Chapter 025

Alex, Jack, Joseph, and Lily walked to the same exam center once again, two weeks after the first time. This time, while Alex and Joseph looked chill, Jack and Lily looked much more nervous.

"Don't be so nervous. You are already exceptional for passing the first round and will have no problems finding a decent sponsorship even if you don't pass this round. You should both relax, and try your best" said Alex.

"Most ranger academies only offer full scholarships for those who pass the second round. The same goes for most nursing academies" said Jack, still nervous.

While you could apply to join the rangers or join any hospital as a nurse if you have the right knowledge and Pokemon, most ranger divisions and hospitals would give priority to those who studied in the respective academies when they were young. Even skilled nurses, if they had not graduated from an academy would not find a job easily. And trainers who joined the rangers directly would always have fewer channels and opportunities than those who graduated from ranger academies.

There were 22 ranger academies in Kanto. 19 of them needed you to pass the second round to be eligible for a scholarship. 2 required you to either pass the third round for the scholarships or pay a huge fee. The last ranger academy, the Archbright Ranger Academy, only accepted those who passed the third round, and then attempted and passed the tests they had set for the fourth and fifth rounds. Joseph wanted to get admitted into the Celadon Ranger Academy in Celadon City.

Lily, on the other hand, wanted to enter any one of the 3 nurse academies in Kanto. It was competitively easy to get into as not many people applied, but the completion of the second round was still necessary.

Joseph and Alex were determined to get an adventure scholarship and hence wanted to clear both this round and the next.

The four of them entered the venue and got ready to write the examination. There were only 2 other people in the examination center beside them this time.

The invigilator distributed the exam tablets to the 6 children and said, "Alright. The same as last time, the papers will be released at 9. You have until 11 05 this time to submit your papers. Make sure to properly enter your particulars."

Alex then waited for the exam to start. After a while, the test paper was available and Alex started browsing.

This time, there 20 questions that required one-word answers or had options, each worth a single mark. 10 questions that required answers in one or two sentences, each bearing 2 marks. 6 questions that required a short paragraph, worth 5 marks each. And then finally, 4 questions that required a large paragraph, each worth 10 marks, out of which you could attempt 3. The one mark questions were the same as last time. Alex was sure of all the answers.

The two mark questions were simple enough to answer. The typical questions of this type were about a single Pokemon, asking to describe two aspects

Give the type and colour of an Arbok.

Mention the weakness and strengths of Ice type.

Give any 2 Pokemon that have Guts as their ability.

The five mark questions required a detailed description, so even though he knew the answer, it was up to the examiner to decide if he would get 5, 4 or even three marks for these questions.

Describe the appearance and characteristics of Ursaring.

Write a short paragraph on Chansey.

Describe the weakness and strengths in terms of type matchup of Cloyster.

The 10 mark question was a very broad subject. The trick was to fill in as many correct details as possible. There were no correct answers. For example, the questions Alex received.

Write the difference between the male and female species of the Nidoran evolutionary line.

Write a paragraph on evolution stones.

Describe the relationship between the Pidgey evolutionary line and the Spearow evolutionary line.

Describe the features and typing of any 5 bug type Pokemon.

While these questions were not difficult, it was challenging to fill the maximum amount of details the examiner might expect in the limited time.

After looking over the questions. Alex began answering the questions. He decided to skip the 10 mark question about the evolution stones as he wasn't sure if he could write about all the evolution stones in the limited time.

"Huh! Finally finished!" he sighed after some time. He looked up to see everyone else still writing. So just like last time, he decided to submit the test when the time was up. So, he started to double-check his answers.