Chapter 197: Sacred Relic
Bai Feng and Shenmu quickly gathered around upon hearing the news. After reading the contents of the news, they were equally shocked.
The news reported two matters in total.
The first matter was that the Fire Elite Four Member of the Kanto League Elite Four would resign from their position soon due to physical reasons. The vacant Elite Four seat was pending.
Bai Feng knew that Blaine's reason for resigning was definitely not poor physical condition; he must have been involved with Team Rocket.
The second matter was that the succession problem of Silph Company, which had been affecting the public's emotions, finally had a result.
Ryan Hills, the person in charge of the company, publicly announced under the witness of League Champion Blue that he would only give ten percent of the shares to his nephews and nieces to divide equally. He would donate the remaining shares to the Pokémon League free of charge, and the Hills Family members would no longer participate in the operation of Silph Company.
In other words, Silph Company would completely transform into a company controlled by the Pokémon League in the future.
As soon as this news was announced, the Hills Family was filled with sorrow, but for ordinary people, this was good news.
When Bai Feng and the others returned to the Classroom, they indeed heard everyone discussing the two matters from today's news until the Teacher entered the room.
"Students, today is the last day of our Summer Camp. We have no curriculum today and no need to attend class."
Hearing this, the Students immediately let out deafening cheers.
"But..."
The Teacher's next words brought their cheers to an abrupt halt.
"You will participate in an exam next. This is your last opportunity to earn points. Perhaps some Students can use this opportunity to turn things around, because in this exam, you can earn points based on the number of questions you answer correctly. The more questions you answer correctly, the more points you get."
"Yay!" After hearing the Teacher's words, the Students immediately became energetic.
"Quiet down! Now everyone go outside and line up, then enter the Exam Room in an orderly manner." The Teacher patted the desk, signaling everyone to be quiet.
Oak's Laboratory has dedicated Exam Rooms for taking exams. They are all online exams, and the grades can usually be released immediately after the exam. All of Bai Feng and the other Students' previous exams were conducted in the Exam Room.
The rule for this exam was to get one point for every ten questions answered correctly. The exam time was three hours, with no limit on the number of questions. How many points you could get depended entirely on how hard you usually studied.
This was the second event Professor Oak mentioned earlier that could yield a large number of points.
After entering the Exam Room, Bai Feng sat down in front of a computer. After hearing the Teacher say they could start answering, he quickly began to browse the exam questions.
The first question was: Among the following four claws, which one belongs to Charizard's front claws?
Below the question were four pictures of Pokémon's nails.
What about the claws? Why are the pictures of nails? Bai Feng was shocked.
The nails in the first picture were white and slightly round; the nails in the second picture were also white but very sharp and pointed; the third nails were light gray, wide and thick; the nails in the fourth picture were light purple, similar in shape to the third one.
Bai Feng chose the second picture without hesitation.
Bai Feng guessed the first picture belonged to Blastoise, the third seemed to belong to Kangaskhan, and the last one clearly belonged to Nidoking.
Bai Feng had a Nidoking in his Orchard, and he often helped Nidoking trim its claws, so he couldn't be mistaken.
The second question asked Bai Feng to choose which of the four shaded pictures belonged to a Mystery Berry.
Actually, the four shaded pictures were all taken from normal angles, not tricky ones, but the difficulty of this question was that neither the Mystery Berry nor the other three shaded fruits were common berries. For Students with normal knowledge, they might not even remember what these fruits looked like, let alone judge from the shade.
However, this question was not difficult for Bai Feng. Speaking of berries, wasn't that exactly his major?
The first picture belonged to a Chesto Berry, the second picture belonged to a Chilan Berry, the third picture was a Jaboca Berry, and the last picture was the correct answer to this question, the Mystery Berry.
Of course, not all questions were tricky; some were relatively simple.
For example: Which of the following Pokémon has the Dragon type?
1. Gyarados
2. Altaria
3. Charizard
4. Aerodactyl
The only difficulty with this question was probably that many Students didn't know much about Pokémon like Aerodactyl, which only lived in ancient times. The Teacher didn't mention this Pokémon much in class either.
Also: Which of the following Pokémon is a Grass-type Pokémon?
1. Parasect
2. Comfey
3. Flabébé
4. Burmy
This tested very basic knowledge.
Time passed minute by minute. Bai Feng focused on answering the questions until the Teacher reminded him that time was up. He quickly submitted his exam paper and moved his gaze away from the computer.
As soon as they exited the Exam Room, many Students immediately hugged their companions and cried, complaining that the exam questions were too difficult.
After walking a few steps, Bai Feng saw Student Dafu standing blankly in front of a pillar, lost in thought.
"What's wrong? Did you do badly?" Bai Feng walked over and asked.
Before Dafu could answer, Walen walked over and said, "Needless to say, he couldn't even pass the simple questions in our usual exams. With questions this difficult, he probably didn't get a single one right."
As soon as Walen finished speaking, Dafu lunged over and hugged Bai Feng, crying and complaining, "Wuwuwu... It's not my fault, I'm not wrong, it's the questions' fault, they're too abnormal, why set the difficulty so high! Wuwuwu..."
Dafu cried heartbrokenly, showing that he probably did very poorly on the exam.
Soon, Classmate Shen Mu also arrived. Judging by his expression, he seemed to have done quite well.
About half an hour later, the grades were posted on the Notice Board in the Classroom Corridor. The first place went to a male Student from Sinnoh Tenmei Academy Affiliated Middle School. This kid's knowledge was terrifying.
He answered a total of 208 questions in three hours, with an accuracy rate of one hundred percent, earning a total of 20 points.
However, these twenty points didn't raise this Student's ranking much, because his original ranking was too low, only placing him in the lower middle.
The second place went to Nanami. She answered a total of 220 questions in three hours, but only 180 were correct, so she only got 18 points.
Bai Feng, who usually ranked first in his own School, only got third place this time. He answered 190 questions, with 178 correct, earning a total of 17 points.
In this kind of exam with relatively tricky questions, Bai Feng didn't actually have a significant advantage.
After seeing the grades, some were happy and some were sad.
As expected, Dafu did very poorly on the exam. He answered 150 questions, with 25 correct, earning 2 points. He was basically answering randomly.
Walen and Shenmu both had good grades. Walen got 10 points, and Shenmu got 12 points.
Then, some people began to secretly calculate the total points. As expected, Bai Feng won first place with an absolute advantage. In one month, he earned a total of 188 points.
Second place was Chiyo, who earned 119 points, a significant gap from Bai Feng in first place.
Mainly, Bai Feng's grades were among the best in almost every event and every exam, but Chiyo was different; her grades in many events were relatively mediocre.
To be precise, everyone was like this; they were better at some aspects and got more points, and some aspects were their weakness, so they got almost no points. Only Bai Feng was different from everyone else.
Third place was Chunyi, whose grades were not far behind Chiyo, with a total of 113 points.
After someone calculated Bai Feng's grades and announced them, Bai Feng became the center of attention. Wherever he went, he would earn everyone's respect.
On the way back to the Classroom, Dafu poked Bai Feng with his arm and asked mysteriously, "How does it feel to be the center of attention?"
Bai Feng smiled and spread his hands, "Not bad, but they might also be looking at you, after all, not many people answer only 25 out of 150 questions correctly."
"Killing with words!"
Student Dafu was so choked up he couldn't speak. Walen and Shenmu, who were following behind the two, burst out laughing.
The top three in this exam also received rewards. Bai Feng received an Eviolite, which is a held item that increases the defenses of a Pokémon that has not yet reached its final form by 50% each.
After receiving it, Bai Feng gave it to Chansey. This item was very suitable for it.
The afternoon was the Closing Ceremony of the Summer Camp. It was essentially Professor Oak coming out to say some encouraging words to everyone. Professor Oak wasn't a verbose person, so he finished quickly.
The final part of the ceremony was the commendation of the three people with the highest points in the Summer Camp. Bai Feng made a big splash during the commendation segment.
No matter when, the first place is always the most eye-catching. All the Teachers and Students who participated in this Summer Camp remembered his name!
Finally, there was Professor Oak's special reward for the top three.
Third place Chunyi received a very rare Ghost-type Pokémon—Honedge. This is a super rare Pokémon that can only be found in small numbers in Ancient Ruins.
The rarity of Honedge is no less than the Charcadet (Egg) that Bai Feng saw at the auction back then. The final price of that Charcadet Egg was as high as three million.
Second place Chiyo received a chance, a chance to enter Mt. Silver. There are a large number of rare Pokémon inhabiting there, and it is also the only known place where a group of Tyranitar resides. It is usually strictly guarded by the League Garrison, and ordinary people cannot enter, nor are they allowed to.
If Chiyo is lucky, she might be able to catch Larvitar, Pupitar, or Tyranitar on Mt. Silver.
Finally, there was Bai Feng, who won first place.
Professor Oak gave him something that made everyone's jaws drop: Suicune's Streamer, a streamer from the Legendary Pokémon Suicune.
To be honest, when Bai Feng received the streamer from Professor Oak, he was also greatly shocked. He never expected Professor Oak would give him such a precious item.
Suicune's Streamer was pure white, about two fingers wide and five feet long. It felt as smooth as spring water flowing through his hands, and at the same time, it emitted a thick and long Water-type energy aura. The moment Bai Feng approached it, he felt a cool and fresh aura rushing towards him.
"Professor, is this really for me?" Bai Feng asked in disbelief.
"Of course, it belongs to you from now on. Make good use of it," Professor Oak said with a smile.
Actually, if Bai Feng hadn't won first place, Professor Oak would never have given such a valuable item as Suicune's Streamer as a reward. But who made Bai Feng Red's Brother!
Professor Oak felt a great sense of responsibility for Red's disappearance, so he had always felt guilt.
Since Red resigned from the Champion position, he rarely interfered with Pokémon League affairs. He usually either stayed Home with Delia or traveled around the world to see if he could find his parents and Brother.
Later, the Pokémon League had an important task that needed to be carried out. As the current Champion, Blue couldn't leave, and because the difficulty of the task was a bit high, Professor Oak approached Red.
Red agreed readily at the time, but he didn't expect that he would never return.
Bai Feng was the biological Brother Red had been looking for for over ten years. Professor Oak couldn't help but project some of his guilt about Red onto Bai Feng.
This Suicune's Streamer was a cherished item that Professor Oak had treasured for many years. He hadn't even given it to Blue, but now he gave it to Bai Feng.
Bai Feng didn't know at this moment that he was able to get Suicune's Streamer entirely because of his Brother, whom he had never met.
Because Bai Feng's reward was upgraded, the rewards for second and third place were also upgraded accordingly. In the past, when Professor Oak held Summer Camps, he would not have given out so many precious prizes this time.
Bai Feng carefully put away the streamer and expressed his gratitude to Professor Oak, "Thank you, Professor. I will cherish it."
Professor Oak patted Bai Feng's shoulder with satisfaction.
"Alright, let's give these three Students another round of applause," Professor Oak said with a smile to the Students Below the Stage on the Award Platform.
*Clap clap clap~*
The Students applauded enthusiastically, their eyes full of envy as they looked at the three people on the stage, especially at Bai Feng. That was a relic from Suicune, one of the Legendary Beasts!
The commendation segment ended, and the Summer Camp was truly over. In the following two days, the Students would leave Pallet Town one after another under the guidance of their accompanying Teachers.
The Students left the Closing Ceremony one by one. Bai Feng also planned to return to the Dormitory to do some packing. Just then, Professor Oak called out to him.
"Bai Feng!" Professor Oak waved at Bai Feng from afar, "Come here, come here!"
Bai Feng walked up to Professor Oak and asked in confusion, "Professor, what is it?"
"You'll know if you come with me."
Saying that, Professor Oak led Bai Feng into the Research Institute.
——————
On the other side, deep within the Viridian Gym in Viridian City.
Sakaki was sitting in a chair, staring blankly at the big screen in front of him. The big screen was broadcasting the two explosive news reports from this morning.
"John was caught?" Sakaki asked Fei Niao, his assistant standing beside him.
"Yes," Fei Niao nodded.
"Why didn't we receive any news?" Sakaki asked, puzzled.
Fei Niao's face looked a little grim, "Almost all of our agents in Silph Company and the Hills Family were taken down by the Pokémon League. It's probably difficult for the news to get out at that time. The Pokémon League's action this time was too swift and decisive."
"Why was John exposed?" Sakaki asked again, puzzled.
"It's not clear, but it should be a problem with Wensen," Fei Niao shook his head, then pushed up his glasses and said, "The Cinnabar Island Research Lab was also completely dismantled!"
Sakaki fell silent upon hearing this.
"That Wensen guy is truly useless," Fei Niao said with a tone of anger, "If it weren't for John, why would we entrust him with the Cinnabar Island operations? Now that such a big blunder has occurred, all our arrangements in Silph Company have gone up in smoke!"
Team Rocket's original plan was to slowly take control of the entire Silph Company through John Hills, making it completely Team Rocket's cash cow. They had meticulously planned for several years for this.
They didn't expect to fail at the final hurdle in one morning.
"Alright, what's done is done, what's the use of talking about it anymore!" Sakaki remained relatively calm.
However, the following telephone call completely changed Sakaki's expression.
"Boss, something big is wrong! The New Island Research Lab is in trouble!"
(end of chapter)