Pokémon: When the World Changed

Chapter 594 589: Unknown Danger

After a round of rest, the long-distance flight test continued.

Thus, several more hours passed, and in the distance a small island could already be seen appearing before their eyes.

It was obvious that this island was the place where the Secret Kingdom involved in this evaluation was located.

"Phew, we finally arrived."

Upon seeing this scene, all the examinees let out a deep sigh of relief.

After such a prolonged flight, it had been no easy test for either the Pokémon or the trainers.

"That terrifying Vibrava can still keep flying?"

Afterward, almost all the examinees turned their gaze toward Ethan and his Vibrava, who were leading the flight at the front, and couldn't help but shake their heads helplessly.

"It seems we've been left far behind..."

Gideon and Gareth looked at each other and sighed softly.

Meanwhile, Laura kept her eyes fixed on Ethan, with a strange glint in them.

Very soon, under the examiner's guidance, the large airborne group began descending onto the island.

Faintly, one could see that in the central area of the island a small military base was being constructed.

After all, this newly discovered Secret Kingdom was a small unknown Secret Kingdom, and there was the possibility that Pokémon could pass through the portal and invade the real world.

The construction of these bases was precisely meant to prevent that from happening and to keep the Pokémon confined within the Secret Kingdom.

"What comes next is the real evaluation."

Upon seeing the military base below, the expressions of the examinees became somewhat solemn.

The unknown always represents danger.

Before entering the Secret Kingdom, no one could know what would happen inside.

"Next, rest inside the base. The evaluation will officially begin tomorrow morning."

The instructor looked at the military base and took a deep breath.

"I hope it's a Secret Kingdom without any danger..."

One examinee clasped his hands together and began to pray.

According to the rules of the evaluation, once they entered the Secret Kingdom the examinees had to complete three tasks.

The first was to find the exit of the Secret Kingdom; the second was to explore the Secret Kingdom; and the third, and most important of all, was to survive!

The first task, finding the exit of the Secret Kingdom, did not require much explanation.

It was one of the mandatory subjects for a Pokémon hunter. Practically all the trainers who participated in the Pokémon hunter evaluation had their own methods for finding the exits of Secret Kingdoms.

The second task was actually the true core of a Pokémon hunter's evaluation, and the final result would also be determined based on the degree of exploration of the Secret Kingdom.

Upon entering the Secret Kingdom, the League would place a special recording device on the examinees. All they had to do was explore the Secret Kingdom and record the internal information using that device.

Finally, the League would evaluate the exploration results based on the information collected by the device, and this would serve as the criterion to determine whether the examinee passed the Pokémon hunter professional exam.

The third task, the wilderness survival test, could be said to be the most crucial aspect in evaluating the professional level of a Pokémon hunter, but at the same time it was also the most difficult part of the entire evaluation.

Compared to micro-sized Secret Kingdoms, small Secret Kingdoms had a completely different level of danger.

Due to the structural instability of micro-sized Secret Kingdoms, even if the portal could not be found in the end, a passage could still be forcibly opened through special methods, so they were not considered overly dangerous.

Small Secret Kingdoms were different. Structurally, they already resembled a complete world. Apart from finding the portal and exiting through it, there was no other method.

Even if a Quasi-Elite-level trainer entered a small Secret Kingdom, they could not guarantee they would come out alive. The uncertainty inside these places was simply too great.

In previous evaluations, there had already been cases where no one managed to find the exit of the Secret Kingdom.

Later, the League had to send a Quasi-Elite-level trainer specializing in Psychic-type Pokémon to rescue the examinees.

And that was not the worst situation. It was said that on one occasion, even after sending Elite-level trainers, the examinees still could not be rescued; even the Quasi-Elite-level rescuers themselves disappeared and remain missing to this day.

When faced with such situations, the League did not have many solutions. After all, if even sending Elite-level trainers could not rescue anyone, it could only mean that it was a true "deadly Secret Kingdom."

Perhaps one day, when the League masters the technology to forcibly open portals in small Secret Kingdoms, this mystery will finally be completely resolved.

Of course, such situations were extremely rare. When choosing evaluation locations, the League could still largely guarantee the safety of the portals.

During the initial evaluation of a Secret Kingdom's level, the League measured factors such as the energy density inside it to estimate the environment and the strength of the Pokémon living there.

The level of the Secret Kingdom largely determined its level of danger. For example, in a micro-sized Secret Kingdom, the maximum strength of Pokémon did not exceed the Advanced level, while in a small Secret Kingdom the maximum strength did not exceed the professional level.

Therefore, in a small Secret Kingdom, as long as an Advanced-level trainer did not have the bad luck to encounter a professional-level Pokémon, they generally would not face too much danger. And even in that case, by cooperating with their six Pokémon, they should still have a chance to fight.

This is also the main reason why the minimum requirement for the Pokémon hunter professional evaluation is set at the Advanced level. After all, this evaluation exists to explore Secret Kingdoms, not to send people to their deaths!

...

"At last this damn first phase of the evaluation is over."

Upon arriving at the temporary rest area, the examinees burst into cheers.

"Alright, after half an hour of rest, let's gather to talk. This first phase has been truly brutal; in our team, almost more than half have been eliminated."

"Now let's gather, count how many of us are left, and properly discuss the exploration plan for the Secret Kingdom."

The leader of the examinee team began issuing instructions over the communicator. And as the undisputed first place of this evaluation, Ethan was also invited to participate.

...

Early the next morning.

All the examinees gathered in the Secret Kingdom plaza inside the base.

In the center of the plaza, numerous Pokémon could be seen guarding the area.

These Pokémon were naturally there to prevent the Secret Kingdom from suddenly opening and allowing any Pokémon to escape.