The number of people who had fallen at their feet was not small.
Seeing Aoki appear, the three immediately approached while commanding their Pokémon.
"Aoki, you're out. Where is that person?" Steven asked, his once neat suit now looking a bit disheveled, and his Pokémon had all suffered injuries to varying degrees.
Aoki shook his head and didn't elaborate, "He's dead. I'll help heal your Pokémon first. You guys hold on. I'll see if I can bring back Elite Four Drake and the other two."
With that, he took out several special pills from his pocket and distributed them to the three, then had Florges cast Grassy Terrain for emergency treatment.
Steven and the others didn't say much. They took the pills, gave them to their Pokémon, and then arranged some of the more severely injured Pokémon in the Grassy Terrain.
Aoki closed his eyes on the spot, sensing the nearby alternate dimensions with the Unown.
These dimensional fluctuations might be hard for Aoki to find on his own, but for the Unown, it was like finding water, much simpler.
"Found it!" Aoki's eyes lit up. With spatial fluctuations attached to his right hand, he drew a line in the air, and a spatial rift appeared, revealing Cynthia waiting inside, along with a person in silver-gray clothes.
Apparently, he had underestimated Cynthia's strength; that person had already been captured by her.
Cynthia, however, couldn't get out until Aoki opened the alternate dimension.
With a smile, she walked out of the alternate dimension, pressing down on the person she had captured.
Upon exiting, he also noticed the grim situation on the battlefield. He patted Aoki's hand and said, "Aoki, you continue searching for the two Elite Four members. I'll go fight first!"
After speaking, he summoned his Pokémon again and charged into the battlefield, instantly defeating several members of the Hunter Association.
Seeing Cynthia appear on the battlefield, Old Man Yang's face turned ugly.
Aoki repeated the process and soon found Phoebe, releasing her as well.
Like Cynthia, the person who had been restraining Phoebe had also been captured by her.
After Phoebe thanked Aoki, she joined the battle without a word. Suddenly, the Alliance gained an absolute advantage.
Finally, Aoki spent a lot of time before finding Elite Four Drake's location. Just as he opened the spatial rift, a powerful surge of Dragon-type energy suddenly rushed out.
Looking inside, he saw that the woman, commanding Latias, Latios, and other Pokémon, was actually fighting evenly with Drake, making it impossible to tell who had the upper hand.
When her alternate dimension was forcibly opened, as the owner, the woman in the silver-gray coat naturally noticed it immediately.
Her eyes, as she looked at Aoki, were filled with intense curiosity.
"Elite Four Drake!" Aoki called out.
Drake, who was focused on the battle, saw Aoki and immediately showed joy, rushing out of the rift with his Pokémon.
Seeing the grim situation in the forest, Drake's expression turned ugly.
It was all because of these suddenly appearing people in silver-gray coats. Otherwise, this war should have been an absolute victory for the Alliance.
Just as Drake stepped out of the alternate dimension, the woman also appeared in mid-air shortly after, riding her Latios and Latias.
Her eyes were fixed on Aoki, her curiosity becoming increasingly apparent.
As for the grim battlefield and Drake, she completely ignored them.
Originally, the appearance of Winona and Phoebe had already made Old Man Yang feel somewhat overwhelmed. Now, seeing Drake also appear, he was instantly terrified.
He pointed at the woman in the silver-gray coat and shouted, "How did you people do things? You didn't stop a single person, so what promise are you going to fulfill now?"
Hearing Old Man Yang's voice, the woman came back to her senses, glanced at him lightly, and did not pay him any mind.
Then she lowered her head to look at her two bound subordinates.
Her eyes were indifferent, as if she was not at all surprised that they had been captured.
With a casual wave of her hand, the two on the ground groaned and fell, blood flowing from their seven orifices.
Aoki frowned.
It was the means of the Divine Cult again.
The woman looked deeply at Aoki again, as if she wanted to engrave him completely in her mind.
Then she and her Pokémon disappeared into thin air.
Old Man Yang stared blankly at the woman, momentarily at a loss for words.
The woman's disappearance seemed to be a signal. Those people invited by Old Man Yang began to scatter and flee.
But now, the enraged Drake and the Alliance members would not let them escape.
Including Old Man Yang of the Hunter Association, all of them were captured without exception.
The two major incidents caused by the sudden actions of Team Magma and Team Aqua had all come to an end.
As for the unrest in various towns, after the victory in these two major battles, they were no longer a cause for concern.
However, the Hunter Association battlefield, which should have been resolved smoothly, caused so many casualties due to the sudden appearance of those people.
Of the more than six hundred regular Alliance troops, less than three hundred were able to leave unscathed. Among these three hundred, only the people were fine, but their Pokémon had suffered injuries or even losses to varying degrees.
Furthermore, more than one hundred people died in the frontal battle, two hundred were injured, and countless Pokémon were lost.
This could be said to be the biggest loss for the Hoenn Alliance since its establishment.
It made Adams, who was far away at the Alliance headquarters, not only feel heartbroken but also a hint of remorse for his rash decision.
...
The main Alliance forces returned.
The forces from Meteor Falls and the forest outside Slateport City all returned together.
Adams, along with the high-ranking officials of the Alliance, welcomed everyone in the square of the Alliance headquarters, as well as the ashes of those heroes. The names of these people would be engraved on the hero monument at the Alliance headquarters.
This return was broadcast live on television throughout the region by the Alliance, informing all forces of the Hoenn Alliance's strength.
Adams delivered an inspiring speech in the square, mainly explaining the causes of these two incidents, the results achieved by the Alliance's efforts, expressing condolences to those who died in the two battles, and finally, highlighting and praising the younger generation of the Alliance, led by Aoki.
This brought the incident to a close.
After finishing his speech and answering a series of questions from the television media, the Alliance's high-ranking officials held another emergency meeting.
They discussed the sudden incidents involving Team Magma and Team Aqua, as well as the invasion by the Hunter Association, including the whereabouts of Team Magma and Team Aqua, the identities and purposes of the strangely dressed people who appeared on the Hunter Association battlefield, and how to deal with those who were captured, among other things.