As soon as he heard that warning, Roy began to look over his bag. So far, he had managed to capture about 12 Pokemon including the one he managed to capture on accident. However, he had used half his bait and at least 20 Safari balls to do so. Perhaps he should have tried to use the pester balls after all. He still had all of those, though it was because he still refused to use them. He still wouldn't hurt any Pokemon with the pester balls.
With only 10 minutes left he needed an edge when it came to judging. He was pretty sure he had saw all the Pokemon in the swamp area by this point, including even the rare ones. If he wanted to get the most points, he would have to try to find as many rare Pokemon as he could in the remaining areas. He needed quality right now, not quantity.
Roy began to tap the teleport that rested on his torso and soon found himself in a rocky area. It was rather barren, with only a few larger rocks around for cover. This must have been the mountain region, at least, that's what Roy could gather anyway.
Roy was surprised though. Despite the lack of cover, he couldn't see any trainers or any Pokemon. Perhaps trainers sent here had left the area after not being able to find any Pokemon. But the lack of Pokemon just seemed strange to him. He doubted the school would create a zone with nothing, so where were they?
He got his answer as he soon saw a stampede of Pokemon race towards him, running more away from something then towards him. The young man simply jumped to the side as the stampede proceeded to ignore the obstacle and continue moving forward at a fast pace. Roy was even tempted to capture a few, but it didn't feel right. Something was definitely wrong and it wasn't right to exploit the situation, test or no.
That was when he the rumbling of the earth got close enough for Roy to feel it beneath his feet. He began to lose his balance and tried his hardest to regain it before completely falling to the floor. Once he regained it, he noticed the large shadow towering over him and looked up. It was a MASSIVE Onix, staring at the young boy as if expecting something.
The Onix looked below at the small new prey that had finally appeared before him. At the start, he had seen so many targets after those first two. Each time his tail would get near and suddenly they would disappear. Only that second target had left early. If it could count, it would have known that 22 had narrowly avoided his mighty tail swing. He hoped that this knew would be the first it's tail would hit.
That was when yet another ball smashed into the Onix's face. This time however, instead of attempting to capture him, the ball released a strange gas the irritated the great rock snake, causing it to freak out a bit. Roy decided to take this chance to get as much distance from the giant Pokemon as he could, going in the direction of the pester ball and using one of the larger rocks to hide from the great beast.
Soon the Onix realized that it's prey had run off. In its anger and frustration, it let out a mighty bellowing roar that could be heard throughout the area. Once it was done, it began to quickly move around the zone, trying to find more trainers to attack.
Roy sighed a breath of relief as the Onix began to go in another direction. That was when he turned around and saw who it was that had thrown that pester ball...
"YOU!" He yelled out in surprise as he noticed the white haired young man from Vermilion Port. What were the chances those two would see each other again?
"You're that weakling from before aren't you?" The young man answered back "I'm surprised that you even survived in this zone. I doubt many people didn't fail trying to capture this thing. It seems to be targeting trainers, though that's strange for most Pokemon..."
"It's not just trainers though..." Roy responded "It's anything in its way. I saw a stampede of Pokemon pass by a little while ago. They were running from this Onix. I think it's just rampaging all over the place, attacking it wants."
"Doesn't matter..." The white haired boy pulled out a few more pester balls and a Safari Ball "I've already captured 29 other Pokemon and I plan on making that Onix my final capture. So stay out of my way and maybe you can survive this test. Be thankful I'm after the top score, not just passing."
"29 Pokemon?" Roy was flabbergasted. That would mean this kid had a 100% capture rating at this point. That was beyond impossible!
"I'm just the best!" The white haired boy declared before pushing him away "Now get out of the way!"
That was when Roy thought for a moment before thinking of something. "I'm going to help you. If we work together, we can catch that Onix and make this zone safe for the Pokemon!"
"Are you stupid?!" The young man snarled "Look, you want to be my lackey fine, but don't come crying to me when you fail alright?
Roy nodded and agreement and the two boys discussed their line of attack...
"Only 5 minutes left until the exam is over!"
The Onix was still searching for it's prey, any prey when it soon saw two trainers standing right next to it! What luck! The Onix let out another intimidating roar to show the two who was boss. It would definitely hit these two for sure...
That was when one of the boys threw a ball at the giant stone snake. An irritating powder again exploded onto the Onix's face, irritating and infuriating the creature. Mad with rage the beast began to swing it's tail at the white haired trainer who had attacked it, only to have the other boy throw another irritating ball at it, causing it more pain.
"I'm sorry..." Roy really hated doing this "But you're attacking Pokemon and trainers! We have to stop you no matter what!"
Before the Onix could properly respond, another ball of irritating gas hit it again, the white haired boy throwing another pester ball at it. Then the cycle continued as the Onix turned it's head to face the trainer in rage, only for another pester ball to hit it's face once more.
"You should be weak enough now..." The white haired boy exclaimed "So get in the Pokeball!" The white haired boy threw his last safari ball at the monster and it was captured in a mass of light...
Shake...
Shake...
Shake...
Suddenly, the ball opened with the bellowing roar of the enemy Onix. Their plan had failed. The white haired student's last Pokeball had failed.
"Darn! Stupid Onix..." Before he could finish, the white haired student was sent away by the teleport pad.
It took Roy a couple of seconds before he realized the situation. His partner had disappeared on him suddenly because the he had run out of safari balls. Just like in the games, the rules must have been that once you ran out of Safari balls, you were immediately sent back to the entrance. While that was good for the white haired boy who would have been defenseless, it wasn't good for Roy who was now the only thing in this Onix's way...
The Onix went on the attack yet again, swiping it's tail at the poor boy. At this point Roy knew the Onix's tricks and jumped as far as he could to avoid the tail, falling to the floor and leaving himself defenseless. Desperate, Roy threw a safari ball of his own at the Onix, once again trapping it. This had to work, or else everything had been in vain...
Shake...
Shake...
Shake...
BING!
It HAD worked. Roy had captured the high level and dangerous Onix! Now it was safe. Now he could take a breather and use the last minutes to...
"DING DONG!" The sound of a bell could be heard all around the Safari Testing Zones "TIME IS UP! YOUR SAFARI EXAM IS NOW OVER!"
In an instant, Roy found himself back at the entrance along with all of those still taking the test. He looked around the other contestants to see if any of his new friends were still among them. While he could see Abel, he couldn't find either Lily nor Jack. He could only hope that those two simply were missing because they had also caught 30 Pokemon like that white haired punk.
Soon enough the professor from before walked over to the group of remaining students. "That concludes the true entrance exams. Everyone please head to the auditorium to review your results. Your score will be judged along with the the first group and the top 200 students will be truly accepted in Satamori Academy. I wish you all the best of luck!"
As the large group of students followed the senior students and professor back to the auditorium, Abel had finally noticed that Roy was among the group and walked over to him. Abel was rather glad to see at least one of his friends among the group and quick ran over to greet him. However unlike before where he had had so much energy before. When Roy saw him he had a rather dour look on his face.
"Is everything alright?" Roy asked him.
"Hey have you seen Lily at all?" Abel asked him.
"No..." Roy said "I haven't seen either her or Jack at all..."
Abel faced soured a little more "Jack is out..." He said with a solemn voice "We both had been sent to the same zone and we both got attacked by a rampaging Onix. I was able to get out in time, but Jack was almost hit and sent out of the Safari Zone for his safety." He looked down "He hadn't caught any Pokemon yet, so there's no doubt he failed. Heck, I was in such a panic I doubt I passed either."
Roy choose not to bring up his own encounter and later capture of said Onix. Still it was rather sad news to learn that Jack had failed the exam outright. It was so unfair. It had only been bad luck that had snatched Jack's dreams away from him. It just wasn't right.
Both Roy and Abel looked at each other grimly as the two walked back to the auditorium. Neither believed that they had passed. Roy was naturally nervous, but since both had wasted time with that rampaging Onix, neither thought they had a chance now. In addition, Roy had already encountered a student who had caught 29 out of 30 Pokemon. That had shattered his confidence entirely. Hopefully Lily was doing better...
Seeing as the second the two got into the auditorium, Lily was waving her hands around waiting for them, it was obvious she was at least confidant. It actually looked rather silly looking, as many other students had no idea what she was doing. Those two did however, which is why they hurried to at least stop her from waving around like a fool.
"Congrats you guys!" Lily was in absolute glee. "All three of us passed! We did it!"
"We did?" Both boys looked over at the large screen that was up on display. On it were the names of all 200 of the passing students, ranked in order of their score. As the two looked down the list, they eventually found their names. Roy was ranked #142 and Abel ranked #197. They had both passed.
Lily smiled "Jack also passed! He's #52 on the list!"
Abel shook his head "I doubt it's the same Jack..." Abel said "I saw Jack get eliminated before he caught a single Pokemon. Unless they rewarded extra points for not using a single item, I doubt he would rank higher then any of us."
"Actually..." Lily laughed "I scored #1 on the list! Guess I'm really good at catching Pokemon!"
"WHAT!" Roy and Abel looked over at the scoreboard. It wasn't possible, but it was true. Lily had scored the highest score. How? HOW?
"Everyone settle down!" The loudspeaker chimed in yet again. Once again the Professor Spruce showed up yet again on stage and began once again to speak "Everyone who is on this board here are the students who truly will begin the life here at Satamori Academy. While I apologize to those who failed, know that you will not be alone. As I said, only about 10% of all students here will finish their education here by graduating. The true test of your skills and potential shall begin tomorrow. Tonight, you will be sent to the dorms and be assigned dorm mates. Please get along with your dorm mates and get a good night sleep for tomorrow...your school life begins tomorrow!"
And so Roy and truly began his school life at Satamori.