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The plane landed at the Airport.
The cloak issued by the school was the classic navy blue style. Roy wrapped himself in it as he stepped off the plane, still shivering from the cold wind.
Fortunately, it wasn't snowing yet, otherwise he would have been both wet and cold.
"The airport is a bit small..." Roy grumbled as he boarded the bus that had come to meet the students.
The bus drove into the suburbs. After traveling for two hours and passing through three checkpoints, Roy finally entered the safe zone.
After a spiritual domain fully integrated with Earth, it was no longer a separate space but became part of the planet. The original environment from the different dimension merged with Earth's environment, causing significant changes to the local ecology.
For example, the area where Roy now found himself was in snowy conditions all year round. Spring and summer would never visit this place again.
The seasons were permanently locked in winter.
The bus stopped in front of a building with the words "Shelter" written on it, and the students disembarked one after another.
In the parking lot, Roy spotted buses carrying students from other classes. Apparently, they weren't the first to arrive.
Ivy was very familiar with this place and led Roy's class to the dormitory area. According to her introduction, she not only visited this location yearly during her college days but also worked as a security officer at the shelter for half a year after becoming a professional Trainer.
"Professional Trainers enjoy certain rights, but they also assume corresponding obligations," she explained.
"Following deployment orders and serving as an investigator or security officer in a spiritual domain for a period of time is one of those obligations."
Ivy continued, "You'll rest in the shelter for one night, and tomorrow you'll officially begin your wilderness survival test. Remember to get enough rest, and make sure to visit the warehouse to collect your set of survival tools. You're not allowed to bring anything tomorrow beyond those survival tools."
"Understood," the students responded in unison. They were all looking forward to tomorrow's wilderness survival test with a mixture of nervousness and excitement.
After finding his temporary bed, Roy went to the warehouse to collect his survival kit. Besides containing no food, the kit included a compass, lighter, first aid supplies for humans, Potions for Pokémon, a flashlight, climbing rope, tent, and other survival equipment—quite comprehensive.
There was also a device similar to a pager.
This was a rescue device.
"If you can't continue, if you want to give up, just press the button on the rescue device. At that point, we examiners will send Pokémon to retrieve you. Of course, this also means you forfeit the exam, and any points you've earned will be nullified."
Roy carefully inspected each survival tool to ensure everything was functional.
To conserve his energy, he went to bed early and fell into a deep sleep.
The night passed uneventfully.
The next day, five o'clock in the morning.
Before dawn, Roy and the others were roused from sleep and gathered at the shelter's gate.
"Your test task is to survive alone in this area for seven days," Ivy announced.
"Those who endure for seven days will be considered to have passed."
"And those who want to achieve high scores and compete for the chief recommender position will need to find the score cards we've placed throughout this area..." Ivy smiled. "Don't worry, the score cards are very conspicuous. You'll recognize them at a glance."
"By the way, you may capture one Pokémon, but only one. Any more would disrupt the ecological balance."
After explaining the examination rules, the shelter staff led each student to their designated starting point according to their student number.
Roy, being the chief recommended student, naturally ranked first.
"Chief student, good luck." Ivy clearly knew about this amazingly talented junior, so she patted him on the shoulder with an encouraging smile.
"Thanks," Roy nodded politely. Carrying a survival backpack weighing more than ten kilograms, he followed the staff member into the snowfield.
His eyes took in a vast expanse of white snow.
The White Mountains occupied half the sky...
The first thing Roy did upon entering was to take out his Poké Balls and release all three Pokémon.
In unsafe wild places, it was better to keep Pokémon by your side rather than in their Poké Balls.
The three Pokémon were obviously seeing snow for the first time and appeared curious.
"Aww!"
Vulpix was the most excited. She originally belonged to snowy regions, and instinctual impulses in her genes made the little Pokémon—who typically didn't enjoy physical activity—run back and forth, rolling in the snow.
Seeing this, Squirtle also ran over to join her.
As the most mature of the three, Lucario showed more restraint.
After looking around curiously for a moment, it closed its eyes, activated its aura powers, and sensed life fluctuations within a one-kilometer radius to confirm whether any hostile entities lurked nearby.
Lucario opened its eyes and nodded to Roy, signaling that everything around them was safe.
Then, Lucario approached Roy, lifted his backpack with one hand, and carried it on its own back.
The canine Pokémon maintained a stern expression, but Roy could still sense its loyalty and gentleness through these small gestures.
Roy was momentarily stunned, then joked, "I feel so secure, you really have boyfriend energy... If I were a woman, I might be tempted."
The seven-day exam was quite long, so Roy wasn't in a hurry.
He accompanied Vulpix and Squirtle as they built a snowman and a snow fort. It wasn't until the sun rose that Roy officially set off to explore and survive in this completely unfamiliar snowfield.
The first task of wilderness survival was securing food and water.
Roy wasn't worried about food for his three Pokémon. Others might not know how to solve this problem, but he could exchange for Energy Cubes at any time.
The focus was on finding food and water sources for himself.
The White Mountain area was vast, covering more than 50 square kilometers.
After walking for two hours through the snow, Roy finally spotted a frozen lake.
"Use Rock Smash, but gently," he instructed.
Lucario controlled its strength and only smashed a small section of ice.
Roy filled a bottle with the ice water, though he couldn't drink it directly. After waiting a while, he saw Vulpix returning with some firewood in her mouth.
In this snowy environment, Vulpix was like a fish in water. Her genetic nature helped her instinctively find resources in this icy world.
After taking the firewood, Roy lit it with his lighter, started a fire, and began boiling water.
"Squirtle, I'll count on you for lunch."
"Squirtle!" The Water-type Pokémon raised its hand in a standard salute, indicating it understood.
It jumped into the icy lake. In the water, Squirtle moved with remarkable agility, quickly catching several regular fish.
After the advent of Pokémon, many native Earth animals had become extinct, but some ordinary animals still thrived in the wild or under human care.
"This exam is rather difficult," Roy muttered while grilling the fish.
It was easy for him to secure water and food, but only because he had three powerful Pokémon whose abilities complemented each other.
The vast majority of freshmen currently only had one novice-level Pokémon.
This difficulty was obviously abnormal, suggesting that, besides Roy's approach, there was another simpler solution to pass the test.
Roy quickly deduced the answer.
"They're advocating teamwork..."
If he wasn't mistaken, the other students would realize that only through cooperation could they survive after facing initial hardships.
In the spiritual realm, only the strongest could walk alone.
After eating the grilled fish without seasoning, Roy's expression instantly froze.
The taste was rather sour.
And it was full of bones...
Did he have to eat like this for seven days?
Just as Roy was questioning his life choices, Lucario's ears suddenly perked up alertly.
"Lu!"
Several Pokémon were approaching.
And they weren't coming with friendly intentions.