The next morning, I was up before Bradley. I got dressed quickly and left the barracks. It was so early that neither the Pokemart nor the cafeteria were open. I left the Centre and walked quickly over to the Gym. It was still closed so I decided to wait out in front till it opened. I waited outside for around half an hour with Zatanna inside her pokeball before Gym Leader Schneider opened the door from inside.

"Morning," he said. "You're up early. I don't usually see anyone in the Gym until after breakfast. I'm guessing that you're here because you think you are ready for D-rank."

"Yes, Sir." I said. "Should I come back another time if it is not appropriate for you?" I asked politely.

"No," he sighed. "We can do it now. This test shouldn't take long anyways. Come on in. Also, you can drop the formality, makes me feel old.”

I followed him and got my first look at the inside of the Gym. It was just like a dojo, but bigger. A large battlefield filled the centre. On each side of the battlefield were four smaller training grounds. Each training ground had two practice dummies. Along the wall were racks filled with different items meant to be used for training. It didn't blow my mind, but I was impressed by its outlook.

We stepped onto one of the training grounds and Schneider introduced me to his Machamp, Bruiser. Machamp was a Fighting type and my Zorua was a Dark type, definitely not a good match up considering how inexperienced we were, let along the type disadvantage.

As if he could feel my apprehension, Schneider told me not to worry as I wouldn't be battling it. He turned to the Machamp and said, "This trainer is taking the D-rank exam." A simple grunt of its own name was the response, and the Machamp walked to the side of the training ground, standing at attention.

Schneider then prompted me to release my Pokémon. Once I released Zatanna, he told me about the first part of the exam, which was very simple. All I had to do was tell Zatanna to attack the dummies with all the attack moves that she currently knows.

Simples.

"Zatanna," I said and pointed to the dummies. "Scratch."

Zatanna ran off immediately and gave the wooden dummy a good Scratch in the face.

"Good girl Zatanna," I praised. She yipped happily and wagged her bushy tail in front of me.

"Next attack." Schneider said.

"Zatanna, use Hone Claws and then Fury Swipes." I said as I pointed at one of the dummy.

Zatanna quickly took off, Dark energy coated her claws, leaped and then unleased a series of claw attacks. The wooden dummy cracked slightly from the force of the attack.

"Good Zatanna," I said as she made her way back to me.

"Next attack." Schneider said.

"Zatanna use Pursuit." I said. A burst of Dark energy later, the already cracked dummy splintered. I then told the Gym Leader that I was done.

"Impressive," he said. And then proceeded to set out the next exam. He dragged over a box of coloured balls and tipped them over, scattering the balls within the hall.

He told me to order Zatanna to pick up and put the balls back into the box in the order of red, blue, and then green. After correcting her on the order of collection, Zatanna easily aced this part of the test. Once the last ball was in the box, I closed it and held it in my arms.

"Very good," Schneider said.

"So, have I passed yet?" I asked. This seemed too easy.

"Not yet," he drawled, staring at me as if in thought. I thought that he was going to tell me the next part of the test when he walked up to me. Suddenly, he jumped at me with his right hand cocked back. Instantly, I heard Zatanna growling and preparing to attack. I would have had tried to duck or tried to jump backwards had I not been holding the box of coloured balls.

Something was amiss, I didn’t know exactly, but I had an inkling of what it could be.

“Stop!” I yelled as Zatanna prepared to attack.

I was right as Schneider’s hand stopped in mid-air. Zatanna listened to me but kept on growling at him.

"Congratulations,” Schneider said, “You pass."

Dumbfounded, I asked him what the point of the last part was. I figured out that the first part was about obeying commands and the second was about simple directions.

“That was to test how you and your Pokémon would react under a stressful situation,” Schneider said. “Were you not able to reign in your Pokémon, I’d have to fail you.”

Schneider then motioned me to follow him into his office. He logged into the computer on his desk and asked for my trainer card. As I sat down, he swiped the card on one side of the computer and put in some keys. A few moments later, he gave me the new card. This time round, it was stamped with D-rank.

I stared at my card for a while, turning it before pocketing it.

"That is your trainer card," he said. "I just updated your account, so your new trainer ID number matches your rank. You are now, officially a D-rank trainer."

He then proceeded to tell me about what I could and couldn't do. For example, I could team up with other or go solo for a D-rank mission. For higher ranking missions, I would need the appropriate ranked trainer to accompany me. He also told me about split pays, with 50-50 for having the same rank, 40-60 to me if it was with someone one rank higher and so on.

He told me that no D-rank mission would take place outside the walls. Not surprising to be honest, when one wrong step in either directions would just get you killed, or worse tortured or eaten alive. Not all missions within the city was D-rank though.

"You may accept any mission request from the computer room in the Centre or directly from the mission office in the central district but to receive your pay you must actually go to the mission office and inform them of your mission completion."

He paused. "Do you have any questions?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

"In that case," he said. "Let's go to the cafeteria. I'm sure you must be as hungry as I am at this point."

I agreed with him. I followed him out of the Gym. As we headed to the Centre, I couldn't help but walk with a slight spring in my step.

'D-rank,' I thought to myself. 'Time to start earning a living.'

***

During breakfast, Schneider had announced that I passed my D-rank exam. Most of the trainers walked up to me to congratulate me and shake my hand. I did not fluster at this sudden gain of attention but did feel uncomfortable. The limelight was never one for me despite my sometimes-dramatic flairs.

After speaking with some other D-rank trainers, I learnt that Bradley, Caitlyn, and Vivian had skipped breakfast this morning and went straight to the training grounds.

I decided that it was time for me to sign up for my first mission and earn my first pay check. This feeling of excitement reminded me of getting my first job at Dominoes. I left the cafeteria and headed to the computer room. I logged on to a computer, clicked on the link to the mission office and scrolled through the D-rank mission. Most of them were guard duty missions that were requested by the city state. There were only a handful of mission requests from private citizens. I decided to stick to the city state requests for now.

'Let's see,' I thought. 'There are gate guard missions and guard patrol of the city state missions take place in two or three days. I guess most of the guard positions for tomorrow must have been filled already.' There were only two city state mission requests for tomorrow that were still available. One of the mission was to guard the western gate. The other was a guard patrol mission in district five. I clicked on the second request to bring up the mission specs.

Mission Rank: D

Reward: $50

Location: District Five Public Park.

Summary: Trainer needed for the morning shift to patrol the public park in District Five. Must be ready to deal with any wild Pokémon that may have made it into Cheshire. Civilian safety is first priority. Trainer must report to the park's guard station at 8AM. Shift will end at 2PM.

'This looks simple enough.' I thought. I clicked on the accept button on the screen. A window popped up and asked me to swipe my trainer card, which I then did. Then my information appeared alongside a final confirmation. After confirming the computer sent the request to the mission office. A second later, I received a notification that I was assigned to the mission. "That's that." I sighed.

I logged off the computer and glanced at the clock. It was still morning. I had eaten all the food from my breakfast this morning and had nothing to give to Zatanna or Synin. It was time to go hunting. I left the Centre, with my pokeballs, and went to the station. I rode the magnet train to the station nearest to the southeastern gate.

***

"We're going hunting," I declared to both my Pokémon. This was the first time that they would work together. I expected conflict, but they were surprisingly comfortable with each other. Perhaps they had bonded during their time of captivity in that cocoon of silk?

Synin chirped a couple times before taking flight. Zatanna yipped once before chasing him, with me following close behind them. The gate led out to a long dirt road. Along either side of the road I could mainly see only tall grass. There were very few trees scattered here and there. We stuck to road for a while but did not come across much Pokémon.

Synin had flown back and forth, dropping off berries now and then. He also dropped dead Caterpies and Wurmples on us, but soon got the message and relished in them himself. This left Zatanna somewhat frustrated.

There were little trees, but I was able to break off a branch with sizable thickness. I quickly sharpened it into a pointy stick as I needed something with reach. Meanwhile, a few metres away Zatanna kept barking and sniffing the ground and air. I swept my eyes around my surroundings, watching both the trees and the ground. I kept away from the tall grass.

"Stay close," I warned her. A whistle later, and Synin flew back, perched nearby.

We walked for a few minutes, until we saw some footprints on the path, ones I recognised.

'Zigzagoon,' I thought. And speak of the devil. Or devils in this case. Two Zigzagoon were sniffing curiously and examining the trees, the grass, and the ground. In the corner of my eyes I saw my Zorua shifting slowly. Turning around, I saw a nearly perfect image of a Zigzagoon.

Silently, I backed away, and watched as she began her hunt.

After a few minutes, in her illusionary form, she appeared in the clearing. I assumed that the illusion covered sensory smells as well since the Zigzagoon did not react much to her. Without warning, she lashed out. A burst of Dark energy and one Zigzagoon was lying in a pool of its own blood. The other one became frightened and ran off immediately. I felt that the illusion might have not been necessary, but a catch was a catch.

'I need to work on her illusions,' I thought. There was so much potential there.

"Good girl," I said when I reached her. "I've already ate. All yours my girl."

She didn't need to be told twice and immediately dug in. I would have been disgusted if not for being used to Noire, my Norwegian forest cat, gifting me dead rats and birds every now and then. Once she had finished, I told her that we were going home.

I whistled for Synin. He was still perching on a nearby branch and preening his feathers. I whistled again. This time he responded.

We left the grasslands and re-entered Fiore.

***

Immediately on entering the Centre, I went to the computer room and made a call to my family. My uncle was the one who answered the call this time. Apparently, my aunt was out shopping and took Rosa with her. I told him how my week was going so far and that I was promoted to D-rank. Like my aunt, he was happy that I was doing alright for myself. However, I could sense rift forming between us as I was talking to him.

When I asked him when a good time for me would be to visit, I saw him hesitate for a second before he said I could visit sometime next week. We bade farewell soon after that and ended the call.

I did not give much thought to the conversation we just had. As far as I was concerned, I was my own person now, and I had paid my dues in taking Rosa's place.

Upon meeting up with the other trainers of my cohort, they congratulated me for passing and pressed me for the details. I told them anyways as the D-rank exam was apparently common knowledge.

“Huh,” Bradley said after I finished. “That sounds really easy. Much easier than our Ordeals were.”

“Says the guy who can’t control his Whismur,” Caitlyn teased.

Bradley turned to glare at Caitlyn. I turned to him.

“No progress still?” I asked.

“Obviously not,” he replied hotly. “I’ve decided to retake my Ordeal. I’m going to talk to the Gym Leader tomorrow.”

We looked at him in alarm. Caitlyn began trying to persuade him to give it more time. Bradley remained stubborn about his situation. I began to sink deep into thoughts when I felt a tug on the edge of my shirt. It was Vivian. A few whispers and some nods later, I cleared my throat, loudly.

“Listen,” I finally said after catching Bradley’s and Caitlyn’s attention. They stopped arguing and turned to me. “Why don’t we all go to one of the larger training grounds together tomorrow to work on our Pokemon? We can help together.”

“I don’t need your help,” Bradley responded just as I had expected.

“You need all the help you can get,” said Caitlyn. She turned back to me. “That sounds like a good idea. You seem to be handling being a trainer better than we are. I could use some of your help with my Litleo too.”

“Did you follow my advice from yesterday?” I asked her. “Any progress?”

“Yes, I did,” she answered. “I remained firm when dealing with her and showed no fear. I was able to get her to pay attention to me and listen to very basic commands. Thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome,” I told her. I turned back to Bradley. “Well?”

He stared at me silently for a few seconds.

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll give it one more day. If I don’t see any progress tomorrow, I’m going straight to Schneider. Happy?”

“Very,” I said.

“W-when and where do we meet up,” a shy redhead asked.

“My mission shift tomorrow ends at 2PM.” I said. “Once I’m done, I’ll head straight to the mission office to collect my pay. Let’s meet up at the Centre at 4PM.”

“That only gives us like three or four hours of daylight,” Caitlyn said. “Maybe we should meet the next day early in the morning?”

“No,” Bradley said. “I’m not putting this off. I said one more day and I mean it.”

“That’s fine,” I told him. “I have an idea of how to get your Whismur to listen to you. If it doesn’t work, then you can retake the Ordeal.”

“Deal,” he said.

Caitlyn agreed still looking worried while Vivian simply nodded in agreement.

“Great idea, Vivi,” I said, head petting her a bit. “I’m heading to bed. Night.” 

“Night,” “Goodnight”

And so, I stood up, ruminating my first mission and our ideas to help Bradley, missing the surprised expressions of Bradley and Caitlyn, as I headed to the barracks to get ready for bed.