bit.
Once the team expanded, the number of Swoobat noticeably increased. But the space was only so big, and now with Sato's trio all attacking at once…
What couldn't be hit before due to scattering now couldn't dodge at all because of how cramped it was.
…Maybe thinning the Swoobat's numbers?
That only made it easier to sweep them away!