Chapter 350: Gym assessment starts!
One day later, Terrance left Crown Academy.
He also made another promise with Gallade.
When Gallade reaches the 7th floor of the Tower of Confusion and the 25th floor of the Tower of Despair, it can come find Terrance.
Terrance entrusted Wurmple to Akon, and with Beautifly, Altaria, Mismagius, Arcanine, and Castform by his side, he set off on a trip to Ever Grande City.
Five days later, Ever Grande City.
Ever Grande City is located on a small island in the eastern part of the Hoenn region. There are flowers everywhere in the city, which is its most scenic feature. However, it is most famous for being the headquarters of the Hoenn League.
It can be considered the political center of all Hoenn, the palace which brings together Hoenn's strongest Trainers.
Trainers who have collected eight Badges need to come here to participate in The Ever Grande Conference.
At this moment, a young man was walking down the street, looking calmly at the bustling crowds and talking to himself.
"I didn't expect I'd have to wait three days for a medical check-up…"
"They say that even applying to be a regular Trainer requires a medical check-up, and that you have to get one every three years. I guess getting my Pokédex from Professor Oak was a bit of a shortcut?"
Terrance shook his head. After arriving in Ever Grande City, he went to find the League's office according to the contact information provided in the notice.
In three days, at 9 am, he would need to go to a local hospital in Ever Grande City for the required medical check-up, which was the second part of the Gym Trainer assessment.
The first part of the assessment was proving the ability and qualifications to apply to become a Gym Trainer, something Terrance had managed to achieve through the academy's connections.
Back at the Pokémon Center, Terrance suddenly received a message.
The message was from Raoul Contesta, who informed him that the Pokémon Contest Hall in Fallarbor Town had begun construction and asked if there were any available personnel to help manage daily affairs.
Terrance smiled inwardly. It was clearly him who had asked a favor of the other party, yet Mr. Contesta put it so politely, giving him considerable respect.
"Ayan's contract with the construction site is also about to expire…"
Through regular communication, Terrance kept updated on everyone's status.
Ayan had applied for the ownership of Machop at the construction site, but the site management had rejected it outright. After all, there was no need to take the application of an ordinary laborer seriously, and they had no interest in anything Ayan had to offer.
In response, Terrance did everything he could to investigate the background of Ayan's construction site.
It turned out to be part of the Everreach Group, a company primarily involved in building, expanding, renovating, and demolishing structures. The team responsible for the Mt. Chimney cable car was just one of Everreach Group's branches.
Once he knew the background, things were easier. Terrance quickly found information on Everreach Group's partner companies online and recognized several familiar names.
One of these was the Contest Committee, as many of its halls were constructed by Everreach Group.
Armed with this information, Terrance hesitated for a moment before explaining the whole story to Mr. Contesta. The outcome was surprisingly smooth; Machop was directly given to Ayan, leaving him stunned for quite a while.
On this matter, Terrance could only think how great it was to have connections…
During the construction of the Pokémon Contest Hall, with Terrance's assistance, Ayan would undoubtedly be dispatched to work locally in Fallarbor Town. Meanwhile, Scarlet had already passed his referee exam, and Chisana had embarked on his journey as a Coordinator. After some thought, Terrance recommended both Ayan and Scarlet to Raoul Contesta.
Among the group, they were the two most reliable for getting things done.
Three days later, Ever Grande City Hospital
Following the procedure, Terrance underwent a series of examinations, somewhat like the employment health checks in his past life. With the physique honed by training under Mr. Julian at Crown Academy, Terrance was naturally in excellent health. In fact, very few Trainers were physically weak—those with health issues typically wouldn't pass the initial Trainer qualification unless they had backdoor connections.
With his medical results in hand, Terrance returned to the League office in Ever Grande. After verification, he waited for half a day until a woman came looking for him.
"Nurse Joy?" Terrance was surprised.
Apart from the uniform, her familiar hair color and face made her instantly recognizable.
Terrance remembered his first encounter with June Joy. If she hadn't been so young, only 10 years old and not yet wearing the nurse uniform, he would have recognized her immediately. But the woman before him was about the same age as the Nurse Joy stationed at the Pokémon Center, making her easy to identify.
"Are you Mr. Terrance?" Nurse Joy asked.
"Yes, that's me," Terrance nodded, once again carefully observing her outfit. Could it be…?
"Hello, I'll be your next examiner, so from here on, please address me as Examiner Joy, not Nurse Joy," she promptly clarified.
Terrance nodded knowingly, replying, "Examiner Joy, so my next assessment will be 'actual combat,' right?"
Examiner Joy nodded. "I will accompany you throughout the assessment, recording your performance."
Before applying to become a Gym Trainer and preparing to establish his own Gym, Terrance had researched the assessment process. Although details varied, there were common elements, such as the mandatory health check.
The so-called actual combat assessment wasn't a typical battle but a test of a Gym Trainer's wilderness survival skills and their ability to handle encounters with wild Pokémon. The locations chosen for the assessment are mostly Lost Regions, which have not been developed by the League and are uninhabited. [TN: Changing Lost Zone to Lost Region]
The actual combat assessment was quite dangerous, so an examiner would accompany the applicant. What Terrance didn't expect was that his examiner would be Nurse Joy.
And not just any Nurse Joy—this one had a style entirely different from those at Pokémon Centers, resembling Teacher Julian, the retired police officer, in some ways.
This Joy's full name is Lucy Joy, and she has never been fond of studying. Therefore, she was unable to pass the Breeder license exam, which would have qualified her to be a nurse. Instead, she chose the path of a Trainer. Due to her background, she easily obtained a position at the League headquarters. Now, she is serving as an examiner for Terrance, which can be considered a new challenge for her.
After all, she had previously only done simpler tasks, and this was her first time assessing a Gym Trainer applicant, so she was quite nervous. In front of the examinee, however, she had to show the authority of an examiner. What surprised her was that the applicant was a young boy much younger than herself, causing her to lower her expectations of him and anticipate that her work this time would be very difficult.
"The assessment location is an deserted island between the Kanto mainland and Hoenn. The Pokémon there are aggressive, and resources are scarce, making it a difficult place for humans to survive. We'll be spending a week there for the assessment."
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