Facing the Shiny Swoobat just within reach, Sato and Jona finally clashed head-on.
Sharpedo and Darmanitan were simultaneously keeping an eye on each other while also blocking Swoobat from escaping, completely overbearing.
As for the other Pokémon, Zoroark and Umbreon, one attacked and one defended, directly stopping Jona's Druddigon, Serperior, and Gothitelle.
Two against three, yet Zoroark and Umbreon were holding their ground effortlessly.
"Another team is coming! Hurry up!" Skyla was struggling to hold back Joseph, who wasn't even going all out, and at the same time anxiously passed along the intel.
"Forget it. The two of us will sit this one out for now." Joseph waved his hand and called back Weavile and Gallade. He really didn't want to bully Skyla, who only had two Pokémon left.
Skyla said nothing, but clearly let out a breath of relief. She quietly recalled her last two Pokémon, staying alert for any isolated Swoobat trying to attack her.
Elsewhere, Marlon and Phoebe's battle was much fiercer. A Water-type specialist versus a Ghost-type specialist, with no type advantage either way, both sides unleashed their full power with no holding back.
Waves crashed, dark winds howled. One moment it was a torrent of water, overwhelming and unstoppable; the next, clusters of Will-O-Wisp danced, eerie and unpredictable.
Neither could gain the upper hand in the short term, but neither could let the other pass either; so they were stuck in a deadlock.
Phoebe was confident that her Ghost-type Pokémon, with their strange and unpredictable abilities, could gain the advantage within five minutes and defeat her opponent.
But five minutes was too long.
Not only would Sato and Jona's fight for the Red Flag be over by then, but other participants wouldn't give them that much time either.
In the end, it all came down to who would win the clash between Sato and Jona and who would grab the Red Flag first.
On Sato's side, Ralts was still resting in his backpack. Unless it was absolutely critical, Sato didn't want to disturb it.
After all, this was a trial for the whole team. Whenever Ralts showed up, it felt like cheating, and the other Pokémon barely got any real training.
As for Ariados, Sato was clutching its Poké Ball tightly in his hand, clearly ready to send it out as support at any moment.
On the other side, Jona was gripping a Poké Ball too. Her intention was clear: if he sends backup, she will too.
…But in reality, Ariados had long since left its ball, and the golden-eyed Gengar wasn't hiding in Sato's shadow either.
Whenever there were outsiders around, Sato almost never let Gengar emerge directly from his shadow.
Even during the previous sparring match, Sato had put Gengar into its Poké Ball before sending it out.
So, the only Gengar fighting openly had always been Phoebe's.
That's why, when Jona committed to blocking Sato and sent Darmanitan to fight Sharpedo for the Red Flag, she had already fallen behind.
A minute passed. Jona looked at her three Pokémon still deadlocked with just Zoroark and Umbreon, and her face turned visibly anxious.
She felt Sato was way too calm, as if he already had the Red Flag in the bag.
Just then, Skyla reported again: another five-person team had broken through the Swoobat swarm and was rushing toward them.
"HEY! Someone else is coming!" Jona shouted, unable to hold back. The more she waited to see what Sato would do, the more hesitant she became.
"Joseph and Skyla don't want to fight. Phoebe and Marlon are locked in. Why don't we intercept the newcomers first?" Sato smiled and suggested seriously.
"Aren't we supposed to take down Swoobat first?!" Jona blurted out, genuinely starting to believe Sato's nonsense for a moment.
'No way!'
"True! In that case, I'll go ahead and take the Red Flag." Sato nodded and suddenly waved his hand toward the air.
"So you did have a backup plan!" Phoebe said as she glanced toward the Shiny Swoobat.
At this point, the Shiny Swoobat was in poor shape. It wasn't good at direct combat to begin with, and being a Flying-type whose movement was restricted made it even weaker.
Zoroark and Darmanitan were still watching each other warily but continued to deal damage to Swoobat whenever possible.
Suddenly, strands of electrically charged bug silk burst from underground, instantly forming an electrified web cage that trapped Swoobat within.
The sticky web cage began to contract violently, pulling Swoobat toward the ground.
But Sato wasn't the only one with a backup plan. A massive Golurk suddenly appeared from above, grabbing the web with both hands, completely ignoring the paralyzing current flowing through it.
"Tsk tsk… how did you even manage to hide that?" Sato asked in amazement. A Golurk nearly three meters tall suddenly emerging like that was quite the shock.
Yes, while invisibility was a "racial" trait of Ghost-types, not all Ghost Pokémon were capable of it.
For Golurk to learn invisibility was about as hard as teaching Gyarados Flamethrower or Thunderbolt.
Possible, yes. But incredibly difficult.
"Don't think you'll get the Red Flag from me that easily! Golurk, use Shadow Punch!" Jona raised her brow, finally feeling like she was getting some revenge.
"True, I won't get it from you. But… it's really not that hard." Sato didn't say much else and simply watched as Golurk's massive fists, like tires, pulled at the web.
"Gengegegegege~"
It was clearly a sinister laugh, yet there was something ethereal and carefree about it. Who else could it be but golden-eyed Gengar?
That Gengar phased half its body, passing through the electrified web, and with its now-solid plump hand, precisely grabbed the Red Flag.
Rip…
The Red Flag was pulled off cleanly and vanished alongside Gengar as it turned invisible.
The next moment, Gengar reappeared beside Sato with the Red Flag, and Sato unhesitatingly grabbed it.
The second Red Flag: secured!
"W-When did you…" Jona muttered blankly. Whether she was asking when Ariados had gone underground or when Gengar had set up its ambush was unclear.
All around them, the fighting quickly came to a halt. Ariados also withdrew its electrified web, letting the Shiny Swoobat escape.
Marshal, Phoebe, and the others slowly gathered. Most of those still present watched Sato with complicated expressions, many of them unconvinced.
Once the Red Flag was secured, it meant the points were already tallied for Sato. Fighting over it now was meaningless.
The more decisive participants had already chosen to leave, racing off to look for other flags.
Those teams that were closer, though unwilling to accept it, could only memorize Sato's face clearly… and turn to leave.
"You guys planned it all from the start. You sent Marshal -the one with the best sensory ability and able to detect Ghost Pokémon- away. That's how Sato's Gengar was able to stay hidden until the very end, right?" Skyla said to Joseph with certainty.
Joseph smiled. Skyla had only guessed part of it.
Sending Marshal away to keep Gengar from being discovered was true.
…And sending Mark and Ryoko to "assist" was Joseph's arrangement as well.
Partly to keep Jona's team from panicking and starting infighting too early, and partly to limit Marshal's movement; if it came to a fight, Ryoko and Mark together were more than enough to hold off Marshal.
Also, since Skyla was in charge of scouting, she had been held back from the beginning. Anyone could have stopped her.
What looked like a final 3-on-3 for the Red Flag had never been fair from the start. But Sato's team had bet everything on human nature's tendency to hope for luck.
And once someone hopes for luck… they won't go all in!
As for the final "clash" between Sato and Jona, They didn't need to plan anything.
He believed Sato could handle it.