In this part of the game, the scenario is largely luck-based. The higher your ranking, the better your teammates will usually be.
Also, there are no regular save points that let you freely save and reload whenever you want, so you can't just get the team you want but, That doesn't mean save points don't exist, they're simply limited and usually reserved for the end of an arc.
For example, once the academy trial is completed and the arc ends, a save point will become available.
Anyway being second overall made people assume I was either incredibly competent...
...or incredibly recruitable.
Unfortunately...
They also expected me to act like a normal person.
That was their first mistake.
The next hour became a series of increasingly questionable interviews.
A burly beastkin folded his arms.
"So, are you good at fighting?"
I thought about it.
"I was once called the Monster of the Green Field."
The entire team looked impressed.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Are you deadass?..."
A young priest smiled warmly.
"Do you believe in the gods?"
"I've argued with one."
The smile slowly disappeared.
"Please leave."
"Leave? You're the one who approached me, and i didn't even start it."
"You still argued with a god."
"In my defense... He was being cryptic."
A scholarly-looking boy adjusted his glasses.
"Why should we recruit you?"
"I possess an abnormal resistance to psychological warfare."
"How?"
"My childhood."
"Understandable."
He quietly crossed my name off his notebook.
A fox beastkin girl flicked one of her ears.
"What are your hobbies?"
"I enjoy tax evasion."
...
"That was a joke."
"You answered way too fast."
A healer wearing white robes smiled gently.
"What's your pain tolerance?"
"I've eaten hospital food."
"Recruit him."
Her teammates immediately grabbed both of her shoulders.
"Absolutely not."
"He's clearly durable!"
"A different kind of durable!"
A noblewoman gave me a practiced smile.
"What are your strengths?"
"I admit when I'm wrong."
"Oh?"
"I've only had to do it twice."
"When?"
"I was wrong about being wrong."
"..."
"I don't think that's how that works."
"I said I admit it."
Another leaned forward.
"How do you handle pressure?"
"I procrastinate until panic becomes motivation."
"..."
"..."
An elf scribbled something onto a clipboard.
"What role do you usually play on a team?"
"The emotional support liability."
"What?"
"I improve morale."
"How?"
"By making everyone realize their problems could be worse."
Another looked especially serious.
"Any leadership experience?"
"I once accidentally became the leader of a criminal organization."
The entire group froze.
"Accidentally?"
"I was promoted before I figured out what the meeting was about."
...
...
They left.
Another applicant leaned closer.
"Can you keep secrets?"
"Absolutely."
"Great."
"I've forgotten most of them."
"That's... technically secure."
By the end of the hour...
I had somehow managed to fail interviews with nearly every team that approached me.
I rubbed my temples.
"How did Barry ever make friends?"
I was beginning to accept that my future career would consist of being academically impressive and socially unemployable.
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
I glanced across the plaza again, hoping to spot someone familiar.
Hans was... still flirting, there were two girls and a man now.
Balin had somehow already attracted three different teams despite looking like he'd rather fistfight a brick wall than hold a conversation.
Hjördis... Already have a team, nepo baby.
Life truly wasn't fair.
Then...
A familiar head of messy blond hair darted between the crowd.
"...Finn."
My eyes lit up.
"My man!"
He froze.
Very slowly...
He turned his head.
Our eyes met.
A look of absolute horror spread across his face.
"...We're buddies, right?"
He immediately spun around.
And started running.
"..."
I blinked.
"Why are you running?"
I repeated
"Why are you running?"
His voice echoed back without him even looking over his shoulder.
"Because you're chasing me!"
"I haven't even started chasing you yet!"
"You were ABOUT TO!"
"That's pure speculation!, you think that lowly of me?!"
"Yes!."
...
I sighed.
Then I started jogging after him anyway.
"See?!, I KNEW IT!"
Applicants jumped out of the way as the two of us weaved through the courtyard.
"What are you even afraid of?!"
"You charged me three gold to pull me out of a hole!"
"It was a discounted rescue!"
"YOU CALLED IT AN INVESTMENT!"
"It was!"
"INTO WHAT?!"
"Our future friendship!"
"THAT'S NOT HOW FRIENDSHIP WORKS!"
"It worked, didn't it?"
"It absolutely did not!"
He took a sharp turn around a fountain.
I followed.
Several students stopped what they were doing to watch.
"Isn't that the second place?"
"Why is he chasing someone?"
"Did that blond guy owe him money?"
"I THINK SO!"
Finn shouted without slowing down.
"I DON'T OWE HIM ANYMORE!"
"He paid in full!"
"WHY ARE YOU STILL CHASING ME THEN?!"
"Because now we're friends!"
"WHO DECIDES THAT?!"
"I DO!"
"THAT'S NOT A GROUP DECISION!"
A nearby dwarf slowly lowered the sandwich he'd been eating.
"Is this how northerners socialize?"
"I hope not."
An elf beside him looked genuinely disturbed.
Finn vaulted over a low stone bench.
I simply walked around it.
"No need to make this harder than it has to be."
"It feels very necessary!"
"You wound me."
"You charged me before introducing yourself!"
"Business first."
"SEE?!"
He disappeared behind a statue.
I followed a moment later.
Only to find...
Nothing.
I looked left.
Right.
Up.
"Huh."
I folded my arms.
"He learns fast."
I turned to leave.
Only to hear muffled breathing.
Very slowly...
I looked down.
Two boots stuck out from beneath the enormous marble statue.
"...Finn."
Silence.
"I can see your feet."
More silence.
"No you can't."
...
"I'll give you one gold back."
There was a long pause.
"Two."
The boots twitched.
"Deal?"
Finn slowly crawled out from under the statue, covered in dust and looking like he'd aged five years.
"You..."
He pointed accusingly.
"are the strangest noble I've ever met."
"I'm taking that as a compliment."
I reached into my pouch and tossed him two gold coins.
He caught them instinctively.
His eyes widened.
"Wait, you actually gave it back?"
"I said I would."
"You extorted me!"
"So?, i negotiated."
"That's not negotiation!"
"It ended with both parties accepting the terms."
"I was trapped in a hole!"
"Excellent negotiating conditions."
Finn stared at me for several seconds, before letting out a defeated sigh.
"You're impossible."
I smiled.
"We're still talking, that gotta account to something."
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
"I hate that you have a point."
"So are we friends now?."
"We're not friends."
"We're not?"
"No."
"Business partners?"
He hesitated.
"I don't know whether to thank you, or report you."
"I'd recommend the first one, It's significantly faster."
I pointed up
46 minute left.
He sighed so deeply I was fairly certain a small part of his soul had escaped.
"Fine."
He tucked the coins away.
"We're business partners."
I offered my hand.
"Pleasure doing business."
"I feel like signing that sentence legally binds me to something."
"It does."
"What?"
"Friendship."
He stared.
Finn pinched the bridge of his nose.
"So... What now?"
I answered immediately.
"Go."
"Go where?"
"Recruit our team."
"..."
He blinked.
"What?"
I placed both hands on his shoulders.
The kind of gesture that inspired confidence.
Or concern.
Usually concern.
"Finn."
"I believe in you."
"Please don't."
"I choose you."
He frowned.
"...What?"
I pointed dramatically toward the sea of applicants.
"Go, Finn."
"I choose you."
"What does that even mean?"
"It means you're the face, our negotiator, the people person, the charismatic representative of our rapidly expanding organization."
"Our... what?"
"Our team."
Finn looked around desperately, clearly hoping another adult would intervene.
Unfortunately for him...
Nobody did.
"I can't recruit people!"
"Sure you can."
"I've known you for, like..."
He looked toward the sky.
"...five minutes!"
"And already we're business partners."
"Against my will!"
"Details."
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
"Why me?"
I looked him dead in the eyes.
"Because I have the communication skills of a brick."
"...That's"
He blinked.
"surprisingly self-aware."
He sighed.
"So you want me to walk up to complete strangers... And convince them to join us?"
"Correct."
"And what are you doing while I'm doing that?"
I looked around thoughtfully.
"Hmm..."
A nearby bench caught my eye.
Perfect.
"I'll supervise."
"..."
"You mean sit down."
Finn buried his face in his hands.
"You know... I had dreams, I wanted my academy life to be exciting, I imagined making lifelong friends, meeting rivals, building unforgettable memories."
He slowly pointed at me.
"Instead... I somehow became middle management."
I gave him a thumbs-up.
"I believe in your abilities."
"Stop saying that!, it makes me nervous!"
I gently pushed him toward the crowd.
"Go on."
"Spread your wings."
"I don't have wings!"
"Metaphorical ones."
"I don't want metaphorical wings!"
"You've got this."
"I absolutely do not!"
"But think about it."
I smiled.
"If you recruit everyone..."
I thought about it for a bit, the only thing that would convince me.
"I'll buy u lunch."
He considered it.
"Anything expensive?"
"Within reason."
A long silence.
He extended his hand.
"Deal."
I shook it firmly.
"Excellent."
He immediately regretted it, holding his hand in the air as if that'll undo it.
I pointed dramatically toward the crowd once more.
"Go forth."
"Recruit."
"Negotiate."
"Inspire."
Finn sighed with the exhausted expression of a man accepting a fate he neither deserved nor wanted.
"Fine."
He squared his shoulders.
Took a deep breath.
And marched toward the nearest group of applicants.
I watched him go with a proud smile.
"There he goes."
"My Pokémon."
I leaned back against the bench.
A few moments later...
"Hi, my name's Finn."
"I'm putting together a team for the Third Trial, my team has the second ranking person in the academy... Would any of you be interested?"
...
To my complete lack of surprise... People actually stopped to listen.
I nodded approvingly.
"See?"
"Told you."
[He is carrying this partnership.]
"Exactly."
Meanwhile, Finn glanced back at me with the unmistakable expression of someone silently asking,
"How did my life end up like this?"
I responded with an encouraging thumbs-up.
He looked even more miserable.
Now that I think about it, why doesn't he have a team?.
Future me problem.
Anyway.
Finn turned out to be alarmingly good at recruitment.
Within half an hour...
He returned with three people.
A towering beastkin carrying an axe almost as tall as she was.
She's towering over me, that's crazy.
A quiet mage who looked perpetually unimpressed.
And a heavily armored shield bearer whose entire personality seemed to revolve around saying, "We'll figure it out."
Finn sighed as he collapsed onto the bench beside me.
"There, i did it."
I gave him a proud nod.
"You did."
"I hate that I did."
I stood and offered the three recruits a nod.
"Welcome."
"So."
"Finn says you're the one making the plans."
"I am?."
"What's the strategy?"
Finn tilted his head.
"Please don't say 'wing it.'"
"I'd never."
I pointed toward the floating battlefield map.
"Our first objective-."
....
...
..
.
After telling my totally reasonable plan.
Finn stared at me.
"You're surprisingly competent."
He paused.
"But..."
He frowned harder.
"Hjördis will do what!?"
"Isn't that way too outlandish?"
I smiled.
"I wish I was."
"You're joking."