A Comprehensive Review

Zeno had originally thought this would affect Mudkip, but it turned out to be an optimist who still ate and drank as usual. Zeno could not tell what it was thinking from the outside, and it was unwilling to say much. After repeatedly confirming that nothing was wrong with it, he let it be.

Professor Birch had no objections to Mudkip being fostered here, but he was not very pleased with what Ayong from Fallarbor Town had done. He had spoken with that child before and felt that he was shy and honest. Perhaps there really had been some change in his family. It was not his place to pry into someone else's private affairs.

Wingull's egg had been shaking more and more frequently lately. Zeno had been cramming knowledge about newborn Pokémon day and night, while Carvanha was also very interested in this little brother who was about to be born, practically wanting to stare at the Pokémon egg every moment.

Knowing Wingull was about to hatch, Professor Birch had not assigned Zeno any coursework recently. Sapphire had never seen a Pokémon hatch either, so she came over whenever she had free time. Gu Yan would also check whether Zeno needed anything else whenever he had a break from work.

This Wingull was incredibly mischievous, leaving everyone on edge. After shaking around for several days, it suddenly went still again. Thinking about how naughty it already was inside the egg gave Zeno a headache.

"Zeno, the Breeder Examination in Rustboro City starts in a week. Are you interested in giving it a try?" Professor Birch thought he had been too idle lately and kept wanting to find something for him to do.

"The Breeder Examination? Can I really do it?"

"Why not? The assessment for junior breeders is very simple. At your current level, passing will be easy."

"Won't the timing be too tight?"

Zeno was afraid he would not have enough time. He had been busy with Wingull lately and had barely studied.

"It's fine. Your foundation is solid. Just take some time over the next few days to reinforce it. I suggest you give it a try this time, or you'll have to wait until next year."

"Okay, I'll do my best!"

"The more skills you have, the more options you have. If you want to sail far in the future, being a breeder is indispensable. If you have the ability yourself, you won't need to trouble others."

"You've thought this through so carefully, Professor. I'll definitely work hard."

"Good. I'll give you a few books later. Study them carefully, and ask me if there's anything you don't understand."

To prepare for the upcoming Breeder Examination, Zeno became busy again. Sapphire knew he was preparing, so she had not come to bother him lately. Fortunately, she had Ruby as a playmate now, or she would have been bored to death.

After Gu Yan heard that he was taking the Breeder Examination, he specially found examination papers from the past three years for him. The same questions were unlikely to appear, but they would help Zeno familiarize himself with the structure of the tests.

The junior breeder examination was divided into two sections: a written test and an interview, each accounting for half the score. The interview for junior breeders was manageable, only asking a few somewhat difficult practical questions.

Zeno had heard that one part of the senior breeder examination involved raising a Pokémon. The examiners would assign each candidate a Pokémon, which they had to raise according to requirements within a set period of time. Only those who met the requirements could earn a senior breeder certificate.

As ties between different regions grew closer, the questions on breeder examinations became increasingly tricky. It was said that every year after the exams, many candidates could not help crying.

The first section of the paper was multiple-choice questions. After working on them for a while, Zeno found that most were quite simple, but there were always some bizarre questions that left people baffled.

For example: Which of the following Pokémon might have the Dragon type? A. Tropius, B. Exeggutor, C. Aerodactyl, D. Aurorus.

At first glance, this even looked like a multiple-answer question. Pokémon like Aerodactyl and Aurorus could not be found in Hoenn at all, and many people had never even heard of them. When Zeno first saw the question, he thought there had been a mistake, until he noticed the word "might."

His teacher had explained regional forms to him before, and he vaguely remembered that Exeggutor's Alolan Form had changes to its typing, though he could not recall the details. But he knew very clearly that the other three were all false dragons.

Another question was even more outrageous. Which of the following Pokémon cannot learn Dragon Dance? A. Tyranitar, B. Haxorus, C. Salamence, D. Garchomp.

Zeno thought about it for a long time and still got it wrong. Of the four, Salamence was the one he knew best, and he knew it could learn the move. At most, he only knew the typings of the other three. After much deliberation, he chose Tyranitar.

But the answer left Zeno speechless. It was actually Garchomp. Why could Tyranitar learn it while a Dragon-type Pokémon like Garchomp could not? No matter how hard Zeno thought, he could not understand it.

Zeno went to ask his teacher, but his teacher merely told him not to dwell on it. Matters like move pools were determined by Pokémon genes and could not be artificially interfered with. To help him understand, Professor Birch even gave Onix, Corphish, and Barboach as examples. Zeno never would have imagined that even those three could learn Dragon Dance, leaving him even more confused.

So much for trusting his teacher. Even junior breeder examination questions were this absurd. Zeno studied even more seriously now, until his room was piled full of books.

Besides multiple-choice questions, there were fill-in-the-blank questions, true-or-false questions, and subjective questions. Zeno carefully completed all three papers, and only relaxed slightly after confirming that he scored above ninety every time.

The books his teacher gave him were all especially thick and covered knowledge comprehensively. He heard they had been compiled and revised by people at Littleroot Research Lab, combining all the books on the market into one grand collection. Zeno found them very convenient and read them with great interest.

He had never learned about Egg Groups in such detail before. Zeno thought the person who wrote the book was particularly cheeky. There was an example in it that he found especially amusing.

Magikarp belonged to the Water 2 Egg Group and the Dragon Egg Group. According to the author's explanation, as long as you had one male Magikarp and a whole bunch of different female dragons, you could theoretically obtain the corresponding baby dragons.

Zeno felt that was only theory. Most Dragon-type Pokémon were very proud, and those female dragons probably would not take a fancy to a useless fish like Magikarp.

After figuring all this out, Zeno felt as if a door to a new world had opened before him. He had once thought only identical Pokémon could be together. Looking at it this way, Carvanha's standards for choosing a mate could be broadened considerably too. He wondered what kind of Pokémon it liked.

Carvanha was in the pond in the courtyard at the moment, while Wingull's egg rested by the bank. Carvanha had been diligently guarding it, filled with anticipation for its future little brother.