The moment Zhang Pengfei entered the temporary station providing the surveillance footage, he saw that Judge Shangguan, the most invested of the judges, had already arrived.
Sitting on the sofa, Shangguan wore a strange expression, his eyes fixed on a feed that had just appeared in the corner.
Noticing someone approach, Judge Shangguan turned around. When he saw that it was Zhang Pengfei, his expression grew even stranger, and he asked:
"Dean Zhang, weren't participants only allowed to bring one Pokémon for this assessment? What happens if someone brings a whole bunch?"
"Who? Someone openly broke the rules? Was it Ye Lan?" Zhang Pengfei frowned. There should have been dedicated staff checking everyone at the starting point. Even if Ye Lan had only just joined, he shouldn't have slipped through the net.
"Lea!"
Just then, Leafeon walked in from outside the tent and angrily kicked the trouser leg of Zhang Pengfei, who stood nearby.
What kind of stupid rule was this? My Trainer was about to go show off in a big way, and he couldn't even take me along!
"Uh... technically, Ye Lan hasn't broken the rules either. Old Zhang, come take a look and you'll understand..." Judge Shangguan looked helpless, though he seemed to have recovered from his surprise, having arrived earlier.
Puzzled, Zhang Pengfei walked over to the newly appeared feed in the lower-right corner of the display.
Every student taking the assessment was followed by a Rotom raised by Huaxia Academy, which tracked and recorded them.
This not only preserved a record of the assessment to ensure its fairness, but also provided excellent battle examples that could serve as teaching materials for students in the lower years.
Outside the academy, recordings of exceptionally talented Trainers battling in the wild could fetch high prices as a kind