Chapter 134. Who Is This Year's Question Setter!?
Only the four registered moves may be used by each Pokémon on a stall team.
Stall-team Pokémon include, but are not limited to, Chansey, Skarmory, and Venusaur.
Dense lines of Pokémon names covered the wall, and this rule was even repeated several times.
Anyone who didn't know the context might think it was discrimination.
"This rule is way too ridiculous, right?"
Misty felt it was unreasonable.
"I know this one."
Ash Ketchum raised his hand.
Natsume's key points booklet he'd given Ash happened to mention this.
"Ahem."
Ash cleared his throat and began explaining at length.
"Natsume's booklet says a stall team is a lineup built around Pokémon with high defensive power, whittling down the opponent's HP with status moves while restoring its own HP…"
Ash spoke a whole lot in one breath, but never hit the key point.
"So then, isn't that just a battle strategy?"
"Why does the League stipulate that this type of Trainer's Pokémon can only use the four moves they've registered?"
Misty still didn't get it.
Natsume swallowed his bite of sandwich and spoke up.
"Because about ten years ago, two stall Trainers met in the finals."
"And back then the rule was six-on-six."
At this, Natsume paused, his expression odd.
"The two of them fought for two days and two nights without a winner."
"In the end, both sides' Pokémon couldn't take it anymore, teamed up, and beat up their own Trainers, and that was how the match fizzled out and ended."
"Afterward, the two Trainers were unconvinced and escalated it to League higher-ups. The two of them had a rematch and fought another two days and two nights…"
"From that match onward, the League added this rule that limits the number of moves."
"But don't worry, this rule targets only this one tactic. Other Pokémon aren't bound by it and don't need to register moves."
Natsume said this and stuffed the rest of the sandwich into his mouth.
After hearing it, everyone's mouths twitched.
Sure enough, every rule has its origin.
"Candidates, please enter!"
An electronic female voice sounded, and not far away an examiner in League work uniform approached.
"Hurry, hurry, it's starting!"
Like ducks being herded, a crowd of Trainers filed into a computer room.
As they sat, the computers lit up automatically and began to display content.
"Examinee Notes: This examination is initiated by the League and drafted by the Kanto Institute of Science. During the examination—"
Skipping three minutes of Examinee Notes, the questions finally appeared.
Ash was extremely nervous, eyes locked on the monitor.
The first segment of the exam was theory.
Theory Exam, Part I: League Regional Humanities.
"'Why do you recommend first going 'ha' with your breath when facing Dragon-type Pokémon?'"
"'Because Dragonair.'"
"'The above Q&A comes from an interview by a League reporter with a researcher from which region?'"
The instant he saw the question, Ash froze for half a second, and Natsume's figure flashed through his mind.
He chose the Kanto region without hesitation.
Yes, Kanto researchers are like that.
Seeing the first question, some people were already scratching their heads.
This felt wrong.
Shouldn't the Humanities section be all free points, just asking about customs related to Pokémon in each region?
What was this "Regional Humanities" supposed to be?
The further they went, the more flustered everyone became, and by the time they reached the later questions, everyone was drenched in sweat, staring blankly at one particular problem on the screen.
More and more people stopped at this point, and the screens began to look eerily uniform.
Comprehensive Application of Pokémon Theoretical Knowledge (40 points)
Trainer Alex plans to hatch a 6-IV Pokémon (definition in the field: HP, Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, and Speed all have the maximum Individual Value of 31).
Given:
Father: Larvesta, all IVs are at maximum except Speed, Ability Flame Body.
Mother: Larvesta, all IVs are at maximum except Defense, Ability Swarm.
Question 1: Alex discovers that all first-generation offspring have Flame Body. Which Ability is the dominant Ability and which is the recessive Ability? (1 point)
Question 2: What are the inheritance rules for the offspring's IVs? Please write out the specific transmission method. (2 points)
Question 3: If Alex wants the offspring to inherit the mother's Nature and Ability at a 100% rate, what should he do? (2 points)
Question 4:
In the exam hall, Misty looked up and exchanged a distant glance with Brock.
What on earth was this?
More and more candidates raised confused eyes.
There were eight more questions like this!
Sweeping the room, Natsume had nothing to do, while Honora wrote in a flurry.
Catching sight of Ash, Misty and Brock both blinked.
Ash was also burying his head and writing hard!
"Huh?"
Misty and Brock looked at each other, hardly believing their eyes.
Time ticked away.
Soon, time was up, and everyone was forced to submit.
"Damn it, who is the League's question setter this year? This isn't Professor Oak's style!"
A Trainer snapped.
"What does this have to do with 'common knowledge'? When did past exams ever do this?"
Another Trainer complained.
"Bastard, don't let me run into him!"
A Trainer cursed.
Amid the commotion, Natsume rubbed his nose.
"Quiet!"
A stern voice rang out.
Everyone looked up and noticed the examiner had already appeared at the door.
"All right, results will be out very soon."
The examiner walked in.
Behind him, a giant screen lowered slowly.
Countless Trainers stared at him ashen-faced.
Under the stares, the examiner felt a bit uncomfortable and finally spoke.
"Ahem, Professor Oak didn't have time this year. The new question setter seems to be setting for the first time, and the difficulty was on the high side."
At this, the examiner paused, and under a host of tense gazes, he finally said slowly:
"So the League has also lowered this year's passing threshold."
The examiner held up three fingers.
"Thirty points. Anyone scoring over thirty passes!"
At this, many Trainers sighed in relief, though their faces were still tight.
On the huge screen, names and scores began to scroll.
"Ding—"
The first line popped up with Natsume's name, and after that, names sprouted like bamboo after rain.
[Natsume, 100]
[Honora, 90]
[Ash Ketchum, 66]
[Issei Kudo, 45]
From Honora onward, the scores dropped sharply, and after the third-place Ash Ketchum, they plunged again.
The vast majority clustered between 30 and 40.
Anyone over 40 was few and far between.
In the end, the overwhelming majority of Trainers exceeded 30 and achieved a passing result.
"Yes! I got 66!"
The moment he left the exam room, Ash jumped up in excitement.
Before he could shout a few more times, Misty and Brock each hooked an arm under his and marched him away.
They forced Ash into a corner.
"Talk! Who are you?"
Brock barked.
"Whoever you are, get out of Ash's body right now!"
Misty raised Psyduck at Ash, and Psyduck's eyes flashed blue.
"Hey, hey, I'm Ash! Who else would I be?"
Ash protested.
"Pika pi!"
Pikachu hopped onto Ash's shoulder to vouch that he was the genuine article.
"Then how did you do it?"
Misty was amazed.
"How did I do what?"
Ash was puzzled.
"Your sixty-six," Brock zeroed in on the point.
"Oh, that. I stayed up all night memorizing the key points Natsume marked for me!"
Ash happily pulled out that ultra-thin booklet.
"Huh? Just these few pages—how did you manage that?"
Misty and Brock fell into deep thought; the two of them had only barely scraped just over forty points.
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