David tallied up the gains he'd acquired during his exploration.
The two shed snake skins were worth 15 points each, the 5 Berries totaled 1 point, the Big Pearl was valued at 35 points, and defeating the Arbok earned him 20 points. Adding in various smaller gains collected along the way, David had already accumulated 93 points.
Looking at his current point total, David became even more certain that the League was encouraging them to actively explore the mountain range. It was worth noting that he had tentatively defeated several common-level Pokémon during his journey, and the points he received were disappointingly few—basically only a handful of points each.
The barren environment on the mountain range's outskirts simply didn't support many Pokémon, so naturally there were very few opportunities to earn points there.
However, after venturing deeper into the mountains, just by taking down a single veteran-level Arbok and thoroughly scavenging the area, David immediately struck gold. His points had soared by nearly 80 in one go.
Even excluding unexpected windfalls like the Big Pearl, he'd still gained at least fifty points—already a quarter of the base score one could earn by surviving the full seven days.
If participants truly followed some people's strategy and hunkered down on the mountain range's outskirts, even if they managed to last until the assessment's end, they would probably only achieve a bottom-tier score.
It was important to remember that this assessment's results weren't measured by who lasted the longest, but rather by how many points each participant accumulated.
By choosing to actively explore, as long as sufficient points were obtained, even if the assessment ended early for someone, their final score wouldn't necessarily be poor.
"However, exploration probably isn't that simple either..." David murmured, narrowing his eyes in thought as he moved forward.
He hadn't forgotten another major feature of this assessment: Trainers could forcefully engage each other in battles to plunder points.
The League's rule was quite interesting—each person could only plunder points from another Trainer once, and could only take thirty percent at a time.
Didn't this seem designed to encourage competition between Trainers? While losing thirty percent of one's points at once could be considered a significant setback, it wasn't devastating enough to make someone give up on the assessment entirely.
Would a Trainer who had a large sum of points stolen continue painstakingly collecting more points, or would they try to find their next victim and recoup their losses?
It was hard to predict.
"Wait, Zorua, stop for a moment. Something's wrong up ahead..." David suddenly seemed to sense something. He stopped in his tracks, then turned and motioned for the little fox to lower her voice.
Upon entering the jungle proper, the surrounding environment was no longer as barren and desolate as before. Trees grew densely everywhere, and there were far more signs of wild Pokémon activity.
They naturally couldn't advance as quickly and carelessly as they had through the Gobi Desert area.
At this moment, through his perception of Aura, David detected what seemed to be a strong presence lying in ambush not far ahead. Judging by the energy signatures, there appeared to be more than one.
Lightening his steps, David and Zorua quietly approached a nearby bush. He lowered his voice and commanded, "Zorua, use Dark Pulse with full power on that bush!"
It naturally wasn't suitable to use the incendiary nature of moves like Foul Play in a forest environment, so David directed the little fox to use Dark Pulse on the suspicious bush instead.
After half a semester of continuous practice, this signature Dark-type move was now performed quite skillfully by Zorua.
Dense Dark-type energy quickly gathered, transforming into a roaring wave of malevolent force that surged straight toward the bush.
"Ursa~"
"Ursa ursa~"
When the Dark Pulse tore through the bush, amid flying dirt and scattered leaves, two cries of pain rang out in succession.
The next second, two figures burst out from the tattered bush and appeared before them.
Name: Teddiursa
Type: Normal
Gender: ♀
Level: 25 (Veteran)
Name: Teddiursa
Type: Normal
Gender: ♀
Level: 26 (Veteran)
The Pokémon that had been ambushing in the bush were none other than Teddiursa—the pre-evolutionary form of Ursaring, known as the forest tyrant.
The two Teddiursa before him, caught completely off guard, had taken Zorua's Dark Pulse head-on. They looked quite injured, with clear marks from the Dark-type attack scorched across their fur. At this moment, they were glaring angrily at David and his Pokémon.
However, the moment the two Teddiursa appeared, David had already reacted with quick reflexes, throwing out Riolu's Poké Ball.
The Fighting-type, who had been silently observing the outside situation from within its Poké Ball, immediately took up a protective position in front of David upon materializing.
In wilderness adventures, the most critical mistake a Trainer could make was not having a Pokémon's protection close by, and David was keenly aware of this.
At the same time, his other hand quietly tightened its grip on the Poké Ball containing Ralts, ready to release her if needed.
David's eyes then fell upon a supply package placed not far from the two Teddiursa.
Clearly, these were also supplies airdropped by the League.
Sharp-eyed as always, David immediately spotted the label on the package—tent—along with what appeared to be a large bag of wilderness survival supplies.
If he could secure those items, he would be able to rest comfortably at night instead of worrying about constructing a makeshift shelter or finding a cave or suitable tree to sleep in.
The two Teddiursa, initially sensing that their opponents were clearly not to be trifled with, roared threateningly in a show of bravado, attempting to force David and his Pokémon to retreat.
But when they noticed David's gaze fixed on the supplies behind them, they became completely enraged.
"Not only did these annoying humans attack us first, but now they want to steal our belongings!"
Most items placed by the League were located near wild Pokémon territories and were generally regarded as personal property by the Pokémon who found them first.
"We've always been the ones taking from others—no one has ever dared to rob us!"
The two Teddiursa exchanged glances, seeing burning determination in each other's eyes.
As the pre-evolutionary form of Ursaring, the notorious forest bully, Teddiursa were naturally not docile Pokémon by any means.
Once enraged, they no longer cared about the intimidating aura they'd sensed from their opponents moments ago and launched their attack.
The two Teddiursa attacked in coordination. One began glowing with white light as it charged forward, crashing toward Zorua with a Take Down attack.
The other, with its claws crossed in front of it, was a step slower, preparing to strike the little fox from another angle with Cross Chop.
These two Teddiursa cooperated with remarkable synchronization—they must have been siblings or at least trained together extensively.
The two Teddiursa's attacks came from different angles, clearly intending to catch Zorua in a pincer movement.
Relying on their natural battle instincts, they had easily identified the strongest opponent on David's team and wanted to eliminate her first through coordinated teamwork.
Having assessed his opponents' strength, David recalled Zorua to his side and instead had the newly released Riolu directly engage the attackers.
With Riolu's current strength, handling two Teddiursa wouldn't be particularly difficult.
When Zorua had accompanied David on previous Secret Realm expeditions, she had already gained considerable experience in wilderness combat. However, Ralts and Riolu had not yet had such opportunities.
David was now planning to have his three Pokémon take turns accompanying him during different portions of the assessment. This evaluation would serve as an excellent opportunity for them to familiarize themselves with wilderness combat and gain valuable real-world battle experience.