A week had passed.

A letter from the Morpho Defenders HQ arrived, inviting him to the recruitment test, which would take place today.

„Faster, Memis!! We‘re almost there!!“

Toby was on his skateboard and was pulled by a running Memis, who he held on a leash.

„Awooo!!“ Memis panted full of excitement.

„You see this lantern Memis?! Go around it and stop, I‘ll try to use my momentum for something cool!“

„Aw-right!!!“ He ran towards the lantern, and dodged it the last second.

„Here I goooo!!“ Toby let go of the leash, grabbed the lantern and skated a 360 turn around it. „Whoaaa!!! I can‘t braaaake!“ He crashed into a few nearby trash cans.

„Oh!! Toby!!“ Memis ran to him. „Are you okay?“

„That was liiiit!!“ Toby jumped up and grabbed his skateboard. „I‘m so excited for todaaay!“

„And you are going to be okay?“

„Of course!“ They walked the remaining distance to the HQ. „Charlotte said the test will be no problem for me. So I‘m very positive!“

They arrived, the door opened, and Toby walked to the reception.
„Hi, I‘m here for the recruitment test! Here‘s my invitation!“ He showed the letter he received.

„Oh, of course.“ The Lady at the reception smiled. „Please proceed to the waiting room, it‘s the hallway down, the room on the right. Oh, hi there little man!“ She waved at Memis.

„Hi!!!“ Memis wagged excitedly.

„Thank you! Come Memis~“ Toby went forward, Memis followed.

„Do you think they will test me too, Toby?“

„Hmm, I don‘t know. The letter said that Morpho Defenders pick their partner after they‘ve been accepted. I guess not everyone found one before they applied.“

„Huh. That makes sense.“

They arrived at the given location, and met a familiar face.

"Toby, Memis~ hello." Charlotte smiled at them. "Good to see you here. Have your wounds healed properly?"

"They have, Miss Evans!" Toby smiled. "We're ready for the test!"

"Good." She nodded. "As it mentioned in the letter, you will first go and take an entry exam. This should be easy for you. Let's see...." She checked her smartphone, turned around and typed a number into the combination pad next to the door. "There~" The door opened. "You're now an officially registered participant~ Go take a seat. The test will start in 15 minutes."

"Thank you!" Toby was about to enter the door, followed by Memis, when Charlotte held him back.

"Hold on a second." She tapped his shoulder. "Memis can't come. You have to do this on your own."

"Oh I see." Toby looked down to Memis. "You will wait here~"

"Fuuueeh." Memis sat down. "Okay... I will wait."

"We will bring you to the HQ's daycare. There you can go play with a lot of other Morpho Mons." Charlotte typed something on her smartphone.

"Well then.... See you later Memis!" Toby waved at him, Memis raised his paw for a second. Then he entered the room and the door closed behind him.

There room looked like a classroom, just bigger and cleaner. Many desks were arranged like in an ordinary classroom, and a few participants were already sitting there, either looking at their phone or talking to each other.

Toby went to a desk near the front, placed his backpack and skateboard next to it and sat down.

He had two seat neighbors. On on side sat a boy with black hair and a single red streak in it, wearing a leather jacket. He was looking at his phone the entire time, and didn‘t even look up when Toby sat down next to him. He didn‘t seem to be very interested in smalltalk.

On his other side there was a nervous looking girl with long, red hair and green eyes. Her fingers tapped on the desk, and her knee bobbed up and down.

"Nervous?" Toby rested his chin in his hand.

"Huh-!" The girl looked up. "What-"

Toby giggled a bit. "Sorry if I scared you. I'm Toby."

"Oh... Ah~" The girl played with her hair. "It's fine.... I'm Sophia."

"Nice to meet you Sophia!" Toby grinned. „You shouldn‘t be nervous, I‘m sure the test will be easy for you!“

„Y-You think?“ Sophia tucked a strand behind her ear. „What makes you so sure of that?“

„I know a clever person when I see them, also Charlotte told me it should be no problem for me, and I‘m not that smart.“

„Oh,“ Sophia giggled, „P-Please don‘t put yourself down. I‘m sure you‘re smart, too.“

„Ehh…~ I guess we will see when we pass.“

„Yeah~ I‘m sure we will!“

"Good luck for the test, Sophia!"

"Y-Yeah..." Sophia smiled a bit as well. "Good luck to you as well~

The fifteen minutes passed very fast, a few more people entered the room and took a seat. Then Charlotte came through the doors.
"Hello everyone, and welcome to this year’s entry exam for the Morpho Defenders apprenticeship." She stopped at the front and adressed the 'class'. "Now begins the first part of your test. Please put away everything you don't need to write. I will hand you the sheets, and you turn them around when I tell you to do so." She started putting a sheet on every desk.

Toby gulped. He wasn't terrible at school, but he always got nervous before tests. He hadn’t even been able to prepare because the letter hadn’t really said anything about any of the topics. Oh, it wouldn't be so hard, he thought. No need to worry.

"Alright. So turn your sheets around now. You have 90 minutes."

~~~

The time had passed, a bell rang. Charlotte collected all papers.

"Alright. The sheets will be marked while you participate in the second part of the test." She handed the papers to a colleague that had entered the room a few minutes ago. "Now, the second part will begin. I will call you up in groups of three, and you will follow me to the training rooms. Be aware, that from every group, most likely only one or two will pass.“

The room was silent for a second.

„The groups are randomized.“ She took out her smartphone. „First group: Yunan Teberitz, Randall Doyle, Toby Williams."

Toby perked up when he heard his name. "Ah-" He got up, grabbed his stuff and stepped forward together with the other two, one of them being the black haired boy that had been sitting next to him.

"Well." Charlotte nodded. "Follow me. As for the rest of you, please remain here until I come back." She went outside and the three of them followed her.

Toby nervously looked to his side. The boy from before was next to him, still not looking at him.

"Hey-!" Toby broke the silence. "This is pretty exciting, what? I hope they will go easy on us!"

The boy - he assumed he was Randall - now looked at him with a cold stare.

"Uhm..." Toby put his hands in his pockets. „Bad mood?“

„I‘m not here to make friends.“ Randall looked ahead again. „I will do anything I need to do to join the Defenders. I will fight my opponents with all I got.“

„.... uhm-“

„Your name was Toby, right?“

„Yeah?“

„When the time comes, I will crush you like a fly.“

„.... ooookay.“ Toby took a step to the side.

Charlotte turned around. „These are the training rooms. You will each start with one challenge, and when the time is up change rooms clockwise. And here-" She pointed to the door on the other side. "Is the changing room. The three cabins are labeled with your names, your rental gym uniforms are in there. Please go change now."