Chapter 31: Pokémon League Qualifying Exam
After helping Aerodactyl recover, Ryan pulled his Pokégear from his backpack and called Professor Oak. He'd only recently purchased this communication device with his prize money; otherwise, Ryan wouldn't have spent the funds on it.
He then told Professor Oak about the discovery of living fossil Pokémon in Grampa Canyon and asked him to notify the Pokémon League to protect them.
Professor Oak said he understood and told him to focus on his journey before hanging up. A short while later, a group of League officials arrived at Grampa Canyon, relocated the fossil hunters to a safe distance, and after a briefing with Ryan and his team, announced that Grampa Canyon would soon be designated a Pokémon preserve.
Ryan thought to himself, "Without the excitement of finding Aerodactyl, I wonder if Ash's Charmeleon will still evolve into Charizard during his visit here."
Bidding farewell to the League officials, Ryan and Lillie continued their journey. Their next destination was the Pokémon League Admissions Exam location, where trainers with at least one Gym Badge could take a qualifying test instead of collecting all eight badges. After discussing this with Lillie, she became interested and decided to give it a try. She knew she might not pass, but participating was what mattered most, right?
Grampa Canyon was quite expansive, and it wasn't until dark that Ryan and his companions finally reached the Pokémon Center on the outskirts of the canyon. After a night of rest, they set out again, passing through a small town where Lillie bought some souvenirs and mailed them home.
After six days of travel, they finally arrived at the Pokémon League certification exam site. Ryan and Lillie registered, receiving numbers 12 and 16 respectively.
After submitting their Pokédexes to the examiner for verification, they were led into the exam room. Ryan checked his seat and saw that he and Lillie were quite far apart, obviously to prevent any collaboration between acquaintances.
The first written exam tested general Pokémon knowledge, and Ryan was confident he had no trouble with it. After all, all those years of studying Pokémon weren't for nothing.
"The heaviest known Pokémon is Snorlax. True or False?"
Ryan paused momentarily. Was this referring to the Kanto region specifically, or all known regions? He knew there were heavier Pokémon in other regions, but if this was limited to commonly known Kanto Pokémon, Snorlax at 460kg would indeed be the heaviest.
After some thought, he chose false. After all, the exam was likely focused on well-documented Pokémon, not legendary or mythical ones.
"Lickitung's tongue is twice its body length. True or False?"
That was easy—True.
"Hitmonlee's nickname is the Kicking Fiend. True or False?"
Easy—False. Hitmonlee was known as the Kicking Pokémon, while Hitmonchan was the Punching Pokémon.
The remaining questions weren't too unusual; they were all fairly standard. Anyone who had studied Pokémon seriously could probably answer them.
After the first section, everyone faced what many considered the trickiest part: identifying Pokémon from silhouettes and partial images.
The examiner showed the first picture: a spiral-shaped silhouette. Ryan looked closely and noticed it spiraled clockwise, so he wrote down "Poliwrath." This question type had appeared in various Pokémon tests before—the key was knowing that clockwise spirals indicated Poliwrath, while counterclockwise indicated Poliwag or Poliwhirl.
Then the answer was announced: Poliwrath.
Next was an image of flames, and the examiner said it showed the tail flame of a Fire-type Pokémon. Ryan studied it and wrote down: Charizard. Having trained with his own Charizard, he recognized the distinctive flame pattern.
The answer was announced: Charizard.
The questions that followed varied in difficulty. Ryan answered them all to the best of his ability, getting most right with a few wrong.
He then left the exam room to wait for results. Lillie found Ryan, looking somewhat dejected, and said, "That was so difficult! I'm not sure how I did."
"Don't worry. Didn't you say it yourself? The most important thing is participating," Ryan said, patting Lillie's shoulder encouragingly.
A moment later, the results were announced. Ryan carefully checked the board. There were three columns: "Excellent," "Good," and "Poor." The "Poor" column thankfully didn't contain Ryan or Lillie's names. Then he checked the "Good" column and found Lillie's name, and she excitedly high-fived him in celebration. She'd passed the written test!
Ryan then found his name in the "Excellent" column. There was now a lunch break before the afternoon practical exam.
After lunch, Ryan and Lillie were led to individual battle stations, each displaying three Poké Balls on a belt.
"The next phase is a three-on-three battle exam. You'll use randomly assigned Pokémon, and you'll be scored based on your battle performance and strategy," the examiner explained.
Both nodded in understanding, each selecting a belt, and were then led to the battle arena. Lillie went first. Grabbing the first Poké Ball, she called out, "Let's do our best!"
A flash of white light revealed a Venusaur. Lillie excitedly exclaimed, "It's Venusaur! This is great—Venusaur, let's work together!"
"Very well, then here's my first Pokémon," the examiner said, releasing his own choice.
To everyone's surprise, a Caterpie appeared on the field, leaving the examiner looking somewhat embarrassed. Ryan couldn't help but cover his face, thinking: "Talk about incredible luck!"
The battle was over quickly—a single Vine Whip decided it. However, in the second round, Lillie sent out Blastoise, and Ryan had an ominous feeling.
As he expected, the examiner's Pokémon was a Wartortle. Everyone watching couldn't help but murmur among themselves, their faces showing envy: "This is incredible luck! Why don't I get matchups like that?"
Again, a single Water Gun ended the battle decisively. After recalling his defeated Pokémon, the examiner couldn't help but comment, "This student certainly has good fortune, but luck is also a form of skill. Your battle instincts aren't bad either. Will you continue with the final match?"
"Yes, let's see what happens," Lillie replied.
The examiner nodded, mentally giving her points for determination. Both released their third Pokémon. Lillie's was, as expected, Charizard—one of the starter Pokémon—while the examiner's was a Bug-type, a Scyther.
Ryan nodded approvingly. This time, the battle would be more legitimate. Lillie had watched him train his Charizard extensively, so she was probably most familiar with Charizard's moves aside from her own Pokémon. As for the examiner, he had demonstrated that the exam wasn't rigged—both examiner and student were using randomly selected Pokémon.
The battle proceeded normally, and Lillie passed. After all, Charizard's Fire and Flying types both had advantages against Scyther, and after watching Ryan's training sessions for so long, it would have been embarrassing if she'd lost. Clearly, Lillie had grown stronger during their travels. While she wasn't at the top tier, she was definitely above average now.
Lillie finished her battle, and then it was Ryan's turn. Walking onto the field, Ryan prepared to send out his first randomly assigned Pokémon.
(End of Chapter)
join patreon for update and advance 40+ chapters
https://www.p-atreon.com/c/Soulforger
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
"If you're enjoying this story, don't forget to drop a Power Stone! Your support keeps me motivated and helps the novel reach more readers."
"100 Power Stones this week = 1 extra chapter release!"
"500 Power Stones = 2 extra chapter release ."