Balance, Su Hao understood.
To make the task seem challenging enough to train him, the mentor had assigned him four... the most ordinary teammates.
"Without any Water-type Pokémon, that means underwater combat capability is limited, and those that can't fly will have to rely on a raft to cross the lake."
In contrast, if he had teamed up with Liu Ren and the others...
Liu Ren had the Tidal Frog King, and Gu Lingyao's Tidecaller Nymph and Fairy Snail were top-tier Water-type Pokémon, easily able to propel a raft using moves like Wave Riding.
By the way, what about the Lava Dragon Turtle?
Liu Ren, who had failed to latch onto a strong team, also thought of this question. "Mentor, look, with the Lava Dragon Turtle's heavy weight, once it gets on the raft, the whole thing would fall apart, right?"
Mentor Ma glanced over. "Heavy Pokémon can stay off the raft, but the others can't be left behind."
"Now, the timer starts!"
...
"Classmate Su Hao, please assign us tasks. We'll do our absolute best."
A female classmate with the surname Lin in the same team mustered the courage to say, then quickly lowered her head, a slight blush on her face.
Seeing this, another male student felt envious and jealous, especially... as he kept glancing at Lin, who was secretly sneaking looks at Su Hao. It was just...
But that was Su Hao, the big shot. He was hopeless, orz!
The name Su Hao might not be known to upperclassmen, but freshmen had all heard his legends one way or another.
Su Hao easily took command.
He looked toward the forest.
The trees in the new world were very tall and of excellent quality. Using these trees, they could build a relatively large raft with enough buoyancy.
The only problem was the craftsmanship.
But if the craftsmanship wasn't enough, Pokémon could make up for it.
Aside from Su Hao himself, the main Pokémon of the four teammates were: Rainforest Gigantopithecus, Elephant General, Snowfield Celestial Deer, and Thornblade Assassin.
Three Ground-types and one Ice-type.
So he found it troublesome.
Except for the Snowfield Celestial Deer, which could walk on water, the other Pokémon all needed to ride the raft.
On the raft, let alone fighting, even a slightly larger movement could cause the whole thing to collapse.
"Your Rainforest Gigantopithecus and Elephant General will handle the binding. Lin Jing, you and the Snowfield Celestial Deer find suitable vines. Huang XX, your Thornblade Assassin and my Blaze Crow will cut down the trees."
The Thornblade Assassin was the final evolution of the Ground-type Pokémon, the Spiny Hedgehog.
It had a humanoid form, with brown spines like long hair cascading from its head down to its legs. Its claws merged together, evolving into a sword-like shape, making it a rare agile assassin-type among Ground-types.
After assigning the tasks, the five people and over a dozen Pokémon scattered into the forest.
...
The raft-building competition was in full swing.
With Pokémon help and high-quality materials sourced on the spot, the rafts they pieced together all looked decent.
At a certain spot by the shore, a Polar Nine-Tails was spewing frost, freezing the front and back of a raft to reinforce it continuously.
On one side, a boy in white clothes occasionally glanced into the distance.
He was looking in Su Hao's direction.
His eyes burned with fighting spirit.
He had lost again and again, fought again and again, but as a man of the Bai family, he would never give up.
"Before, whether in direct confrontations, task competitions, or assessment battles, I've lost. But today, I will win."
Bai Hongzhen wasn't being arrogant.
He admitted he wasn't as good as Su Hao.
The Polar Nine-Tails was temporarily... no match for the Dream Butterfly or the Blaze Crow, but...
"Today, I have the advantage of terrain and allies!"
Terrain: besides his ace Polar Nine-Tails, his two main Pokémon, the Tidal Frog King and the Giant Cannon Lobster, were both Water-types, giving them an edge in the lake environment!
Allies: the teammates the mentor assigned him were stronger than Su Hao's teammates!
With such a big advantage, Bai Hongzhen felt... he couldn't lose anymore!
...
An hour later.
"Time's up. Teams that have finished building their rafts can start crossing the lake."
King Wu's voice carried far, reaching everyone's ears.
Splash—
One by one, rafts were pushed into the water by Pokémon, sending up countless splashes.
"Let's go too. Tell your Pokémon to stay as still as possible."
Su Hao said to the two male classmates.
Their Rainforest Gigantopithecus and Elephant General carefully boarded the raft and then curled up into balls.
Su Hao's Thunder Bear also looked pitifully cramped.
As for the others, like the Thornblade Assassin or the first-stage evolved Pokémon, they weren't big. After all the people and the Pokémon that couldn't fly or swim boarded the raft, it wasn't too crowded.
Su Hao stood at the front of the raft and tossed out a vine, which the Aqua Beast caught with a "shiu" sound in its mouth.
Together with the Snowfield Celestial Deer, it began to pull the raft forward.
The raft glided across the lake, ripples spreading outward, heading toward the Thousand Peaks Island at the edge of sight.
Before long...
Su Hao's raft had fallen far behind.
He saw Gu Lingyao's raft, with Water-type Pokémon controlling it, shooting forward like it had a propeller installed, zooming off in an instant.
Li Songting's raft had two wooden stakes nailed to the back. His Master Hound burst into muscle form, pressing its hands on the stakes, its feet constantly vibrating as it stepped on the water, pushing forward with all its might.
The water surface exploded with countless waves, but that raft also surged ahead rapidly.
In comparison,
The Aqua Beast didn't have enough water power.
Nor enough strength.
The Snowfield Celestial Deer was even worse.
Should he add the Blaze Crow to pull the raft?
Su Hao fell into thought.
...
Whoosh~
The lake breeze blew.
Bai Hongzhen stood at the front of his raft, looking around.
Around him, several rafts were keeping pace with him in the first tier.
But Su Hao's raft wasn't among them.
He looked back again, searching for a while...
"Su Hao, Su Hao, you've let me down so much."
Unable to find Su Hao, he stopped looking and urged the Pokémon working hard under the raft, like the Tidal Frog King, "Come on! Keep it up! Today, we're going for first place!"
...
King Wu stood in midair, looking down at the lake below.
Behind him, a Puppeteer Golem followed, using telekinesis to support him without a trace.
"About time."
Seeing that the first tier had already crossed half the distance, King Wu said to the other mentors, "Time to add some difficulty for them."
The mentors nodded, smiling.
Mentor Ma, a Water-type specialist, rode a Cloud-Dragon Horse through the air, scattering invisible, odorless powder.
It was a specially formulated lure powder targeting the Water-type Pokémon of Dragon Court Lake.
As the powder scattered, some students' Water-type Pokémon seemed to catch a whiff of something delicious, but the scent vanished an instant later.
They paused, dazed, then continued their labor.
Just then,
Splash—
Columns of water erupted from the lake, and Pokémon with reddish-brown bodies, antennae on their heads, and harpoon-like weapons on their claws leaped out from the lakebed.
Pokémon: Lobster Soldier!
One of the common Pokémon in the Dragon Court Lake area.
"Why are so many wild Pokémon suddenly appearing?!"
Some students panicked as their Pokémon fought to repel the endless Lobster Soldiers. "These are just basic-level Pokémon, but they're acting like they're on steroids. Even elite-level pressure won't scare them off?"
Someone thought.
Suddenly, crack—
A pair of giant claws emerged from underwater, snipping a massive gap in the middle of a ten-meter-long raft.
The students on the raft panicked.
The next moment,
Boom—!
A huge water column exploded, directly splitting the raft in two.
In the waves, a humanoid Pokémon, two to three meters tall and wide, also reddish-brown with two claws, appeared.
"It's, it's a Crab General!"
Elite-level Crab Generals appeared one after another, stirring up waves and exploding water columns, sending droplets raining down like a storm.
In an instant, rafts were destroyed and people sank, not a rare sight.
Some students managed to save themselves, having their Flying-type Pokémon scoop them up and fly back to shore in defeat.
Those who couldn't save themselves found a telekinetic force enveloping them, flinging them back with a whoosh.
Su Hao's team raft was at the back.
But it still caught the attention of wild Pokémon.
Splash—
A Crab General leaped out from the lakebed, its giant claws gleaming as it swung at the Snowfield Celestial Deer pulling the raft.
The aerial patrol, Blaze Crow, saw this and immediately let out a "caw," turning into a streak of fire diving straight down.
With a swoosh, a clear crack appeared on the Crab General's shell. It had barely been on the scene for half a second before it crashed back into the water with a thud.
"Stay calm, don't panic. It's no big deal."
Su Hao told the Pokémon on the raft not to move and had the Aqua Beast sink beneath the raft to defend.
Then he stroked his chin, thinking.
They were already slow, and with the Dragon Court Lake Pokémon interfering, they'd probably end up in the last twenty teams.
This wouldn't do.
Su Hao looked ahead. Water columns exploded, waves surged, and rafts fell apart in battle.
One raft was even swallowed whole by a Giant Kun that suddenly emerged from the depths, barely escaping with its life...
Wait, Giant Kun?
As the evolution of the Salted Fish King, a Giant Kun usually had elite-level strength upon evolution, with considerable development potential.
But raising a Salted Fish King to meet evolution conditions was extremely difficult.
Still, the Giant Kun's combat power was undeniable, and with its massive size, it put immense pressure on the students.
One Giant Kun destroyed several rafts in minutes.
The surrounding teams were desperately trying to get away from it.
But Su Hao's eyes lit up. "Little Butterfly..."
"Guno~!"
She understood immediately, turning into a breeze and flying off, landing on the Giant Kun's head in moments.
Her orb circled around her, and her illusion technique enveloped it.
It was just an elite-level wild Giant Kun, so Die Xiaodie's power was overwhelming.
She spent a few minutes having a "friendly chat" and "magical persuasion" with the Giant Kun, and finally...
A Giant Kun surged through the waves.
Heading straight for their position.
On the raft, the other four, unaware of the situation, tensed up. They believed Su Hao, the big shot, could handle the Giant Kun, but one pounce from it could destroy their raft...
"Wait, look, there's someone... no, a Pokémon on the Giant Kun!"
One of the team's boys, sharp-eyed, spotted the small figure on the Giant Kun, and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
So the Giant Kun...
Had an owner!
That didn't sound quite right either!
...
Ten minutes later.
"Guno~ (Charge!)"
Die Xiaodie stood on the Giant Kun's head.
The Giant Kun's tail dragged a raft, moving at incredible speed.
Around the raft, underwater, several "persuaded" Crab Generals acted as guards.
Occasional Lobster Soldiers were swatted away with a claw.
Rare Crab Generals were ganged up on by these "traitors."
If there were too many, they'd lure them to the surface for One-Slash Blaze Crow to handle.
Whoosh—
Su Hao's luxury team rode the wind and waves. The massive island grew larger in view, revealing straight, towering, blade-like peaks.
Thousand Peaks Island was almost there!
...
At the same time.
Under the harassment of the shrimp and crab soldiers, only three rafts remained in the lead.
Bai Hongzhen stood at the front of his raft. He had forgotten about Su Hao, but glancing at the two rafts level with him on either side, his gaze remained serious.
"Faster, faster!" he urged.
The island was getting closer, but none of the three rafts would fall behind.
They were all making their final sprint.
Suddenly!
Splash—
A massive wave surged from the side. Bai Hongzhen, at the front, swayed with the raft, nearly falling off.
His Water-type Pokémon quickly steadied the raft and stayed alert.
After barely regaining his balance, Bai Hongzhen looked to the right front.
There, waves churned as a Giant Kun dragged a raft, sprinting forward. In the blink of an eye, it was ahead of them, leaving only splashes raining down on them.
On that raft...
"Su Hao, it's you!!!"
Bai Hongzhen's mouth hung slightly open.
Staring at that raft, then at the Dream Butterfly standing on the Giant Kun's head, he recalled the fear from the challenge round when a group was dominated by the Dream Butterfly.
He suddenly slapped himself.
"I'm such a fool, really!"