Practical Battle Assessment (Part 1) (Please Favorite, Please Vote)

The third day had arrived. Today was the practical battle assessment.

The practical battle assessment was still being held at Tokiwa Academy, in Tokiwa Academy's Battle Hall.

Tokiwa Academy's Battle Hall had been built specifically for students to conduct Pokémon battles.

The Battle Hall covered five hundred square meters. It was red and white, with an oval-shaped structure.

The Battle Hall had two floors. The first floor was an especially large Rock Field, divided into countless smaller fields.

Tokiwa Academy's students usually held Pokémon battles there.

There was also an examination area specially prepared for Pokémon battles.

The second floor contained five Battle Arenas specially prepared for competitions, each one enclosed.

Tokiwa Academy was truly wealthy to have Battle Arenas like these.

Unlike Eichi's school, which only had a teaching building. Forget a Battle Hall—they did not even have a library.

For Silver Academy's Entrance Assessment this time, three hundred people in Tokiwa City alone were taking the assessment. Of them, one hundred had chosen the Breeding and Research Majors.

The remaining two hundred had all chosen the Trainer Major.

Because there were too many people, the candidates were divided into two groups according to their admission ticket numbers.

One group took the assessment in the morning, while the other took it in the afternoon.

There were five examination rooms in total. Each room had one referee, one examiner, and three record keepers.

Each person had fifteen minutes. If a candidate defeated the examiner's Pokémon within fifteen minutes, they could pass directly and receive full marks.

During the assessment, three teachers would be responsible for scoring from the side.

Even losing was not a problem. In the end, it still depended on the scores given by the three teachers.

The three teachers would score candidates based on several areas, such as their reactions in battle, commanding ability, and mental fortitude.

As long as the final score was passing, the candidate would pass the assessment.

Eichi was assigned to Examination Room Three. He followed the signs and found his examination room.

Teacher Arno did not come in with him. He had told Eichi that he had something to do today and asked Eichi to wait for him at the Pokémon Center after finishing the assessment.

Eichi did not think much of it. After entering his examination room, he carefully observed the situation inside.

The room was a Rock Field, with spectator stands on both sides of the Battle Arena.

The proctor leading them handed everyone a numbered tag.

Whoever was called would go up for the assessment, while the teachers handled the scoring.

At the edge of the Battle Arena stood a rack like a bookshelf, lined neatly with Poké Balls.

These were available for the examiners and candidates to choose from. As mentioned before, some candidates did not come from particularly well-off families and did not yet have Pokémon.

They studied hard every day in order to get into Silver Academy.

They wanted to choose a Pokémon with good potential as their initial Pokémon.

The examiners could use either their own Pokémon or Pokémon provided by Silver Academy.

Of course, most teachers' Pokémon were far stronger than the candidates' Pokémon and could probably defeat them in a single move.

So, they generally used ordinary Pokémon provided by the academy to test the candidates' abilities.

What surprised everyone was that the person in charge of the assessment was a boy of twelve or thirteen.

The three teachers responsible for scoring consisted of two men and one woman, all of them quite young.

Eichi was very curious about the boy in charge of the assessment.

Not just Eichi—every candidate doubted the boy's strength.

At the same time, they felt secretly delighted, thinking themselves lucky to have encountered an examiner like him.

Wouldn't that make this easy to pass? Beside the field were three desks, and seated behind them were the scorers for this practical battle assessment.

Seeing the reactions of the candidates in the stands, the three of them shook their heads disdainfully.

Anyone who underestimated that guy because of his age would suffer badly.

After a while, the referee announced the start of the assessment. The first candidate was a boy dressed in blue.

Candidate Number One looked brimming with confidence, as though victory was already in his grasp.

He shouted, "Go, Vulpix!"

A fox-like Pokémon emerged from Number One's Poké Ball. It had reddish-brown fur, brown pupil-less eyes, large pointed ears with dark-brown inner ears, and six orange, curled pointed tails.

Eichi sighed. "His family must be rich. He actually has a Vulpix as his initial Pokémon."

The boy had fiery red hair like Aji's, styled into sharp spikes.

It was the same hairstyle as Lance's, except he was nowhere near as handsome as Lance.

He wore a cold expression, as though he looked down on everyone.

Those two were somewhat alike. Both were so confident!

Eichi did not know his name, so he would call him Redhead for now.

Seeing that his opponent had used Vulpix, Redhead released his own Pokémon.

A red figure emerged from Redhead's Poké Ball.

It was a dinosaur-like Pokémon with flames burning at the tip of its tail.

It was Charmeleon, Charmander's evolved form and one of Kanto's Starter Pokémon.

Next came the battle between Charmeleon and Vulpix.

Number One confidently ordered Vulpix, "Vulpix, use Quick Attack on Charmeleon."

Vulpix lunged at Charmeleon with lightning speed.

Redhead did not have Charmeleon dodge. Instead, he had it block the attack.

Vulpix slammed into Charmeleon with a Tackle, but Charmeleon stopped it with one hand.

Vulpix's attack had done nothing. Number One's pupils shrank as he hurriedly called Vulpix back.

Vulpix struggled free and retreated, facing Charmeleon again.

Charmeleon wore a disdainful smile. Then Number One had Vulpix use Tail Whip.

Vulpix cutely wagged its tail. After seeing Vulpix use Tail Whip, Charmeleon was somewhat captivated by it and no longer had such a strong desire to attack.

Seeing this, Number One felt that his plan had worked.

But Redhead only revealed a trace of disdain.

Next, Number One had Vulpix use Ember on Charmeleon.

That was right, Ember. A ball of fire formed in Vulpix's mouth before it fired it at Charmeleon.

As the flames shot toward Charmeleon, Number One revealed a victorious smile.

But in the next moment, his expression changed, because Charmeleon was completely unhurt.

"What!"

Number One was stunned. Charmeleon had not suffered even the slightest injury.

Then Redhead stood with his hands on his hips and said, "My turn to strike back. Charmeleon, use Brick Break on Vulpix."

Charmeleon revealed a dangerous smile and charged toward Vulpix.

The claws on its hand turned white as it swiftly closed in on Vulpix.

When Vulpix saw Charmeleon coming, its face filled with fear. Seeing Charmeleon attack, Number One hurriedly shouted, "Vulpix, dodge!"

But Vulpix was so scared that it could not move. Charmeleon then brought its hand down in a chop.

Vulpix let out a miserable cry after being hit by Charmeleon's Brick Break, then lost its ability to battle.

Number One looked utterly disbelieving. His Vulpix had actually lost. He hurriedly called for Vulpix to get up and continue fighting.

But the referee announced that Vulpix had lost its ability to battle and called for the next candidate.

Number One could only recall Vulpix and return to his seat dejectedly, where his friends hurriedly comforted him.

The three teachers seated nearby glanced at Number One, then all shook their heads without saying anything.

When Redhead released Charmeleon, Eichi activated Bug King Eye.

This Charmeleon had excellent potential and a veteran Energy Level.

It was about the same as Beedrill—no, about the same as Beedrill when it had just evolved.

Vulpix's potential was not bad either. It had reached good potential and had a novice Energy Level.

But the gap between the two Pokémon was simply too great. It would have been strange if Vulpix could win.

Besides, that guy had actually used his own Pokémon. The difference in Energy Level was far too great.