An Exam to Remember
Today was the day. It was the day of you and Nemona’s last battle exam of the semester. You had both studied hard, but time went by so fast. It seemed like just last week that you found out about the assignment in the first place! The written part of the exam was done, and it wasn’t too bad (although having to write a 200 word long paragraph about the impact of entry hazards was rather exhausting), now the only thing that was left was the practical assignment. It was nothing major, it was just a test of your battle skills. You and Nemona were partnered up, of course. You didn’t even have to ask each other, you just paired up without a second thought. The battle was held in a rather secluded place, somewhere high up in the South Province, just southwest of Mesagoza. This way the battle could be as far away from people as possible, in case there was a particularly destructive scenario. This occasion was quite special as it was being supervised by Rika of the Elite Four! Since you and Nemona were both champions, you were held to a much higher standard than all the other students, so you were being supervised by official league staff, as opposed to the standard school faculty members. Penny was there too, even though she didn’t do battle studies (she’s more of an art or IT kind of girl). She just came to watch, there was no way she would miss out on an opportunity to spend time with her friends (plus, she needed to look good for the league, anything to avoid paying off her debt). Arven would have come too, but he was unfortunately away on a geography excursion.

“Are you recording this?” Nemona eagerly asked Penny. “Yes…” Penny sighed, clearly not getting paid enough for this shit, as she pressed the record button on her Rotom phone.

“Ready, Anon?” Nemona playfully asked, with a fire in her sunset-coloured eyes. “Let’s have ourselves a fruitful battle!”

“Easy, youngsters!” Rika interjected. “Don’t get too in over your head. Your performance should be at your most optimal. So no playful banter, y’hear?”

Rika found your dynamic entertaining, but this was an exam, not a get-together, so you and Nemona had to be on your best behaviour.

“Now, on the count of three.” Rika announced, as you and Nemona readied your poké balls.

“Two.”

The two of you locked eyes.

“One.”

“Let the battle begin!” Rika shouted, as you and Nemona both sent out your Pokémon. Nemona sent out Lycanroc, while you sent out Porygon-Z. Right out the gate, this was not looking too good. While Porygon-Z was very powerful, Lycanroc was rock type, so she resisted Porygon-Z’s normal type attacks. However, Porygon-Z knew thunderbolt, so at least it had some form of coverage. Porygon-Z used thunderbolt, which dealt a considerable amount of damage, but Lycanroc was able to take the hit regardless.

“Wow, Anon! You’re just as good as ever. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a few tricks up my sleeve!” Nemona boasted, clearly ignoring Rika’s demands for a lack of playful banter. She then commanded Lycanroc to use stealth rock, as an array of pointed stones floated in the air around your team. This could pose a bit of a problem later down the line, but you weren’t planning on switching out anytime soon. One more thunderbolt ought to do the trick. But Nemona seemed to have predicted this, as Lycanroc quickly used accelerock to get one last hit in, before succumbing to Porygon-Z’s thunderbolt. Lycanroc fainted, leaving the score in your favour.

But the battle had only just begun, as Nemona sent out Kommo-o. She was an intimidating presence on the field, her scales lightly clanging as she slammed down on the ground. Foolishly, out of habit, you commanded Porygon-Z to use thunderbolt again, which Kommo-o resisted. It was clear that tri-attack would have been the better option, since it would have been boosted by Porygon-Z’s adaptability. This allowed Kommo-o to use clangorous soul, giving her a boost to all of her stats, but decreasing her HP. This was bad. For her. If Porygon-Z could land a tri-attack, then Kommo-o would be knocked out.