As Julian headed toward the direction the Slowpokes had previously been looking, the situation at the coastal area took a sharp turn.
At the site of the closing banquet for the Hundred Schools League, participants began noticing something unusual.
Wade abruptly stood up from his seat, his expression a mix of confusion and seriousness as he observed countless Water-type Pokémon surfacing from the sea. Their numbers were growing by the second.
Everywhere he looked, there were Water-types, and they were all steadily moving toward the shore.
The participants and teachers leading the Hundred Schools League quickly realized something was wrong and began releasing their Pokémon.
"Should we push them back?"
Yuna released her Blaziken. Despite being a Fire-type Trainer with a disadvantage against Water-types, she noted that most of these Pokémon were low-level, likely below Advanced rank.
"Wait, let's find teacher Wade first," Max quickly interjected.
Though the Water-types were advancing toward them, they showed no signs of hostility. Attacking them first might provoke a counterattack.
"Their numbers are increasing!"
By now, nearly ten thousand Water-types were visible, and as they continued to surge toward the shore, more Pokémon joined from the rear.
"Those with Light Screen moves, set up barriers to hold them back," ordered Oliver, a representative of the First Military Academy.
As a general, Oliver was well-versed in handling large-scale battles.
If it weren't for the uncertain intent of these Water-types, Oliver might have already resorted to force. For now, the priority was to create a barrier to block them.
"Contact Haitian City officials immediately and find out what's happening!" Oliver barked.
The sheer number of Pokémon—at least ten thousand—moving toward Haitian City indicated that something was drawing them in.
"Report: The Haitian City Trainers' Association is also in the dark about this. However, wild Slowpokes within the city suddenly began moving in one direction earlier, causing chaos. The Slowpokes have since stopped moving"
Oliver's subordinate reported after contacting the Trainers' Association.
At that moment, the Trainers' Association itself was in turmoil. The on-duty Trainers at the association had all been killed.
"Where are the people from the monitoring station? Are they utterly useless? How could they miss this many Pokémon making landfall?" Oliver shouted furiously.
The staff at the monitoring station had their own frustrations. They had already reported the mass Pokémon movement to the Trainers' Association when the radar first detected the surge.
The Trainers' Association had assured they would send people to investigate the matter.
However, an unsettling question arose: if the staff in the association were all dead, then who had answered the calls they'd made earlier to that station?
Although the Light Screen moves had temporarily held back the Water-types attempting to land, Haitian City's coastline spanned over 100 kilometers, with the current barrier covering only a tiny portion.
Suddenly, the phones of both Wade and Oliver began ringing simultaneously.
As the two answered, the phones of other University representatives also started ringing one after another.
A minute later, Wade and Oliver hung up, their expressions grim.
The information they received confirmed their worst fears: Haitian City was now surrounded by countless Water-type Pokémon. While the group in front of them numbered over 10,000, even larger numbers had already landed elsewhere along the coastline.
Considering the entire stretch of the 100-kilometer coastline, the total number of Pokémon making landfall might exceed a million.
Meanwhile, the Water-types blocked by the Light Screen began to grow impatient. They started launching attacks against the barriers.
While individually weak, mostly below Advanced-level, their sheer numbers overwhelmed the defending Pokémon. Furthermore, the Pokémon deploying the Light Screen barriers varied widely in strength themselves.
Soon, sections of the Light Screen crumbled, allowing some Water-types to break through and reach the shore.
"We need to split up. Wade, you take 30 university teams and stay here," Oliver commanded.
"Shu university's lead teacher, you take another 30 teams and head east."
"The rest will come with me to the south."
Their current position was at the northern coast of Haitian City, the city was surrounded by water on its northern, eastern, and southern sides.
The southern coast had the longest stretch, so Oliver assigned himself the largest group.
The banquet had brought together nearly all participants and staff from the Hundred Schools League. Including reserves, there were around 1,000 people present.
Among them, every participant was at least Advanced-level, and top universities fielded pseudo-Elite-level students.
All the teachers leading teams were peak pseudo-Elite or above, with seven Trainers at the Elite level. Among them there were peak Elites like Wade and Oliver.
After Oliver and the teacher from Shu university led their groups to the south and east, Wade remained in charge of the northern section, overseeing the students and staff from Imperial University and 30 other colleges.
The Water-types had started landing in large numbers, and the Light Screen barriers were no longer enough to hold them back.
Although their motives for entering Haitian City remained unclear, one fact loomed large: the city was home to over 8 million residents. If these wild Pokémon infiltrated the city, the devastation would be catastrophic.
"Stop them at all costs!"
Wade ordered, issuing the command to attack.
Until they uncovered the cause of this mass migration, there was no way to resolve the situation peacefully.
Over 300 Trainers stood ready, each carrying at least six Pokémon. While not everyone had deployed their entire teams, the battlefield was already packed with nearly 1,000 Pokémon.
Under a barrage of moves, most of the Water-types below Advanced level collapsed almost instantly, unable to withstand the sheer force of the coordinated attacks.
"Notify Julian to get here, now!" Wade commanded.
Although the devastating assault cleared a large portion of the area, within moments, more Water-types surged from the ocean to the shore.
Even Magikarp flopped onto the beach with Splash, joining the relentless push.
This desperate and unrelenting march toward Haitian City deepened Wade's unease.
Worse still, he noticed that the new wave of Water-types was stronger than the last, resembling a fearless advance of soldiers ready to sacrifice everything. The tide showed no signs of slowing.
"We've already informed him," Max replied quickly.
Meanwhile, Julian was speeding toward the direction where the Slowpokes had previously gazed. He had flown nearly 200 kilometers on Dragonite, almost reaching the outskirts of Haitian City, yet he found nothing out of the ordinary.
Just then, Max's call came through.
"Understood. I'll head there right away"
"Dragonite, change course! Fly toward the awards ceremony site!"
From Max's description, countless Water-type Pokémon were emerging from the sea, moving toward Haitian City in an unending stream.
The cause remained unknown.
But given the earlier behavior of the Slowpokes, it was likely that these Water-types, like the Slowpokes, were driven by a shared instinct to protect something.