There was still time before nine. Following the map toward the arena, Ethan watched the other candidates stream past.
Non-exam folks had been cleared out; only candidates and staff remained. With the campus this empty, what was usually noisy now felt hollow and cold.
He figured Westgate Junior High hosted maybe 300–500 testers. With 24 junior highs in Stonegate City (four as overflow sites), that meant 10,000+ kids across the Western Region were sitting the Trainer High exam.
He couldn't help shaking his head. Most wouldn't make Imperial Province First Trainer High.
Thankfully the results were portable. Miss the top school and there's still a No. 2 or No. 3—plus every city's own Trainer High. But those focus less on battle specialists and more on support tracks—construction, geology, mining, that sort of thing.
Because the Normal track sits in a special place, everyone except Ghost specialists must take it. So they'd put the Normal test in the standalone gymnasium.
Each side of the gym—east, west, north, south—fed a separate arena. Ethan drew Arena 2, west gate, so he waited there.
Outside, plenty of kids had their partners out. Geodude was everywhere—Ethan counted eight just in one clump, all gabbing about Geodude builds. Around them clustered other Rock users—Dwebble, Probopass, even a juvenile Onix over six meters long, and a rare Rockruff.
Stonegate really earns its world-class Rock Gym—locals default to Rock types when they can.
Strangers still sorted into tribes. Rock tamers packed together. A handful of kids with starters—clearly well-backed—stood near the center like the scene's protagonists.
Two other loose herds formed. After a minute picking out the pattern, Ethan let Houndour out and drifted toward one group.
These were the "honest folk."No Rock types, no starters, no finals—just first-stagers with room to grow.
The other cluster had nothing but finals or single-stagers: a Snorlax (asleep), a Tauros, a Lapras, an Orthworm, and a scar-striped Zangoose. Equal levels favored them.
Which made Ethan's side—the future 2- or 3-stagers—the "honest" bunch.(Some 3-stagers end up with lower totals than single-stagers, anyway…)
Lapras: (~ ̄ ▽ ̄) ~Geodude: ('~`;)
Staff handed out number chips to ~forty kids. Ethan drew 14—nicely up front. Groans from the decimals; everyone wanted to go last and scout.
At five minutes per candidate pair, Ethan figured he'd be up within the hour. He took Houndour to a slice of shade and sat. Panic energy buzzed; one partner even nipped its own trainer—staff intervened, and that kid was DQ'd.
Six pairs flew by; pass rate looked about half.
Ethan entered with a girl running Geodude. Nods exchanged, mag-cards handed over, and they were walked to two temporary rings.
His proctor—an older Trainer High student—eyed Houndour. "Don't see many of those."
He fished a random ball from a cardboard tote and tossed. Red light cleared on a half-meter, fat brown fuzzball: Sentret.
Ethan blinked; Houndour smirked.
"Well now. Sentret—someone lucked out," the student muttered. Judge signaled. Battle on.
"Sentret, Quick Attack!"The furball sprang off its tail, legs a blur.
At two meters Houndour tapped the floor—Protect blossomed. Sentret pinged off; the shield barely quivered. Houndour dropped it, hips rolled, tail flashed steel-white—Iron Tail—and Sentret cartwheeled, out.
Judge, proctor, floor staff: stunned.
Ethan took his mag-card back, whistled, and walked out.Normal: passed.
—
An hour later in Flying 1, a fledgling Starly got plucked out of the air by Ember. The whole room ran on Starly—legends and Corviknight line skew off-limits here.
Flying: passed.
—
Poison 4 brought an old friend—Arbok. Houndour stalled every sting with Protect, then closed with Fire Spin for old times' sake.
Poison: passed.
—
Bug 3 finally bit back: level-8 Pinsir. Proctor scripted Focus Energy → Thrash; two swings later it spun into confusion. Houndour double-Protected the blitz, then wrapped it in Fire Spin.
Bug: passed.
—
Last: Ghost 1. First floor of a dimmed classroom block, gauze on windows, shadows seeded with Ghost types. Four kids bailed in the queue.
When Ethan and Houndour sat down, others drifted closer. Everyone knows Dark answers Ghost.
"Houndour, last one. Give 'em a show."A sharp little grin. "Houn."
In the monitor room, proctors watched.
"Good seedling," a scholarly middle-ager said. "Reads like level 10—and battle-tempered."
"Day one isn't day three," a woman said evenly. "Let's see him handle Ghost. At ten, he may not have a Dark move."
"Then it'll be Ember plus Iron Tail. Snooze-fest," another shrugged.
"Not necessarily," the woman smiled. "I approved this room. There's a little one half the campus dotes on—I brought it. We told proctors to dial difficulty selectively. A Dark-type should trigger that pick."
A couple colleagues frowned—recruiting vibes toe the line.(Policy: campus Pokémon must choose freely; no luring/restricting access.)