Five hours later.
The fleet arrived at Slateport City Harbor. Heiduo crouched on Garchomp's back and gazed into the distance at the flooded Slateport City, only to find that the situation was far better than expected.
The water had only reached the second floors of most buildings in Slateport City. At most, it was only ten meters deep, and that was along the coast. In places like Verdanturf Town, Mauville City, and Petalburg City, the situation might be even better.
Even better, Kyogre's power had been sealed within Sootopolis City, and the relentless rain had stopped. That was undoubtedly extremely beneficial to the rescue effort.
Behind Heiduo, large numbers of people were lowering electric lifeboats loaded with supplies and heading into the city.
Cargo ships could not enter the city, so they could only slowly transport supplies inward by lifeboat while rescuing people along the way.
Of course, delivering supplies was the priority. The Hoenn locals would handle the actual rescues.
The task of Gym Leaders like them was to guard the supplies from being stolen.
In the face of natural and man-made disasters, no one could be sure whether the person they saved was a bandit or an honest citizen.
And honest citizens and bandits could transform into one another at any time.
There were plenty of people taking advantage of the chaos, too.
Just as Heiduo considered heading in to assess the situation, a figure flew over from a distant building.
"Hey! You finally made it! How many people did you bring?"
The newcomer was a young man wearing swim trunks and nothing else, riding on Pelipper's back. When he saw Heiduo and the cargo ships below, his face lit up with joy.
"We brought a huge amount of supplies."
Heiduo avoided mentioning their numbers. It was not