Assessment

Hearing Li Wen's words, Ye Lan let out a scornful laugh.

"You don't believe me when I say you have no brain. The Pokémon haven't even been hatched for three days. They can't even train yet, and you want to battle? If you damage the foundation of my starter Pokémon, can you afford to compensate me?!"

Li Wen's face reddened with frustration. He knew battles couldn't be held yet, but judging by Ye Lan's old personality, he should have been scared by a little intimidation. He hadn't expected him to be so tough today.

Seeing their boss suffer setback after setback, the lackeys behind him finally couldn't hold back.

"Ye Lan, don't tell me you're scared?"

"Exactly! Are you scared after seeing my big brother's Machop?" The others began to chime in as well.

Hearing that, Snivy beside him could no longer endure it. Vines began to emerge around it.

This frightened Ye Lan, and he hurriedly soothed Snivy. If it injured someone with a Pokémon in the classroom, Snivy would only be allowed to stay inside its Poké Ball at school from then on.

"Trainers speak with strength. We'll settle this in the battle assessment a week from now. Don't you dare chicken out then!"

As he stroked Snivy's little head, Ye Lan calmly looked at Li Wen.

For some reason, the moment Li Wen met Ye Lan's gaze, a trace of fear rose in his heart.

"Fine, it's settled!"

After saying that, Li Wen hurried back to his seat with the others.

Only after they had gone far away did Chen Yang ask, unable to hold back any longer, "Why did you stop me just now? People like that deserve a beating. If he dared to use his Pokémon, my Charmander wouldn't be afraid of him either. Right, Charmander?"

"Char!" Hearing this, Charmander roared at Ye Lan. It had no intimidation whatsoever—only cuteness.

Ye Lan was speechless. This perfectly matched his stereotype of Fire-type trainers. They were all hot-blooded idiots!

"They outnumber us. We wouldn't gain any advantage if we fought. And if Pokémon hurt someone, the nature of the matter would be entirely different. It's normal for trainers to have disputes. We can settle problems through battles!"

"You have a point. But are you really confident you can beat Li Wen in a week?" After hearing Ye Lan out, Chen Yang could not help worrying.

"What do you mean, confident? Just watch me beat his Machop until it can't take care of itself!"

"Snivy!!!" Snivy wholeheartedly agreed with Ye Lan. Now that was its trainer!

It had already been displeased with that Machop. The way it looked at Snivy was full of provocation.

Just then, the broadcast suddenly sounded.

"Third-year Class Two student Ye Lan and Class One student Lin Yan, please report to the principal's office."

For a moment, students throughout the entire grade began discussing those two names. Being called to the principal's office on the first day of school seemed like bad news to those who did not know the situation.

Ye Lan was also somewhat puzzled. Hadn't his homeroom teacher said he would be notified in the afternoon?

Without thinking further, Ye Lan walked toward the principal's office beneath his classmates' gazes.

As he passed Class One's classroom, a shy-looking boy walked out through the front door, with a Charmander at his side.

Seeing that familiar back from behind, Ye Lan suddenly froze.

The young man ahead seemed to sense something as well. He turned around and met Ye Lan's eyes. The Charmander beside him imitated him, but due to its height, it only noticed the Snivy by Ye Lan's feet.

For a moment, the air seemed to stand still. Ye Lan felt something akin to "fate."

"My name is Ye Lan. You're Lin Yan, right? Let's go to the principal's office together."

Ye Lan introduced himself first, then greeted Lin Yan before him.

Quiet and shy by nature, Lin Yan said nothing. He merely nodded, and the two headed to the principal's office together.

They had just arrived at the door when Ye Lan was about to knock, but the principal's voice came from within first.

"Come in."

Looking at the two students who entered, then at the starter Pokémon beside them, Principal Liu Qingshan nodded in satisfaction.

"Snivy and Charmander? This Snivy's aptitude..."

After pondering for a moment, Principal Liu Qingshan asked, "You're Ye Lan and Lin Yan, correct? To be honest, when I established this rule, I never imagined someone would take the assessment on the first day of school."

"Since you're both so confident, we can begin the assessment now. You have an hour and a half, with a total score of 150. A score of 130 is a pass. If you pass smoothly, I can even give you a small reward."

Liu Qingshan chuckled. He had always admired capable young people with drive, but if they failed to pass, then they were simply overestimating themselves.

Principal Liu Qingshan handed each of them a test paper and had them answer at opposite ends of the office sofa.

After looking over the questions, Ye Lan breathed a sigh of relief. He had been afraid of obscure questions focused on trivial details. He would not have been very confident with those.

Time passed second by second. During that time, quite a few curious teachers came by to inspect their papers, all astonished by the accuracy of their answers.

Nearly an hour passed, and Ye Lan had reached the final question—a bonus question.

Ye Lan scratched his head. Based on the accuracy of his previous answers, passing the assessment should have been a sure thing.

But the principal had also mentioned a reward without specifying what it was. Clearly, the reward was closely tied to their scores.

"Write down the names and characteristics of Legendary Pokémon you know..."

Ye Lan frowned at the question.

The real world was different from the games. Most Legendary Pokémon were unknown to the public. At the very least, Ye Lan had not seen any data on Mythical or Legendary Pokémon in the official online Pokédex.

Looks like I need to hold back a little... Ye Lan was only a sixteen-year-old high school student now. If he showed too much knowledge about Legendary Pokémon, it would only arouse suspicion.

After some thought, Ye Lan wrote down the names of the Legendary Birds: Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos. They were only secondary Legendary Pokémon, and the Legendary Birds had left traces before humanity. Even if someone questioned him, he could muddle through somehow.

When Ye Lan and Lin Yan handed their test papers to the principal, Liu Qingshan first scanned their earlier answers and nodded in satisfaction. Then he focused on the other side of Ye Lan's paper, surprise flashing in his eyes.

However, Liu Qingshan did not ask further. He had written that question on a whim, never expecting a student to actually answer part of it.

"Not bad, not bad. With your current grasp of knowledge, you truly don't need to attend the related classes. From now on, the school's training grounds will be open to you twenty-four hours a day. In addition, the two of you may each take one Protect move disc from the school warehouse."

Hearing the principal's words, joy appeared on Ye Lan and Lin Yan's faces.

Protect was an essential defensive move for every Pokémon. It was extremely expensive, with a single move disc costing around five hundred thousand, and each disc could only be used once.

Such special discs could only be made by move-learning machines. Although their numbers were limited, even the most ordinary move-learning machine was enough to serve as the foundation of a family.

(Pokémon Encyclopedia: Zapdos was the most bizarre among the Legendary Birds. Not only was its cry "Zapdos," it also had a Galar Region form that looked like a black running chicken...)