A week has passed and it was the day of the Pokemon Trainer Examination. Dante already woke up even before the sun began to rise, readying himself for the most important first step in his Trainer career.
"Don't worry ma, I already got three pens in my bag. And yes, I am very sure that I want to be a Pokemon Trainer in the future."
Standing at the door, Dante replied helplessly at his mother who was fussing over him. Dante was currently dressed in a semi-formal style, wearing a black pants, black shoes, and a white polo shirt; he was currently preparing to head towards the examination venue.
"Alright alright, be sure to eat the snack I prepared for you before your exam. And good luck in the exam, Dan!"
Leaving the house under the worried eyes of his mother, Dante set off towards the examination venue.
Different from the other world, the traffic in this Philippines was much better due to the convenience brought by Pokemon. Air transportation can easily be achieved by either renting or getting an air license.
However, Dante chose to ride a public jeepney towards his destination.
Public jeepneys are long land vehicles that allow for 16 to 20 passengers to fit inside. They each have a set route to move around everyday. And unlike the other world, the vehicles here in general don't emit harmful smoke due to the use of a different energy source.
Fossil fuels are outdated and illegal to use in this world due to carbon emissions which pollutes the environment. Legendary Pokemons are known to maintain the balance of the world, with some responsible for keeping mother nature clean.
Therefore, the act of polluting the environment is seen as a form of disrespect to the Legendary Pokemon by the people of this world.
Instead of fossil fuels, elemental energy is the primary source of energy here. Elemental energy is derived from Pokemons and can easily be collected. Just like plants, Pokemons absorb nutrients from the food and release energy passively or through the use of moves.
After switching around a couple of jeepneys, Dante finally got to his destination after 30 minutes. Standing in front of the Pokemon Alliance branch building, Dante took a deep breath to calm himself down.
With today being the examination period, there was a short line at the entrance. After lining up for a while, Dante got to the front after 10 minutes. His ID was checked and verified and then he was led towards a huge stadium.
The stadium looked to be where Pokemon battles are officially held, but was redecorated for this occasion. There were banners placed, welcoming the 'Upcoming New Trainers'.
Dante sat at one of the chairs near the middle and looked around. About half of the seats were occupied and some people near the stage were checking out the equipment.
Looking at the time on his phone, it was still 7:10 AM, 50 minutes away from the 8 AM that was posted on the schedule.
Seeing that he had so much time left, Dante looked at the notes in his phone for a final refresher while eating the snacks his mother made for him.
Time unknowingly passed and the venue was soon filled up. When it was 8:10 AM, a man walked up the stage and spoke towards the microphone.
"Good morning, everyone. I am Brian Alba, the head of the examination committee. Before you proceed, I would just like to give you an overview of the examination process."
"First off, you will all be given 120 minutes to take a written test regarding basic Pokemon knowledge. Afterwards, you can walk around and eat your lunch until 1 pm. For those that qualify, we'll post their names and ID number on the bulletin board at the entrance by 12:30. Only those that qualify can proceed to the practical part of the examination. Are there any questions?"
One examinee raised their hand after Mr. Alba finished speaking.
"Excuse me sir, what is the score to be considered as qualified for taking the practical exam?"
"Good question. As you know, there are only a few PokePortals present in this country. And while that means we encounter less danger, that also means we get access to lesser resources."
"In order to ensure that the available resources are not wasted and get to the right people, the country has implemented a higher threshold for becoming a Pokemon trainer."
"So for your question, only examinees that answered more than 90% of the questions correctly will be considered for the practical examination."
Most of the people in the venue took a deep breath after hearing that, and even Dante was no exception. A 90 percent score means that he has to get a score of 45 or more in a 50 points test. Even in his other life, Dante seldom got a score of that level when he stepped into high school.
After seeing everyone's expression, Mr. Alba on the stage spoke again.
"You don't have to worry. While examinees are prohibited from applying for an examination again for a year after failing, you can take the exam as many times as you want. So as long as you don't lose heart, you can surely become a Pokemon trainer!"
After giving that motivational speech, Mr. Alba answered a few other questions before letting everyone go to their examination room.
The assigned room number for each participant was already given along with the email. After getting to his assigned room and taking a seat, Dante calmed himself down while waiting for the exam to begin.
There were 40 examinees in the room and three proctors. After the proctor made sure that everyone was seated, they began distributing the papers face down.
Making sure that everyone has a copy, the timer that was projected on the board was started and the exam began.
Dante flipped over the four page exam paper and looked at the first part of the examination. The first part was a 20-item question regarding the types of Pokemon just based on their name.
'Ivysaur is a grass/poison type, Psyduck is water type, Seel is a water type, Floette is fairy type, Braixen is fire type, Emolga is electric/flying type, Cacturne is grass/dark type, Nosepass is rock type, Crabrawler is fighting type, Gourgeist is ghost/grass type, Gardevoir is psychic/fairy type…'
As Dante answered more questions, he became more and more confident.
Pokemon movepool and move types, which stat they are good and bad at, type resistances, etc. While there were some questions that he was not very certain of, Dante was sure that he answered more than 90% correctly.
With more than 20 minutes left on the clock, Dante reviewed all his answers before passing it when the time was up.
Walking out of the room, Dante breathed a sigh of relief. The first part of the examination was done. Looking around him, some examinees had a relaxed look, some a gloomy look, and some with a hopeful look.
Dante walked around, had lunch, and reviewed his notes again while waiting for the announcement in front of the Pokemon Alliance branch.
At exactly 12:30 AM, a staff member took out a large piece of paper and posted it on the bulletin board. Dante and the examinees rushed together in front of the paper to look for their names.
Starting from the top of the list, he saw the top 10 with someone named Kuki Shinobu at the first place getting 100% points. After that, names were alphabetically arranged along with their points.
When he finally got to the bottom of the list at letter Z, he saw his name and finally breathed a huge sigh of relief. Taking a look at his points, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he saw: Zulueta, Dante H. - 90.0%.