"Why do I feel like the gap between us has widened after my special training?" Zhang Yao asked helplessly, sipping his soda.
"Your Charmander has indeed made great progress, hehe, but my Slowpoke has made even greater progress. Don't worry, it's just me; you'll easily defeat others in your grade like cutting melons and vegetables."
Wang Luo spoke boastfully, but his body honestly slumped onto the sofa.
"Tsk, showing off."
Zhang Yao rolled his eyes at Wang Luo.
However, he knew it was true. Just yesterday, he had used his newly learned tactics to defeat three Pokémon belonging to high school students who came to train: a Mankey, a Machop, and a Nidoran♂. So, it wasn't that he was weak, but that Wang Luo was too strong.
Wang Luo told him that the future training direction would be to improve the proficiency of Double Team. The more Double Team clones there were, the richer Charmander's tactics would become.
As for combining Smoke Screen and Fire Flower, Charmander was still clueless and needed to think more. Wang Luo also expressed helplessness, only suggesting that Zhang Yao strengthen Charmander's Fire attribute energy development.
Regardless of the outcome, the special training had finally ended. They were starting school tomorrow, so they wouldn't be able to come for a while.
Before leaving, Zhao Wenli gave Wang Luo a Psychic training manual and told him to practice more often.
Wang Luo solemnly accepted the book and promised to study it seriously.
...
The next day, Wang Luo and Zhang Yao arrived at the classroom early and found adjacent seats.
If nothing unexpected happened, this would be their last day in this classroom. After entering the Pokémon Department, they would study in a dedicated Pokémon Department Building.
At this time, the students in the classroom were still chattering excitedly about their initial Pokémon, their faces full of excitement. It seemed that quite a few people were confident about getting into the Pokémon Department this time.
"A-Luo, how are you prepared? I'm telling you, I'm super nervous right now. My dad said if I don't get into the Pokémon Department, he'll make me major in financial management and then come home to help him manage the supermarket..."
Wang Luo said irritably, "You're humble-bragging, aren't you? Failing at starting a business and going home to inherit the family business, huh?"
"Hehe, I'm just worried I won't get in."
Zhang Yao chuckled awkwardly. Wang Luo's joke had eased his nervous mood a little.
"You'll definitely be fine. This exam is divided into theory and practical. Your grades are so good, and your Pokémon is so strong. I'm the one who's miserable; my theory exam is a complete mess."
"Don't worry, your Charmander has been trained very well. Even if your theory score is a bit low, they'll let you into the Pokémon Department given your excellent practical performance."
Zhang Yao nodded, took out his textbook, and planned to cram as much as he could at the last minute.
Around eight o'clock, the homeroom teacher, Liu Hongbin, walked into the classroom, tapped on the blackboard, and said:
"The theoretical test for the class placement exam is about to begin. The examination hall is in the Elf Comprehensive Building. I will now distribute the admission tickets. Everyone, please find your classroom and seat number according to the information on your admission ticket."
Seeing everyone listening attentively, Liu Hongbin nodded with satisfaction.
"Students whose names are called, please come to the podium to collect your admission tickets. Liu Haoyu."
"Here!"
A boy sitting in the front row quickly went to the podium, grabbed his admission ticket, and immediately checked his information.
In a short while, all the admission tickets were distributed.
Looking at the students who had all received their admission tickets, Liu Hongbin still earnestly reminded them: "There are over thirty classes in our grade, but the Pokémon Department only recruits students for ten classes, so everyone must perform their best this time."
"So..."
Liu Hongbin straightened up, "I wish you all good luck on your exams. Dismissed!"
"Goodbye, Teacher!"
After bidding farewell to their homeroom teacher, the students began to leave the classroom one after another, heading to the Comprehensive Building for the exam.
Wang Luo and Zhang Yao walked among the crowd. Their exam classes were adjacent, so they walked together.
Upon reaching the Comprehensive Building and finding their classrooms, the two parted ways at the classroom entrance.
"Good luck with the exam!"
"You too!"
In Pokémon Class Three, Wang Luo found his seat by looking at the seat number on his admission ticket.
He looked around and saw four invigilators in different positions in the classroom. Also, entry required a check by special personnel, strictly prohibiting electronic devices, which showed how strict it was.
Soon, the classroom was filled with students. A teacher in a suit on the podium checked the time, felt it was about right, cleared his throat with a cough, and said:
"The exam time has arrived. We are now distributing the test papers. Everyone, please answer quietly. No talking. The exam duration is two hours."
As the test papers were distributed, the answering bell rang, and everyone simultaneously bent down to begin answering.
Wang Luo first glanced at the questions on the paper. The questions covered various Pokémon attribute issues, Pokémon characteristics and habits, and finally, a section on type advantages and basic moves.
Already familiar with Pokémon knowledge, and having been in this world for two months, these basic facts posed no challenge to him.
In just an hour and a half, Wang Luo had finished all the questions and checked them twice.
He looked up and saw that most students were still struggling with the questions, while others had already given up.
Covering his paper, Wang Luo began to rest, preparing for the practical exam in the afternoon.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling!
The bell rang, signaling the end of the exam.
"Alright, the exam is over. All students, put down your pens. Do not move. Wait for the papers to be collected. Any student still writing will be treated as cheating."
After collecting all the papers, the teacher in the suit said, "This afternoon's practical exam will be held at the school's stadium. All students, please gather at the stadium at 1:30 PM and wait for the teachers to take you to the examination venue."
With that, the teachers left the classroom one after another.
After standing up, Wang Luo went outside the classroom and leaned against the railing, waiting for Zhang Yao to come out.
As soon as Zhang Yao saw Wang Luo, he hugged him and cried, snot and tears flowing:
"Wang Luo, those questions were impossible! So hard! Who knew Feebas could evolve into Milotic? How can those two even be related?"
Wang Luo smiled helplessly: "That one was indeed a bit difficult, but didn't the teacher cover it in class? Feebas can turn from an ugly duckling into a swan as long as its beauty reaches a certain level. Did you forget?"
Zhang Yao laughed awkwardly: "I think I fell asleep during that class."
Wang Luo was speechless upon hearing that.
However, the Pokémon knowledge in this world didn't seem to have reached the level of his previous life. For example, Feebas could evolve into Milotic using a Prism Scale, and the evolution method for Sylveon hadn't been discovered yet.
So, Wang Luo was also cautious when answering questions. If he revealed some advanced knowledge, he wouldn't know how to explain it.
"By the way, how do you think you did? It surely didn't stump you, right?"
Zhang Yao looked at Wang Luo's calm face and knew that his best friend, who used to fail with him, must have done well.
"It's alright. A perfect score isn't certain, but I'm confident about getting above 90 points."
It wasn't that Wang Luo was overconfident, but that he genuinely had the ability.
After hearing Wang Luo's reply, Zhang Yao only felt more pain in his heart.
"Let's go, let's eat at the cafeteria. I'm going to turn my grief into appetite and prepare well for this afternoon's practical test."
After lunch, Zhang Yao excitedly took Wang Luo to the playground. He knew he couldn't rely on the written test, so he had to depend on Charmander's practical battle to turn things around.
The playground was already packed with people, with teachers holding signs. On the playground's podium, a teacher was shouting into a loudspeaker:
"Students, please don't be disorderly. Line up behind the corresponding teacher according to your admission ticket information."
The two exchanged glances and hurried to queue up. However, this time they were quite far apart and could only rely on their own efforts.