Ethan thought for a moment and then took from his backpack some food that Water-type Pokémon liked. He looked at the Palpitoad in the area and said, "Who wants to cooperate with me for a small investigation? The food will go to whoever does."
Upon hearing this, several Palpitoad began to stir until one of them—the sturdiest one—stepped forward, licked its lips, and fixed its gaze on the food Ethan held in his hands.
Ethan smiled slightly and handed over the food. Then, he began examining the lumps on that Palpitoad's head.
"Palpitoad, can you try vibrating a little?"
He asked after inspecting it, taking out more food as an incentive.
The Palpitoad happily nodded and began vibrating the lumps on its head. Ethan immediately felt a slight tremor beneath his feet.
"Vibrava, come feel this energy too."
Ethan looked at the Pokémon beside him with an encouraging expression.
There was no way he could understand anything about vibration research, so everything depended on Vibrava.
Vibrava: ( Ｏ_Ｏ) —holding back tears.
Time passed quickly. After feeling the vibrations generated by Palpitoad several times, Vibrava seemed to have grasped something.
Suddenly, Vibrava descended and landed on the ground like a mosquito. It gently fluttered its wings, and instantly, small waves of dust rose beneath its body and spread outward, generating a faint vibration.
Seeing this, Ethan rejoiced. Although Vibrava's vibration was very weak, it had already managed to grasp a bit of the technique.
"Viiibbraa!"
On the way back, Vibrava flew in little hops through the air, celebrating energetically.
Ethan smiled at its good mood and quickened his pace. After dinner, he planned to go to the library to check if there was any information about Palpitoad and Seismitoad.
After all, vibration was one of the exclusive abilities of the Seismitoad species; if he was going to study them, researching that ability was essential.
And after consulting the records, Ethan did indeed obtain useful information. He even developed new ideas for training Vibrava's vibration ability.
...
Time passed quickly. Half a month later...
Ethan left the Sky Secret Kingdom accompanied by Sandslash, Slowking, Meltan, Vibrava, Charmander, and Shuckle.
Since the research on converting Cacturne's ability—from Sand Veil to Water Absorb—had not yet concluded, Ethan had to leave it in the Secret Kingdom, though it pained him.
This time, he had hurriedly left the Central Guild Headquarters because the annual entrance exam of Ironvale City's Pokémon University was about to begin.
"They say this year's evaluation will be a field survival test."
"What? Outdoor survival? Really?"
"A survival test already? I'm not prepared at all!"
As soon as he returned to the university, Ethan heard the students' discussions. He was slightly surprised. A survival test?
"I didn't expect it to be a survival test, hahahaha!"
Before Ethan could react, Kyle Miller burst into laughter upon seeing him.
After laughing, Kyle shot a provocative look at Ethan. Maybe I can't beat you in battle, but in survival, I, Kyle, fear no one!
Ethan fell deep in thought. He had assumed it would be a normal battle exam, and for that, with Sandslash, Slowking, Meltan, and Vibrava, he was more than prepared.
But if it was survival... without Cacturne, Absol, or Kingdra, he would be at a slight disadvantage.
Although, considering the test was targeted at intermediate-level trainers, as long as he didn't aim for a top ranking, even with only four main team members he could manage.
"By the way, Ethan, are you ready for the Advanced Trainer exam?"
"The exam is held every spring, and they say this year it will be much harder than before."
"Even though you have more than enough strength for that level, if you don't prepare well, you could still fail."
Kyle changed the subject. The university's survival test didn't worry him, but the Advanced Trainer exam was another matter.
"The Advanced Trainer exam..." Ethan murmured, nodding slowly.
By now, he was certain that his strength was more than sufficient.
But that exam didn't just evaluate strength: the most important thing was the ability to handle dangerous situations, and that was precisely the barrier that stopped most people before reaching the advanced rank.
After all, being an Advanced Trainer was already a prestigious position. And to reach levels such as Elite or Champion, strength wasn't enough—just as in the case of ascending to Pokémon Professor: many more rules were involved.
Even so, when thinking of the possible extreme conditions—snow, rain, storms—he felt a slight headache. His lineup was good, but still vulnerable to bad weather.
"Don't worry, I'm basically ready."
Ethan stated with some confidence.
"I hope so. Wouldn't want me to pass and you not!" Kyle replied with a wide grin. For him, a survival test was nothing.
As they chatted, they arrived at the university gym. After so long, Professor Leonard Langford wanted to evaluate his students again.
When they entered, Ethan saw that everyone was already gathered; only he and Kyle were missing.
In addition to reserve team members like them, Jason Brooks and the substitutes of the university's official team were also present.
Soon, the current official team members would graduate, and they would take their places. Among them, seven would enter as new official substitutes.
"Captain Jason, long time no see."
Ethan greeted with a smile. Ever since they had been directly promoted to the reserve team, Jason and the others had been training them for a while, so they knew each other well.
(End of chapter)