"We are waiting for Zed and Lee currently, not sure if anyone else got sent here though" Ciel informed the two girls as the other nodded in agreement.

"Hmmm, in that case, there will likely be one other pair that was sent here. If I remember correctly we were informed that each precinct would receive a total of five seedlings each, seedlings being us."

"So basically there should be another pair undergoing the tests" Ise leaned forwards in her chair, clasping her hands together as she wondered who it would be.

"It is possible they failed to make it past the previous tests and have been sent home" Sophia pointed out, motioning with her hand.

"That is a possibility yeah..." Vaal looked uneasy at that thought. He wasn't particularly close with many of his classmates, but he couldn't help but worry about Matto and Silvia, two of the classmates he had gotten close with. They had probably gone to a different district, so he had no way of knowing how they were doing.

"Hope Zed makes it, he has been trying longer than anyone else, he did what like seven, eight years trying to get into this job?" Ciel looked around at the various faces, each showing a different response to the question. Charly looked startled with her mouth open going wow, Ise and Vaal looked a bit worried, and Sophia just nodded in agreement. Callum, however.

"Damn! He worked that hoe of a course hard" Callum leaned back a look of wonder on his face.

"Mind your tongue" Sophia scowled Callum as she glared over at him. "He has worked harder than anyone, do not make light of his efforts" Callum raised his hands in defence.

"I'm not making light of him, I think it's damn impressive he managed to stick it out for so long, imagine doing the course twice over from the start, I sure as hell couldn't do it" Everyone nodded in agreement. Almost none of them would be willing to go through the course again, except for Vaal anyway.

"So who could be the final pair?" Charly asked excitedly, glancing around between the various faces as she sat cross-legged on the tabletop, her wings slowly folding back in.

"Klint? He's a water type, right? Plus having Sarah here would make sense, a grass type would be useful."

"Nah I think he will go to the construction district, he is also a rock type after all."

"So is Lee brinehead."

"Shut it swamp brain."

"What about Silvia? She's a grass type"

"I got a text from Matto this morning. They are in the construction area, desert biome."

"Ohhh that makes sense"

"Who else?" Suddenly the door to the break room opened as someone walked in, the group snapped around with such speed that Ciel tipped over on his chair.

THUD

"Fuck" Ciel swore as Vaal and Charly burst into laughter. Callum glanced over to see if Ciel was alright before looking back to the newcomers.

"Well I'll be a Wailord's cock sleeve, Freddy, the hell are you doing here?!"

THWACK

Callum took a slap to the back of the head from Ise, while everyone wondered what was going on.

Freddy Deepdream stood at the door, and his partner Alice Wonder was just behind him, Freddy was in human form, his partner in her natural form. Freddy was Musharna, a pokemon whose services were highly prized and sought after. They could manipulate and affect dreams.

Freddy was slightly chubby, a side effect from his near-constant naps after mealtimes. As a result, his face was quite round around the edges, his eyes were slits with laugh lines under his eyes and wrinkling his cheeks, he had thickish lips that curved up at the corners in a natural smile. He had dark pink hair with violet-purple patches that always looked like he had just rolled out of bed, his caucasian skin had a permanent pinkish tint to it. He was a little heavy set in his body; however, hidden by the layer of fat were strong muscles.

He was wearing a dark blue polo shirt with his vest and belt; he was decked out in dark grey cargo trousers for his lower half and a pair of boots which were probably steel capped.

His partner, Alice, was a Wigglytuff, as she was currently in natural form she was only wearing a white tank top under her vest. She looked exhausted, her eyes were closed, and she was swaying slightly from side to side as she muttered to herself under her breath, Freddy had been leading her by the hand onwards and pulled her into the break room while holding the door open for her.

"Alice doing alright?" Vaal got up to help guide her in. She looked like she would collapse at any point, which she proved when she collapsed down onto Vaal who let out an oof, he hadn't expected the sudden weight. Freddy just gave an apologetic look before explaining.

"She didn't get much sleep last night or the night before that now that I think about it, the stress kept her restless."

"I can imagine, she was a second trier, wasn't she?" Ciel asked as he helped Vaal lift her into a large chair.

"I believe so" Sophia chimed in before turning to Charly. "See if there is any coffee in the kitchen if you would please."

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"On it" Charly spoke cheerfully as ever before taking flight and darted over to the kitchen area, the sudden downdraft from her wings blowing straight into Sophia's face, sending her hair everywhere. Freddy raised the back of his hand to his mouth as he chuckled at the thoughtfully displeased Sophia.

"Bad luck princess" Callum scoffed lightly as Ise giggled quietly, Sophia just glared daggers at Callum, as if considering if attacking him would be worth it.

"Found some!" Charly lifted a jar of coffee granules aloft, "can anyone make coffee that's not instant?"

"I can hold on" Ciel walked over to join the flying type in the kitchen area as the door opened back up as Zed and Lee waltzed into the room looking very proud of themselves.

"Hey check it out, guys!"

"The two latest officers of the LFP are standing before you!" Zed shouted eye closed as he threw back his head to roar out in celebration and relief arms outstretched and hand clenched tightly. Lee just patted his partner on his back, relief etched into his face as his eyes glistened from the tears building up.

"Congrats!!" The cry came back as the others clapped and cheered, Alice, shot awake from the sudden uproar, though the celebration was short-lived as Lance coughed loudly into his fist to gain attention.

"Celebrations will come later. I am afraid, while I understand this is a massive deal for you all, we still have to test the remaining pairs. Also, I am sorry to bear this news. However, I believe it is best you all know now" Lance spoke calmly, a grin on his face had grown on witnessing the celebration and companionship between the rookies, this however started to fade towards the end as he had to bear the news. "I am afraid that out of nine potential seedlings, only three have currently passed all three tests. And currently there are only two remaining seedlings that are required to undergo the final test. I am assuming you all noticed a gap between the testing of officer Marshtail and officer Deepwater." He looked around the room as the now silent faces as realisation started to dawn on them.

"I am afraid to say that we had already had to fail four of the potential seedlings, two before they even arrived at the station, the remaining two did not make it past the stress room. The gap between testing was due to one of the pairs fainting inside one of the rooms and had to be taken to emergency care as a precaution" there was a very sharp intake of breath from the entire room, Lance continued, however. "Fortunately, however, the individual did not receive any bodily harm; however, still failed the test as a result." Lance paused as he eyed up the remaining pairs that had yet to undergo testing, Freddy, Alice, Charly and Sophia.

"I want to remind you that this job is high risk and incredibly dangerous, which is why our assessments of you all are so strict. You cannot look to those that have already successfully passed and think that you are guaranteed to pass as well, is that clear" He stared around the room.

"Yes, sir" the remaining four replied as one. Lance nodded appreciatively before inspecting Alice, who froze under the commissioner's strict gaze.

"If you need to rest we can allow for an hour break. We were a little concerned about your current condition when it came to the stress room. However, you managed to cope exceptionally well under the conditions." Alice gulped lightly as she glanced over at her partner, she didn't want to drag down her partner because of her nerves. Locking eyes with the commissioner she tried to speak as clearly as possible.

"If it wouldn't be a problem, sir, I would appreciate having a short rest..." Alice managed to force out the words. She hadn't had a proper night sleep for the last week due to the stress keeping her awake at night. Lance nodded once.

"You have an hour and thirty, no longer understand?" he gave an understanding smile as his eyes softened slightly. He had seen his fair share of pokemon give out due to a lack of sleep because of the stress. He wanted to avoid having to fail as many pokemon as possible so unless there was a genuine reason to abandon them. He would try to avoid it as much as possible.

"Yes sir, thank you sir" Alice gave him a small bow in appreciation and thanks before collapsing back onto the sizeable sofa-like seat. Lance turned back towards the others; his face hardening again as he barked out his orders.

"Miss Lakebed and Miss Springfeather. You will be tested now if you follow me" Lance turned and held the door open while he waited for the pair to join him at the door. Charly placed the coffee down on the tabletop before taking off into the air, knocking over the container in the process with her foot as she darted over towards the door, Sophia just stood up and scuffled over in a rapid pace to join the commissioner at the door. Once Charly had arrived and landed, Lance walked out of the door with the two pokemon in tow. The door clicked shut behind them; the rest of the room was silent as they watched them go.

"Do I still make coffee or?" Ciel asked the room in general, picking up the tipped over capsule of coffee granules.

"I will take a cup if it's going mate" Ise walked over to join him in the kitchen to find some mugs.

"I will take tea if possible, a coffee for Alice please" Freddy called up from where he was standing next to Alice.

"I'm good thanks" Vaal just opened his can from the vending machine.

"Yeah, I will have a mug" Zed stomped on over a happy smile on his face.

"No, thank you, not my kind of thing" Lee waved a hand in front of his face as he walked over to grab more snacks from the vending machines.

"If you're offering I can't say no" Callum wandered up to the counter.

Ciel just nodded as he quickly made his way around the kitchen area, collecting a kettle on the way to the sink he filled it up before switching it on as Ise placed six mugs down on the wooden counter side. After finding the coffee maker and a couple of tea bags for Freddy, it only took a Ciel a couple of minutes to finish making the coffee. Ise had managed to find some milk and sugar cubes somewhere in the vast array of cupboards. The pokemon gave their thanks as Ciel poured out the coffee and tea respectively.

"Any tips you can give Alice and me?" Freddy asked as he accepted his cup from Ciel, the Persian shook his head forlornly from side to side, a sad smile on his face as he closed his eyes.

"Sorry Freddy, nothing personal. I can't say anything if you want to pass."

"Ahhh I get you" That was all the pokemon said as he sat down next to Alice who had drifted asleep in the chair.

For the next 20 minutes or so everyone just sat around enjoying their drinks, eating snacks and making small talk, waiting to hear back from Sophia and Charly. Eventually, the break room door opened, and the pair walked back into the room. Charly looked rather down about something, her face and body dropped slightly as slumped into the room in an unenergetic manner. Sophia slowly walked in behind her. Her head bowed slightly with slumped shoulders.

"Hey, how did it go?" Vaal was the first to ask. Charly just took a seat, not making any eye contact with anyone. Sophia walked behind her and tried to reach out with her arm to tap her on the shoulder, but her partner slapped her hand away.

"Uh oh..." Ciel had a suspicion that something had gone very wrong.

"Char, I am sorry" the Swellow growled lowly as she clenched her hands tightly into fists.

"Don't call me that, you don't have the right to anymore" Sophia's eyes widened before she dropped her head down, looking away to the side.

"I didn't know, I-" Sophia started but was cut off by Charly's fist slamming into the tabletop.

"You got me failed, Sophia!" Charly snapped back, lifting her chin up at her partner, eyes squinting as she jabbed a finger at the water type. "You had to intervene. You couldn't have just let me do it myself could you."

"You were under attack, what was I supposed to do? Let you face them all by yourself?"

"Yes! You were the one pointed out they would be testing our battle abilities, remember?" Charly shrieked back, her arms going wildly everywhere as Sophia took a step back.

"I thought it meant how we fight as a team though" tried to defend her actions as tears started to build up in her eyes. Charly looked furious at that, however, pointing out.

"We already were tested on that puddle brain in the academy."

"Okay easy easy, Charly were you told specifically that you had failed?" Ciel stepped up in between the two pokemon while Zed pulled Sophia back gently, Callum stepping up next to Charly ready to intervene if necessary. The flying type rounded on Ciel.

"No, he just told us to go back to break room while looking disappointed at the two of us, because SHE couldn't let me go in alone."

"Wait, he did, was it just the Dragonite that was there?" Vaal broke into the conversation, his eyebrows furrowed.

"That is correct" Sophia replied in a quiet voice.

"Neither of you saw a female Kingdra?" Vaal asked again. Charly just shouted.

"No, why does that matter though, I still fucking failed haven't I" She lunged at her partner before Callum grabbed her holding her back as she kicked and swiped.

"No I don't think so, there might be a problem elsewhere" Vaal had a feeling something wasn't right, but before he could elaborate further, the door opened, and a familiar voice rang out, silencing the room.

"Officer Marshtail is partially correct. There was indeed a problem." Lance entered the room followed by Catherine, now fully dressed. "Mrs Ryuukin here was supposed to take Miss Lakebed elsewhere for her testing, however, due to an urgent situation with a particularly rowdy suspect she had been temporarily delayed. However, this, unfortunately, led to the situation where Miss Lakebed interfered with the testing of her partner, which would normally lead to them both failing the final test." Charly glared at her partner her whole body shaking. Sophia just stared in disbelief at the two dragon types. The rest of the room was frozen in shock and disbelief. Catherine cut in at the moment, adding a small beacon of hope.

"However, due to the current situation we have in the precinct we need as many recruits as possible, so we have decided to overlook this infringement of the rules. Miss Lakebed will still require to undergo her testing now if you would be so kind as to follow me now please."