Campus Hierarchy of Contempt

The academy's practical combat evaluations had five prefixes.

[ABCDE]

Don't be surprised by the English letters. Just look at Unown and you'll understand.

Then, depending on the proctor's expectations, they could also be marked with a plus, a minus, or nothing at all.

Heiduo gave the girl a [C+]. He hadn't assigned it blindly; her grades from last semester were available, along with the Pokémon she used and their Energy Levels. Last semester, she had received a [C-]. Based on his own grading standards, her performance under pressure, and that last bit of luck, Heiduo gave her a grade reflecting improvement.

Luck itself was part of strength. If the girl had drawn some bad moves, Heiduo would have given her a [C-], or even a [D]. No helping it. He was arbitrary like that.

This was much easier than expected.

Heiduo glanced at Sceptile. The guy seemed to enjoy crushing weak opponents, his face full of delight. Had spending too long around powerful Pokémon put him under psychological pressure?

Time was a little tight, so they couldn't keep dragging things out.

The next student hurried up as though walking to the execution block. The previous girl, looking like she had survived a disaster, carried her angry Clefairy—furious that it hadn't landed a single hit on Sceptile—and went to join her classmates.

"H-Hello."

As nervous as ever, with a Pokémon below Level 40 as ever.

Heiduo sincerely wondered how these people raised their Pokémon. Even someone like him, who had started halfway through, raised levels faster than they did!

The guy had no idea how insane his twice-daily Trainer sessions and frequent battles looked to others. Not everyone had Heiduo's ruthlessness, nor did everyone have an Elite Four chasing them from behind from the very beginning.

Every drink and