"I won't welsh on the bet. How many Gold Coins did you buy it for?"
"How many Gold Coins?"
"Five hundred thousand. Pay up."
Su Xiyan gave Liu Shuying a slightly mischievous look.
She knew Liu Shuying wouldn't miss the half-million Gold Coins, but it was still fun to fleece her a little.
"Five hundred thousand?!"
Liu Shuying raised an eyebrow as she looked at Su Xiyan and Su Yi.
"You two are something else. I had no idea the League had a Froakie with Purple Qualification. Liu Jiang didn't lose unfairly."
Purple Qualification?
The Pokémon League never disclosed the qualifications of the Pokémon people bought.
But if you knew how much a Pokémon had cost, and took its size and coloring into account, you could get a rough idea of its qualification.
As a Heavenly King Trainer, Liu Shuying knew the prices of Pokémon with different qualifications very well.
Liu Jiang looked at Su Yi enviously, then glanced at his cousin.
Why was my treatment so different, when we were both younger brothers?
Look at Su Yi—his sister had gone and bought him a Pokémon with Purple Qualification!
But there was no way he'd dare bring it up with Liu Shuying now. He'd just made her lose five hundred thousand Gold Coins.
That was the difference between a sister who spoiled her little brother and one who didn't.
Liu Shuying had already been generous to spend over a hundred thousand Gold Coins on a Starter Pokémon with Blue Qualification for her cousin.
Liu Shuying put herself first, while Su Xiyan put Su Yi first.
During Su Yi's battle just now, his calm, collected instructions had made Su Xiyan like her little brother even more.
Liu Shuying cheerfully transferred five hundred thousand Gold Coins to Su Xiyan, then suddenly stepped up beside Su Yi and gently blew into his ear.
"Not bad, Su Yi. I didn't know you were this good. Big Sis is looking forward to seeing how you grow."
Was this woman flirting with him?
Su Yi looked perplexed.
Liu Shuying left with the flow of people. Her family background might have been the only thing she could openly claim to have over Su Xiyan.
But she wasn't at all spoiled, and she knew how to honor a bet.
Back at home, Su Xiyan and Su Yi were usually the only ones there, since their parents spent most of the year away.
After thinking it over, Su Xiyan transferred the entire five hundred thousand Gold Coins to Su Yi.
At Su Yi's surprised look, Su Xiyan gave a little snort. "The three hundred thousand was for the Starter Pokémon I bought you. This five hundred thousand is money you earned yourself. I don't need it anyway. I can get over a hundred thousand Gold Coins just by doing a random mission for the League."
Su Yi felt warm inside. He knew Su Xiyan was telling the truth.
Having a sister who was adorable, gorgeous, had a great figure, and doted on her little brother—in a word, perfect!
"Big Sis, the Shining Stone your Roserade needs to evolve—is the League still out of stock?"
Su Yi suddenly remembered that Su Xiyan had a Roserade with the strength of a Heavenly King.
"Yeah. Getting an Evolution Stone sometimes comes down to luck. Don't worry about it. Get some rest; you have your exam tomorrow."
The night passed without a word.
The next day.
It was the day another batch of senior students at South Lake Province First Spirit Academy would take their graduation exams!
Principal Gao Xiang stood at the podium and addressed the senior students.
After an impassioned speech, he gave them another dose of encouragement, finishing with a few inspiring words.
Then everyone boarded buses and rode for half an hour to the Knowledge Ranking exam hall at South Lake Province First Spirit Academy. It was time to fight for a spot on the rankings!
First up was the Knowledge Ranking!
Teachers from Spirit Academies across the country would grade the Pokémon Exam Papers. They wouldn't know who had taken each test; their only job was to evaluate the questions and assign scores.
They would grade as quickly and accurately as possible.
Su Yi took his admission ticket number and found his seat. As soon as the exam began, the Pokémon Exam Papers were handed out.
Question one: multiple choice.
Question 1: Which of the following Pokémon does not have the Fighting-type?
A. Breloom
B. Gallade
C. Toxicroak
D. Politoed
It was a slightly tricky question. Breloom, Gallade, and Toxicroak all had the Fighting-type. Only Politoed didn't, but it would be easy to choose the wrong answer if you weren't paying attention.
Without hesitation, D!
Question two: select all that apply.
Question 1: Which of the following Pokémon have two types?
A. Infernape
B. Bonsly
C. Rampardos
D. Whiscash
E. Mime Jr.
F. Riolu
A, B, D, and E!
Almost every question included Pokémon options that might mislead you.
Take Riolu, for example. Before evolving, it didn't have Lucario's Steel-type.
Then there was Rampardos, an ancient Pokémon revived from a fossil. If you didn't know much about Fossil Pokémon, or hadn't studied hard enough, you might assume Rampardos had the Dragon-type along with another type. In reality, the thing was pure Rock-type. It just had "dragon" in its name.
Scritch, scritch, scritch!
These questions might have stumped other people, but they were a piece of cake for Su Yi.
He wrote furiously. By the time the listening section began, he had nearly finished the entire Pokémon Exam Paper, while most people were still stuck on the first section, multiple choice...
"Attention, all examinees. The listening section will now begin. Listen to the dialogue and write down the name of the Pokémon speaking."
Everyone focused intently.
No one dared miss a single detail.
Who knew what obscure Pokémon cry they'd play in the listening section...
"Xiaoming, get to bed early tonight. Tomorrow's the day you'll receive your Starter Pokémon."
"Bari bari!"
"Okay, okay, Mom. I know. I'll go to bed early. Good night."
Then came the sound of two sets of footsteps.
One set probably belonged to Xiaoming's mother. The other belonged to the Pokémon.
That was it.
The Pokémon had only said "Bari bari."
Su Yi: →_→
Everyone was stumped after listening. The listening section was the hardest!
What in the world was that?
Which Pokémon made a "Bari bari" sound?
Millions of senior students across the country were pondering the same question.
Before many of them could come up with an answer, the second listening question began.
Some could only write "Bari bari" in the blank for the first question...
They'd come back to it after listening to the whole thing.
A small number of students, however, chose to give up on certain parts of the Pokémon Exam Paper.
For example, some examinees simply gave up the points for the listening section and focused on the questions that followed.
The entire Pokémon Exam Paper took several hours, and there was no way you could finish it all in time. Sometimes, the exam was over before you knew it.
Many people didn't even have time to check their answers after finishing.
Only a tiny handful could finish the test and check their work!
When the listening section ended, Su Yi knew that in the Spirit College Entrance Exam, you didn't just have to listen to the Pokémon's voice.
To get the right answer, you also had to pay attention to other sound cues.
For example, by combining the sound of the Pokémon's footsteps in the first recording with its cry, you could immediately narrow down most of the possibilities.
Then, among the few remaining Pokémon, you could narrow it down further by considering which ones could easily live in a room and move in and out of it.
That left only one answer to the first question: Mr. Mime...
After the listening section ended, Su Yi moved straight on to the math problems.
These were long-form questions.
One was worth ten points.
Suppose Pokémon A had a strength of x and Pokémon B had a strength of y. If the two Pokémon pushed a 100-kilogram box for a distance of 200 meters, and it took them 10 minutes...
There were other kinds of questions, too.
The reasoning question was the last one. It was a bonus question.
Use the information provided to make a reasonable deduction.
It is known that the currently confirmed evolutions of Eevee are:
Leafeon, which evolves by leveling up in a shady forest.
Glaceon, which evolves by leveling up in the snowy mountains.
Jolteon, which evolves using a Thunder Stone.
Vaporeon, which evolves using a Water Stone.
Flareon, which evolves using a Fire Stone.
[Note: It has been verified that no other Evolution Stones can cause Eevee to evolve.]
Deduce at least one possible evolution of Eevee and explain your reasoning.
This question had been added at the last minute. Usually, no one got the bonus question right on the Spirit College Entrance Exam.
It had been proposed by a Pokémon professor who specialized in researching Eevee's evolutions.
The hope was that people could pool their ideas. Senior students were the pillars of the country's future, after all. Maybe one of them could offer a really promising theory.
Before you continue