Once all the students taking part in the selection had gathered on the sports field, the equipment sitting in front of the battle arenas quickly became the main topic of conversation.
"What are those things for?"
"Are we supposed to do something with them?"
"Wait — I think I recognise it. Isn't that one of the new move power testers they've been installing at training facilities?"
The crowd buzzed with speculation. It didn't take long before a few people who had seen the machines before began putting the pieces together.
Shortly after, Dominic reappeared on the sports field, having slipped away from the classroom earlier without a word about where he was going. He stepped up onto the temporary platform that had been set up at the edge of the field and raised his voice.
"Settle down, everyone."
The noise dropped off.
"I'll explain how the selection will work. The final team spots will be determined through Pokémon battles — that part hasn't changed. However, given how many students have signed up, we've introduced a qualifying round before the battle phase."
He half-turned and gestured to the machines behind him.
"You see these? These are move power testers, manufactured and distributed by the Alliance. They've been appearing in training facilities and Gyms more and more over the past few years, so some of you may have already used one before."
He turned back to face the crowd.
"The qualifying threshold is five hundred points. Any student whose Pokémon can't reach that score on the tester will not move on to the battle phase. That's the cutoff."
He paused, then added: "Now, I understand that move power isn't everything. If someone falls short of five hundred but believes they can compete in other ways, there will be a window after the team spots are filled to challenge a selected member directly. Win that match, and the spot is yours. Simple enough."
"All right — no more from me. Teachers, please start recording scores. Let's begin."
He stepped down from the platform, and the selection officially started.
For many of the students present, this was their first time seeing a move power tester up close. Outside of major universities, they were still mostly found at advanced training facilities and Gyms — not exactly standard equipment for a high school. The novelty drew people in, and after Dominic gave the signal, students quickly organised themselves into several queues in front of the machines.
David and his group already knew what the machines were. They'd encountered them before. Without much fuss, they joined the back of one of the queues and waited.
Nobody in the school genuinely doubted that David's group would make the team — their spots were, for all practical purposes, already decided. But going through the selection process was still the right thing to do. Skipping it would only invite unnecessary talk later.
At the front of the nearest queue, the first student readied himself. He pulled out a Poké Ball and released it with a flick of his wrist.
"Come on out, Ponyta!"
The Fire Horse Pokémon materialised in front of the machine with a whinny, mane blazing. The student planted his feet and called out his command.
"Ponyta, Flamethrower — full power!"
"Ponyta!"
Ponyta drew in a breath, and a ripple of Fire-type energy gathered in its chest before surging forward. A concentrated stream of scorching flames roared out of its mouth and struck the front panel of the machine head-on.
Murmurs broke out across the crowd.
"Is it going to damage the machine?"
"Seriously — won't Fire-type moves just melt the casing?"
Before the supervising teachers could say anything, a more knowledgeable student further back in the queue spoke up.
"Relax — it's fine. The outer casing is made from a special alloy recovered from a Secret Realm. After processing, it's not only incredibly durable but also self-repairing. It has strong resistance to all known types of energy. Supposedly, the high-grade versions of these testers can even hold up against attacks from Gym Leader-level Pokémon. The Alliance is apparently working on models rated for King-level and above."
When the Flamethrower finally ended, the machine stood completely undamaged. Not a scorch mark. Not a dent.
A clear chime rang out.
"Ding — Move detected: Flamethrower. Measured power: 376. Result: Failed."
"Oh no..."
Ponyta's Trainer blinked, visibly struggling to accept the result. The teacher with the clipboard noted the score and waved him to the side. The queue moved forward.
"Move detected: Psybeam. Measured power: 452. Result: Failed."
"Move detected: Shadow Sneak. Measured power: 396. Result: Failed."
"Move detected: Close Combat. Measured power: 695. Result: Passed."
"Move detected: Fire Blast. Measured power: 1,089. Result: Passed."
The results came quickly, one after another. Some students pumped a fist when they heard their number. Others went quiet and stepped aside without a word.
The five-hundred-point threshold turned out to be well-chosen. It cut roughly half the field, leaving behind a group that was genuinely solid in terms of ability. David watched the passing scores as they came in. Most of the Pokémon clearing the bar were in good shape — strong moves, reasonable training behind them. The one who had just hit over a thousand in particular stood out. His Magmar had clearly broken through to the Superior level not long ago, and the power jump showed.
A hand clapped David's shoulder from behind.
"Hey, David— look over there."
Miles, standing just behind him, had spotted something.
David turned to look.
The Sakura trio had arrived on the sports field, the rest of their exchange group trailing behind them. They stood at the edge of the crowd, watching as the Imperial City students cycled through the tester one by one.
Kuki Genichi surveyed the scores being called out and clicked his tongue.
"Told you it wasn't worth coming. This is just filler. None of these people are worth a second look."
It was a harsh judgement, but not an entirely wrong one from where he stood. The Sakura Alliance had similar testing equipment back home, and the three of them — despite having been thoroughly beaten by David — were not weak by any standard measure. To represent the Sakura Alliance on an exchange trip, all three of them sat well above the vast majority of the students here in raw ability. Ninety-five percent of the field, at minimum, wouldn't pose them any kind of challenge.
Before he could say anything further, Dominic spotted the trio approaching and walked over with a relaxed expression.
"How about it? The three of you are welcome to give it a go if you're interested."
Kuki Genichi's brow furrowed slightly. "This is your school's selection process. It wouldn't really be appropriate for us to participate."
"Not at all." Dominic waved the concern off. "You're here as part of the exchange program, which means for this month, you're students of Imperial City First High School the same as everyone else. Go ahead and take a turn."
There wasn't much room to argue with that. Kuki Genichi exhaled through his nose, glanced sideways at the machine, and reluctantly stepped into the queue.
Jingūji Yoira and Amatsuki Rosa looked at each other briefly, then both fell in behind him without a word.