I awoke the following morning right before my alarm went off. Though I had gotten somewhat used to the bright sun, it was still unpleasant. I crawled out of bed and stumbled my way to the bathroom to shower. About half way through, I realized what day it was. "It's Saturday already...I have to meet with Professor Birch today to take my evaluation. I know I studied well this week and nothing seemed particularly difficult. There is going to be that doubt in the back of my mind thought, at least until I get my results." I shook my head, sending shampoo splattering across the door, making me laugh a little. "Ok, no point in worrying. Let's get this done." I finished up in the shower and made my way downstairs, welcomed by the intoxicating aroma of breakfast food.

"Good morning honey, how did you sleep last night?" My mom said with her usual upbeat tone.

"Really good" I replied as I stretched. "I think that extra time in the fitness center helped". My dad chuckled at that.

"Yeah, I can imagine so" he said taking a bite out of a piece of toast. "You looked like a triathlon finalist when you got home...and smelled like one too." He laughed as he pinched his nose.

"Yeah, yeah." I said rolling my eyes. I took a seat and filled my plate. Bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, orange juice, a perfect breakfast. Still had some concerns as to where the meat came from, but figured I'd find out eventually. I dug in, eating faster than normal nearly choking.

"Woah, easy there sport." My dad remarked. "Don't wanna make yourself sick before your exam do you?"

"Heh, no." I chuckled. "I guess I'm just a little nervous. Figured a full stomach would help."

"Well, just don't overdo it honey." My mom said as she finished her breakfast. "As soon as we finish, we can drop you off at the lab. That way you can do some last minute review. You just let us know when you are done.

"Thank guys". I said as I finished my plate. I'm gonna go get ready and grab my materials. I cleared my plate and headed up to my room. I grabbed the papers and a few last minute things and hurried down to meet my parents. We hopped in the car and headed to the lab. I did some last minute reviews on the way there, mostly double checking the fairy type matchups and some of the league rules. The drive there seemed to be over in the blink of an eye, as I barely got into the material before we stopped.

"Ok Honey" my mom said as she turned to me. "Good luck and let us know when you're good to go."

"Yeah sport, good luck" my dad said giving me a thumbs up. "You've worked hard over the last two weeks, I'm sure you'll be good.

"Thank guys, you'll be the first to know" I said excitedly as I got out of the the car. They waved as they pulled away, but I stayed still. I took a deep breath, readying myself. I was certain it would go well, but you always have that bit of doubt. A moment later, I turned and headed into the lab.

As I entered the main area, I was pleased surprised to be greeted by not only Professor Birch, but another woman as well. She was about average height, dark brown hair pulled back into pair of large hoops and her face framed with sort of nerdy looking glasses. She had on what looked like a school uniform: a red tie and white blazer under a black jacket with a black skirt, black leggings, and dress boots. She was very pretty, and looked to be younger than my mom.

"Ah Alex, perfect timing" Birch said as he got up. He shook my hand and gestured to the woman. She rose and walked over as well.

"Hello Alex. It's good to see you again". She said with a smile, followed by a slight look of concern. "Do you remember me?"

"I'm sorry, I do not" I said shaking my head. "However, given the circumstances I believe I know who you are." She raised a quizzical eyebrow at that. "Might you be Roxanne, the Rustboro City Gym Leader and instructor at the Pokemon Academy?"

"Ha, Professor Birch here said you retained oddly specific information and that just proved it. You are correct, I am Roxanne. I also taught you at the academy. You were one of the best students in your class, and I still have high hopes for you as a trainer. He contacted me after finding out about your situation and we put this idea together. So, I'll give you the short version. You will be taking a modified version of the final exam from the Academy, adding in some additional questions relating to the world that most people would normally know but you may not given the situation. Now, if you are ready we can begin immediately."

"I am, and thank you so much for the time and effort both of you have put it to do this for me." I wasn't really sure what to do, so I awkwardly bowed deeply to them, which prompted a round of laughter from the group.

"It's no problem." Roxanne said as she gestured me to follow her. She led me to one of the side offices that looked to have already been prepared for this. I took a seat as she handed me a rather thick packet and some writing implements. "Ok, here are the guidelines. You will have three hours to complete the exam, instead of the normal two. However, the passing grade has been increased from seventy percent to ninety. Given the wider scope of the exam and the...importance of your understanding of the additional content, we felt these changes were justified. Do you have any questions?"

I simply shook my head no.

"Very well, you may begin." She turned and walked to the desk and sat.

I started by flipping through the booklet to see how it was set up. It was broken into different sections, each corresponding to a particular topic. They were almost the same at the guides Professor Birch gave me...I smiled as I drew that conclusion and kept on. None of the sections really stood out as difficult, so I just started at the beginning. My thought had been to save anything that felt difficult until the end and get the easier stuff out of the way. Some of the other questions may actually help me answer some hard ones or jog my memory from studying. I flew through the questions, partially helped by the fact that the entire exam looked to be multiple choice.

One hour and seventeen minutes later, I set down my pencil and stretched my arms up. Roxanne looked at me with a quizzical expression. "Did you have a question Alex?"

"Oh, no ma'am" I said retracting my arms. "I just needed a stretch after that."

She raised an eyebrow as I said that. "After that? Was there a particularly hard question?"

"Nope, they all seemed simple enough. Maybe a tricky one here or there, but nothing of note."

Her eyes went wide. "Wait, you're finished?!"

"Yeah"

The look of shock on her face did not subside. "It hasn't even been an hour and a half. How are you already finished?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I was just able to answer everything rather quickly." I wasn't entirely wrong. I had always done well on tests and tended to finish before most other people. This seemed to carry over into this new world. It was the main reason I was so confident I could rise to the Professor's challenge. I handed her the packet. "So...what now?"

She took a moment to compose herself. "Well, I am going to go through and grade the exam. You can wander about in the lab, go outside, or just nap in your chair until I'm finished." I nodded and sat back down. I pulled down my hat and leaned back in my seat. I acted like I was napping, but glanced up to look at her expressions occasionally to get an idea how I did. As she kept going, her look of disbelief seems to grow gradually. I did notice her look shift once, which I took as a mistake on my part.

While it felt like hours, she finished the grading in about twenty minutes. She picked up the phone and made a quick call. "Professor, would you care to come to the office for his results? Uh huh, ok." About a minute later, Professor Birch walked in and sat next to Roxanne. They both turned to me as I straightened up on my seat, clearly looking nervous.

"So, how do you feel Alex?" Professor Bitch said.

"Well, I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I feel very confident in how I did however. So, I either did really good or really bad. Roxanne's expressions didn't help." That seemed to get a chuckle out of her. She spoke right after I said that.

"Alex Pyrite, your final score on the exam is...". I could feel a pit forming in my stomach. "Ninety nine percent!" Both the Professor and my eyes went wide.

"What?!" Said Professor Birch. "Ninety nine percent? Really?"

"Absolutely. He got two hundred ninety eight out of three hundred correct. I was shocked myself, given the rate of him finishing. He barely took over an hour to finish, and he had one hundred more questions than the normal exam."

I breathed a sigh of relief as a big smile drew across my face. "This is it" I said to myself. "I can become a Pokémon trainer. I can finally make this dream come true. I...I'll get my first Pokémon tomorrow morning." A tear ran down my cheek at realizing the importance of this moment, something they both saw.

"Alex, my boy, you did amazing" Professor Birch said as he walked over and shook my hand. "I'll admit I had my doubts, but you have blown them all away." He turned back to Roxanne. "What did he get incorrect anyway?"

She paged through the packet and swiftly came to a stop. "The first one was on Fairy types. They are immune to Dragon type moves, where you selected they were only resistant. The second was about the application process to travel to another region. You need to apply for a passport to travel between regions, just having a trainer license isn't sufficient."

"Well, those were two of the ones I had some doubts on, so I'm not surprised." I got my composure back and looked to Professor Bitch. "So, now what?"

Professor Birch smiled. "Well, tomorrow you will come back here in the morning to receive your Pokémon Trainer's License and you first pokemon. There will be other from you class doing the same, but your friends and classmates have been informed of your situation."

"Huh, I was wondering why no one ever called or visited me. I was beginning to think I was a social outcast or something..."

Professor Birch let out a hearty laugh. "Nonsense. Roxanne here said you've have a good group of friends and never had any issues in school. We just asked them to give you some time to get ready for this exam. You'll get to see them tomorrow. Now, I must not give away all of the information, or you'll have no reason to listen to me tomorrow haha."

Roxanne shook her head. "Give your parents a call to come pick you up. You'll need to be here at nine tomorrow morning. You, as well as everyone else will be given additional information then. Dismissed!" She said the last part in a very stern manner, but immediately loosened up and blushed a little in embarrassment. I chuckled and headed outside.

I called my parents and told them the good news. They were really happy for me, something I wasn't really used to. We went out to eat at a nicer restaurant in Petalburg City, then stopped by a few shops to grab some last minute supplies I noted after going over the gear I had. Once we arrived back home, I headed to the fitness center for a quick workout before bed. I told Sam the good news and while she was happy for me, I could tell she was a little sad that I wouldn't be around as much. I fell asleep pretty much as soon as I got home, anxious to start my journey.