At 1 PM, everyone that passed the first exam was led to the stadium where they first gathered. There, Mr. Alba was already standing on top of the stage waiting for everyone to take their seat.
"Ahem, congratulations to the 169 participants here that passed among more than a thousand. Give yourselves a round of applause!"
After waiting for everyone to finish clapping, Mr. Alba continued.
"Now, for the second part of the exam, you don't have to don't have to worry too much. As long as you can apply what you have learned, then you can easily pass. The second exam is a practical examination where you will choose from a random group of Pokemon to battle against one of our proctors."
After Mr. Alba further explained the rules of the exam, Dante understood.
Everyone will battle the proctors in an alphabetical order, from A to Z. The top ten are the exception, with them having the right to battle first. There are ten proctors so the battle will be done ten at a time.
Dante despaired. His last name starts with Z, so he will have to wait for the last batch to get to his turn.
In addition, there will be a referee and evaluator standing by the side of each battle. As long as you can defeat the opponent, then it will be considered as passing.
While it may sound harsh for newbies like them to require defeating veterans as the passing standard, that is not the case at all.
Five minutes before the battle, everyone will be given information regarding the three Pokemons that they can choose, as well as the Pokemon that the proctor has.
All Pokemons are at the rookie level, so there will not be much variation in their movesets. As long as you chose a Pokemon that has a type advantage, then this battle is almost a sure-win.
After Mr. Alba finished explaining, the top ten were called to enter a separate room for battling. Among the ten, the most eye-catching is the one in the lead, a girl that looked like she was the same age as Dante.
She was wearing a dark colored cropped top exposing part of her midriff showing her belly button, matching dark shorts and a black belt decorated with a thick red rope tied into a bow. Her hair is tied into a ponytail and she wears a black mask that covers the bottom half of her face.
Even though she dresses so boldly, being the only one amongst the thousands of examinees that obtained a full score shows that she is not your typical gangster beauty.
Dante had to wait for almost three hours before it was his turn. As expected, he was among the last bunch of examinees that had to take the exam.
After entering the room, a staff member gave him a data pad which shows a picture of a round, brown Pokemon with the top of its head having three, round green balls in a formation resembling the club in poker cards. It looks like a potted plant.
"This is the Pokemon of the proctor that you will battle. If you swipe to the right, there is information about the three Pokemons that you can choose. If you have decided, please inform me immediately so I can bring them to you."
After the staff finished, he started a timer in his hands and waited for Dante.
Dante swiped to the right and saw his three options. Pidgey, Pansear, and Psyduck. Based on their given data, Pidgey is the most well developed among the three, followed by Pansear and then Psyduck.
Dante realized the pitfalls of this exam after seeing all this.
The proctor has Bonsly, a Pokemon that looks like a plant but is actually a rock type. Two of the given options, Pidgey and Pansear, are both strong against grass type but weak against rock.
Even when he was playing Pokemon in the previous world, Dante always thought Bonsly and its evolution Sudowoodo was a grass type pokemon for many years.
If someone also thinks this and chooses those two Pokemon, then unless they possess a very high commanding skill, it is almost certain they will be eliminated.
Dante resolutely chose Psyduck and informed the staff member. The staff raised his eyebrows a little but didn't say anything.
After Dante held the Pokeball, he was a little excited. Looking at its smooth and slick design, he reminisced about the first time he watched Pokemon and dreamed how great it would be if he also had a Pokemon of his own.
Pressing the button in the middle, a red light flashed in front of him and a chubby, duck-like Pokemon appeared in front of him.
The Pokemons chosen in this exam have all gone through basic training and can be commanded by authorized trainers. Before this exam, their trainer already explained that they had to follow the command of the humans that released them from their Pokeball.
Kneeling in front of Psyduck, Dante began talking to it.
"Hey little bud, my name is Dante and my dream is to become the strongest Pokemon trainer. This is my first step to achieving that dream and I really really need your help in the next battle. Can you lend me your strength?"
Psyduck looked at the serious eyes of the boy in front of him as well as his outstretched hand. Replying with a "Psyyyyyduckk", Psyduck stretched out its short forelimbs and placed it on top of the boy's hand.
Dante smiled at Psyduck and shaked its forelimb. According to the 'Pokemon and Bonds' book, most Pokemons have a simple nature. And due to their simple nature, they can intuitively feel whether a human is sincere or not.
With the limited amount of time that he had, Dante chose to express his most sincere feelings in order to establish a basic bond with Psyduck.
After chatting with Psyduck for a while, the staff informed him that the time was up and he was directed to move towards the battle ground. Dante took Psyduck back into the Pokeball and walked towards his first Pokemon battle.
Opposite Dante was a man that looked to be in his late 20s or early 30s. He was looking at a notepad in his hand and only raised his head when Dante stood at the trainer area.
"Dante Zulueta, right?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Heh, calm down kid. It's your first time having a Pokemon battle, right? Mistakes in commanding a Pokemon for newbies usually happens due to nervousness instead of lack of knowledge. You already passed the first exam. Take a breath and recenter yourself. We'll begin when you're ready."
Dante took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. Feeling his sweaty palms, he couldn't help but lament how those protagonists from other fanfics can always be so calm even when fighting against a whole army.
'Maybe because they all have their own golden finger (cheats) while I don't.'
Feeling that he has calmed down enough after that self-derision, Dante signaled to the referee on the side that he was ready.