Chapter 59 : Opening Salvo

With shock on his face, Orion noticed three faint and invisible barriers in the city. All of them were in the form of domes, with their centres at the Saffron Gym. The first barrier covered the entire city. The second barrier covered nearly half of the city. The third and final barrier covered only the crucial buildings at the centre of the city such as the Gym, Pokemon Center, Silph Co., Poké Mart, Police Station, Hospital and the Dojo.

Orion wondered, 'Damn! How much Psychic energy will be needed to maintain 3 such Barriers? My Kadabra won't be able to maintain even one.

I did expect to see something like this as Sabrina had used this in the manga. However, she had only created one barrier in the manga.

That said, even though the barriers have taken shape, they lack energy as of now. I guess she just made her Pokemon form the skeleton of the barrier for the time being so that when the tide begins, they can directly infuse energy into the barriers and activate them.

That is quite ingenious! When I have to sleep in the wild, it'll be very helpful to have such a barrier. It's just that I'm not sure if Kadabra can make such barriers yet…'

Just like Orion, several other Psychics noticed the barriers as well. The trainees and younger trainers were surprised even more than Orion. As for the older ones, they had witnessed the barrier several times.

Saffron City continued preparing for the Tide for several days. The civilians were moved into underground bunkers. All the traps were set while the army was properly deployed as well two days before the tide was supposed to reach the city!

Nurse Joy had received reinforcements as well, ensuring that the Pokemon Center was well prepared to handle the high number of wounded Pokemons that they would need to treat.

Unknown to anyone except Sabrina, Lorelei had snuck into the city and mixed into the normal crowd without attracting any attention. Due to her disguise, no one realized that a member of the mighty Elite Four was among them!

Since all the traps were set, the trainers from Silph Co. and Dojo returned to the city. Damian Silph kept some trainers behind and the rest joined the army. As for the martial artists from the Dojo, they didn't join the army. Instead, they assembled together, forming their own 1000-man unit!

With nothing left to do, everyone waited for the tide to reach the city.

"Man, they sure are taking their time to reach the city!" Staring at the forests outside the city and noticing the lack of movements, a 24-year-old Trainer said aloud.

His friend chuckled and asked, "Do you think they are afraid of us? Haha!" His friend joined him in his laughter.

Similar talks were happening throughout the army. Needless to say, none of them actually thought so. On the contrary, every second they had to wait for the tide was torturous. It was just their attempt at easing their nerves.

Since they had some time, the soldiers hung around with their friends. Some got drunk, others stayed sober. The ones with families called them and had long talks. Even though the tide was a weak one, it didn't guarantee everyone's survival. The talks were very emotional.

A couple of days passed in this manner. Apart from the scouts, no one else had any work to do. Even so, everyone paid careful attention to any scout reports that appeared. They realized that the number of Pokemons in the tide exceeded their calculations. Fortunately, it didn't exceed by much.

Finally, on the next day, as the rays of the morning Sun fell on the Saffron City, loud sounds of bells woke up the entire city, except the ones in the Army, who were long awake! Everyone immediately realized, 'The Pokemon Tide is here!'

From the Gym, an Orange Light was emitted, rising towards the sky like a pillar. The Orange Alert had been issued! The city was officially at war!

Floating in the air some distance behind the army, Sabrina looked into the neverending forests and muttered, "5.5 million Pokemons… How many people will die this time?"

Seconds later, loud roars were heard. The Pokemon Trainers facing the tide felt the ground under their feet vibrate. The vibration wasn't due to any Pokemon attack. Instead, it was just due to the fact that such a large number of Pokemons were rushing towards them!

The Pokemon Trainers on the frontlines steeled themselves and grabbed their Pokéballs. However, not a single one of them released their Pokemons. Being a part of the army, they were awaiting their orders.

Eliza, who was the commander of the army facing the tide, squinted her eyes. The trees in the forest on their side were collapsing. Moments later, over ten thousand Geodudes, Gravelers and Golems could be seen rolling without any care directly towards the city! Anything that stood in their way was mercilessly crushed! Eliza understood that if they were left unchecked, they would destroy all the traps and hit the city extremely hard!

'Over a hundred thousand Pokemons are coming towards the city through Underground.' Floating next to her, Claydol conveyed the message to Eliza telepathically. Eliza nodded.

A blue glow appeared around her body as she commanded, 'Release Ground type Pokemons who aren't weak to Ground type attacks and unleash Earthquake and other equivalent attacks.'

Only the Pokemon Trainers at the frontlines heard her orders directly in their brains. In a synchronous manner, they released their Ground type Pokemons which didn't have Rock, Steel, Fire, Electric or Poison as their second type.

With near-perfect coordination, all Pokemons unleashed Earthquake, Magnitude or Bulldoze at nearly the same time! A shockwave travelled through the ground towards the incoming Golems.

Had Orion witnessed that scene, he'd be shocked. One of the biggest disadvantages of moves like Earthquake and Magnitude was that it didn't differentiate between friends and foes. However, since everyone had launched the attack at the same time, the shockwaves cancelled each other out while travelling towards each other, forming an unlikely equilibrium! It resulted in almost no Pokemon taking any injury!

The trainers behind them had anticipated the Earthquake after seeing the Ground type Pokemons. All released Pokemons that could help them stay off the ground until the attack passed.

Unlike them, the Golems weren't so lucky. All were hit by a deadly Earthquake! The Earthquake was so powerful that the entire Saffron City felt the tremors. Several Geodudes and Gravelers dropped dead and crumbled. Most Golems met the same fate. Only a few were still alive, but they were no longer rolling towards the city. They were stopped!

Of course, another group had it far worse than Golems. They were the Pokemons who were travelling through the underground. Several of those Pokemons were weak to Ground type attacks. In addition, being underground increased the damage they took considerably.

The damage was so high that every baby and young Pokemon died underground. The Intermediate tier Pokemon were nearly wiped out as well. Half of the Advanced Pokemons met their end as well. Only the Elite Pokemons could protect themselves.

Unfortunately for them, that wasn't the end of their misery. What was catastrophic was that the Earthquake had destroyed the underground tunnels that were filled with water. The poor Ground type Pokemons, who had just endured a mighty attack, were quickly engulfed by water that seemingly came out of nowhere! They immediately began escaping above the ground instinctively! However, that place wasn't safe by any means!

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