Pokémon: Start with an Admiral Crab!

"There's a stone in the middle of the bay—!"

Xiao Mao hurriedly issued a warning behind Xiaozhi!

Xiaozhi, who was confident of victory, didn't notice at all... there was a half-broken bluestone emerging from the water in the center of the river bend ahead!

"Ahhhh——!"

Xiaozhi paddled frantically in the opposite direction, but it was too late.

Bang! Crack!

The hand-tied raft instantly hit the bluestone, and then took off like a snowboard, carrying Xiaozhi!

The ropes tying up the raft could not withstand such an impact and immediately broke apart in the air.

The entire raft exploded and turned into a pile of scattered logs, which fell all over the water.

Xiaozhi flew high up holding the paddle...

Finally, there was a splash - the scattered logs and Xiaozhi fell into the water...

“Puff! Ha-hoo!”

Fortunately, Xiaozhi was not injured, he just choked on a few mouthfuls of cold water. He quickly emerged from the water and opened his mouth to spit out a mouthful of water.

But before he could catch his breath, he saw Xiao Mao's raft following closely behind... dangerously bypassing the bluestone and crushing towards him!

"Get away quickly!!"

Xiao Mao didn't expect Xiao Zhi to emerge from the water right in front of him. He had just urgently avoided the bluestone in the middle of the river and had no time to adjust the direction of the raft.

boom--!

A loud noise was heard in the center of the river!

“Eh ...

Xiao Mao made a bad sound.

The source of the loud noise was not that Xiaozhi was hit by the raft... but that the raft that Xiaomao was riding was overturned by a log that floated out from the bottom of the water!

Because the river is relatively shallow, the log that fell into the water with Xiaozhi just now was light at one end and heavy at the other. The heavy end went straight to the bottom of the riverbed, and the light end just happened to float out of the water.

The half-floating log pressed against the front of Xiaomao's raft, overturning it in a V-shape in the center of the river.

With a splash! As the raft capsized, Xiao Mao also fell into the water, and he and Xiao Zhi became a pair of drowned rats!

Xiao Mao, who fell into the water, wanted to climb back onto the raft as soon as possible, but he found that the overturned raft next to him was also showing signs of about to disintegrate.

Even if he managed to climb up, he would not be able to complete the race.

"Gooji!"

[The victory is won by me! 】

The opponents withdrew from the competition one after another, and the only remaining Captain Cowardly Bug led the fleet to avoid the wreckage of the raft in the center of the river in a cool manner, leaving behind Xiao Mao and Xiao Zhi who looked at each other in bewilderment.

"I'm actually going to lose to a coward!?"

"Aaaaaaa——! Satoshi blames you!"

Unable to accept the reality, Xiao Mao angrily slapped the water with his hands and accused Xiaozhi.

"What? It was obviously your own carelessness!"

Xiaozhi, who also lost the chance to win, was not in any good mood to comfort Xiaomao.

……

At the entrance of the stream leading to the forest, Wang Yao had been waiting for a long time!

"Oh...are you here?"

Wang Yao saw splashes of water on the river in the distance.

"I don't think I see anyone on the raft?"

Wang Yao raised his hand and looked around, muttering in confusion.

Tap! Tap!

The sound of horse hooves following the champion raft could be heard on the river bank.

"Gooji!"

"profit--!"

There were less than 200 meters left to the finish line! The victory of the coward was a foregone conclusion.

"Go! Magikarp!"

"I see! Row harder!"

Hearing the sound of breaking waves behind him, the coward turned around in confusion.

“Guji!?”

I saw Xiao Mao and Xiao Zhi riding on a log pulled by two Magikarp in front, paddling quickly with oars on the left and right like a dragon boat.

The Magikarp broke through the water in front, and the wooden paddle stirred up splashes of water all over the sky. The opponent was chasing after it with an unstoppable momentum!

Compared to the raft towed by the cowardly bug and the sharp-toothed fish! The opponent's canoe actually has quad-core power!

"accelerate!"

"We can't lose!"

With the combined influence of their huge desire to win and their self-esteem, the two rivals temporarily put aside their prejudices against each other and chose to unite against the outside world!

"Gooji!"

The four pairs of small legs under the cowardly insect's shell were paddling frantically.

"profit!"

The toothfish also swung its body vigorously and made the final sprint.

The quad-core engine of the Kezhimao combined with the ultra-low resistance raft of the Dumuhao raft...

The gap between the two sides is narrowing little by little!

As the distance to the finish line gets closer and closer... one hundred meters, eighty meters, fifty meters...

"Gooji!"

The timid bug, whose legs were about to cramp, was less than ten meters away from the finish line... and watched in despair as the Dumu No. 1 passed him!

Crash-!

The splashing water wet the dry land on the shore. After crossing the finish line, the canoe suddenly lost balance and fell back into the water with Xiaozhi and Xiaomao on board.

The next second, the two little kids, who were soaked all over, swam out of the water, smiled at each other, and clapped their hands in tacit understanding and cheered!

"Won!!"

"we are the champion!!"

……

"What an unexpected match result..."

Wang Yao pulled the two little brats ashore and asked the little fire horse to light a fire to prevent them from catching a cold.

"But in this case, wouldn't it be impossible to tell who's winning?"

Wang Yao was curious about what they would choose.

"Forehead……"

"This……"

Xiaozhi and Xiaomao reacted a little late.

If we lose, we can still blame each other and find the reasons from each other...

But now with the result like this, no one would be comfortable taking away the credit from the other.

"In that case... you two can fight again next time!"

Wang Yao gently scratched the cowardly bug's carapace and comforted the lost little guy.

"It's better not to name the secret base yet..."

Wang Yao thought of a compromise.

"next time?"

Xiaozhi and Xiaomao looked at each other, and flames representing fighting spirit appeared in their eyes at the same time.

"Okay - I will definitely win next time!"

"Arrogant Xiao Mao! I will definitely be the winner next time..."

The rivals are back to their most familiar rivalry.

"However, the content of the next duel...is up to you to decide!"

Wang Yao stood up from the fire and brushed the ashes off his body.

"It's about time for me to leave..."

Wang Yao has lived in the back mountain of Professor Oak's research institute for half a month. During this period, both he and the Pokémon in his hands have gone through a good period of adjustment.

After half a month, with Wang Yao's soft and hard tactics... Steelix has basically been integrated into Wang Yao's team.

Although I promised Joey that I would not take risks again, a comfortable life cannot bring about a breakthrough in strength...

Keep fighting and challenge stronger opponents! This is what the cowardly worm needs now, what the sharp-toothed fish needs, and even his giant crab needs it...

And he has already decided on the next stop of his journey...

That is the pearl located in the South Sea of ​​Kanto - Red Lotus Island!