Hearing Liam West’s words, Evan Lane let out a cold laugh.
“You really don’t use your head, do you?
My Pokémon hatched less than three days ago.
She can’t even start proper training yet, and you want a battle?
If you damage the foundation of my starter Pokémon, can you afford to pay for that?!” When Liam heard this, his cheeks flushed red from holding back his anger.
He did know that newly hatched Pokémon were not supposed to battle yet, but based on Evan’s old personality, he had expected him to get scared after a little intimidation.
He had not expected Evan to be this firm today.
Seeing their leader embarrassed over and over, the lackeys behind him finally could not hold back anymore.
“Evan, don’t tell me you’re scared?” “Exactly.
Did you get scared after seeing our boss’s Machop?” the others echoed.
Hearing that, Snivy beside Evan began to lose patience.
Vine Whips started to appear around her.
This scene frightened Evan so badly that he quickly comforted Snivy.
If she used a Pokémon move to hurt someone in the classroom, then from now on, the school would probably only allow him to keep Snivy inside her Poké Ball.
“A Trainer speaks through strength, right?
Then we’ll settle it in the battle assessment one week from now.
When the time comes, don’t be too scared to show up.” While stroking Snivy’s little head, Evan calmly looked at Liam.
Noticing Evan’s gaze, Liam felt a trace of fear rise in his heart for some reason.
“Fine.
It’s settled, then!” After saying that, Liam quickly returned to his seat with the others.
Seeing them leave, Connor Hale finally could not help asking, “Why did you stop me just now?
Guys like that deserve to get punched.
If he dared use his Pokémon, my Charmander wouldn’t be afraid of him either.
Right, Charmander?” “Char!” Hearing this, Charmander roared at Evan.
Not only was it not intimidating, it was actually very cute.
Evan was speechless.
This perfectly fit his stereotype of Fire-type Trainers.
They were all hot-blooded idiots!
“They had more people.
If we fought, we wouldn’t have had the advantage.
And if Pokémon hurt someone, the whole nature of the situation changes.
Trainers having disputes is normal.
We can just solve it through battles!” “That makes sense, I guess.
But in one week, are you really confident you can beat Liam?” After hearing Evan’s explanation, Connor could not help worrying.
“What do you mean, confident?
Just watch me beat his Machop so badly it questions its life choices!” “Sni!” Hearing Evan’s words, Snivy expressed strong approval.
This was her Trainer!
She had already been annoyed by that Machop.
The way it looked at her had been full of provocation.
Just then, the school speakers suddenly came on.
“Evan Lane from Grade Twelve, Class B, and Lucas Ember from Class A, please report to the principal’s office.” For a moment, students across the entire grade began discussing those two names.
Being called to the principal’s office on the first day of school did not sound like a good thing to anyone who did not know the situation.
Evan was also a little puzzled.
Hadn’t Mr.
Walker said he would be notified in the afternoon?
Without thinking too much about it, Evan walked toward the principal’s office under the gazes of his classmates.
When he passed the Class A classroom, a shy-looking boy walked out through the front door, a Charmander following at his side.
Evan, who was behind him, saw the familiar figure from the back and suddenly froze.
The boy in front also seemed to sense something.
He turned around and met Evan’s eyes.
The Charmander beside him copied his movement, but because of its height, it only noticed Snivy beside Evan’s feet.
For a moment, the air seemed to stop moving.
Evan felt something almost like destiny.
“I’m Evan Lane.
You’re Lucas Ember, right?
Let’s go together to the principal’s office.” Evan introduced himself first, then greeted Lucas in front of him.
The shy, quiet Lucas did not say anything.
He simply nodded, and the two of them headed to the principal’s office together.
Just as they arrived at the door and Evan was about to knock, the principal’s voice came from inside first.
“Come in.” Looking at the two students who entered, then at the starter Pokémon beside them, Principal Marcus Greenhill nodded in satisfaction.
“Snivy and Charmander, is it?
As for this Snivy’s potential…” While thinking, Principal Greenhill asked, “You two are Evan Lane and Lucas Ember, correct?
To be honest, when I created this rule, I really didn’t expect anyone to apply for the assessment on the very first day of school.” “Since you’re both this confident, the assessment can begin now.
The time limit is ninety minutes.
The full score is 150 points, and 130 points will count as a pass.
If you pass successfully, I can also give you a small reward.” Principal Greenhill chuckled.
He had always admired young people with both ability and drive.
But if they could not pass, then it would just mean they had overestimated themselves.
Principal Greenhill handed two sets of test papers to the two of them and had them answer the questions at opposite ends of the office sofa.
Looking at the questions on the paper, Evan let out a sigh of relief.
What he had been afraid of was obscure, overly detailed questions.
If those had appeared, he would not have had much confidence.
Time passed minute by minute.
During the assessment, quite a few curious teachers came by to check their papers, and all of them were amazed by the accuracy of the answers written down.
Nearly an hour later, Evan had reached the final question, the bonus question.
Evan scratched his head.
Based on the accuracy of his previous answers, he felt that passing the assessment should already be a sure thing.
But the principal had also said there would be a reward, without clearly saying what it was.
Obviously, the size of the reward was closely related to their scores.
“Write down the names and traits of any Legendary Pokémon you know…” Looking at this question, Evan frowned.
The real world was different from the games.
Most Legendary Pokémon were unknown to the public.
At least, Evan had not seen any information about Mythical or Legendary Pokémon in the official online Pokédex.
“Looks like I need to hold back a little…” Evan was currently only a sixteen-year-old high school student.
If he showed that he knew too much about Legendary Pokémon, it would only make people suspicious.
After thinking it over, Evan wrote down the names of the three Legendary birds: Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos.
After all, they were only lower-tier Legendaries, and the three Legendary birds had left traces in front of humans before.
Even if he was questioned, he could brush it off somehow.
When Evan and Lucas handed their papers to the principal, sure enough, Principal Greenhill first skimmed through their earlier answers.
After nodding with satisfaction, he then focused on the other side of Evan’s paper, and a flicker of surprise flashed through his eyes.
However, Principal Greenhill did not ask further.
He had only added this question on a whim.
He had not expected a student to truly be able to answer part of it.
“Not bad.
Not bad at all.
With your current grasp of Pokémon knowledge, you really don’t need to attend those related classes.
From now on, the school’s training fields will be open to you twenty-four hours a day.
In addition, each of you may take one Protect TM from the school warehouse.” Hearing the principal’s words, both Evan and Lucas showed joy on their faces.
One had to know that Protect was an essential defensive move for almost every Pokémon.
Its price was extremely high.
A single TM cost around $50,000, and each TM could only be used once.
Special TMs like this could only be manufactured by TM machines.
Although their numbers were limited, even the most ordinary TM machine was enough to become the foundation of a wealthy family.