The exam

"Holy crap, a beautiful teacher!"

Wang Yao immediately waved his arms in excitement. Teacher Liu had given him plenty of grief over his poor grades before.

Clap, clap, clap!

The whole class burst into applause at his words, and a few boys even whistled.

Zhao Xinran lowered her hand to signal for quiet, then announced with a document in hand, "I'll give each of you your exam room and seat number shortly. Please go to your assigned seats when the time comes."

"Also, this exam will determine your dormitory assignments. I hope you'll all give it your best!"

After speaking, Zhao Xinran deliberately glanced at Ye Qing and Wang Yao and raised an eyebrow. "Teacher Liu told me about your grades. I don't expect much from you two. Just perform as you normally would."

Wang Yao immediately declared loudly, "I promise I won't disappoint you, ma'am!"

"Very good."

Zhao Xinran nodded in satisfaction, then handed out the seat numbers one by one.

"Exam room three, seat seventeen."

Wang Yao read his slip aloud.

Ye Qing smiled and shook his own slip. "I'm in exam room three too."

"So am I."

Beside them, Huo Mengyao spread her hands. She hadn't expected to end up in the same exam room as these two class clowns.

Wang Yao immediately grinned. "Your Highness, our class beauty, you'll let me copy your answers, right?"

Someone immediately joined in the teasing. "With your grades, Wang Yao, do you even need to copy? Just compare your answers with Ye Qing's, eliminate everything you both picked, and whatever's left must be right! Haha!"

Wang Yao flushed in embarrassment. "Get lost! What's it got to do with you?"

Zhao Xinran smiled and clapped her hands to stop them. "All right, enough laughing. Head to your exam rooms."

Ye Qing's seat was in the third row by the window. It had its advantages and disadvantages.

"Young Master Zhang Qiang?"

Ye Qing frowned slightly at the last examinee to enter.

"Hey, we meet again, flunker."

Young Master Zhang Qiang drew a finger across his throat, then sauntered over and slouched into his seat.

Ye Qing sneered and ignored him. For all the boy's idleness and bullying, his grades were among the best in their year. His father and all the teachers absolutely adored him.

Ye Qing didn't respond, but Wang Yao couldn't let it slide. "Still better than some people who look human but act like beasts."

At that moment, Young Master Zhang Qiang's burly lackey from before sneered, "I'd advise you two not to bother taking the exam. You'll only drag down your class average. Isn't that right, everyone?"

The others from Ye Qing's class in the exam room sighed at those words. Having classmates with grades as bad as Ye Qing's and Wang Yao's really was rotten luck.

Wang Yao immediately bristled and was about to argue when their class beauty, Huo Mengyao, spoke up. "That's our class's business. What's it got to do with you?"

There were students from all six classes in the room, and everyone knew Young Master Zhang Qiang was the vice principal's son. They watched the drama unfold with relish.

Young Master Zhang Qiang put on a show of kindness. "Don't talk about them like that. Having the courage to come take the exam is progress for those two."

"Young Master Zhang Qiang, is it? We'll see."

Ye Qing knew his poor grades had been notorious. Arguing now wouldn't accomplish anything. He might as well prove himself with results!

Besides, he had looked through the exam papers from the past few years. They were all about Pokémon basics, so getting a good score would be child's play.

"Trash."

Young Master Zhang Qiang tossed his hair and spat out the word without looking back.

Not to be outdone, Wang Yao shot back, "Nobody's more trash than you."

Young Master Zhang Qiang perked up at that. "Oh? Want to compete with me? How about this-the loser has to bark like a dog!"

"Fine." Ye Qing nodded and said nothing more.

Huo Mengyao frowned slightly at his answer. His terrible grades were common knowledge. She couldn't understand why he would make that bet.

Wang Yao's jaw dropped too. The two of them practically competed over who could get worse grades. He hadn't expected Ye Qing to be so impulsive as to bet against the other boy.

The other students whispered among themselves. Young Master Zhang Qiang might have had a rotten personality, but his grades were leagues ahead of Ye Qing's.

Ye Qing gave Wang Yao, who wasn't far away, a meaningful look and whispered, "I'll move my paper out a little later. How much you can copy is up to you."

"Copy yours?"

Wang Yao stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what Ye Qing had said. He wondered whether he should really eliminate all the answers he and Ye Qing chose and pick the remaining options instead. He might actually score higher that way.

Seeing his expression, Ye Qing shrugged and said no more.

"Silence!"

A loud shout came from the doorway. A gray-haired teacher walked in with an adorable Espeon, his hawklike eyes sweeping over the students.

"First, no copying. Second, no whispering. Third, no assistance from any Pokémon! Violate these rules, and you'll be expelled immediately!"

Espeon crouched on the teacher's desk, the gem on its forehead shining brilliantly.

Ye Qing wasn't surprised. He knew this was a precaution against anyone using Psychic-type Pokémon to cheat.

Once the bell rang, fresh exam papers were quickly handed out.

[Multiple-choice questions]

1. Choose the option that differs from the other three.

A: Geodude, B: Onix, C: Rhyhorn, D: Nosepass

Ye Qing immediately eliminated A, B, and C and chose Nosepass.

The question wasn't difficult. The other three were all Ground and Rock types, while Nosepass was purely a Rock type.

[Short-answer questions]

List Serperior's Abilities and explain their specific effects.

Ye Qing frowned slightly at the question. He remembered that they were Overgrow and Contrary.

As he worked through the paper, none of the questions stumped him, until the final ten-point bonus question made him pause.

List the Pokémon that the following members of the Nidoran family can breed with: Nidoking, Nidorino, and Nidoran♂.

Interesting.

Ye Qing smiled. He hadn't expected the teacher who set the paper to have such peculiar tastes, coming up with a bonus question like this.

In his previous life, one tidbit about Nidoking had always been a topic of casual conversation: Nidoking was actually into little girls!

The reason was that Nidoqueen and Nidorina had no reproductive organs and couldn't breed. Only the adorable little Nidoran♀ could.

Nidorino and Nidoran♂ were all right, but just imagine Nidoking mating with Nidoran♀...

This question was clearly beyond the syllabus. Only researchers who specialized in studying Pokémon would know the answer, so it was perfectly reasonable as a bonus question.

After finishing the entire paper, Ye Qing checked every answer again. Once he was sure he hadn't missed anything, he deliberately moved his paper a little farther out.

With grades like his, there was no need to worry about anyone copying from him. The invigilator noticed but said nothing, thinking along the same lines as Ye Qing.

Since Ye Qing didn't write particularly quickly, a small number of the top students had already finished their papers.

Huo Mengyao sat ahead of Ye Qing and to his left. Seeing his paper filled with answers, she couldn't help giving it a few extra, surprised looks.

Noticing Huo Mengyao's gaze, Ye Qing smiled at her.

Wang Yao chewed on his pen, racking his brains. He glanced at Ye Qing sitting perfectly upright, then at his own paper, which was still more than half blank. After agonizing over it, he decided, Screw it, I'm copying! Let's do this!