Chapter 6: Entrance Exam

The mother and son duo eventually made their way to the admissions office. A purple-haired woman dressed in business casual clothing sat at the front desk looking down at her phone.

"*Ahem!*" Gigi cleared her throat, getting the attention of the woman.

"Ah! I'm sorry, ma'am! I wasn't expecting any applicants today since the semester already started…" The woman was embarrassed that she had missed the entrance of the mother and her child.

"Oh, that's alright. I'm here to enroll my son into the academy. We sent a request to the principal for a meeting yesterday due to the special circumstances for his late enrollment." Gigi smiled at the woman and spoke with a calm voice, easing her prior nerves.

"Of course, ma'am! Let me just confirm the appointment with our system…" The woman started to type on her keyboard.

"That won't be necessary, Lily." A man wearing khakis and a white long-sleeve button down with a lab coat casually interrupted the woman with his hands in his pockets as he entered the reception room from his office. "Gigi! It's been a while! Come, let's go into my office so we can discuss Michael's enrollment process. Professor Oak already explained the situation to me."

Gigi had a surprised look on her face that quickly changed to a friendly smile. "It has been a while indeed, Kenji. Follow me, Michael."

Kenji's office door closed behind him as they entered his office. The room had a professional, yet relaxed feeling to it with bookshelves covering most of the wall space. Behind the desk and chair at the back there was a wide window that allowed natural light to fill the room.

"How's Bruno been? Last time I saw you two, you were round as a pokeball and he was so stressed that he didn't train for three days straight, and we're talking about Bruno." Kenji asked Gigi with a joking yet familiar tone and friendly smile.

"We've been well, Kenji. How's your research been coming along at Oak's Lab?" Gigi asked.

"Eh, nothing big recently. We can catch up more later, for now we should get started with giving this young man his entrance exam. It's nice to meet you, Michael!" Kenji turned to Michael with his hand extended for a handshake.

"It's nice to meet you, sir." Michael responded politely as he shook the man's hand.

To Michael's surprise, the hand that Kenji extended for the handshake wasn't made of flesh, but of a silver metal.

"Haha no need to be shy, Michael! I know kids your age are always curious when they first see my prosthetic. I lost my right hand when I was younger thanks to a rowdy bunch of Beedrill whose hive I unfortunately came across. My mentor helped me design it." The casual attitude that Kenji spoke with told Michael all he needed to know about the man's feelings on the situation.

"Alright, let's get to the boring stuff then. I'm gonna give you a couple tests that you'll have to complete here in my office. I advise you to take your time and read over your answers after you complete each section.

As for what's on the test, you'll be dealing with Math, Science and simple Pokemon biology. If you have any questions on the test, feel free to ask me!" Kenji handed Michael a stack of around 15 papers and directed him to sit at one of the guest chairs in front of his desk.

"You got this, Michael! Just give it your all like your daddy always says!" Gigi offered words of encouragement to her son as he prepared to take the test.

*4 hours later* *Michael POV*

'Hmm… Reading all of those books in my parents' library definitely helped me out here. I never had to deal with things such as Math or Science in my past life. All that really mattered was learning the most efficient way to defeat your opponent… I owe my mother for being insistent that I learn some Pokemon Biology or I wouldn't have had the faintest clue how to answer these questions. The Fog Clearing Meditation technique definitely helped me out a lot too…'

I handed my completed exam to Kenji who was quietly reading a book as he sat opposite of me.

"Done already? Excellent! Just give me a bit to read through your answers so I can grade this. While I'm at it, why don't you and your mom go grab lunch in the cafeteria? I instructed Lily to give you two guest passes for the day already, so there shouldn't be any issues." Kenji spoke as he collected my exam papers.

"Mm. Thank you Mr. Kenji." I responded. I could feel my stomach growl as he mentioned lunch.

"No problem, kid. If you get lost, ask anyone and they'll direct you towards the cafeteria. See you in a bit!" He replied as I was leaving the office to find my mother.

*Kenji POV*

Seeing Michael leave the room, I decided to immediately begin the grading process.

"Perfect answers on the Math portion, that's good. You even showed your process, which is a plus in my book. Science looks good, as well. Hmm?" As I moved on to check on the Pokemon Biology Section, I couldn't help but be shocked at the answers.

"Huh?! The questions are all at the correct grade-level, that's no issue, but what are these detailed answers?!" Once again, I couldn't contain my surprise as I studied the in-depth description of a Pidgey's diet and anatomy.

'These answers are on the level of a graduating student! It makes sense that he'd be advanced compared to other students his age because of who his parents are, but this type of detailed answer requires serious passion for the subject!'

I had already decided to enroll Michael into the academy regardless of his exam scores because of my friendship with his parents, but these answers erased any need for that result.

'With this level of dedication, it'd be a waste to just put the kid in the basic classes… Looks like I'll have to get Professor Oak's opinion on this.'

I finished collecting my thoughts and made a call to Oak's Lab in order to discuss the unexpected results.

*General POV*

Once Michael had found his mother waiting in the reception room, he told her about the guest passes that Kenji had prepared for them. After receiving the passes and a map of the academy from Lily at the front desk, they both made their way to the cafeteria.

As Michael and Gigi walked across campus, they saw numerous academy students working on many different things. Some students could be seen in the botanical garden tending to berry bushes/trees. Other students were practicing their Pokemon massaging techniques. But one thing remained consistent: None of these students emitted Typing Energy.

The image of the black-haired girl that Michael met eyes with when he first arrived at the academy appeared in his mind.

Although she was older than Michael by about 4-5 years, the ability to exude Typing Energy was still astounding. In his father's words, for a child to be capable of performing such a feat, they absolutely must be a genius.

Michael shook away his thoughts as he and his mother had finally arrived at the cafeteria of the academy. As they entered, the sight of the interior caught Michael by surprise.

The cafeteria was very large, to say the least. One would swear that they were in a nice restaurant if it weren't for the lunch lines filled with students waiting to get their lunch. Curiously enough, Pokemon were also commonplace here as they joined the older student Trainers in enjoying their meals.

"Hello! Would you mind handing me your passes, please?" A teenage boy wearing a vest caught the attention of Gigi and Michael. He seemed to be an older student taking up a part-time job.

The boy scanned the barcodes on the passes and then handed them back to the mother-son duo.

"Welcome to Pallet Town Trainer Academy! Here is today's menu. You can go ahead and enter the visitor line over there, just ask the chefs for the dish you'd like. If you have any questions or want recommendations, feel free to ask me. Have a nice lunch!" The boy motioned to an empty area that was intended for visitors.

After deciding what food they wanted, Gigi and Michael received their meals from one of the chefs and sat down at a table. While Gigi ate her food normally, Michael seemed to be distracted as he looked at the various Pokemon around him.

"Huhuhu, I bet you're excited to get a Pokemon of your own, huh? Lucky for you the academy offers students with a selection of Pokemon to choose from as your starter when you enter your Third year. Do you have an idea of what kind of Pokemon you'd like to have as a starter yet?" Gigi playfully asked her son with a doting smile on her face.

"Mm-mm. I enjoy training with father's Pokemon at the dojo, but I'm also excited to meet and maybe other types of Pokemon as well." Michael shook his head at the question, thinking deeply about what Pokemon he wanted to train.

'While I do enjoy training with Fighting-type Pokemon, and it'd probably be easiest to train them due to their fighting styles resembling martial arts, I want to learn what it's like to train with other types of Pokemon as well.

I have to admit that Pokemon interest me a lot after spending so much time around them. It would also help me test my theory on Typing Energies being related to the Pokemon you spend time around.

Then… What should my first Pokemon be?'