(XVI) The Assessments 1/2

Isaac followed Nurse Joy down a brightly lit hallway. In various open doors were other nurses and Pokémon like Audino, Blissey, and Wigglytuff standing next to machines that were hooked up to injured Pokémon.

She opened one of the many closed doors and inside was a room with a large table with many chairs seated around it. On one end of the table were three older officials. across from them was an empty chair that Isaac was led to with a piece of paper and a pencil on the table.

"Please have a seat." The official in the middle said as Nurse Joy bowed and left, closing the door behind her.

Isaac sat down and scanned over the piece of paper which had ten questions on it before looking at the three men sitting across from him.

"This is a simple assessment to determine which type of Trainer Card you are eligible to receive." The man on the left said.

"There are six tiers to a Trainer Card and with each increase in rank, you will receive more benefits from the Pokémon Association. In addition, depending on feats performed as a Registered Trainer, your badge can be upgraded with stars." The man on the right added.

Trainer Cards were ranked as Normal, Cobalt, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and finally Black. The Pokémon Association began providing an annual stipend to trainers due to nearly all active Pokémon holders being prior members of the military.

Normal received an annual stipend of ₽12,000, Cobalt - ₽24,000, Bronze - ₽36,000, Silver - ₽48,000, Gold - ₽60,000, and Black received ₽75,000. In addition, to other benefits, each star increased the annual stipend by 20%, which meant having all five doubled the annual stipend.

"Please proceed with the assessment before you. While there is no time limit, please know that this is being timed. Please act as if we are not here. Time will begin once you pick up the pencil."

Isaac looked at all three men and looked down at the test and then again at the pencil, 'It begins once I pick up the pencil..?' A thought had begun to formulate in his mind as he read all the questions.

1. How many Pokémon exist in the world?

A. 905

B. 493

C. 151

D. 721

2. Which of the following types are super-effective against Fire type? Check all that apply.

A. Steel

B. Water

C. Ground

D. Ice

E. Fairy

F. Grass

G. Rock

3. There are 13 regions.

True

False

4. Trainers have been shown to exhibit unexplainable abilities similar to Pokémon.

True

False

5. Assuming all three Pokémon are equal, who would win in this three-way battle?

Gyarados

Gliscor

Ampharos

6. Which of the following Natures is different from the others?

Adamant

Bold

Careful

Docile

7. A Pokémon's STAB is 1.5x their base attack.

A. True

B. False

8. When you encounter a new kind of Pokémon in the wild, what is your first reaction?

A. Attack it right away!

B. Search for its information on the PokéDex

C. Throw a PokéBall at it!

D. Wait and see what it does

9. Which of the following types are super-effective against the Poison type? Check all that apply.

A. Steel

B. Bug

C. Ground

D. Rock

E. Grass

F. Dark

G. Psychic

10. How many total resistances does the Steel type have?

A. 7

B. 9

C. 11

D. 13

\\\Author's Note: Take the test! I'll grade you in the comments down below!\\\

Isaac reviewed all the questions and smiled, 'Most of these are plain common sense, but there are some with a deeper meaning behind them...' He glanced up at the officials once more and struggled to keep from smirking when he saw the smiles as he had passed the first hidden test behind the assessment.

'4... 5... 8...' He thought as he re-read each question carefully, '4 would probably be an easy question if I was from this world... 5 can go many different ways but which would be the most consistent... 8..? That is honestly purely down to preference! Are they trying to figure out my personality..?'

Isaac quickly decided on his answers for four and eight and began thinking about the fifth question in earnest. After he came to his conclusion, he picked up the pencil and quickly jotted down all of his answers and placed the pencil back down, and slid the paper across the table.

"Thank you for taking the assessment." The man on the left said.

"Please return to the front lobby." The man on the right added.

"Someone will be with you shortly for the physical assessment." The man in the center concluded.

Isaac stood up and bowed, "Thank you for taking time to assess me." He said before departing the room and returning to the lobby. He looked around hoping to see Tay but she was nowhere to be seen.

Isaac noticed the list of services available at the PokéCenter and saw the service: "Private Training Rooms" and approached the front desk.

"Excuse me, I am about to participate in a Physical Assessment and wanted to see if a private training room was available and if you could come and notify me in there when it is time for my test." He asked leaning against the counter.

"Of course, the rooms are to the right. Room 13 is available. Once they are ready for you I will advise them of your location." Nurse Joy said with a smile and a slight bow.

"Thank you!" Isaac said slapping the counter with his palm as he went down the adjacent hallway and saw a few dozen doors with lights above them. Some were lit up and others were dim. He approached the door with a brightly painted "13" on it and opened it.

The room was much larger than he anticipated. Each wall was nearly 12 meters long on all sides. He turned to the side and saw the doors on both sides were less than 5 meters apart and he looked back into the room.

'Tripy....' He thought to himself as he closed the door behind him. He grabbed Ava's PokéBall and threw it, releasing her as she ran around his feet excitedly.

He grabbed both of the PokéBalls with each Nidoran in them and threw them as the red beams released them from their stasis. As he did, the two notifications rang on his visor once again.

Would you like to give Nidoran ♀ a nickname?』

『[Yes]/[No]』

『Would you like to give Nidoran ♂ a nickname?』

『[Yes]/[No]』

Isaac thought 'Yes' and he named both Nidorans.

Elisabeth and Artorius looked around at their surroundings and rushed toward one another as they looked up at their Trainer with disdain.

Isaac knelt down and reached into his bag, pulling out two of the berries he had, and holding them toward the Nidoran.

Elisabeth started to creep forward sniffing curiously but Artorius ran in front of her and glared at the young man.

"It's okay Artorius, it's food! See?" He said in a soft voice and popped one of the berries in his mouth and fed one to the gluttonous Ava before grabbing two more.

Elisabeth nudged Artorius as she came up to Isaac and took the berry and began eating it. Empowered with courage, he approached and quickly gobbled up the other one.

Isaac smiled, reaching into his bag one more time, pulling out three of the PokéFood pellets, and feeding one to all three of his small Pokémon.

"I promise I am going to protect you both. I will help you go strong and powerful Artorius, strong enough to protect Elisabeth from anything! So please, stick by my side! Elisabeth, I will help you become the strongest Nidoqueen to stand proudly next to Artorius!" Isaac made his declaration proudly as Ava chimed in leaning up onto his knee and exclaiming loudly.

"Vee!!! Vee!!!"

Isaac smiled as he rubbed the top of Ava's head and extended his hand out to the small Nidorans. They looked at one another and both nodded as they approached his hand and looked up at him.

Isaac excitedly scooped all three into his arms and stood up hugging them all. He exclaimed happily, "Welcome to our small family!"

He placed them down and was about to begin some training exercises but there was a knock at the door. Isaac returned all three of his Pokémon to their PokéBalls and opened the door.

"Greetings Mr. Firenze. They are waiting for you. If you would please come with me." The attendant said as she turned around, leading Isaac back down the other hallway where he took the written assessment before going through another doorway to one final hall before they exited outside the center and toward a few fields that were used to practice.

In the center of one field was a young man with dark hair and next to him was a rack with over thirty PokéBalls sitting on three shelves each.

———

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