"Next." Hana lazily scanned a chemistry book as she waited for her turn. After completing her exams, she had applied for A.S. Academy since it seemed like a decent choice. However, it turned out the school actually had a second exam for class placement. So troublesome.
"Hana Zhao." The examiner called. "Room 3."
Within the room, four old men were quarreling on the second level. "So what if she scored a perfect? She is a F ranked. Letting someone of such low level to enter would tarnish our prestige." The old man speaking was an elder of the combat department. "Our rank already dropped to four. If we don't up our standards, then who knows how much longer we can maintain this position."
"Bei Feng, if your combat department doesn't want her, our academic department will gladly take her. She scored a perfect on the college exams. Don't you know everyone is calling her the next Leo?" The elder of the mathematics department countered. "Surely she could bring great contributions to our school."
"What next Leo? We have Leo himself!" Elder Feng argued. "Do we need an imitation product when we have the real thing? Besides, with her stellar scores, why would she apply to our school, a university that focus on combat? It's very suspicious if you ask me."
The other representative from the academic department spoke up. "You managed to steal him from us four years ago. Shouldn't we get this one as compensation?" He sneered.
That legendary student was a abnormal genius in academics and combat. Sadly, this old fogey managed to poach him in the end. Heh, too bad Leo was very peculiar and never participated in combat matches between schools. The old guy deserved to be driven into puking blood for stealing a student of theirs.
"Well," the 2nd representative from the combat department tried to soothe things over, "this girl seems to have a three star combat ranking. Perhaps she is decent enough?"
The four stopped talking as the girl in question walked in.
Hana looked quizzically around her. The room was empty, save for another student in the corner. Four elders stood on a balcony above her, likely the examiners? However judging from their ugly expressions, they seem to be in some conflict . . .?
"Cough, you are Hana Zhao?" One of them finally spoke.
Han nodded.
"Your examination will consist of two rounds. First, we will go through a brief interview. Then, you will demonstrate you abilities against Zhu Xing, a student of our combat department. Do you have any questions?"
"Nope."
"Then let me start first. Why did you choose our school?" The gruff voice asked.
"A teacher recommended I choose A.S. Academy. It fit my preferences so I went along with it."
"Your exam results exceed expectations. It seems to deviate drastically from you previous track." Another commented.
Hana pursued her lips. "True, however I recently understood the true utilization of my abilities which greatly contributed to my improvements." Yeah, Gale Force Reading glasses is a huge cheat.
The elders looked at each other. "We will assess you abilities before any further questions."
The elder with a gruff voice gestured at the boy in the corner. "Zhu Xing."
"Understood, Elder Feng." The boy stepped forward. He could be considered handsome, only a few years older than her.
"Miss Zhao, please demonstrate your ability against him. Zhu Xing is a 3rd year student in the combat department. His ability is ranked A so you are not expected to win. This is not a death match, simply a combat exchange."
'How interesting', Hana thought. "Understood."
Zhu Xing gestured politely with a gloved hand. "Miss Zhao, please make the first move."
Hana narrowed her eyes. The boy wasn't even in a stance. He was underestimating her, not surprising.
"Glaceon, Monferno, prepare for battle." The fire and ice Pokemon appeared by her side.
"So these are your summons, quite unique." A blaze erupted from Zhu Xing's fist. "Then please pardon my rudeness." He launched forward.
It was a common tactic to deal with summoners. While they could call upon supernatural creatures, it was also their weakness because they tend to rely on their summons to protect them.
Simply get past the summons, and the summoner is an undefended target.
A blast of flame shot toward Glaceon.
"Counter with ice bream," Hana said calmly as she analyzed Zhu Xing.
He was pretty good. The flame intensity was high and he moved with experience. Unfortunately, this matchup was one-sided.
Glaceon opened it's mouth, releasing an icy bream that clashed equally with the fire. The room steamed.
"Now double team. Monferno, use dig." A dozen Glaceons quickly appeared on the battlefield, while the fire monkey vanished underground.
"The summons have elemental abilities, not bad." The 2nd combat department representative remarked.
"Hmm, let's observe some more." Elder Bei Feng suddenly looked interested in the match. He had a feeling that this girl's abilities were somewhat peculiar.
Hana waved her hand. "Quick attack!" The Glaceons rushed toward in streaks of white and blue.
"Fast!" Zhu Xing widened his eyes. He angled his hands, a narrower stream of fire appearing. He propelled himself between the summons.
Hana blinked. Now that was creative. Her seems to have condensed his firepower over a narrow surface area of his palm, then used the subsequent propulsion to maneuver around. His movements were so fluid, indicating years of practice.
His agility was promising. Hana noticed that he wore shoes that reduced friction as well, evidently worn because of this technique. Hmm . . . .
"Mach Punch!"
Monferno exploded out of the ground, a fist racing toward Zhu Xing's face.
Zhu Xing swore, instinctively leaning back. The first brushed past, grazing his nose. He quickly rushed for Hana, a sense of premonition filling him. He had to end this quickly.
"Got you!" His fist rushed for her stomach.