Chapter 382: Secret Realm Assessment
Soon, it was two in the afternoon.
In the assessment hall, the candidates who had passed the first two stages gathered once again. However, compared to the original group of over two hundred people, the number of candidates had dropped to just over a hundred. The first two stages had eliminated nearly half of the participants, a very high elimination rate.
Just like the Advanced-level assessment, the staff dispatched four buses to take the candidates to their destination. Fortunately, the destination wasn't far from the assessment center, and they arrived in about ten minutes.
"This is... the Huangpu River!"
Basalt got off the bus with the crowd and recognized the great river before him. The Huangpu River, an important tributary of the Yangtze River, was Saffron City's golden waterway.
"Is the secret realm on the Huangpu River? That's just my luck," a young man with dyed red hair complained, his face full of resentment. He was a trainer specializing in Fire-type Pokémon. If the secret realm was on the Huangpu River, it would undoubtedly be filled with water. An environment rich in Water-type energy was definitely disadvantageous for Fire-type Pokémon.
Zayne Zhang, seeing this, smiled slightly. It seemed Lady Luck was on his side. An environment abundant in Water-type energy was obviously unsuitable for Basalt's Sandstorm team as well.
"Open the secret realm!"
The person in charge of the assessment, dressed in a white uniform and wearing large sunglasses, announced loudly: "There are two main points for this assessment. First, ensure your own safety. Second, find the secret realm's exit on your own and leave."
"Within three days, as long as you walk out of the secret realm by yourself, you will pass the assessment. If you fail to find the exit, or if all your Pokémon lose their ability to battle during this period, or if the trainer is injured by a Pokémon attack, you will fail."
The assessment officer looked sternly at the candidates, his expression cold. "Is that clear?"
In the wild, protecting the trainer was the top priority; there was no doubt about that. Additionally, if a trainer accidentally entered a secret realm and couldn't get out on their own, that was also unacceptable. These two points were very pragmatic.
"Understood!" the crowd responded quickly.
In the air above the Huangpu River, a shimmering vortex formed.
Seeing that the spatial gate was open, the assessment officer waved his hand. "In that case, hurry up and go in!"
Seeing this, the candidates immediately released their Pokémon. They either rode Flying-type Pokémon directly across or released Water-type Pokémon and leaped into the spatial gate.
What if you didn't have a Flying-type or Water-type Pokémon?
Sorry, your team configuration is unreasonable, and you can be eliminated directly!
"Come out, Bronzong! Swampert!"
To be safe, Basalt released two Pokémon at once, then followed the crowd into the spatial gate.
Seeing this, Zayne immediately followed.
...
The spatial gate for this assessment clearly didn't lead to a fixed location. Basalt had followed closely behind a young woman, but after entering the gate, she was nowhere to be seen.
Splash! Splash!
Basalt found himself surrounded by thick fog, with the sound of rushing water below. Swampert was currently in the water.
"Bronzong, psychic alert!"
"Swampert, carefully sense the water flow!"
Basalt quickly issued commands. Although Bronzong's psychic power could penetrate the water, doing so consumed much more energy, so underwater surveillance was better left to Swampert.
"Swamp-pert~"
Suddenly, Swampert's expression changed. It sensed turbulent undercurrents, and a large group of Pokémon rapidly approaching.
"Ten-ta~ Ten-ta~"
Under the originally clear water, a large patch of blue shadows suddenly appeared, interspersed with some bright red. There were many of them, forming a huge shadow rushing toward Swampert.
"It's a school of Tentacruel and Tentacool!" Basalt's expression changed slightly. He saw a large spray of dark purple liquid shoot out from the blue-red mass, quickly dyeing the water dark purple and emitting a foul stench.
Poison-type move, Acid!
"Return, Swampert!"
Basalt immediately recalled Swampert and ordered Bronzong to ascend rapidly to gain distance. Swampert was strong, but it couldn't fight so many enemies at once. Fighting many alone was unwise, and naturally, Basalt wouldn't do it.
Seeing their prey disappear, the jellyfish swarm turned their attention to Basalt and Bronzong.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Poison Sting, Bubble Beam, Supersonic, Icy Wind—all sorts of moves fired wildly as if they cost nothing. Individually, these moves might not be powerful, but their sheer number caused a qualitative change. If Basalt hadn't ordered Bronzong to ascend beforehand, even Bronzong would have struggled. Not to mention Basalt was riding on Bronzong's back.
"Ten-ta~ Ten-ta~"
Seeing Bronzong fly too high and realizing they couldn't reach Basalt, the jellyfish quickly dove and disappeared without a trace.
"This is the real wild!"
In mid-air, Basalt wiped the sweat from his forehead. In the Advanced assessment, a group of three to five Pokémon in the secret realm was already significant. But just now? Basalt saw over a dozen Tentacruel alone. As for Tentacool, there were countless numbers, definitely over a hundred. It was a completely different concept!
Surrounded by thick fog, Basalt couldn't see far. He thought to himself, "Ideally, training a Pokémon with the Keen Eye Ability is also necessary. Seeing through thick fog would be a piece of cake." Unlike now, where he couldn't find his bearings at all.
"Let's go this way!" Basalt pointed in a random direction.
Flying along, Basalt encountered flocks of Fearow and Masquerain. Fortunately, these Pokémon weren't aggressive; Basalt just passed them by without conflict.
"It seems this secret realm is quite large; I haven't encountered a single candidate yet." Basalt mused, "It's probably a medium-sized secret realm!"
"Hmm? I sense Grass-type energy. We're not far from land."
Bronzong gave Basalt good news. Land, or rather an island, was finally approaching. For a Sandstorm team like Basalt's, having solid ground underfoot was reassuring!
But just then, the water surface below suddenly broke open. A jet of water shot up violently, speeding toward Bronzong.
"Enemy attack!"
Bronzong tensed. It was hard to detect an opponent underwater. But once they broke the surface, they couldn't escape its psychic perception.
The water jet was extremely fast, but Bronzong's reaction was faster. After accepting Celebi's psychic essence, its psychic power had transformed again, greatly improving its reaction time.
Hum!
Bronzong's psychic power surged, constructing a telekinetic field. When the water jet entered within thirty meters of Bronzong, it immediately felt like it had entered a mud pit. Its progress became difficult, and its speed dropped sharply.
"Sha-ark~"
A low growl erupted from within the water column. Simultaneously, under the influence of Bronzong's psychic power, the water column collapsed, revealing the Pokémon hidden within.
It was a shark-like Pokémon, bright blue and white, with notches in its upper and lower fins. It had red eyes and black gills on its sides, and a yellow star pattern on its head and tail.
"Sharpedo!"
Basalt recognized the Pokémon before him.
☆☆☆
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you