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When Hook saw Nidoking's silhouette, he immediately realized that the one who had ambushed him was that terrifying enemy, Sato. Although he hadn't spent much time interacting with Sato, he had witnessed how Sato crossed the underground lake earlier. Naturally, he did not dare to underestimate him.
"It's him! Damn it! Magmortar, forget about Machamp and Mightyena—attack with everything you've got! Use Fire Blast!"
Taking advantage of the moment when the thick water vapor blurred everyone's vision, he hurriedly retreated to Blastoise's side and then ordered the fully-alert Magmortar to unleash its full power.
At the same time, he rapidly pulled a sharp hunting knife from his storage backpack and used it to cut away the spiked Vine Whips wrapped around Blastoise.
But to his irritation, the vines were extremely tough and full of vitality. Even if he sliced them apart, the cut sections sprouted new tissue within seconds and reattached themselves.
Upon receiving Hook's command, Magmortar's flames surged, changing from orange-red to pale blue. Instantly, the temperature in the tunnel began to skyrocket again.
A giant blue flame-shaped character burst from Magmortar's mouth and shot toward the Nidoking preparing to emerge from the gap in the rock wall.
The moment the flaming symbol appeared, the surrounding white steam vanished, replaced by a wave of scorching heat.
Sato had been hiding behind Nidoking the entire time, using his psychic perception to monitor the battle without relying on sight. He knew Nidoking alone would struggle to withstand Magmortar's overwhelming flame attack.
"Nidoking, use Water Pulse!"
"Tentacruel, assist Nidoking—attack with Brine!"
He immediately released Tentacruel to help Nidoking deal with Magmortar.
A massive water sphere shot from Nidoking's mouth, and the freshly released Tentacruel fired a blue stream of water to reinforce it.
Although Magmortar's Fire Blast was powerful, the combined force of Water Pulse and Brine, plus their natural type advantage, was nothing to scoff at.
One-on-one, neither attack might surpass Fire Blast, but together—and with type advantage—Magmortar's attack couldn't stand its ground.
The blue flaming symbol was quickly overwhelmed by the huge water sphere and the rushing water, and soon the colliding moves detonated in a violent explosion.
The underground tunnel shook fiercely again, and another barrage of falling rocks rained down.
Facing the rockfall above their heads, both Sato and Hook wisely chose to pause the battle and take cover.
Sato had anticipated this outcome. He quickly ducked under the sturdy protective "umbrella" Nidoking created with its body, pulling the small-framed Roserade close while returning Tentacruel and Crobat into their PokeBalls.
He then ordered Roserade to use Grassy Terrain to heal Nidoking, who was suffering continuous damage from the falling rocks.
After much effort, Sato had finally managed to get this powerful healer Pokémon to temporarily follow his commands.
The method was simple: he made it clear—through telepathy—that he was not allied with the poachers.
He already possessed psychic abilities, making communication with Pokémon easy, and he had also captured Roserade with a PokeBall, allowing him to show through intent that he wasn't an enemy.
But words alone weren't enough. He needed action to prove it.
So along the way, he had actively fought off the poachers who came seeking death, and he even used his own healing supplies to treat the severely injured wild Pokémon within Dragon's Den.
These concrete actions were what earned Roserade's trust so quickly.
Although Roserade still behaved proudly and refused to give him a friendly expression, it no longer resisted his commands.
On the other side, Hook's situation was dire. His Blastoise, having suffered from Roserade's Giga Drain, had collapsed.
Machamp and Mightyena hadn't been defeated by Giga Drain, but they were heavily wounded—and both were poisoned due to Roserade's Poison Point ability, leaving them weak-legged and unable to defend even themselves.
As for Magmortar, Hook had no intention of going near it—he didn't want to be roasted alive by his own Pokémon.
In the end, because he failed to dodge in time, he was buried under a mass of falling rocks. Fortunately, at the last second, he pulled out an extremely durable metal plate to shield himself, preventing death by crushing.
After a short while, the tremors subsided and the rockfall ended.
With a loud crash, Nidoking emerged from the rubble, pushing aside stones and allowing Sato and Roserade—who had been sheltering beneath it—to crawl out.
Hook and his Pokémon were completely buried, but Sato easily located them using psychic detection.
Magmortar, Hook's strongest Pokémon, had been severely injured by the rockfall. When Nidoking dug it out first, it attempted to resist, but Nidoking immediately knocked it out with a Water Pulse.
One by one, Nidoking unearthed Hook and the rest of his Pokémon, and under Sato's command, Roserade bound them tightly with its thornless vines.
"What do you want? I don't think I've ever crossed you! If you're after money, I have an anonymous bank card with a deposit limit of 10 million PokeDollars—take it! And anything else valuable on me is yours!"
"If that's not enough, I also have some extremely rare Pokémon—but I didn't bring them here. If you agree to let me go, I'll give them all to you!"
Upon waking, Hook understood his situation instantly. Being a very practical man, he immediately offered everything he had in exchange for mercy.
"Relax. You're right—we have no personal conflict, so I won't kill you for no reason. I'm only here to rescue a Pokémon. Now tell me—which PokeBall contains Abra?"
Sato laughed at Hook's desperate tone and flattering posture. He nodded to show he meant no harm, then stated his purpose.
Hearing this, Hook's heart dropped to the bottom of the abyss. He knew he had been eliminated from the competition for the Pokémon egg.