The Oddish Legion

After chatting for a bit, Terrance and the others got an initial sense of Wallace's personality.

From Wallace, Terrance also learned why he had come to take the Breeder exam.

Wallace had followed a friend's advice, hoping to improve his own strength by studying as a Breeder.

"That friend of mine is an intermediate Breeder, but he's even more talented as a Trainer."

Terrance understood. It seemed he wasn't the only one who had realized it. Many talented Trainers and Coordinators had also recognized the importance of a Breeder's knowledge and used it to broaden their own skills.

"Those who passed the first exam, please gather at the second examination site immediately."

The announcement was called out three times, and the location of the second exam was given as well. After exchanging glances, they stopped talking and headed for the examination site.

Wallace, Nurse Joy Jun, and Terrance walked together, drawing plenty of attention. Three prodigies! Even the proctors watching them in silence couldn't help looking forward to their next exam.

The second examination site was a large courtyard behind the headquarters.

The proctors from the first written exam were still responsible for maintaining order.

Once everyone had arrived, a middle-aged man announced the subject of the second exam: "Emergency rescue. You've already learned that much, so please look here for the details."

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of green Pokémon walked out together where the successful candidates could see them.

"Those are... Oddish..." someone exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the Pokémon.

"Oh my, there must be nearly a hundred Oddish."

Someone counted the Oddish and found the number a little hard to believe.

"Are they the subject of our second exam?" At the sight, most people voiced the same question.

His guess was close enough. The middle-aged man in charge of the entire examination nodded and said, "That's right. Your second exam concerns this group of Oddish."

At that, Terrance and the other two also turned their attention to the Oddish and observed them.

"They're ordinary Oddish."

After observing them for a moment, they reached that conclusion.

Seeing everyone's confusion, the man continued, "There are eighty-eight Oddish here in total. Next, each of you will be assigned one, and you'll also be given a solution specially prepared for this exam by a senior Breeder."

"This solution can simulate a Burn caused by a move. After applying it to your Oddish, you'll each have fifteen minutes to treat its injury using the materials we provide. Once twenty minutes have passed, the Oddish's Burn will become more severe, so you have only fifteen minutes. Anyone who fails to treat it within that time will fail the exam."

"At the same time, the proctors will score you based on how effectively you treat the Burn and how long you take. Anyone who scores eighty-five or above will pass this examination and receive a junior Breeder's certification-"

The crowd erupted. No one had expected the emergency rescue exam to take this form. It was the first time in all these years that it had been conducted this way. Eighty-eight Oddish and eighty-eight bottles of solution prepared by a senior Breeder-the Breeder headquarters had really spared no expense this time.

"Do you have any questions?"

Everyone remained silent for a moment. Clearly, each of them had already begun picking out the necessary information from what the man had said.

Oddish, Burn...

The examinees present didn't overlook any of those details.

None of the people who had passed the first exam were ordinary candidates who had muddled their way through.

The pass rate for becoming a junior Breeder was lower than for advancing to intermediate or even senior Breeder. It was a matter of fundamentals: once those were solid, one could reach any level short of a top master through extensive study over time.

Those capable of becoming junior Breeders were the best of the best; it came down to talent.

At present, there were only a little over ten thousand Breeders registered with the League.

The Hoenn Region alone had a population of several million.

So this is the subject of the exam. After hearing the middle-aged man out, Terrance was eager to get started.

He also wanted to see how well he could do in this situation.

"You two seem pretty confident," Jun said with a smile. Looking at Terrance and Wallace, she saw that neither of them showed the slightest sign of nervousness.

"Of course. As a Coordinator, one must always maintain a peaceful state of mind and a graceful bearing," Wallace said.

"Let's go pick our Oddish and collect the solution," Terrance said to the other two, seeing that the examinees had already begun moving.

"Okay, let's go!" Jun shouted.

The eighty-eight Oddish were actually all much the same. They were probably raised by the Breeder headquarters; after all, their pollen and the saliva of their evolved form, Gloom, were both very valuable materials.

"Let's work well together." After collecting his solution, Terrance took an Oddish with him. The Oddish all knew their role, too. Fortunately, thanks to the senior Breeder who had prepared the solution, its Burn effect wouldn't cause serious harm to the Oddish in the short term, giving the examinees ample time.

Terrance brought the Oddish to his station and saw all the materials available for use.

There were about twenty kinds. Of course, he couldn't possibly use them all. As for how to combine them for the best effect, that was up to each examinee.

Once everyone was ready, the middle-aged man reiterated the rules. He also warned the examinees not to mix medicines recklessly because of the time limit if they weren't sufficiently confident, or they would be punished with a lifetime ban from taking the exam.

Finally, the exam began, and the hand on the large fifteen-minute countdown clock started moving.

As the hand ticked along, Terrance, like all the other examinees, first spoke to his Oddish. Once the Oddish confirmed it was ready, he quickly applied the solution to its leaves.

Next, he had to prepare medicine based on the Oddish's condition!

Burns had many different causes, and different Burns needed different treatments for the best results. That didn't mean other Burn medicines were ineffective, though. The most famous was Burn Heal. It was practically a Full Heal: while it might not work best, it could be used on every currently known kind of Burn.

Terrance first smelled the solution he had been given, then looked at the Oddish.

"Oddish, how do you feel?"

Half a minute passed. Terrance paused and began asking how the Oddish felt.

"Odd~"

Although the Oddish tried its best to cooperate with Terrance, he had trouble understanding what it was trying to say, so he had to observe its subtle reactions instead.

First, he looked at the Oddish's expression and the changes in the color of its leaves. Combining those observations with what he could learn about the solution's main ingredients and the time it took for the Burn to develop, Terrance recalled his knowledge of medicines and reasoned through the problem methodically.