Assessment

Li Wen's words drew a scoff from Ye Lan.

"I called you brainless, and you didn't believe me. Our Pokémon hatched less than three days ago. They can't even train yet, and you want a battle? If you damage my Starter Pokémon's development, can you afford to make up for it?!"

Li Wen's face flushed red. He knew it was too early for a battle, but given Ye Lan's old personality, he had expected a little intimidation to scare him off. He hadn't expected him to stand his ground today.

Seeing their leader repeatedly put in his place, the lackeys behind him finally spoke up.

"Ye Lan, you're not scared, are you?"

"Exactly! Did my big brother's Machop frighten you?" The others chimed in.

At that, Snivy could no longer hold back. Vines began to appear beside it.

Ye Lan hurried to calm Snivy. If it injured someone in the classroom, he would have to keep it in its Poké Ball at school from then on.

"Trainers settle things with strength. We'll do it at the battle assessment in a week. Don't be too scared to show up!"

Ye Lan stroked Snivy's little head as he calmly met Li Wen's gaze.

For some reason, that look sent a flicker of fear through Li Wen.

"Fine. It's settled!"

Li Wen took his group and hurried back to their seats.

Once they were gone, Chen Yang could no longer hold back. "Why did you stop me? Someone like that deserves a beating. If he dared use his Pokémon, my Charmander wouldn't be afraid. Right, Charmander?"

"Char!" Charmander roared at Ye Lan. It sounded more adorable than intimidating.

Ye Lan was speechless. He fits my stereotype of Fire-type trainers perfectly. They're all hot-blooded idiots!

"They outnumbered us. A fight wouldn't have gone our way, and if a Pokémon hurt someone, that would make it a different matter. Rivalries between trainers are normal. We'll settle this with a battle!"

"You have a point. But are you really sure you can beat Li Wen in a week?" Chen Yang asked, still worried.

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

"Sni!" Snivy heartily agreed. That's my trainer!

It had disliked that Machop from the start. The look it had given Snivy was nothing but a challenge.

Just then, the school broadcast crackled to life.

"Ye Lan of Senior Class Two and Lin Yan of Senior Class One, please report to the principal's office."

Students across the year immediately began discussing the two names. Being summoned to the principal's office on the first day of school sounded like bad news to anyone who didn't know why.

Ye Lan was puzzled too. Hadn't his homeroom teacher said he would hear about it that afternoon?

He gave it no more thought and walked toward the principal's office under his classmates' watchful eyes.

As he passed the Class One classroom, a shy-looking boy stepped out of the front door with a Charmander at his side.

Ye Lan froze when he saw the familiar figure ahead.

The boy seemed to sense something as well. He turned and met Ye Lan's gaze. His Charmander copied him, though its height meant it only noticed Snivy beside Ye Lan's feet.

For a moment, the air seemed to stand still. Ye Lan could almost feel something like fate at work.

"I'm Ye Lan. You must be Lin Yan, right? Let's go to the principal's office together."

Ye Lan introduced himself and greeted Lin Yan.

Shy and quiet, Lin Yan merely nodded. The two headed to the principal's office together.

They had just reached the door, and Ye Lan was about to knock, when the principal spoke from inside.

"Come in."

Principal Liu Qingshan looked at the two students, then at the Pokémon beside them, and nodded with satisfaction.

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

After a moment's thought, Liu Qingshan asked, "You're Ye Lan and Lin Yan, correct? To be honest, when I made this rule, I never expected anyone to take the assessment on the first day of school."

"Since you're so confident, you can begin now. You'll have an hour and a half. The total is 150 points, and 130 is a passing score. If you pass, I might even have a little reward for you."

Liu Qingshan chuckled. He had always admired capable young people with drive. But if they failed, their confidence would amount to nothing more than arrogance.

He handed each of them an exam paper and seated them at opposite ends of the office sofa.

Ye Lan glanced over the questions and breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried about obscure questions on minor details. Those would have been much harder to answer.

Time passed. Several curious teachers came by to inspect their papers, and all were astonished by how accurate the answers were.

Nearly an hour later, Ye Lan reached the final question: a bonus question.

He scratched his head. Given how well he had answered everything so far, passing seemed certain.

But the principal had mentioned a reward without saying what it was. Clearly, what they received would depend on their scores.

"List the Legendary Pokémon you know and describe their characteristics..."

Ye Lan frowned at the question.

The real world was different from the games. Most Legendary Pokémon were unknown to the public. At least, Ye Lan had never seen any data on Mythical or Legendary Pokémon in the official online Pokédex.

I'd better hold back a little... He was only a sixteen-year-old high school student. Knowing too much about Legendary Pokémon would only raise suspicions.

After some thought, Ye Lan wrote down the names of the Legendary Birds: Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos. They were only lesser Legendary Pokémon, and they had left traces of themselves in the human world. If anyone asked, he could explain it away.

When Ye Lan and Lin Yan handed in their papers, Liu Qingshan first skimmed their earlier answers and nodded with satisfaction. Then he studied the reverse side of Ye Lan's paper, surprise flashing in his eyes.

But Liu Qingshan asked no questions. He had included that question on a whim and hadn't expected a student to answer any of it.

"Excellent. With what you already know, you really don't need those classes. From now on, the school training grounds will be open to you around the clock. You may also each take one Protect TM from the school storeroom."

Both Ye Lan and Lin Yan lit up.

Protect was an essential defensive move for any Pokémon, and it was expensive. A single TM cost around five hundred thousand, and it could only be used once.

Special discs like these could only be made with a Technical Machine. They were scarce, and even the most basic Technical Machine was enough to become a family's prized asset.

(Pokémon Encyclopedia: Of the Legendary Birds, Zapdos is the strangest. Not only does its cry sound like "lightning," but it also has a Galar Region form that looks like a black, flightless chicken...)