The giant screen flickered, rapidly displaying names, photos, and grades. Karasawa and Akanishi watched with anticipation, but their expressions soon shifted. First place was not among them, nor was second. Third, fourth...
Finally, at the fifth spot, a classmate spoke up, "Karasawa, Akanishi, you guys are fifth and seventh."
Karasawa's expression changed slightly. On the large screen, it read:
Name: Karasawa Grade: A Rank: 5
Name: Akanishi Grade: A Rank: 7
Karasawa remained relatively composed, but Akanishi's face instantly turned ashen, then flushed with a sickly green-blue tint. Earlier, someone had said there would be no problem with him and Karasawa taking the top three spots. Now, neither of them had even made it into the top three.
The classmate who had spoken quickly slipped away. Everyone nearby sensed their foul mood and dared not speak, quietly searching for their own rankings instead.
Karasawa was curious; given his strength, he only placed fifth. Just how powerful were the top five? Furthermore, what shocked him most was that four people had actually achieved an S-grade this time. The surrounding crowd broke into a flurry of whispers, looks of shock on every face. In previous years, having a single S-grade was considered good, but this year there were several.
Karasawa was curious about the first-place winner; after all, everyone looks at the top of the leaderboard first. He directed his gaze straight to the number one spot.
Name: Yoshino Eichi Grade: S Rank: 1
Next to it was Eichi's photo. Yoshino Eichi... The name sounded familiar. Suddenly, someone nearby gasped, "Isn't this Yoshino Eichi the junior who was taken away by the police yesterday afternoon?"
Karasawa finally remembered where he had heard the name. Yesterday, a student from their academy had been taken away by Officer Jenny, an event so public that every student knew about it.
It was actually him? Diao Kato wore an expression as if he had seen a ghost. He had been somewhat proud of his own 15th-place ranking with an A-grade. However, the moment he saw Eichi in first place, his pride vanished, replaced entirely by shock. Eichi actually took first place, and with an S-grade at that. My goodness!
He recalled the conversation between Eichi and Professor Kant this morning. It turned out Eichi hadn't been acting like a show-off at all—he truly possessed that level of skill.
In another corner, the young girl from that day was sitting in a chair. She looked up and saw her own ranking.
Name: Yui Grade: S Rank: 2
Seeing her ranking and grade, Yui wasn't surprised; she was well aware of her own strength. Next, she looked at the person above her. When she saw Eichi's photo, she thought: It's him. She remembered seeing him that morning when she was coming downstairs.
Sitting beside her, Sakuraba smiled and said, "Congratulations, Yui. You got an S-grade and ranked second."
Yui gave a beautiful smile and hugged Sakuraba's arm. "Auntie, it's all because you taught me so well."
Sakuraba thoroughly enjoyed her niece's flattery. Afterward, she looked at the first-place entry with curiosity. "Whose student is this Yoshino Eichi? To think he snatched the first-place spot from our Yui."
Yui blushed slightly. "Auntie, he didn't 'snatch' it. He earned it with his own strength. Besides, when I came down after finishing the exam this morning, I saw that Yoshino Eichi sitting in the Silver Academy area."
Sakuraba wore an intriguing expression. "Oh, so he's from Silver Academy. This is going to be interesting."
In the office where Professor Kant and several Senior Breeders had previously gathered, Nagayama sat in his executive chair. Directly in front of him was a large screen displaying the theory assessment rankings. Sitting nearby were two candidates who looked very much alike, one with red hair and one with blue hair, wearing identical clothes.
The blue-haired boy said to the red-haired one, "Brother, you're only third. But I'm sixth. Both of us brothers made the top ten."
Indeed, they were Kurokawa, ranked third, and Koike, ranked sixth. They were twin brothers.
Nagayama spoke up, "Kurokawa, Koike, keep working hard. You need to win back some pride for me in the next two assessments."
Kurokawa replied, "Don't worry, Principal. Pokéblock and feed production are my specialties. First place will definitely be mine."
Meanwhile, the student in fourth place was one of the students brought by Moriguchi, while the three brought by Sugisaki placed eighth, ninth, and tenth.
Eichi wasn't particularly surprised to see himself in first place; he was just curious if he had actually achieved a perfect score. Professor Kant, having naturally seen Eichi's ranking, smiled and said, "Not bad. Keep it up, and don't get arrogant."
"Of course," Eichi replied.
The people around Eichi were looking at him with strange expressions. None of them had expected the first-place winner of the theory assessment to be right next to them. Diao Kato even walked over and asked in disbelief, "Eichi, you really got an S-grade?"
"That's me," Eichi smiled.
Diao Kato instantly turned red, unsure of what to say. He wished he could find a hole to crawl into. This morning, he had been telling Eichi that Eichi wouldn't know the answers and should have spent more time on them. Thinking back, Eichi never once said he didn't know them; it was all just Diao's own imagination. It was too embarrassing.
Others in the hall began discussing the top ten, with Eichi, the first-place winner, being the most talked-about. Once everyone had seen enough, they headed back to prepare for the two assessments the next day.
After returning to the hotel, everyone was shocked to learn that Yoshino Eichi was from their school. Upon checking, they found no such person in the fourth-grade roster. When they asked the third-graders, they were equally confused because no such person existed in their grade either. Everyone was baffled until a second-grader was finally questioned. That guy was usually a shut-in and didn't know many people in his own grade, so everyone assumed Eichi was a junior from the second grade.
Professor Kant did nothing to clear up this wonderful misunderstanding. He was currently in his room chatting with Eichi about the upcoming assessments. Eichi sat on a comfortable sofa and took a sip of water, while Professor Kant pulled out a book and sat down across from him.
"Next up is the production of Pokéblocks and feed," Professor Kant said. "I'm fairly confident in your abilities. Let me tell you about the specific details of these two assessments. For Pokéblock production, the League will give you a brand-new Beginner Pokéblock recipe. This recipe is the latest research from the League, so no one has made it before. The assessment time is two hours. You only pass if you succeed. For those who pass, the teachers will grade you based on the quality of the Pokéblock you produced."