Clearly, the result had shocked both Wally and Joy.
98 points.
That was practically a near-perfect score.
He had probably only lost a few points on the written-analysis questions because of some extremely minor flaws—flaws so small that they were almost negligible.
What surprised them even more was Wallace’s age.
He was a green-haired boy wearing a sailor-style uniform, seemingly around fifteen or sixteen years old.
At that moment, he stood elegantly with one hand behind his back, smiling as he bowed to everyone.
“I’m deeply honored—”
“So that’s Wallace…”
Looking at the similarly young Wallace, Wally’s thoughts began to churn.
The boy looked strangely familiar.
He seemed to be an important character from the original Pokémon series, but Wally couldn’t quite remember the details.
Beside him, Joy looked somewhat disappointed.
“Hahaha, don’t worry about it.
By the time you reach his age, you may already have become Intermediate Pokémon Breeders yourselves.”
Birch ruffled Joy’s hair without concern.
In his eyes, neither Joy’s nor Wally’s talent would lose its value simply because the gap between their scores and first place was so large.
“Besides, that boy isn’t simple either.”
Professor Birch looked thoughtfully at the boy who was bowing.
“Teacher, you know him?” Joy raised her head.
“I suppose you could say that I do.
Wallace… He is the Gym Leader of the Sootopolis Gym, the official Gym in Sootopolis City.
He only recently took over the Gym from his mentor, Juan.”
“He’s an extraordinary young man.
His mentor Juan specializes in Water-type Pokémon and is also an outstanding Pokémon Coordinator.
As a result, Wallace has exceptional talent both as a Coordinator and when it comes to Water-type Pokémon.”
“He has even been hailed as a newcomer whose strength is approaching that of the Elite Four.”
“He’s a Gym Leader and a Coordinator?
So being a Pokémon Breeder isn’t his main profession?!”
Birch’s explanation left Wally stunned for a moment, and his expression became somewhat strange.
“He’s also a Coordinator… Interesting.”
Looking at Wallace’s elegant and flamboyant figure, Wally was surprised, but he didn’t develop any feeling of looking up to him.
Whether it was his Breeder ability or his talent as a Pokémon Coordinator, Wallace seemed interesting to Wally.
He appeared to be a very good person to chase after.
“Feeling any pressure?”
Professor Birch laughed.
“Approaching the Elite Four?
That’s incredible.”
Joy’s attention, however, had been drawn to that particular statement.
She understood very well what the Elite Four represented.
The so-called Elite Four were the four strongest Trainers in a region’s Pokémon League.
In theory, their strength was second only to that of the League Champion.
In reality, there were quite a few Trainers whose strength wasn’t inferior to that of the Elite Four, but the Elite Four stationed within the various regional Leagues naturally possessed their own exceptional qualities.
Every member of the Elite Four represented the upper echelon of a Pokémon League’s combat power and was a prominent figure in society.
An Elite Four member could even easily support the development of an entire town, let alone a small orphanage like Verdanturf House.
And Wallace was only fifteen or sixteen years old, yet he had already been judged to be approaching the level of the Elite Four.
His talent was self-evident.
Perhaps being a Pokémon Breeder was merely an auxiliary pursuit for him.
“He’s very strong.
If you want to surpass him, you’ll have to work hard.”
Joy came from a prominent family, and her understanding of what the Elite Four represented was much deeper than Wally’s.
“Of course.”
Wally smiled.
He had a feeling that Wallace would become a formidable rival on his path to dominating Pokémon Contests.
Perhaps even his greatest threat.
Especially if Wallace really was an important figure from the original story, Wally had no choice but to take him seriously.
Wally couldn’t help regretting that he hadn’t taken the time to revisit the classics of his childhood.
As a result, he had forgotten so much of the original story.
“Look, they’ve announced the questions for the second stage of the examination.”
Someone pointed toward the screen.
After the rankings were announced, the subject of the second-stage examination appeared as well.
As was customary, the second stage was generally a practical examination.
There was only one question, and it was worth 100 points.
Those who passed the first-stage written examination generally wouldn’t score too poorly in the second stage.
However, to officially pass the Junior Pokémon Breeder examination, an examinee needed to achieve a score of 85 points or higher, which was considered an excellent result.
Question: Emergency Rescue!
“Are you two planning to wait here, or…?”
Professor Birch asked.
The second-stage examination would begin in an hour.
The examination duration depended on the difficulty of the task and generally wouldn’t exceed an hour.
If the task involved emergency rescue, it might be even shorter.
“Let’s wait here.”
Wally didn’t have anything else to prepare for the second stage.
There was hardly anything he could accomplish in such a short period of time.
Besides, he didn’t believe an emergency rescue task would be enough to stump him.
Joy nodded as well.
“In that case, I’ll head back and wait for your good news.”
Professor Birch smiled, said goodbye to the two of them, and turned around to return ahead of them.
The results of the second stage would be announced immediately after the examination ended, meaning that the entire Junior Pokémon Breeder examination could be completed within a single day.
“Look, the people who passed are already heading over there.”
Joy tugged on Wally’s sleeve and pointed toward the crowd.
“Then let’s go over too.”
The two of them immediately made their way through the crowd and arrived where the successful examinees had gathered.
Clearly, this was the place where those who had passed would receive information about the second-stage examination first, so most of the successful examinees had gathered there.
At that moment, they had surrounded Wallace and were showering him with praise.
A score of 98—practically a perfect score—was simply incredible.
In previous examinations, there had only been a handful of people who managed to score 90 or higher.
“It was just a coincidence.”
Wallace responded calmly to everyone’s praise.
He looked completely at ease.
“There’s something strange about the way this person behaves.”
Someone commented.
He was immediately contradicted by another person.
“What do you know?
Lord Wallace is known as the shining star of hope for Pokémon Coordinators.
He’s a genius Coordinator who embodies both beauty and elegance!”
Several people who knew Wallace’s background began revealing what they knew.
“He’s very popular.”
Joy wasn’t particularly surprised by the scene.
“Yeah.”
Wally agreed.
Then he suddenly noticed that Wallace seemed to have turned his attention toward them.
The young man began walking in their direction.
…
…
“You must be Miss Joy and Mr.
Wally.”
Wallace politely bowed in greeting as he smiled at them.
His sudden greeting caught Wally and Joy off guard.
They quickly returned the greeting.
Joy’s appearance was rather distinctive, and the two of them were also the youngest examinees present, so they weren’t difficult to identify.
Clearly, Wallace had made some inquiries about them beforehand.
“I heard that there were two exceptionally young examinees this time.
I didn’t expect the rumors to be true…”
Wallace looked at the two youngsters in amazement.
He was also extremely surprised by their results.
No matter how many honors and talents surrounded Wallace, even he couldn’t deny it—
A ten-year-old becoming a Junior Pokémon Breeder was practically a miracle.