Assembly Hall One was already half full when Adrian arrived.
The atmosphere was different from the first trial.
A month ago, nearly two hundred teenagers had awakened together in a concrete room without knowing whether they would survive the next hour.
Fear had been obvious then.
Some had cried.
Others had tried to hide their panic behind arrogance or anger.
The people entering the hall tonight were different.
They had Pokémon at their sides or Poké Balls secured to their belts.
Some carried backpacks filled with supplies.
Others wore protective clothing purchased during the month.
A few had visible injuries from missions and battles, while nearly everyone moved with more confidence than they had possessed thirty days earlier.
Team Rocket had given them a month without schedules, instructors, or mandatory training.
What they had done with it showed.
Adrian entered with Croagunk walking beside him.
His backpack contained enough food and water for several days, basic medicine, spare clothes, two empty Poké Balls, survival equipment, and a sealed container of homemade Pokéblocks.
He had deliberately left Croagunk’s training weights in his room.
Whatever the trial involved, Croagunk would enter it fully rested and unrestricted.
“Fifteen?”
Adrian turned.
Mason approached from between the rows, Machop walking beside him.
“Still fifteen,” Adrian said.
Mason shook his head.
“Machop’s twelve.
I thought I was doing well until you told me that.”
“You are doing well.”
“That almost sounded sincere.”
“It wasn’t.”
Mason laughed.
A Magnemite floated past them.
“He’s lying.”
Adrian looked toward the girl following it.
He recognized her from the Battle Arena and Mission Hall.
She’d become one of the more successful recruits over the past month, though they’d never properly spoken.
“Selena,” she said.
“Adrian.”
“I know.” She raised an eyebrow at his surprise, then nodded toward Croagunk.
“People talk about the recruit with the Croagunk.”
That wasn’t something Adrian wanted to hear.
“What do they say?”
“That you’ve been winning.”
“People exaggerate.”
Mason snorted.
“No, they don’t.”
Adrian ignored him.
Selena’s Magnemite hovered beside her shoulder.
“Level?” Adrian asked.
“Thirteen.”
That put it among the stronger Pokémon in the recruitment class.
Adrian had begun getting a reasonable picture of the group’s development.
Many recruits were still using Baby-rank Pokémon somewhere around levels eight to ten.
Those who had trained seriously were entering Beginner, generally between eleven and thirteen.
A smaller group had reached fourteen.
Croagunk at fifteen appeared to be at the upper end.
That was how it should be.
Blue potential wasn’t merely a label.
Croagunk had developed faster because it possessed greater natural talent than the average Pokémon, and Adrian had spent the month making sure that talent wasn’t wasted.
The lights dimmed.
Conversation stopped.
A door beside the raised platform opened.
Mercer entered.
The Elite Captain looked exactly as Adrian remembered him.
Black uniform.
Red insignia.
Straight posture.
An expression that suggested everyone in the hall was being measured.
Several Rocket officers followed.
Mercer stopped at the center of the platform.
“Thirty days.” His voice carried easily through the hall.
“That is how long you’ve had.”
The screens behind him illuminated.
Statistics appeared.
Mission completion rates, TRP earnings, wager battles, medical visits, training facility usage.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
He wasn’t surprised.
He’d assumed Team Rocket was monitoring them.
Now they were confirming it.
“During your first trial, we gave each of you a Pokémon.” Mercer slowly surveyed the room.
“We did not test those Pokémon beforehand.”
Several recruits shifted.
“You were not given equal partners.
Some of you received Pokémon with better potential.
Some received stronger species.
Some received Pokémon with useful inherited moves.
Others received little more than an angry wild Rattata.”
A few people laughed nervously.
Mercer didn’t.
“That was intentional.”
The laughter stopped.
Adrian leaned back slightly.
There it was.
“The world does not distribute resources fairly.
Neither does Team Rocket.” Mercer gestured toward the screens.
“Some of you were fortunate.”
Adrian’s hand rested near Croagunk’s Poké Ball.
“Some were not.”
The displays changed.
Several recruit profiles appeared.
One showed a boy whose Caterpie had evolved into Metapod during the month.
Another had a Rattata.
Another had a Zubat.
“Your first Pokémon does not determine whether you’re useful.” Mercer’s gaze hardened.
“What you do with it does.”
The screen showing Rattata changed.
Mission statistics appeared beside the trainer’s profile.
High completion rate, several successful captures, very few battles.
“One recruit realized his Pokémon wasn’t suited to direct combat.
He completed scouting and delivery assignments instead.”
The Zubat trainer appeared.
“Another used his Pokémon’s ability to navigate darkness and accepted underground missions.”
Then another profile.
A Spearow.
Almost no activity.
“Others spent thirty days complaining that someone else received something better.”
The profile disappeared.
Mercer looked toward the rear rows.
“Stand.”
Five recruits rose uncertainly.
“Your recruitment ends here.”
One stared at him.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“We haven’t taken the second trial.”
“You already did.”
Silence spread through the hall.
Mercer continued.
“Thirty days without instructions.
Thirty days without anyone forcing you to improve.
We wanted to know what you would do when nobody was standing behind you.”
One of the five recruits swallowed.
“But my Pokémon was weak.”
Mercer’s expression didn’t change.
“So were you.”
The words struck harder than shouting would have.
“You could have trained it.
You could have earned money.
You could have completed missions that didn’t require combat.
You could have learned a trade.
You could have made yourself useful in any of a hundred ways.” Mercer pointed toward the exit.
“You chose none of them.”
The guards opened the doors.
The five left.
Nobody protested.
Adrian watched them disappear.
He understood the message.
Team Rocket wasn’t searching exclusively for powerful trainers.
It needed smugglers.
Scouts.
Researchers.
Breeders.
Thieves.
Administrators.
Operatives.
People who could create value.
A weak first Pokémon was a disadvantage.
It wasn’t an excuse.
Mercer waited until the doors closed.
“Now we determine which of the rest of you can operate alone.”
The screens changed.
A map appeared.
Forest dominating most of it, broken by hills, streams, rocky terrain, and several abandoned structures.
A red boundary surrounded the entire region.
Adrian sat straighter.
“Your second trial will last seventy-two hours.”
Large numbers appeared.
72:00:00
“Each of you will enter the trial zone alone.”
A murmur spread through the room.
Mercer continued over it.
“You may not form teams.”
The murmuring grew louder.
“You may speak to other recruits.
You may negotiate.
You may trade.
You may choose not to fight someone.” His eyes moved across the hall.
“But you will not travel together.
You will not coordinate battles.
You will not capture checkpoints together.
You will not protect another recruit.”
The map changed.
Small numbered markers appeared throughout the wilderness.
“Rocket observers will monitor the trial.”
Adrian counted.
Fifteen checkpoints.
“Anyone determined to be cooperating as part of a team fails.”
That eliminated the easiest strategy.
No groups of strong recruits sweeping through the trial together.
No weak recruit attaching himself to someone powerful enough to carry him.
Everyone had to demonstrate individual value.
Mercer removed a black device from his pocket.
It resembled a thick wristwatch.
“Your objective is to acquire three verification codes.” One of the checkpoints enlarged on the screen.
“Each checkpoint contains a transmitter.
Each transmitter holds a limited number of codes.
Once those codes are claimed, that checkpoint becomes useless.”
The display changed again.
Three Codes Required 72 Hours
Adrian studied the map.
Fifteen checkpoints.
Limited codes.
That created competition without making passing mathematically impossible for most of the class.
Mercer anticipated the question.
“There are enough codes for a large portion of you to pass.” A slight smile appeared.
“There are not enough for all of you.”
There it was.
“Some checkpoints contain more codes than others.
You will not be told which.”
Adrian liked that addition less.
“Some checkpoints are easy to reach.
Others are deliberately difficult.” Terrain appeared on the map.
Cliffs, streams, dense woodland, old tunnels.
“Wild Pokémon inhabit the trial zone.
Most are within the developmental range you’ve encountered during your month here.
Do not expect them all to be harmless.”
Good.
This wasn’t supposed to be a death sentence.
A level-nine recruit shouldn’t encounter some random level-thirty predator simply because Team Rocket wanted entertainment.
Mercer raised the wrist device.
“There is another method.”
The room quieted.
“You may take codes from other recruits.”
Several expressions changed instantly.
Adrian expected that.
“Once a verification code is registered to your device, it may be transferred voluntarily or forcibly.” Mercer paused.
“Destroying another recruit’s device is prohibited.”
Someone raised a hand.
Mercer acknowledged him.
“Can we battle for them?”
“Yes.”
“Can we steal them while someone’s sleeping?”
Mercer’s smile returned.
“Yes.”
A few recruits looked around.
That question had just made sleeping more dangerous.
“Can we take all three?”
“Yes.”
The answer transformed the room.
Someone who had already completed the objective wasn’t safe.
They were carrying exactly what everyone else needed.
Mercer allowed several seconds for that realization to settle.
“Intentional killing is prohibited.
Deliberately causing permanent injury to another recruit is prohibited.
Accidents will be investigated.” His voice hardened.
“If you believe those rules make you safe, you’re not intelligent enough to pass.”
Adrian believed him.
A Pokémon battle didn’t need to kill someone to leave them stranded with an unconscious partner and no codes.
Mercer held up the device again.
“The red switch activates an emergency beacon.” A section enlarged on the screen.
“Activation ends your trial.
Medical personnel will retrieve you.”
Simple.
“Using the beacon means failure.”
Also simple.
“What if our Pokémon can’t continue?” someone asked.
“Then adapt.” Mercer looked directly toward the voice.
“You were told this is an individual trial.
You were not told it is exclusively a Pokémon battle.”
That was important.
Adrian leaned forward.
A recruit with a weak Pokémon could still pass.
Stealth.
Navigation.
Negotiation.
Theft.
Timing.
Deception.
A clever recruit might wait near a checkpoint until someone else cleared the wild Pokémon protecting it, then move in afterward.
Someone could hide and steal a completed device.
Someone could deliberately avoid combat for three days.
Team Rocket didn’t care how the codes were obtained.
Only whether the recruit could obtain them alone.
Mercer clasped his hands behind his back.
“One final rule.” The map vanished.
A Rocket insignia replaced it.
“When the timer reaches zero, anyone possessing three valid verification codes passes.” A pause.
“Two codes are failure.” Another pause.
“One code is failure.” His eyes moved across the hall.
“Zero is failure.” A final pause.
“There is no partial credit.”
That sounded more like Team Rocket.
“Transportation begins in fifteen minutes.”
Mercer turned away.
Then stopped.
“You spent the last month showing us what you do when given freedom.” He glanced back.
“For the next seventy-two hours, show us what you do when someone else wants what you need.”
The hall erupted the moment Mercer left.
Not into cooperation.
Into calculation.
People who had spent the last month eating and training together suddenly regarded one another differently.
Adrian remained seated.
Mason leaned toward him.
“So much for teaming up.”
“Probably the point.”
Mason looked around.
“What entry point do you think they’ll use?”
“Multiple.”
Selena joined them.
“Obviously.”
“Nobody asked you.”
“You were going to say something stupid.”
“I hate both of you.”
Adrian ignored them and studied the map still displayed on one of the smaller screens.
Fifteen checkpoints.
The closest ones would become battlefields.
Everyone would think the same thing.
Reach a checkpoint quickly.
Get codes before anyone else.
That meant the obvious routes were dangerous.
Selena seemed to reach the same conclusion.
“I’m avoiding the closest checkpoint.”
Adrian glanced at her.
She narrowed her eyes.
“Don’t follow me.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good.”
Mason looked between them.
“So everyone has the same idea about avoiding the obvious ones.”
Adrian nodded.
“Which makes the second-most obvious ones dangerous too.”
Mason stared at the map.
“This is going to be annoying.”
“That’s probably also the point.”
An announcement ordered recruits toward the transport area.
Adrian stood.
Mason held out a fist.
Adrian looked at it.
“If I see you out there,” Mason said, “I’m taking your codes.”
Adrian bumped his fist against Mason’s.
“You can try.”
Mason grinned.
Selena shook her head.
“Idiots.”
Then they separated.
Not teammates.
Not enemies.
Not yet.
Adrian’s transport carried sixteen recruits.
The windows were blacked out.
Nobody spoke much.
Croagunk remained inside its Poké Ball while Adrian sat with his backpack between his feet.
Across from him, a recruit repeatedly checked his supplies.
Another stared at everyone as though memorizing faces.
One girl slept.
Or pretended to.
Adrian closed his eyes and reconstructed the map.
Fifteen checkpoints.
He had memorized the approximate terrain around eleven of them.
Not perfectly.
Enough.
The bus stopped after nearly two hours.
The rear doors opened.
Cold night air entered.
“Out.”
Adrian stood.
The recruits stepped into a forest clearing.
Four Rocket officers waited, each distributing a wrist device.
Adrian secured his.
The display activated.
Verification Codes: 0/3 Status: Active
The emergency switch sat beneath a protective cover.
He left it alone.
An officer pointed toward several marked paths.
“You will be released at five-minute intervals.
Different directions.”
Good.
Even recruits on the same transport wouldn’t begin together.
Adrian waited.
One recruit left.
Five minutes.
Another.
Five.
Another.
Eventually…
“Adrian.”
He stepped forward.
The officer checked his device.
“Your trial begins when you cross the marker.”
Adrian released Croagunk.
The Poison-type appeared beside him, its eyes moving across the dark forest.
Adrian adjusted his backpack.
He wasn’t wearing Rocket colors.
No identifying marks.
Nothing unnecessary.
The officer looked at him.
“Ready?”
Adrian glanced down.
Croagunk grinned.
“Yeah.”
They crossed the painted boundary.
The device beeped.
71:59:59 71:59:58 71:59:57
Adrian didn’t run.
He walked for several minutes until the lights from the entry station disappeared behind the trees.
Then he stopped.
“First decision.”
Croagunk looked up.
Adrian removed the folded trial map.
The nearest checkpoint was roughly three kilometers northeast.
It would be the obvious choice.
Adrian crossed it off.
Another lay almost five kilometers west.
Better.
A third sat farther south beside a stream.
Too exposed.
He selected the western route.
“Checkpoint Eight.”
Croagunk started forward.
Adrian folded the map.
Then paused.
Something moved in the trees ahead.
Croagunk lowered its stance.
Adrian activated Scan.
A Pidgey stared at them from a branch.
Level eight.
Orange potential.
No threat.
“Ignore it.”
They continued.
Ten minutes later, another wild Pokémon appeared.
Then another.
Adrian scanned each automatically.
Nothing worth stopping for.
This wasn’t the time to hunt.
His objective was three codes.
Nothing else mattered.
The forest became darker as they traveled west.
After nearly forty minutes, Adrian noticed footprints in the mud.
Human.
Fresh.
He crouched.
One set.
Another recruit.
Heading west.
Toward Checkpoint Eight.
Adrian stared at the tracks.
Croagunk waited.
They had a choice.
Continue and potentially compete.
Follow quietly and learn who was ahead.
Or change routes before wasting more time.
Adrian looked toward Croagunk.
“Nobody gets carried.”
Croagunk tilted its head.
Adrian smiled faintly.
“That includes us.”
He stood and followed the tracks.
The second trial had begun.