Chapter 20: The Gym Leader Assessment!
Edgecliff Gym.
Kenji walked into the gym lobby and saw Melody already sitting there. Her face lit up when she saw him, and she waved him over.
He walked over and sat down beside her. "You're here early," he noted, raising an eyebrow.
Melody was gently stroking the head of the Charmander in her lap. "Actually, I just got here myself," she said casually.
Kenji nodded and scanned the large lobby. Besides the two of them, there were about a dozen other teenagers waiting. Including them, there were seventeen in total.
As Kenji sized up the competition, he noticed they were doing the same to him and everyone else. And it was immediately obvious that, aside from himself, every single person in the room was dressed in expensive, high-end clothing.
Edgecliff City had many high schools, but the two most famous were Edgecliff High and Saint Fleur Academy. Edgecliff High was the best public school in the city, while Saint Fleur was the most prestigious private academy, filled exclusively with the children of the rich and powerful.
Looking around the lobby, Kenji realized that the vast majority of the students here were from Saint Fleur.
Gradually, more and more students arrived, until the lobby was filled with nearly fifty candidates.
"That's a lot of people. You sure your dad can handle it?" Kenji whispered, leaning closer to Melody.
She just laughed. "This is nothing. On his busiest days, my dad has had over seventy battles in a single day."
"Sev... Seventy?!" Kenji stammered, his scalp tingling.
Seventy battles in one day. Even if he fought ten battles an hour without a break, that would still take seven hours straight. Was being a Gym Leader really that demanding?
Seeing Kenji's completely stunned expression, Melody stifled a laugh. "Of course, that's only in special cases. The gym isn't usually this busy with challengers," she explained.
Just as they were about to continue their conversation, a tall, slender man walked out from one of the main hallways.
It was none other than Melody's father, the Gym Leader of Edgecliff City and the head examiner for today's assessment.
Marcus.
The moment he appeared, everyone in the lobby—except for Kenji and Melody—shot to their feet, their expressions full of respect.
Marcus stopped in the center of the lobby. A staff member at his side cleared his throat and announced, "All candidates participating in today's assessment battle, please gather here for roll call."
The students quickly formed a line. Kenji and Melody joined at the very end.
The roll call began.
"Alex Chen."
"Here."
"Lila Liu."
"Here."
...
"Melody."
"Here."
"Kenji."
"Here."
...
After the last name was called, the staff member closed his binder and gave Marcus a slight nod.
Marcus cleared his throat. "I am Marcus, the Gym Leader of Edgecliff City, and I will be your head examiner today. The number of S-Rank slots is limited. I expect every one of you and your Pokémon to give me one hundred percent."
He wasn't a man of many words, but his brief speech instantly ignited a competitive fire in the room. You could practically taste the tension in the air. The S-Rank was indeed exclusive; there were only three spots available for the entire city. With over fifty candidates present, that meant only one out of every fifteen or so students would achieve the top grade.
Marcus led the group of candidates into the main battle arena. The field was already set up with multiple cameras positioned at various angles, and a panel of proctors stood by with clipboards, ready to observe.
"First up, Alex Chen."
A boy stepped forward from the crowd, handed over his ID, and walked onto the field with his Poké Ball.
"Go! Pidgeotto!"
Marcus was the first to send out his Pokémon. A flash of red light materialized into a familiar bird Pokémon.
"Pidge-otto!—"
It had a cream-colored underbelly, a magnificent red and yellow crest, and brown feathers covering its back.
Pidgeotto
Level: 20
Ability: Keen Eye
Potential: D+
Kenji was impressed. As expected of a Gym Leader, even a Pokémon he used for assessments had D+ potential and was already level 20.
On the other side of the field, the boy named Alex threw his own Poké Ball.
"Come on out! Swablu!"
Swablu
Level: 11
Ability: Natural Cure
Potential: C-
A sky-blue, bird-like Pokémon with fluffy, cotton-like wings appeared, hovering in the air.
A Swablu, Kenji thought, intrigued. The pre-evolution of the so-called "dragon traitor," Altaria. He watched with keen interest, eager to see the battle begin.
"The battle... begin!" the referee shouted.
Alex didn't waste a second. "Swablu! Use Disarming Voice!"
Swablu opened its beak, and a series of pink, musical soundwaves shot toward the Pidgeotto.
Marcus, however, was a seasoned veteran. "Pidgeotto, counter with Screech."
"PIDGE-OTTO!—"
Pidgeotto opened its beak and unleashed a piercing soundwave of its own, which slammed into the Disarming Voice, neutralizing it completely.
"Use Aerial Ace!"
Pidgeotto's body suddenly dropped, streaking across the field at a sharp, unpredictable angle as it closed in on the Swablu.
"Oh no! Swablu, dodge it!"
"Pidge!—"
In the games, Aerial Ace was a sure-hit move. While not quite as broken in the real world, its speed and tricky trajectory made it incredibly difficult to evade. Before the Swablu could react, the Pidgeotto was already behind it, slamming its brown wing into the smaller Pokémon's body.
"Swa!—"
Swablu was sent tumbling out of the sky, crashing hard onto the field below and kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Swablu!" Alex cried out in alarm.
"Swablu! Get up!"
Alex tried to use the move "Get Up!"
The move failed.
He clearly wasn't the main character of this story. The Swablu struggled for a moment before collapsing, its eyes replaced with swirls.
"Swablu is unable to battle! Pidgeotto is the winner!"
Watching the Swablu go down in a matter of seconds, the faces of the other candidates in the room grew grim. The Gym Leader was on a completely different level. One after another, the challengers went up, and not a single one managed to last for even three minutes.
"Next up, Kenji."